U.S./World category, Page 374
New York City’s skyscrapers are built to withstand most earthquakes
NEW YORK — The ground rumbled Friday beneath New York City, home to famous skyscrapers like the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center. Though buildings that can reach above 100 stories might seem especially vulnerable to earthquakes, engineering experts say skyscrapers are built with enough flexibility to withstand...
For families of hostages, it’s a race against time as Israel’s war reaches 6-month mark
JERUSALEM — It’s the last wish of a dying mother, to be with her daughter once more. But six months into Israel’s war against Hamas, time is running out for Liora Argamani, who hopes to stay alive long enough to see her kidnapped daughter come home. “I want to see...
Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian city of Kharkiv kill 6, wound 11
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces overnight attacked Ukraine with drones and missiles, killing at least six people and wounding 11 more in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, officials said Saturday. Governor of the Kharkiv region Oleh Syniehubov said missile strikes on the city damaged residential buildings, a gas station, a...
House to take up bill to reauthorize crucial U.S. spy program as expiration looms
WASHINGTON — The House is set to consider a bill next week that would reauthorize a surveillance program U.S. officials consider vital to national security but that critics say raises privacy concerns. The action comes shortly before the program, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, expires...
Donald Trump demands new judge days before start of hush-money criminal trial
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump is demanding a new judge just days before his hush-money criminal trial is set to begin, rehashing longstanding grievances with the judge in a long-shot, eleventh-hour bid to disrupt and delay the case. Trump’s lawyers — echoing his recent social media complaints —...
Biden urges Egypt, Qatar leaders to press Hamas on agreement for Israeli hostages
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday wrote to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, calling on them to press Hamas for a hostage deal with Israel, according to a senior administration official, one day after Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to redouble efforts to reach a...
3 people killed in crash of small plane in southeastern Oklahoma
ANTLERS, Okla. — Three people died when the single-engine aircraft they were aboard crashed in southeastern Oklahoma, authorities said. Pilot Brian Davis, 62, and passengers Michael Davis, 23, and Kelly Thompson, 21, all of Antlers, died in Thursday’s crash, according to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol report. The crash occurred near...
Fire outside Vermont office of Sen. Bernie Sanders investigated as arson
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Police in Vermont are seeking a suspect who allegedly started a fire Friday outside the office of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. The small blaze caused minor damage but no injuries. Authorities say an unknown male suspect sprayed what they described as a possible accelerant on the office...
NYC to pay $17.5M to settle lawsuit by 2 Muslim women forced to remove hijabs for mug shots
NEW YORK — New York City has agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by two Muslim women who were forced to remove their head coverings to be photographed after they were arrested. The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2018 by Jamilla Clark and Arwa Aziz, two...
Earthquake centered near New York City rattles the Northeast
NEW YORK — An earthquake shook the densely populated New York City metropolitan area Friday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said, with residents across the Northeast reporting rumbling in a region where people are unaccustomed to feeling the ground move. The agency reported a quake at 10:23 a.m. with a...
U.S. employers added a surprisingly robust 303,000 jobs in March in a sign of economic strength
WASHINGTON — America’s employers delivered another outpouring of jobs in March, adding a sizzling 303,000 workers to their payrolls and bolstering hopes that the economy can vanquish inflation without succumbing to a recession in the face of high interest rates. Last month’s job growth was up from a revised 270,000...
Israel dismisses 2 officers over deadly drone strikes on aid workers in Gaza
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Friday that it dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others for their roles in drone strikes in Gaza that killed seven aid workers on a food-delivery mission, saying they had mishandled critical information and violated the army’s rules of engagement. The findings of a...
Iran vows to ‘punish Zionist regime’ over deadly strike on Iranian consulate attributed to Israel
TEHRAN, Iran — The commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard warned Friday that “our brave men will punish the Zionist regime,” escalating threats against Israel for an airstrike that killed seven of the group’s members, including two Iranian generals, earlier this week. The strike, widely attributed to Israel, destroyed the...
Biden to tour collapsed Baltimore bridge where recovery effort has political overtones
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is expected to get a firsthand look Friday at efforts to clear away the hulking remains of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, as cranes, ships and diving crews work to reopen one of the nation’s main shipping lanes. Biden will receive updates...
Powerball jackpot reaches $1.23B as long odds mean lots of losing, just as designed
Powerball will match a record for lottery drawings Saturday night with a stretch of more than three months without a jackpot winner. It’s that string of futility that has enabled Powerball’s top prize to reach $1.23 billion, the 8th largest in U.S. lottery history. And it’s a sign that the...
Total solar eclipse forecast: Will your city have clear skies Monday?
DALLAS — Some who hope to witness Monday’s total solar eclipse may see the sun obscured by clouds instead of by the moon. There’s still plenty of time for forecasts to change, but meteorologists predict that eclipse day storms could blanket parts of the path, which stretches from Mexico and...
6 inmates who sued New York over its prison lockdown order will get to view solar eclipse after all
NEW YORK — Six inmates who sued New York’s corrections department over its decision to lock down prisons during next Monday’s total solar eclipse will get to watch the celestial event after all. Lawyers for the six men incarcerated at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility in upstate New York said Thursday...
Judge rejects Trump’s First Amendment challenge to indictment in Georgia election case
ATLANTA — The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others rejected on Thursday arguments by the former president that the indictment seeks to criminalize political speech protected by the First Amendment. The indictment issued in August by a Fulton County grand jury accused Trump and...
1 killed, 2 others hospitalized after crane section falls from a South Florida high-riseVideo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — One person was killed and two others were hospitalized Thursday afternoon when a section of crane fell from a building in downtown Fort Lauderdale, officials said. Crews were in the process of “stepping the crane” during the construction of a high-rise building when a section being...
April nor’easter with heavy, wet snow bears down on Northeast, 630,000 still without powerVideo
A major spring storm brought heavy snow, rain and high winds to the Northeast into Thursday, downing trees and power lines and leaving nearly 700,000 homes and businesses without power at some point. A woman was reported killed by a falling tree in a New York City suburb and a...
Tennessee lawmakers pass bill to require anti-abortion group video, or comparable, in public schools
NASHVILLE — Tennessee would become the latest state to require public school students to watch a video on fetal development produced by an anti-abortion group, or something comparable, under legislation that is headed to Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s desk. The GOP-dominated Senate passed the legislation Thursday, with the five Democrats...
80-year-old American tourist killed in elephant attack during game drive in ZambiaVideo
HARARE, Zimbabwe — A bull elephant charged a truck that an 80-year-old American was riding in with other tourists on a game drive in a Zambian national park, flipping over the vehicle and killing her, a safari company said. The attack injured five others on March 30 in the vast...
Judge denies Trump bid to dismiss classified documents prosecution
WASHINGTON — A federal judge refused Thursday to throw out the classified documents prosecution against Donald Trump, turning aside defense arguments that a decades-old law permitted the former president to retain the sensitive records after he left office. Lawyers for Trump had cited a 1978 statute known as the Presidential...
Biden tells Israel’s Netanyahu future U.S. support for war depends on new steps to protect civiliansVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden issued a stark warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that future U.S. support for Israel’s Gaza war depends on the swift implementation of new steps to protect civilians and aid workers. Biden and Netanyahu ‘s roughly 30-minute call just days after Israeli...
Border Patrol must care for migrant children who wait in camps for processing, a judge says
WASHINGTON — Migrant children who wait in makeshift camps along the U.S.-Mexico border for the Border Patrol to process them are in the agency’s custody and are subject to a long-standing court-supervised agreement that set standards for their treatment, a judge ruled. The issue of when the children are officially...
