U.S./World category, Page 760
Lightning strike at Jersey Shore kills lifeguard, injures 7Video
BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A young lifeguard was killed and seven other people, including three other lifeguards, were injured when lightning struck a Jersey Shore beach Monday afternoon, authorities said. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy confirmed that a lifeguard in Berkeley Township was killed in the afternoon. It marked the...
European Union takes U.S. off safe travel list; backs travel restrictionsVideo
BRUSSELS — The European Union recommended Monday that its 27 nations reinstate restrictions on tourists from the United States because of rising coronavirus infections there, but member countries will keep the option of allowing fully vaccinated U.S. travelers in. The decision by the European Council to remove the U.S. from...
Florida officials withhold school board salaries over mask mandates
TALLAHASSEE — Florida state education officials on Monday began to make good on threats to withhold funding from local school districts that defied Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on mask mandates, despite a circuit judge last week ruling the ban unconstitutional. Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran announced that the Florida Department...
Wildfire forces thousands from popular Lake Tahoe resortVideo
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Thousands of people rushed to get out of South Lake Tahoe as the entire tourist resort city came under evacuation orders and wildfire raced toward the large freshwater lake of Lake Tahoe, which straddles California and Nevada. Evacuation warnings issued for the resort city of...
China limits children to 3 hours of online gaming a week
China is banning children from playing online games for more than three hours a week, the harshest restriction so far on the game industry as Chinese regulators continue cracking down on the technology sector. Minors in China can only play games between 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays, weekends...
‘Unprecedented’ NYC subway breakdown sparked by power surge
NEW YORK — A momentary power surge disrupted half of the New York City subway system for several hours and stranded hundreds of passengers, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday. The unprecedented breakdown affected more than 80 trains on the subway system’s numbered lines plus the L train from shortly after...
PNC to raise base wages to $18 an hour, latest bank to do so
NEW YORK — PNC Bank is the latest large U.S. financial services company to increase wages in a bid to keep and attract employees, raising its minimum wage to $18 an hour while also giving higher-paid workers a bump in pay. The bank said Monday that the wage increase will...
Hostile school board meetings have members calling it quits
A Nevada school board member said he had thoughts of suicide before stepping down amid threats and harassment. In Virginia, a board member resigned over what she saw as politics driving decisions on masks. The vitriol at board meetings in Wisconsin had one member fearing he would find his tires...
After months, Egypt frees reporter, activist, YouTube star
CAIRO — Egypt has released an online comedian, a journalist and a political activist after they spent months in pre-trail detention, two lawyers said on Monday. It was the latest in a series of recent releases amid concerns by the United States and international rights groups over the arrests and...
Last troops exit Afghanistan, ending America’s longest warVideo
WASHINGTON — The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan late Monday, ending America’s longest war and closing a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost the lives of more than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service...
Hurricane Ida traps Louisianans, shatters the power grid
NEW ORLEANS — Rescuers in boats, helicopters and high-water trucks brought hundreds of people trapped by Hurricane Ida’s floodwaters to safety Monday and utility repair crews rushed in, after the furious storm swamped the Louisiana coast and ravaged the electrical grid in the stifling, late-summer heat. Residents living amid the...
IAEA: North Korea appears to have resumed nuke reactor operation
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea appears to have restarted the operation of its main nuclear reactor used to produce weapons fuels, the U.N. atomic agency said, as the North openly threatens to enlarge its nuclear arsenal amid long-dormant nuclear diplomacy with the United States. The annual report by the...
White House: U.S. has capacity to evacuate remaining AmericansVideo
WASHINGTON — The United States has the capacity to evacuate the approximately 300 U.S. citizens remaining in Afghanistan who want to leave before President Joe Biden’s Tuesday deadline, senior administration officials said, as rocket fire in Kabul and another U.S. drone strike against suspected Islamic State militants underscored the grave...
Flames consume high-rise in Milan; residents evacuated
MILAN — Italian firefighters on Sunday battled a high-rise blaze in Milan that spread rapidly through a 20-story residential building and poured black smoke into the air. Residents were hurriedly evacuated. Mayor Giuseppe Sala said there were no reports of injuries or deaths, but that firefighters were kicking down doors,...
Weather heats up as California fire inches toward Lake Tahoe
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Spiking temperatures and increasing wind on Sunday added to the challenges faced by firefighters battling blazes across Northern California, including one that continued its march toward the Lake Tahoe resort region. “It is going to be the hottest day so far since the fire began,...
U.S. says drone kills suicide bombers targeting Kabul airport
KABUL, Afghanistan — A U.S. drone strike Sunday struck a vehicle carrying “multiple suicide bombers” from Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate before they could target the ongoing military evacuation at Kabul’s international airport, American officials said. There were few initial details about the incident, as well as a rocket that struck...
Biden pays respects to U.S. troops killed in AfghanistanVideo
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. — In hushed reverence, President Joe Biden stood witness with grieving families Sunday under a gray sky as, one by one, the remains of 13 U.S. troops killed in the Kabul suicide bombing were removed with solemnity from a military aircraft that brought them home....
1st death from Hurricane Ida; power out across New OrleansVideo
NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Ida blasted ashore Sunday as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the U.S., knocking out power to all of New Orleans, blowing roofs off buildings and reversing the flow of the Mississippi River as it rushed from the Louisiana coast into one of...
Biden: Another attack likely, pledges more strikes on ISIS-K
President Joe Biden vowed Saturday to keep up airstrikes against the Islamic extremist group whose suicide bombing at the Kabul airport killed scores of Afghans and 13 American service members. Another terror attack, he said, is “highly likely” this weekend as the U.S. winds down its evacuation. The Pentagon said...
Voting rights advocates rally for stronger elections laws
Thousands of voting rights advocates rallied across the country Saturday to call for sweeping federal laws that would wipe out voting restrictions advancing in some Republican-controlled states that could make it harder to cast a ballot. Many activists view the fight over voting rules as the civil rights issue of...
GOP rift widens amid growing hostility to Afghan refugees
As the U.S. rushes to evacuate Americans and allies from the chaos of Afghanistan, a growing number of Republicans are questioning why the U.S. should take in Afghan citizens who worked side by side with Americans, further exacerbating divides within the party heading into next year’s midterm elections. Little more...
Taliban largely seal off Kabul airport as airlift winds down
Taliban forces sealed off Kabul’s airport Saturday to most Afghans hoping for evacuation and most NATO nations flew out their troops after two decades in Afghanistan, winding down a frantic airlift that Western leaders acknowledged was still leaving many of their citizens and local allies behind. The United States, which...
Russia’s covid deaths hit new high in July
A new report from Russia’s state statistics agency shows the country recorded a record number of deaths in July of people infected with coronavirus. The report from the Rosstat agency said 50,421 people suffering from covid-19 died during the month, sharply higher than the previous record of 44,435 in December....
Iraq brings together Mideast rivals in bid to ease tensions
Arab heads of state and senior officials from the region including archenemies Iran and Saudi Arabia held a rare meeting Saturday at a conference hosted by Iraq. The meeting is aimed at easing Mideast tensions and underscored the Arab country’s new role as mediator. French President Emmanuel Macron also attended...
U.S. intelligence still divided on origins of coronavirus
U.S. intelligence agencies remain divided on the origins of the coronavirus but believe China’s leaders did not know about the virus before the start of the global pandemic, according to results released Friday of a review ordered by President Joe Biden. According to an unclassified summary, four members of the...
