U.S./World category, Page 403
Biden says support for Israel and Ukraine is ‘vital’ for U.S. security, will ask Congress for billionsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden declared it is “vital for America’s national security” for Israel and Ukraine to succeed in their wars, making the case Thursday night for deepening U.S. involvement in two unpredictable foreign conflicts as he prepared to ask for billions of dollars in military assistance for both...
Biden will deliver a rare Oval Office address as he seeks billions of dollars for Israel and Ukraine
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will deliver a rare Oval Office address Thursday night as he prepares to ask for additional billions of dollars in military assistance for Israel and Ukraine, deepening American involvement in two very different, unpredictable and bloody foreign conflicts. The speech will be an opportunity for...
Average long-term U.S. mortgage rate surges to 7.63% — highest level since 2000
LOS ANGELES — The cost of financing a home surged again this week with the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate at its highest level since December 2000. The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 7.63% from 7.57% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A...
China is building up its nuclear weapons arsenal faster than previous projections, a U.S. report says
WASHINGTON — A Pentagon report on China’s military power says Beijing is exceeding previous projections of how quickly it is building up its nuclear weapons arsenal and is “almost certainly” learning lessons from Russia’s war in Ukraine about what a conflict over Taiwan might look like. The report released Thursday...
Sidney Powell vowed to ‘release the Kraken’ to help Donald Trump. She may now testify against him
NEW YORK — The Kraken has cracked. Lawyer Sidney Powell, who famously vowed to unleash a mythical sea monster of litigation to prove that Donald Trump didn’t lose the 2020 election, has now struck a deal with Georgia prosecutors admitting she conspired to wrongly interfere with the state’s election results....
Gaza awaits humanitarian aid, as Israel tells troops to ‘be ready’ for ground invasion
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes on Thursday, including in the south where Palestinians were told to take refuge, and the country’s defense minister told ground troops to “be ready” to invade, though he didn’t say when. Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals tried to stretch out...
At Donald Trump’s civil trial, appraiser recalls Eric Trump’s ‘lofty’ views on property value
NEW YORK — The spotlight at former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial turned Thursday to his son Eric, with testimony and documents suggesting the scion envisioned a “lofty” value for a suburban golf course and was actively involved in appraisals he has said he doesn’t remember. The trial stems...
Tropical Storm Tammy forms and is on path toward Caribbean islands
Tropical Storm Tammy formed in the Atlantic Basin on Wednesday, with sustained winds of 40 mph, and is on track to pass over some of the islands in the eastern Caribbean before turning north. The storm was 575 miles east of the Windward Islands, traveling west at 23 mph as...
U.S. resumes deportation flights to Venezuela with more than 100 migrants onboard
MAIQUETIA, Venezuela — Deportation flights of Venezuelans from the U.S. resumed Wednesday with a first plane of more than a hundred migrants landing back in their economically troubled country under the Biden administration’s latest attempts to deal with swelling numbers of asylum-seekers. This is the first time in years U.S....
Workers noticed beam hanging off railcar before fatal accident, didn’t tell railroad
OMAHA, Neb. — Several days before a Norfolk Southern conductor trainee was killed by a metal beam protruding from a parked railcar on the next track, workers at a U.S. Pipe facility noticed the beam was hanging off the top of the car but never told the railroad about it,...
Israel OKs limited aid for Gaza as regional tensions rise following hospital blast
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that limited humanitarian aid would be allowed into Gaza from Egypt following a request from President Joe Biden. The president’s visit came after hundreds of people were reported killed in an explosion at a Gaza Strip hospital. There were conflicting...
Joran van der Sloot admits he murdered Natalee Holloway in Aruba in 2005, pleads guilty to extorting her momVideo
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Natalee Holloway was beaten to death on a beach in Aruba and her body pushed out to sea after refusing the advances of the chief suspect in the 2005 killing, who admitted to the murder before pleading guilty Wednesday to extorting money from the missing teen’s mother....
