U.S./World category, Page 538
Climate migration: Alaska village resists despite threats
SHISHMAREF, Alaska — Search online for the little town of Shishmaref and you’ll see homes perilously close to falling into the ocean, and headlines that warn that this Native community on a border island in western Alaska — without access to main roads to the mainland or running water —...
Blackouts worsen in Ukraine; fighting rages on many fronts
KYIV, Ukraine — Relentless Russian attacks on energy infrastructure prompted Ukrainian authorities on Friday to announce worsening blackouts around the country’s largest cities, with Kyiv’s mayor warning that the capital’s power grid is working in “emergency mode” with energy supplies down as much as 50% from pre-war levels. Meanwhile, the...
At least 42 dead in floods, landslides in south Philippines
COTABATO, Philippines — Flash floods and landslides set off by torrential rains swamped a southern Philippine province, killing at least 42 people, leaving 16 others missing and trapping some residents on their roofs, officials said Friday. Most of the victims were swept away by rampaging floodwaters and drowned or were...
Miami Beach condo building evacuated near deadly collapse
MIAMI BEACH — An evacuation order has abruptly forced out residents of a 14-story oceanfront building on the same avenue where a condominium collapse killed nearly 100 people last year. The city posted an unsafe structure notice Thursday evening at the Port Royale condominium, Miami Beach spokesperson Melissa Berthier said...
Musk in control of Twitter but where will he go from here?
Elon Musk has taken control of Twitter after a protracted legal battle and months of uncertainty. The question now is what the billionaire Tesla CEO will actually do with the social media platform. Musk ousted three top Twitter executives on Thursday, according to two people familiar with the deal who...
Intruder attacks Pelosi’s husband, calling, ‘Where is Nancy’
SAN FRANCISCO — The husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was attacked and severely beaten with a hammer by an assailant who broke into the couple’s San Francisco home early Friday, searching for the Democratic leader and shouting, “Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?” The assault on the 82-year-old Paul...
2,700-year-old rock carvings discovered in Iraq’s Mosul
BAGHDAD — Archaeologists in northern Iraq last week unearthed 2,700-year-old rock carvings featuring war scenes and trees from the Assyrian Empire, an archaeologist said Wednesday. The carvings on marble slabs were discovered by a team of experts in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, who have been working to restore the site...
8 found dead after house fire in Tulsa area; homicide feared
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Eight people were found dead Thursday in a burning Tulsa-area house in what was being investigated as multiple homicides, police said. The fire was reported about 4 p.m. Thursday in a quiet residential area of Broken Arrow, 13 miles southeast of Tulsa. Broken Arrow police said...
Arrest in office burglary at Katie Hobbs’ campaign HQ in Arizona
PHOENIX — Phoenix police have made an arrest in connection with a burglary at the campaign headquarters for Katie Hobbs, the Democratic nominee for governor. An officer saw a news story with surveillance photos of the suspect and recognized him as the man arrested for a burglary at another office...
U.S. mortgage rates top 7% for the first time in 2 decades
WASHINGTON — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate topped 7% for the first time in more than two decades this week, a result of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes intended to tame inflation not seen in some 40 years. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on...
Antisemitism decried 4 years after Tree of Life attack
PITTSBURGH — In what has become an annual ritual, Pittsburgh’s Jewish community Thursday honored the memory of the 11 Jews who were murdered on this date in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. For many community leaders, their grief is mixed with dismay over the continued and growing incidents...
Russia’s Putin rules out using nuclear weapons in Ukraine
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday denied having any intentions of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine but described the conflict there as part of alleged efforts by the West to secure its global domination, which he insisted are doomed to fail. Speaking at a conference of international foreign...
Italy’s fascist past under scrutiny a century after putsch
MILAN — Italy’s failure to come to terms with its fascist past has become evident as it prepares to mark the 100th anniversary Friday of the March on Rome that brought totalitarian dictator Benito Mussolini to power, a milestone that coincides with the country’s first postwar government led by a...
Crisis-stricken Cuba torn between ally Russia, neighbor U.S.
HAVANA — When Hurricane Ian tore through western Cuba in late September, causing an island-wide blackout, it left the government grappling with a deepening energy crisis and simmering discontent among Cubans. It also once again thrust the Caribbean island into the middle of an escalating tug-of-war between its seaside neighbor,...
Battle of the Alps? Water woes loom amid climate change
BRIG, Switzerland — A battle is brewing around Europe’s rooftop over the planet’s most precious resource. The crystal-clear waters issuing from the Alps could become increasingly contested as the effects of climate change and glacier melt become more apparent. Italy wants them for crop irrigation in the spring and summer....
Auto prices finally begin to creep down from inflated highs
DETROIT — All summer long, Aleen Hudson kept looking for a new minivan or SUV for her growing passenger shuttle service. She had a good credit rating and enough cash for a down payment. Yet dealerships in the Detroit area didn’t have any suitable vehicles. Or they’d demand she pay...
U.N. weather agency: Greenhouse gases reach new record in 2021Video
GENEVA — The three main greenhouse gases hit record high levels in the atmosphere last year, the U.N. weather agency said Wednesday, calling it an “ominous” sign as war in Ukraine, rising costs of food and fuel, and other worries have elbowed in on longtime concerns about global warming in...
Judge considers stopping Arizona ballot drop box watchersVideo
PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona said he hopes to decide by Friday whether to order members of a group to stop monitoring outdoor ballot drop boxes in the state’s largest county in an effort that has sparked allegations of voter intimidation. The groups Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans...
Man gets death for killing Texas agency’s 1st Sikh deputy
HOUSTON — A man was sentenced to death Wednesday for the fatal 2019 shooting of a law enforcement officer who was the first Sikh deputy in his Texas agency. A Harris County jury deliberated for about 35 minutes before returning the death sentence for Robert Solis, 50, after convicting him...
Arizona GOP leader wins temporary halt to House Jan. 6 subpoena for phone records
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan is temporarily blocking the turnover of phone records belonging to the leader of the Arizona Republican Party to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Kagan’s order Wednesday evening paused anything from happening while an emergency appeal...
South Carolina judge: Mark Meadows must testify before Georgia grand juryVideo
PICKENS, S.C. — A South Carolina judge ruled Wednesday that former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows must testify before the Fulton County special grand jury investigating attempts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election. Following a 45-minute hearing in this small city in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains,...
Sheriff: Autopsy will determine if dogs killed Amazon driver
EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. — Investigators are trying to determine if two dogs caused the death of an Amazon driver whose body was found in the yard of a home in rural northwest Missouri. Ray County Sheriff Scott Childers said deputies went to a home Monday evening in Excelsior Springs after...
Man convicted of killing 6 with SUV in Wisconsin Christmas parade
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin man was convicted Wednesday of killing six people and injuring dozens of others when he drove his SUV through a Christmas parade, wrapping up a trial in which he defended himself with bizarre legal theories and erratic outbursts. It took the jury a little over...
Superstorm Sandy legacy: Recovery far from equal on New York shore
NEW YORK — Even before Superstorm Sandy’s floodwaters surged over New York City’s Rockaway Peninsula, there was an air of decay in Edgemere, a far-flung seaside neighborhood long pockmarked with boarded-up homes and vacant lots with waist-high weeds. When the water receded, even more of Edgemere’s homes lay in ruin....
French iconic painter of black Pierre Soulages dead at 102
PARIS — French painter Pierre Soulages, an icon of post-World War II European abstract art famed for his use of black, has died, according to the Soulages Museum in his hometown of Rodez. He was 102. Soulages became highly influential for his reflections of black, which he called “noir-lumiere,” or...
