U.S./World category, Page 555
German ballet director suspended over feces attack on critic
BERLIN — A German newspaper critic had animal feces smeared on her face in the city of Hannover by a ballet director who apparently took offense at a review she wrote. The Hannover state opera house apologized for the incident and said Monday that it was suspending ballet director Marco...
Biden fires Architect of the Capitol over alleged abuses
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has fired embattled Architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton, who oversees the historic building that houses Congress and its expansive grounds, as pressure mounted for his removal following a scathing inspector general report of personal and management lapses. The White House said Monday that Blanton’s...
Turkey earthquake survivors seek hot meals as rescues wane
ADIYAMAN, Turkey — Thousands left homeless by a massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria a week ago packed into crowded tents or lined up in the streets Monday for hot meals as the desperate search for survivors entered its last hours. Rescue teams that included Turkish coal miners and...
5 years after Parkland shooting, families cope through good works
PARKLAND, Fla. — After a gunman murdered 14 students and three staff members at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School five years ago Tuesday, their families were left with a burning question: How do we go on with our lives while honoring our loved one’s memory? Most have answered by...
Russia pushes advance on Bakhmut, bolsters defenses in south
KYIV, Ukraine — Fierce battles raged outside Bakhmut as Russian forces pushed their advance on the eastern city with heavy shelling and infantry attacks, Ukraine’s presidential office said Monday, with at least five civilians killed and as many wounded in action across the war-torn country in the last 24 hours....
U-Haul driver’s ‘rampage’ in NYC leaves 8 hurt, police sayVideo
NEW YORK — A man driving a U-Haul truck swerved onto sidewalks and plowed into scooter riders in New York City on Monday, injuring multiple people before police were able to pin the careening vehicle against a building following a mileslong pursuit. At least eight people were hurt, two critically....
Study hints healthier school lunch can reduce obesity
A 2010 federal law that boosted nutrition standards for school meals may have begun to help slow the rise in obesity among America’s children — even teenagers who can buy their own snacks, a new study showed. The national study found a small but significant decline in the average body...
Covid could create crisis in Alex Murdaugh murder trial
Two jurors in the double murder trial of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh have covid, leaving the future of the proceedings in some doubt as they enter their fourth week on Monday. Judge Clifton Newman decided keep the trial going in the packed Colleton County courtroom after the remaining...
Earnest or playful, that Valentine’s card has a history
NEW YORK — It was Valentine’s Day 1917 in the Minnesota farming village of Lewiston, and Fred Roth — a fourth grader — seems to have come up with just the way to express his love for his sweetheart, Louise Wirt. He gave her a card. The folding, pop-up Valentine’s...
Dubai again plans for flying taxi takeoff, this time by 2026
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai again is planning for the takeoff of flying taxis in this futuristic city-state on the Arabian Peninsula, offering its firmest details yet Monday for a pledged launch by 2026. Since 2017, the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates has offered promises to launch...
Antisemitism worries rising for many U.S. Jews, survey finds
More than four in 10 Jews in the United States feel their status in America is less secure than it was a year earlier, according to a new survey by the American Jewish Committee. The survey, conducted in the fall of 2022, was released Monday by the AJC, a prominent...
Kansas City officer shot, hurt after Chiefs’ Super Bowl win
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City police officer was hit by gunfire and wounded at the department’s headquarters shortly after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, authorities said early Monday. The Kansas City Police Department said the officer’s injuries are not life-threatening. The source and motive of the gunfire...
China says more than 10 U.S. balloons flew in its airspace
BEIJING — China on Monday said more than 10 U.S. high-altitude balloons have flown in its airspace during the past year without its permission, following Washington’s accusation that Beijing operates a fleet of surveillance balloons around the world. The United States denied that it operates any surveillance balloons over China....
College Board accuses Florida of political motivations in AP course dispute
TAMPA, Fla. — Taken aback by Florida’s attacks against its new AP African American studies course, the College Board denounced the state Department of Education, saying it used the course to advance a politically motivated agenda. The organization’s letter, published at 8 p.m. Eastern time Saturday, came just two days...
U.S. jets down 4 objects in 8 days, unprecedented in peacetimeVideo
WASHINGTON — A U.S. fighter jet shot down an “unidentified object” over Lake Huron on Sunday on orders from President Joe Biden. It was the fourth such downing in eight days and the latest military strike in an extraordinary chain of events over U.S. airspace that Pentagon officials believe has...
Trudeau: U.S. fighter shot down object over northern Canada
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that on his order a U.S. fighter jet shot down an “unidentified object” that was flying high over the Yukon, acting a day after the U.S. took similar action over Alaska. North American Aerospace Defense Command, the combined U.S.-Canada...
Army sees safety, not ‘wokeness,’ as top recruiting obstacle
WASHINGTON — While some Republicans blame the covid-19 vaccine or “wokeness” for the Army’s recruiting woes, the military service says the bigger hurdles are more traditional ones: Young people don’t want to die or get injured, deal with the stress of Army life and put their lives on hold. They...
Sorrow turns to tension over Turkey earthquake response
ANTAKYA, Turkey — Six days after a massive earthquake killed more than 28,000 in Syria and Turkey, sorrow and disbelief are turning to anger and tension over a sense that there has been an ineffective, unfair and disproportionate response to the historic disaster. Many in Turkey express frustration that rescue...
Turkey detains building contractors as quake deaths pass 33K
ANTAKYA, Turkey — Turkish justice officials targeted more than 130 people allegedly involved in shoddy and illegal construction methods as rescuers extricated more survivors, including a pregnant woman and two small children, six days after a pair of earthquakes collapsed thousands of buildings. The death toll from the 7.8 magnitude...
Trudeau: Warplane shot down object over northern Canada
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that on his order a U.S. warplane shot down an unidentified object that was flying high over northern Canada, acting a day after U.S. planes took similar action over Alaska. Shortly before Trueau’s tweet, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said it...
1st infant in Kentucky surrendered anonymously at ‘baby box’
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Kentucky has seen its first infant anonymously dropped off at one of its “baby box” safe surrender locations. At a news conference Friday, Safe Haven Baby Boxes founder and CEO Monica Kelsey said the child was dropped off within the last seven days at a Bowling...
Wagner owner says war in Ukraine could drag on for years
KYIV, Ukraine — The owner of the Russian Wagner Group private military contractor actively involved in the fighting in Ukraine has predicted that the war could drag on for years. Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video interview released late Friday that it could take 18 months to two years for...
Protest outside U.K. asylum-seeker hotel ends in 15 arrests
LONDON— An anti-migration protest outside a hotel housing asylum-seekers in northwest England turned violent and resulted in the arrests of 15 people, local police said Saturday. The Merseyside Police department said a police officer and two civilians sustained minor injuries during the disturbance on Friday night in Knowsley, a village...
Schools become flashpoint for Republicans eyeing White House
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump has called for parents to elect and fire school principals. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has banned instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. And Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador who is expected to announce her White House...
Survivors still being found as quake death toll tops 28,000
LATAKIA, Syria — Ibrahim Zakaria lost track of time drifting into and out of consciousness while trapped for nearly five days in the rubble of his home following the massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria this week. The 23-year-old cellphone shop worker from the Syrian town of Jableh survived...
