U.S./World category, Page 420
India launches a spacecraft to study the sun after successful landing near the moon’s south pole
NEW DELHI — India launched its first space mission to study the sun on Saturday, less than two weeks after a successful uncrewed landing near the south polar region of the moon. The Aditya-L1 spacecraft took off on board a satellite launch vehicle from the Sriharikota space center in southern...
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green says number missing from Maui fire could drop from 388 to less than 100
HONOLULU — The number of people listed as missing from Maui’s devastating wildfire could drop from nearly 400 to fewer than 100 when authorities provide an update Friday on their efforts to locate them, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said. “We think the number has dropped down into the double digits,...
Russia deploys ICBM that Putin says will make enemies ‘think twice’
MOSCOW — The head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency said Friday that the country has deployed an advanced intercontinental ballistic missile that President Vladimir Putin once said will make Russia’s enemies “think twice.” Agency head Yuri Borisov said Sarmat missiles have been placed on combat duty, according to Russian news...
Proud Boy who smashed Capitol window on Jan. 6 gets 10 years in prison, then declares, ‘Trump won!’
WASHINGTON — A former member of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group who smashed a window at the U.S. Capitol in the building’s first breach of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot was sentenced on Friday to 10 years in prison — and then defiantly declared as he walked out of...
Schooner that sank in Lake Michigan in 1881 found intact, miles off Wisconsin coastline
ALGOMA, Wis. — Shipwreck hunters have discovered the intact remains of a schooner that sank in Lake Michigan in 1881 and is so well-preserved it still contains the crew’s possessions in its final resting spot miles from Wisconsin’s coastline. Wisconsin maritime historians Brendon Baillod and Robert Jaeck found the 156-year-old...
Biden approves Medal of Honor for Army helicopter pilot who rescued soldiers in a Vietnam firefight
WASHINGTON — As an Army first lieutenant and Cobra helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, Larry Taylor flew hundreds of missions and saved countless lives. But no rescue flight was as daring, or as meaningful to Taylor, as the one for which he will receive the Medal of Honor from...
Federal judge strikes down Texas law requiring age verification to view porn sites
A federal judge has struck down a Texas law requiring age verification and health warnings to view pornographic websites and blocked the state attorney general’s office from enforcing it. In a ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge David Ezra agreed with claims that House Bill 1181, which was signed into law...
From strikes to new union contracts, Labor Day’s organizing roots are especially visible this year
NEW YORK — Labor Day is right around the corner, along with the big sales and barbecues that come with it. But the activist roots of the holiday are especially visible this year as unions challenge how workers are treated — from Hollywood to the auto production lines of Detroit....
U.S. employers added 187,000 jobs in August in sign of a still-resilient labor market
WASHINGTON — The nation’s employers added 187,000 jobs in August, evidence of a slowing but still-resilient labor market despite the high interest rates the Federal Reserve has imposed. The job growth marked an increase from July’s revised gain of 157,000 but still pointed to a moderating pace of hiring compared...
Squeezing in one last summer trip over Labor Day weekend? Expect crowded airports and full flights
DALLAS — By some measures, air travelers have enjoyed a less stressful summer than last year, but canceled flights remain elevated as airlines face their last big test of the prime vacation season: Labor Day weekend. The Federal Aviation Administration predicts that this will be the third busiest holiday weekend...
Texas high court allows law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors to take effect
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court allowed a new state law banning gender-affirming care for minors to take effect Friday, setting up Texas to be the most populous state with such restrictions on transgender children. Legal advocates who sued on behalf of the families and doctors, including the American...
Canada issues U.S. travel advisory warning LGBTQ+ community about laws that may affect them
TORONTO — Canada this week updated its travel advisory to the U.S., warning members of the LGBTQ+ community that some American states have enacted laws that may affect them. The country’s Global Affairs department did not specify which states, but is advising travelers to check the local laws for their...
Election workers have gotten death threats and warnings they will be lynched, the U.S. government says
WASHINGTON — More than a dozen people nationally have been charged with threatening election workers by a Justice Department unit trying to stem the tide of violent and graphic threats against people who count and secure the vote. Government employees are being bombarded with threats even in normally quiet periods...