US vetoes UN resolution condemning all violence against civilians in Israel-Hamas war
UNITED NATIONS — The U.S. vetoed a U.N. resolution Wednesday to condemn all violence against civilians in the Israel-Hamas war and to urge humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, saying it was too early to craft an appropriate Security Council response to the crisis. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the...
Woman arrested after trying to get close to Donald Trump at New York civil fraud trial
NEW YORK — A woman was arrested Wednesday after she stood up at former President Donald Trump’s New York civil fraud trial and walked toward the front of the courtroom where he was sitting. The woman, later identified as a court employee, retreated after a court officer told her to...
Israel will let Egypt deliver some badly needed aid to Gaza, as it reels from hospital blast
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israel said Wednesday that it will allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the first crack in a 10-day siege on the territory. Palestinians reeled from a massive blast at a Gaza City hospital that killed hundreds the day...
Drone attack on base hosting U.S. troops intercepted in Iraq, heightening fears of a broader conflict
BEIRUT — Two drones launched at a base hosting U.S. troops in western Iraq were intercepted Wednesday, a U.S. defense official said. Hours later, an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq announced it had launched another drone attack on a second base. No injuries were reported in either incident. The salvos came...
Biden’s pick to be ambassador to Israel tells senators he’ll ensure the U.S. ally ‘has what it needs’
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s nominee to be ambassador to Israel told senators Wednesday that he would “ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself” and would work with the U.S. ally to end the attacks by Hamas if he were confirmed. Jacob Lew, a treasury secretary under President...
Gaza’s doctors struggle to save hospital blast survivors as Middle East rage growsVideo
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Doctors in Gaza City faced with dwindling medical supplies performed surgery on hospital floors, often without anesthesia, in a desperate bid to save badly wounded victims of a massive blast that killed civilians sheltering in a nearby hospital amid Israeli bombings and a blockade of...
Biden pledges solidarity with Israelis and suggests ‘other team’ to blame for Gaza hospital blastVideo
TEL AVIV, Israel — President Joe Biden vowed to show the world that the U.S. stands in solidarity with Israel during his visit there Wednesday, and offered an assessment that the deadly explosion at a Gaza Strip hospital that prompted mass protests in Arab nations apparently was not carried out...
SpaceX launch equals Space Coast record for the year
ORLANDO, Fla. — A SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday night marked the Space Coast’s 57th launch of the year, equaling the record total seen in 2022. A Falcon 9 with 22 of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites lifted off from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 at...
Officials: Remains of at least 189 removed from Colorado funeral home
DENVER — The remains of at least 189 people have been removed from a Colorado funeral home, up from an initial estimate of about 115 when the decaying and improperly stored bodies were discovered two weeks ago, officials said Tuesday. The remains were found by authorities responding to a report...
More U.S. ships head toward Israel; 2,000 troops on heightened alert
WASHINGTON — Within hours of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, the U.S. began moving warships and aircraft to the region to be ready to provide Israel with whatever it needed to respond. On Tuesday, more ships and forces were heading toward Israel, and other troops in the U.S. were...
Pentagon releases footage of hundreds of ‘concerning’ aircraft intercepts by Chinese planes
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has released footage of some of the more than 180 intercepts of U.S. warplanes by Chinese aircraft that have occurred in the past two years — more than the total number over the previous decade and part of a trend U.S. military officials called concerning. The...
Blast kills hundreds at Gaza hospital; Hamas and Israel trade blame, as Biden heads to Mideast
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — A massive blast rocked a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter Tuesday, killing hundreds of people, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said. Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military said the hospital was hit by a rocket misfired by...
IRS plans limited rollout of free e-file tax return system with invitations to select taxpayers
WASHINGTON — The IRS plans to invite select taxpayers across 13 states to try out the agency’s pilot electronic free file tax return system beginning in January. The agency estimates that hundreds of thousands of taxpayers will participate in the limited rollout of the program for the 2024 filing season....
