U.S./World category, Page 6
Violent tornado tears through Oklahoma town, damaging 40 homes but sparing livesVideo
ENID, Okla. — Raeann Hunt scrambled to her cellar as a tornado bore down on her Oklahoma community. “It is headed right for us,” she recalled thinking, as she peeked outside, unable to contain her curiosity. Huddled inside the dark 8-by-8 foot concrete shelter with her husband, brother-in-law and a...
Trump dispatches Witkoff and Kushner to Pakistan for new talks with Iran’s foreign minister
ISLAMABAD — President Donald Trump is sending his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan to meet with Iran’s foreign minister, the White House said Friday, as officials in the South Asian nation pushed to revive ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran. The talks planned for Saturday come...
Trump’s ‘gold card’ visa starting at $1 million granted to just 1 person so far, White House says
President Donald Trump’s “gold card” visa, where a foreigner can shell out at least $1 million to legally live and work in the U.S., has been approved for one person, said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Thursday — appearing to fall a bit short of an earlier claim. After it launched...
Cuban diplomat denies that releasing political prisoners is part of U.S. negotiationsVideo
UNITED NATIONS — Havana will not abide by any American “ultimatums” to release political prisoners as part of new talks, a Cuban diplomat said Thursday, while asserting that leaders are “preparing for all scenarios” if U.S. President Donald Trump makes good on threats to intervene in the island nation. In...
Federal officials charge U.S. soldier with using classified intel to win over $400K bet on Maduro raid
WASHINGTON — A U.S. soldier involved in the military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been charged with using classified information about the mission to win more than $400,000 in an online betting market, federal officials announced Thursday. Gannon Ken Van Dyk was part of the operation to...
Trump says Lebanon, Israel agree to extend Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire by 3 weeks
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House on Thursday. Trump said the meeting between the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon to the United States went “very well.” The meeting...
Justice Department’s watchdog is reviewing compliance with the law mandating Epstein files release
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s internal watchdog announced a review Thursday of the department’s compliance with the law mandating the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, stepping into a politically sensitive saga that has shadowed the Trump administration for the past year. The review from the inspector general’s office will...
Exchange of gunfire inside Mall of Louisiana leaves 1 person dead and 5 wounded
BATON ROUGE, La. — An exchange of gunfire at a food court inside a Louisiana mall on Thursday killed one person and wounded five others and sent workers and shoppers scrambling for safety, police and witnesses said. Authorities described the shooting inside the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge as...
Federal authorities arrest 2 dozen Mexican Mafia members and associates in California
SANTA ANA, Calif. — More than two dozen members and associates of the Mexican Mafia were arrested Thursday during an early morning crackdown across Southern California, federal authorities said. The FBI and other federal and local agencies executed search and arrest warrants at about 30 locations mostly in Orange County,...
Ex-officer planned to kill Black people in mass shooting at a New Orleans festival, authorities say
NEW ORLEANS — Authorities say a former North Carolina law enforcement officer planned to kill Black people in a mass shooting at a major New Orleans festival but was arrested at a Florida hotel with a handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Authorities in several states did not name...
Why the European Union’s wartime loan is a vital lifeline for cash-strapped Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Cash-strapped Ukraine has secured a crucial European Union loan that will provide a vital lifeline to sustain its wartime efforts this year. The $106 billion package was formally approved on Thursday, days after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline had been...
The Gates Foundation is reviewing its Epstein ties as released emails raise questions for funders
NEW YORK — The Gates Foundation is reviewing its ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the organization confirmed Wednesday, as chairman Bill Gates faces mounting scrutiny over his appearances in Justice Department documents related to its investigation of the disgraced financier. Gates, who founded Microsoft, reportedly spoke “candidly” about...
Nuclear energy is having a global revival 40 years after Chernobyl
The 1986 Chernobyl disaster fueled global fears about nuclear power and slowed its development in Europe and elsewhere. Four decades later, however, there’s a revival around the world, a trend that has been given a big boost by war in the Middle East. Over 400 nuclear reactors are operational in...
Trump reclassifies state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug in a historic shift
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s acting attorney general on Thursday signed an order reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug, a major policy shift long sought by advocates who said cannabis should never have been treated like heroin by the federal government. The order signed by Todd Blanche does...
Trump orders U.S. military to ‘shoot and kill’ Iranian small boats choking Strait of HormuzVideo
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines in the Strait of Hormuz, he said Thursday, a day after Iran again displayed its ability to thwart traffic through the channel. Trump’s post on social media...
Senate passes budget plan for ICE and Border Patrol in bid to reopen Homeland Security Department
WASHINGTON — The Senate took the first steps in a new effort to reopen the Department of Homeland Security early Thursday, voting to adopt a budget plan that would fund ICE and Border Patrol over Democratic objections and sending it to the House. The entire department has been shut down...
Immigration officer is charged with assault after protest outside Colorado ICE facility, DA says
An immigration officer has been charged with third-degree assault and criminal mischief following an investigation into how he treated a protester who said the officer put her in a chokehold. Multiple videos from bystanders show a masked agent grabbing and pulling Franci Stagi across the street during a protest in...
Supreme Court hears arguments on U.S. power to strip green cards
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices grappled over a president’s power over immigration enforcement Wednesday during oral arguments over a technical challenge to the government’s ability to take away someone’s green card as they enter the country. Over the course of more than an hour of oral arguments, the justices delved...
New York Times says FBI investigated reporter after article about director Kash Patel’s girlfriend
NEW YORK — The New York Times says the FBI investigated whether one of its reporters, Elizabeth Williamson, violated laws against stalking after she wrote a story nearly two months ago about how federal agents had been assigned to protect and give rides to FBI Director Kash Patel’s girlfriend. The...
Pentagon says Navy Secretary John Phelan is leaving, the latest departure of a top defense leader
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon announced Wednesday that the Navy’s top civilian official, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, is leaving his job. In a statement posted to social media, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Phelan was “departing the administration, effective immediately.” Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao will become acting secretary of...
U.S. health officials nix publication of a study on covid vaccine effectiveness
NEW YORK — U.S. health officials stopped the publication of a study on whether the covid-19 vaccine was keeping adults from becoming sick enough to have to go to the hospital. A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesman on Wednesday confirmed the decision to halt publication, citing a...
Federal appeals court blocks California law requiring federal agents to wear identification
LOS ANGELES — A federal appeals court issued an order Wednesday blocking a California law passed in 2025 requiring federal immigration agents to wear a badge or some form of identification. The Trump administration filed a lawsuit in November challenging the law, arguing that it would threaten the safety of...
Chemical leak at a West Virginia plant kills 2 people and sends 30 others to hospitals, officials say
INSTITUTE, W.Va. — A chemical leak at a West Virginia silver recovery business on Wednesday killed two people and sent about 30 others to hospitals, including one in serious condition, authorities said. The leak occurred at the Catalyst Refiners plant in Institute as workers were preparing to shut down at...
Searchers find the body of 1 of 6 missing crew from a ship that overturned during a typhoon
SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands — Searchers found the body of one of the six missing crew members from a cargo ship that overturned near the Northern Mariana Islands during a typhoon and were looking for the rest, hoping they might have made it to a life raft. U.S. Air Force...
Supreme Court rules for Michigan in its fight to shut down an aging energy pipeline
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with Michigan in ruling that the state’s lawsuit seeking to shut down a section of an aging pipeline beneath a Great Lakes channel will stay in state court. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for a unanimous court that the Enbridge energy company waited...
