U.S./World category, Page 397
NASA’s first asteroid samples land on Earth after release from spacecraft
NASA’s first asteroid samples fetched from deep space parachuted into the Utah desert Sunday to cap a seven-year journey. In a flyby of Earth, the Osiris-Rex spacecraft released the sample capsule from 63,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) out. The small capsule landed four hours later on a remote expanse of military...
Residents prepare to return to sites of homes demolished in Lahaina wildfire 7 weeks ago
HONOLULU — From just outside the burn zone in Lahaina, Jes Claydon can see the ruins of the rental home where she lived for 13 years and raised three children. Little remains recognizable beyond the jars of sea glass that stood outside the front door. On Monday, officials will begin...
With House Republicans in turmoil, colleagues implore GOP holdouts not to shut down government
WASHINGTON — Working furiously to take control of a House in disarray, allies of Speaker Kevin McCarthy implored their Republican colleagues Saturday to drop their hardline tactics and work together to approve a conservative spending plan to prevent a federal shutdown. In public overtures and private calls, Republican lieutenants of...
Government should pay compensation for secretive Cold War-era testing, St. Louis victims say
ST. LOUIS — Ben Phillips’ childhood memories include basketball games with friends, and neighbors gathering in the summer shade at their St. Louis housing complex. He also remembers watching men in hazmat suits scurry on the roofs of high-rise buildings as a dense material poured into the air. “I remember...
Archaeologists unearth largest cemetery ever discovered in Gaza, find rare lead sarcophogi
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian workers in the Gaza Strip have found dozens of ancient graves, including two sarcophagi made of lead, in a Roman-era cemetery — a site dating back some 2,000 years that archaeologists describe as the largest cemetery to be discovered in Gaza. Workers came upon...
Russian airstrikes kill 2, wound 3 in southern Ukraine as war enters 20th month
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian airstrikes on Sunday killed two people and wounded three others in southern Ukraine’s Kherson province, the region’s governor reported Sunday as the war in Ukraine entered a 20th month. According to Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin, Russian forces struck the city of Beryslav, destroying an unspecified number of...
The federal government is headed into a shutdown. What does it mean, who’s hit and what’s next?
WASHINGTON — The federal government is heading toward a shutdown that will disrupt many services, squeeze workers and roil politics as Republicans in the House, fueled by hard-right demands for deep cuts, force a confrontation over federal spending. While some government entities will be exempt — Social Security checks, for...
Ukraine targets key Crimean city a day after striking Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine on Saturday morning launched another missile attack on Sevastopol in occupied Crimea, a Russian-installed official said, a day after an attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet left a serviceman missing and the main building smoldering. Sevastopol was put on air raid alert for...
Auto workers expand strike to 38 locations in 20 states, targeting Stellantis and GM
The United Auto Workers union expanded its strike against major carmakers Friday, walking out of 38 General Motors and Stellantis parts-distribution centers in 20 states. Ford was spared additional strikes because the company has met some of the union’s demands during negotiations over the past week, UAW President Shawn Fain...
Oklahoma judge arrested in Texas capital, accused of shooting parked cars and causing collision
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma judge was arrested in Austin, Texas, last week after authorities say he opened fire on parked vehicles while out driving, striking at least one of them, and intentionally crashed into a woman’s vehicle, telling officers later that she had cut him off. Brian Lovell, an...
9/11 defendant ruled unfit for trial after medical panel finds torture left him psychotic
WASHINGTON — A military judge at Guantanamo Bay has ruled one of the 9/11 defendants too mentally ill to stand trial, after a military medical panel found that the man’s abuse in CIA custody years earlier has rendered him psychotic. Guantanamo military commission spokesman Ronald Flesvig confirmed the ruling by...
Sen. Bob Menendez, wife indicted on bribe charges as probe finds $100,000 in gold bars, prosecutors say
NEW YORK — U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife were indicted Friday on charges that they took bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car for a range of corrupt acts, including having the Democrat use his influence over foreign affairs to benefit the authoritarian...
