U.S./World category, Page 512
South Africa gas truck explosion death toll rises to 34
JOHANNESBURG — The death toll from an explosion of a tanker truck on Christmas Eve near eastern Johannesburg has risen to 34, including 10 health workers at a nearby hospital, officials report. The truck was carrying gas when it got stuck under a low-lying bridge in the town of Boksburg,...
Longtime congresswoman defends heartland
TOLEDO, Ohio — When the new Congress convenes on Tuesday, Ohio Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur will become the longest-serving woman in its history. Yet after 40 years, she sometimes feels like an outsider. Not because she’s a woman or now in the minority party in the House. It’s that she’s...
Ukraine reports more Russian drone attacks
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces fired rockets at a facility in the eastern Donetsk region where Russian soldiers were stationed, killing 63 of them, Russia’s defense ministry said Monday, in one of the deadliest attacks on the Kremlin’s forces since the war began more than 10 months ago. Ukrainian forces...
2 kids among 6 people die in Kashmir village attack
SRINAGAR, India — Two children were killed and five other civilians wounded in a blast in a village in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday, a day after assailants sprayed bullets toward a row of homes, leaving at least four dead, police said. The blast occurred near one of the houses targeted...
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI body lying in state at Vatican
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI ‘s body, his head resting on a pair of crimson pillows, lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday as tens of thousands queued to pay tribute to the pontiff who shocked the world by retiring a decade ago. On the eve of the first...
Brazil’s Lula sworn in, vows accountability and rebuilding
BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in as president on Sunday, and in his first address expressed optimism about plans to rebuild while pledging that members of outgoing Jair Bolsonaro’s administration will be held to account. Lula is assuming office for the third time after...
Ukraine faces grim start to 2023 after fresh Russian attacks
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainians faced a grim start to 2023 as Sunday brought more Russian missile and drone attacks following a blistering New Year’s Eve assault that killed at least civilians across the country, authorities reported. Air raid sirens sounded in the capital shortly after midnight, followed by a barrage...
‘Lord, I love you’: Aide recounts Benedict’s last words
VATICAN CITY — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s last words were “Lord, I love you,” his longtime secretary said Sunday, quoting a nurse who helped care for the 95-year-old former pontiff in his final hours. Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, a German prelate who lived in the Vatican monastery where Benedict took up...
Biden watches sunrise, attends church to open 2023 in USVI
CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands — President Joe Biden opened the first day of the new year by watching its first sunrise and attending Mass at a Roman Catholic church in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Biden worshipped Sunday at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Christiansted, where he has attended religious services...
Dems, GOP have distinct priorities for 2023, poll says
WASHINGTON (AP) — Eva Guzman’s expenses have swelled, but she feels comfortable financially thanks to the savings she and her late husband stockpiled for a rainy day. Nevertheless, the 80-year-old retired library clerk in San Antonio limits trips to the grocery store, adjusts the thermostat to save on utilities and...
Chief justice: Judges’ safety ‘essential’ to court system
WASHINGTON — With security threats to Supreme Court justices still fresh memories, Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday praised programs that protect judges, saying that “we must support judges by ensuring their safety.” Roberts and other conservative Supreme Court justices were the subject of protests, some at their homes, after...
Evacuation warnings amid flooding after California storm
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Residents of a Northern California community were ordered to evacuate ahead of imminent flooding, and evacuation warnings were in place elsewhere in rural parts of the region on New Year’s Day after a powerful storm brought drenching rain or heavy snowfall to much of the state, breaching...
NY officers injured, suspect shot near New Year’s Eve event
NEW YORK — A man wielding a machete attacked three police officers at the New Year’s Eve celebration in New York City, authorities said, striking two of them in the head before an officer shot the man in the shoulder. The attack happened a little after 10 p.m. about eight...
In U.S., sharply contrasting views on Benedict XVI’s legacy
NEW YORK — In the United States, admirers of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI remembered him warmly for his theological prowess and devotion to traditional doctrine. However, some U.S. Catholics, on learning of his death Saturday, recalled him as an obstacle to progress in combating clergy sex abuse and expanding the...
New York OKs human composting law; 6th state in U.S. to do so
ALBANY, N.Y. — Howard Fischer, a 63-year old investor living north of New York City, has a wish for when he dies. He wants his remains to be placed in a vessel, broken down by tiny microbes and composted into rich, fertile soil. Maybe his composted remains could be planted...
Suspect in Idaho killings plans to waive extradition hearing
BOISE, Idaho — A suspect arrested in connection with the slayings of four University of Idaho students plans to waive an extradition hearing so he can be quickly brought to Idaho to face murder charges, his defense attorney said Saturday. Bryan Kohberger, a 28-year-old Ph.D. student and teaching assistant in...
Taxes fall, wages rise and jaywalking OK’d by new state laws
Taxes will fall and minimum wages rise for residents in numerous states as a variety of new laws take effect Sunday that could impact people’s finances and, in some cases, their personal liberties. Some new laws could affect access to abortion. Others will ease restrictions on marijuana and concealed guns,...
Revelers throng to New Year’s parties after covid hiatus
MELBOURNE, Australia — With countdowns and fireworks, revelers in major city centers across the Asia-Pacific region ushered in the first new year without covid-19 restrictions since the pandemic began in 2020. While covid-19 continues to cause death and dismay, particularly in China, which is battling a nationwide surge in infections...
Russian strikes intensify as Ukrainians return for holiday
KYIV, Ukraine — Multiple blasts rocked Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 14 others, in a sign that the pace of Russia attacks had picked up before New Year’s. Some Ukrainians defied the danger, however, to return to the country to...
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to $785M after no big winner
The first Mega Millions drawing of the new year will be a big one after no one won an estimated $685 million jackpot. No ticket purchased for the lottery matched all six numbers drawn Friday night, Mega Millions said in a statement early Saturday. The top prize increased to $785...
Benedict XVI, reluctant pope who chose to retire, dies at 95
VATICAN CITY — He was the reluctant pope, a shy bookworm who preferred solitary walks in the Alps and Mozart piano concertos to the public glare and majesty of Vatican pageantry. When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI and was thrust into the footsteps of his beloved and charismatic...
Another woman files sex abuse lawsuit against Cosby, NBC
A woman who alleges Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1986 sued the comedian-actor, NBCUniversal and other companies Friday in New York, where five other women filed a similar lawsuit earlier this month. Stacey Pinkerton says she was a 21-year-old flight attendant and model that year when she...
Barbara Walters, television news trailblazer, dies at 93
NEW YORK — Barbara Walters, the intrepid interviewer, anchor and program host who led the way as the first woman to become a TV news superstar during a network career remarkable for its duration and variety, has died. She was 93. Walters’ death was announced by ABC on air Friday...
Venezuelan opposition strips Guaidó of ‘presidential’ role
CARACAS, Venezuela — For three years, Juan Guaidó led the Venezuelan opposition’s efforts to bring about new elections and remove socialist President Nicolás Maduro. But on Friday, dozens of politicians who once backed Guaidó voted in favor of removing the 39-year-old engineer and replacing his U.S.-supported “interim government” with a...
North Korea fires 3 missiles amid tensions over drone flights
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on Saturday, the latest in a barrage of weapons tests this year that came days after it increased tensions by allegedly flying drones into South Korean airspace. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in...
