U.S./World category, Page 557
U.S. says China balloon could collect intelligence signals
WASHINGTON — The China balloon shot down by the U.S. was equipped to detect and collect intelligence signals as part of a huge, military-linked aerial surveillance program that targeted more than 40 countries, the Biden administration declared Thursday, citing imagery from American U-2 spy planes. A fleet of balloons operates...
Native Americans renew protests of Kansas City Chiefs mascot
PHOENIX — Two years ago as the Kansas City Chiefs were vying for a second consecutive Super Bowl victory in Tampa, Florida, there was one group outside Raymond James Stadium picketing their appearance. Native American protesters were calling for the Chiefs to drop their name, logo and their trademark “war...
U.S., U.K. impose cybersecurity sanctions on Russian group
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday announced a joint U.S.-U.K. effort to sanction Russian cybercriminals as the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nears and Treasury tightens its efforts to financially punish violators of existing sanctions. The U.S. coordinated with the United Kingdom to impose sanctions on...
Minnesota factory workers subdue armed person at plant
NEW YORK MILLS, Minn. — Workers at a boat factory in Minnesota subdued a person armed with a weapon at the plant early Thursday, authorities said. The unidentified person was taken into police custody and no one was injured at the Lund Boat Co., the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s office...
U.S. House votes to condemn China over balloon surveillance
WASHINGTON — The House voted unanimously Thursday to condemn China’s balloon surveillance program as a “brazen violation” of U.S. sovereignty, a rare and swift bipartisan rebuke of Beijing as questions mount about the craft the U.S. says was part of a vast aerial spy program. The 419-0 action comes as...
Senate panel probes holiday meltdown at Southwest Airlines
A pilots’ union president has told Congress that Southwest Airlines’ December meltdown happened because the airline grew too fast during the pandemic and didn’t update critical technology, then botched the recovery including operating 500 empty flights while passengers were stranded over the holidays. In prepared testimony for a Senate hearing...
Arrested journalist covering Ohio train derailment was ‘just trying to do my job’Video
A journalist for NewsNation television station was arrested Wednesday in East Palestine, Ohio after a press conference about lifting evacuation orders related to a damaging train derailment. The correspondent, Evan Lambert, was recording a live broadcast for NewsNation around 5 p.m. and was arrested by law enforcement officers after he...
Supreme Court might have easy outs on elections, immigration
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court soon could find itself with easy ways out of two high-profile cases involving immigration and elections, if indeed the justices are looking to avoid potentially messy, divisive decisions. Off-ramps in those cases could prove attractive in a term with no shortage of big cases that...
The pandemic missing: The kids who didn’t go back to school
She’d be a senior right now, preparing for graduation in a few months, probably leading her school’s modern dance troupe and taking art classes. Instead, Kailani Taylor-Cribb hasn’t taken a single class in what used to be her high school since the height of the coronavirus pandemic. She vanished from...
Earthquake hits Indonesia, killing 4 as restaurant collapses
JAKARTA, Indonesia — A shallow earthquake shook Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua on Thursday, killing four people who were unable to escape when a floating restaurant collapsed into the sea. The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit residential areas in Jayapura, near Papua’s northern coast and was...
Death toll rises, rescues dwindle in earthquake aftermathVideo
ANTAKYA, Turkey — A teenager was pulled largely unscathed from beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in the Turkish city of Gaziantep early Friday, in a dramatic rescue that belied the reality that the chances of finding many more survivors four days after a catastrophic earthquake killed tens of...
More than 200 discarded shotguns found in Oklahoma dumpster
MIDWEST CITY, Okla. — An Oklahoma firearms dealer is under investigation after more than 200 shotguns were found in a dumpster outside a store he owns in suburban Oklahoma City, according to a search warrant by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. “A Midwest City sanitation worker found...
Disney to cut 7,000 jobs in Iger’s company ‘transformation’
LOS ANGELES — The Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday it will cut about 7,000 jobs as part of a “significant transformation” announced by CEO Bob Iger. The job cuts amount to about 3% of the entertainment’s global workforce and were announced Wednesday after Disney reported quarterly results that topped Wall...
Walmart shooting suspect pleads guilty to federal charges
EL PASO, Texas — A Texas man pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges accusing him of killing nearly two dozen people in a racist attack at an El Paso Walmart, changing his plea weeks after the U.S. government said it wouldn’t seek the death penalty for the hate crimes and...
Florida high school sports officials reconsider menstrual questions
ORLANDO, Fla. — Facing blowback, the director of Florida’s high school sports governing body is backing away from using an eligibility form that requires female athletes to disclose their menstrual history in order to compete. Instead, the executive director of the Florida High School Athletic Association is recommending that most...
Trump ex-lawyer Cohen meets again with New York prosecutors
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen said he was meeting yet again Wednesday with New York City prosecutors who have spent years examining the former president’s financial dealings. Cohen stopped briefly to talk with reporters as he entered the Manhattan district attorney’s office. He said it was...
Zelenskyy tells U.K. ‘freedom will win,’ pushes for warplanes
LONDON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed for fighter jets to ensure his country’s victory over Russia in a dramatic speech before the U.K. Parliament, where he also thanked the British people for their support since “Day One” of Moscow’s invasion. The embattled leader’s surprise visit to Britain in a...
Day care in Canada struck by city bus; 2 children dead
LAVAL, Quebec — A city bus crashed into a day care center Wednesday north of Montreal, killing two children and injuring six, authorities said. The driver was arrested and charged with homicide and careless driving. A neighbor who ran to the center in Laval, Quebec, said she saw children screaming...
In new role, Bernie Sanders demands answers from Starbucks CEO
WASHINGTON — As Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders settles into his new role as chairman of a committee that oversees health and labor issues, he says some corporations “should be nervous.” And the longtime liberal crusader’s first target is Howard Schultz, the interim CEO of Starbucks who has aggressively fought his...
IOC responds to Paris mayor on Olympic plan for Russians
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The International Olympic Committee pushed back against the mayor of Paris on Wednesday, insisting there were no plans for “a Russian or Belarusian delegation” at the 2024 Games while also acknowledging that some athletes from those countries could be welcomed. The IOC statement came a day after...
U.K. holds ceremony replete with tradition to consider coinsVideo
LONDON — A jury sat solemnly in a gilded hall in central London on Tuesday, presided over by a bewigged representative of the crown in flowing black robes, but there were no criminals in the dock. Britain’s coinage was on trial. In a ceremony that dates back to the 12th...
Danish queen to undergo ‘major back surgery’
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II, whose half-century reign makes her Europe’s longest-serving monarch, will undergo “major back surgery” later this month, the royal palace said Wednesday. The 82-year-monarch will be hospitalized afterward and undergo “a longer rehabilitation process,” the royal household said in a statement. “During a long...
United Airlines flight bound for New Jersey turns around after fire in cabin
SAN DIEGO — A fire on board a New Jersey-bound United Airlines plane prompted it to return to San Diego International Airport and four people were taken to a hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation, authorities said. Flight 2664 was heading to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey when...
Hope fading as deaths in Turkey, Syria quake pass 11,000
GAZIANTEP, Turkey — With hope fading to find survivors, stretched rescue teams toiled Wednesday in Turkey and Syria, searching for signs of life in the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The death toll passed 11,000 in the deadliest quake worldwide in more than a decade....
North Korean troops encouraged by Kim Jong Un, his daughter
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lauded the “irresistible might” of his nuclear-armed military as he visited troops with his daughter to mark the 75th founding anniversary of his army, state media said Wednesday. The visit came amid indications North Korea is preparing to stage a...