Ukrainian missile strikes headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, building smolders
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine struck the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in a missile attack Friday that left a serviceman missing and the main building smoldering, according to military officials on both sides of the war and images from the scene in Crimea. The Russian Defense Ministry initially said...
U.S. and China launch economic and financial working groups with aim of easing tensions
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department and China’s Ministry of Finance launched a pair of economic working groups on Friday in an effort to ease tensions and deepen ties between the nations. Led by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Vice Premier He Lifeng, the working groups will be divided into...
U.S. education chief considers new ways to discourage college admissions preference for kids of alumni
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s education chief said he’s open to using “whatever levers” are available — including federal money — to discourage colleges from giving admissions preference to the children of alumni and donors. In an interview with The Associated Press, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said legacy admissions must...
Tropical storm warning issued for East Coast ahead of potential cyclone, forecasters sayVideo
MIAMI — A tropical storm warning was issued Thursday from coastal North Carolina to Delaware ahead of a potential tropical cyclone that’s approaching the densely populated East Coast. The National Hurricane Center announced the formation of “Potential Tropical Cyclone Sixteen” on Thursday morning. The storm was located about 340 miles...
Bus carrying high school students to band camp crashes, killing 2 and seriously injuring others
WAWAYANDA, N.Y. — A charter bus carrying high school students to a band camp careened off a New York highway and tumbled down an embankment Thursday, killing two adults and seriously injuring several others, officials said. Gov. Kathy Hochul said a failure of a front tire could have contributed to...
Officer’s threat to charge 11-year-old crime victim draws sharp critique of Columbus police
COLUMBUS — When an Ohio father learned that his 11-year-old daughter had been manipulated into sending explicit photos to an adult, he turned to the police for help. But instead of treating the girl as a crime victim, an officer seemingly threatened to charge her under a law most people...
In a first, Massachusetts to ban purchase of single-use plastic bottles by state agencies
BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey signed an executive order Thursday that she says will make Massachusetts the first state to ban the purchase of single-use plastic bottles by state agencies. Massachusetts buys about 100,000 of the plastic water bottles each year. The order bars all executive offices and agencies in...
Powerball jackpot elusive again; Saturday prize rises to $725M
Another Powerball drawing, another night without a big winner. The winning numbers were 16-27-59-62-63 with a Powerball of 23. Up for grabs was $672 million, $320 million for all cash. No entries matched all six numbers in the Powerball drawing Wednesday night, pushing the jackpot to $725 million ($345.7 million...
Man executed for the 1996 killing of a University of Oklahoma dance student
McALESTER, Okla. — Oklahoma executed an inmate Thursday for the 1996 killing of a University of Oklahoma dance student, in a case that went unsolved for years until DNA from the crime scene was matched to a man serving prison time for burglary. Anthony Sanchez, 44, was pronounced dead at...
Alex Murdaugh pleads guilty to financial crimes — the first time he’s admitted blame to a judge
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh did something Thursday he hasn’t done in the two years since his life of privilege and power started to unravel — plead guilty to a crime. Murdaugh admitted in federal court to 22 counts of financial fraud and money laundering. Murdaugh, 55, is...
Zelenskyy delivers upbeat message to U.S. lawmakers on war progress as some Republican support softens
WASHINGTON — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy worked to shore up U.S. support for Ukraine on a whirlwind visit to Washington on Thursday, delivering an upbeat message on the war’s progress while facing new questions about the flow of American dollars that for 19 months has helped keep his troops in the...
Outdated headline sparks vicious online hate campaign directed at Las Vegas newspaper
NEW YORK — A Las Vegas newspaper is being viciously attacked online for its coverage of an alleged murder of a retired police chief, either because of a misunderstanding or a deliberate attempt to mislead. The “firehose of hatred” has led the Las Vegas Review-Journal to sift through email directed...
‘Game of Thrones’ creator and other authors sue ChatGPT-maker OpenAI for copyright infringement
NEW YORK — John Grisham, Jodi Picoult and George R.R. Martin are among 17 authors suing OpenAI for “systematic theft on a mass scale,” the latest in a wave of legal action by writers concerned that artificial intelligence programs are using their copyrighted works without permission. In papers filed Tuesday...