Ex-Proud Boys organizer sentenced to 17 years in prison for plot to keep Trump in power
WASHINGTON — A former organizer of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced on Thursday to 17 years in prison for spearheading an attack on the U.S. Capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 presidential election. Federal prosecutors had...
Some U.S. airports strive to make flying more inclusive for those with dementia
PHOENIX — Andrea Nissen is trying to prepare her 65-year-old husband, who has Alzheimer’s disease, for a solo flight from Arizona to Oklahoma to visit family. She worries about travelers and airport officials misinterpreting his forgetfulness or habit of getting in people’s personal space, and feels guilty about not being...
Train slams into a group of workers on the tracks at an Italian station, killing 5
ROME — A speeding out-of-service train slammed into a group of workers doing nighttime track maintenance in northern Italy on Thursday, killing five of them, authorities said. The crash occurred shortly after midnight at a station in Brandizzo, a town in Italy’s Piedmont region. Piedmont Gov. Alberto Cirio provided the...
North Korea says it simulated nuclear attacks on South Korea and rehearsed occupation of its rival
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Thursday its latest missile launches simulated “scorched earth” nuclear strikes on South Korea and that it’s also been rehearsing an occupation of its rival’s territory in the event of conflict. Pyongyang has previously tested nuclear-capable missiles and described how it would use them...
Building fire in Johannesburg leaves at least 73 dead, many homeless, authorities say
JOHANNESBURG — A nighttime fire ripped through a rundown five-story building in Johannesburg that was occupied by homeless people and squatters, leaving at least 73 people dead early Thursday, emergency services in South Africa’s biggest city said. Some of the people living in a maze of shacks and other makeshift...
Tropical Storm Idalia descends on North Carolina after pounding Florida, Georgia, South Carolina
PERRY, Fla. — Tropical Storm Idalia descended on the Carolinas on its way out to the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, leaving a trail of flooding and destruction throughout the Southeast that stretched back to its landfall as a hurricane in Florida. Rescue and repair efforts continued in the areas the...
Bodies of 3 U.S. Marines killed in Australian aircraft crash retrieved from crash site
CANBERRA, Australia — The bodies of three U.S. Marines killed in a tiltrotor aircraft crash during a training exercise in Australia were retrieved from the crash scene while another Marine remained in critical condition, the Marine Corps said Tuesday. Those killed were from Illinois, Virginia and Colorado. The Marine V-22B...
Alex Murdaugh loses prison phone privileges after lawyer records phone call for documentary
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh has lost his phone privileges and his prison tablet computer after his lawyer recorded him reading his journal entries on a call for a documentary about his case, South Carolina Corrections Department officials said Wednesday. Prison policy prohibits inmates from talking to the...
Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell appears to freeze up againVideo
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell appeared to briefly freeze up and was unable to answer a question from a reporter at an event in Kentucky on Wednesday, weeks after he had a similar episode in Washington. According to video from a local news station, the 81-year-old McConnell was...
Revelers hurl tomatoes at each other as streets are awash in red pulp in Spanish town’s Tomatina party
BUÑOL, Spain — Some 15,000 people, including many tourists, pasted each other with tomatoes Wednesday as Spain’s annual Tomatina street battle took place in the eastern town of Buñol. Workers on trucks tipped 120 tons of overripe tomatoes into the main street of the town for participants to throw. The...
Judge holds Rudy Giuliani liable in Georgia election workers’ defamation case, orders him to pay fees
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Wednesday held Rudy Giuliani liable in a defamation lawsuit brought by two Georgia election workers who say they were falsely accused of fraud, entering a default judgment against the former New York City mayor and ordering him to pay tens of thousands of dollars...
Neurosurgeon investigating patient’s mystery symptoms plucks worm from woman’s brain
CANBERRA, Australia — A neurosurgeon investigating a woman’s mystery symptoms in an Australian hospital says she plucked a wriggling worm from the patient’s brain. Surgeon Hari Priya Bandi was performing a biopsy through a hole in the 64-year-old patient’s skull at Canberra Hospital last year when she used forceps to...
