U.S./World category, Page 174
Teens from a Boston skating club, their mothers, and coaches among passengers killed in air crash
WASHINGTON — A crash between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter has killed teen figure skaters returning from a national meet with their mothers and coaches, as well as a group of union steamfitters from the Washington, D.C. area. They were among 60 travelers and four crew members...
Donald Trump talks so much that even his White House stenographers are struggling to keep up
WASHINGTON — The White House stenographers have a problem. Donald Trump is talking so much, the people responsible for transcribing his public remarks are struggling to keep up with all the words. There were more than 22,000 on Inauguration Day, then another 17,000 when Trump visited disaster sites in North...
Midair collision kills 67 people in the deadliest U.S. air disaster in almost a quarter centuryVideo
ARLINGTON, Va. — A midair collision between an Army helicopter and a jetliner killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft, officials said Thursday, as they scrutinized the actions of the military pilot in the country’s deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century. At least 28 bodies were pulled...
Aircraft down near Washington’s Reagan Airport, and takeoffs and landings are halted
ARLINGTON, Va. — An aircraft went down on Wednesday night near Ronald Reagan National Airport, and all takeoffs and landings have been halted, according to the airport and law enforcement. Multiple helicopters, including those from the U.S. Park Police and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. military, were flying...
West Virginia couple convicted of forced labor, human trafficking of adopted kids
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia jury has convicted a couple who were accused of neglect and forced labor involving their adopted children, including locking some of them in a shed, forcing them to sleep on the floor and use buckets as toilets. The jury deliberated for eight hours before...
Pentagon agency pauses celebrations for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Black History Month and more
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department’s intelligence agency has paused observances of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Pride Month, Holocaust Days of Remembrance and other cultural or historical annual events in response to President Donald Trump’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal workplace. The instructions were published...
Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez gets 11 years in prison for taking bribes and acting as agent of Egypt
NEW YORK — Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes of gold and cash and acting as an agent of Egypt — crimes his own lawyer said earned him the nickname “Gold Bar Bob.” U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein in...
‘Remarkably poor judgment’: Wall Street Journal takes a critical eye to start of Trump’s 2nd term
Amid all of the enthusiasm in conservative media for President Donald Trump’s first week back in office, the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal has notably applied some brakes. The Journal has editorialized against Trump’s pardons of Jan. 6 rioters, called presidential appointee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “dangerous to public health,”...
While signing Laken Riley Act, Trump says he’ll send ‘worst’ criminal migrants to Guantanamo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the Laken Riley Act into law, giving federal authorities broader power to deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have been accused of crimes. He also announced at the ceremony that his administration planned to send the “worst criminal aliens” to a...
Are we all aliens? NASA’s returned asteroid samples hold the ingredients of life from a watery world
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Asteroid samples fetched by NASA hold not only the pristine building blocks for life but also the salty remains of an ancient water world, scientists reported Wednesday. The findings provide the strongest evidence yet that asteroids may have planted the seeds of life on Earth and...
Hamas set to free 3 Israelis, 5 Thais in next hostage release, Israeli official says
JERUSALEM — An Israeli official said Wednesday that Hamas will release three Israelis, including two women and an 80-year-old man, and five Thai nationals in the next hostage release, slated for Thursday. The official named the Israel women as Arbel Yehoud, 29, Agam Berger, 19, and the man as Gadi...
Police: At least 30 people died in stampede at massive Maha Kumbh festival in India
PRAYAGRAJ, India — At least 30 people were killed and many more injured in a stampede at the world’s largest religious gathering early Wednesday, police said, as millions of pilgrims rushed to dip in sacred waters during the Maha Kumbh festival in northern India. Police officer Vaibhav Krishna in Prayagraj...
U.S. children fall further behind in reading, make little improvement in math on national exam
WASHINGTON — America’s children have continued to lose ground on reading skills in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic and have made little improvement in math, according to the latest results of an exam known as the nation’s report card. The findings are yet another setback for U.S. schools and...
The Year of the Snake is underway with Lunar New Year festivities in Asia and around the world
BEIJING — Lunar New Year festivals and prayers marked the start of the Year of the Snake around Asia and farther afield on Wednesday — including in Moscow. Hundreds of people lined up in the hours before midnight at the Wong Tai Sin Taoist temple in Hong Kong in a...
This is what one family in Gaza returned home to after 15 months of war
BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip — The grove of orange, olive and palm trees that once stood in front of Ne’man Abu Jarad’s house was bulldozed away. The roses and jasmine flowers on the roof and in the garden, which he lovingly watered so his family could enjoy their fragrance, were...
Explosion forces crew to abandon Hong Kong-flagged container ship in the Red Sea
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An explosion struck a Hong Kong-flagged container ship Tuesday traveling north through the Red Sea, sparking a major fire that forced its crew to abandon the vessel, shipping industry officials said. The ship was drifting and ablaze some 140 miles off the coast of Hodeida,...
Trump fires 2 Democratic commissioners of agency that enforces civil rights laws in workplace
ARLINGTON, Va. — President Donald Trump fired two of the three Democratic commissioners of the federal agency that enforces civil rights law in the workplace, an unprecedented move aimed at implementing his crackdown on certain diversity and gender rights policies. The two commissioners of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Charlotte...
The tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas is alarming. It’s not the biggest in U.S. history though, CDC says
A yearlong outbreak of tuberculosis in the Kansas City, Kansas, area has taken local experts aback, even if it does not appear to be the largest outbreak of the disease in U.S. history as a state health official claimed last week. “We would expect to see a handful of cases...
New Vatican document offers AI guidelines from warfare to health care
VATICAN CITY — A Vatican document released Tuesday offers wide-ranging ethical guidelines for the application of artificial intelligence in sectors from warfare to health care, with an underlying call that the burgeoning technology must be used as a tool to complement, and not replace, human intelligence. Pope Francis has issued...
Brazil to set up deportee reception center after contentious flight from U.S.
RIO DE JANEIRO — The Brazilian government Tuesday said it will create a reception center for deported migrants from the United States following controversy over conditions on a recent deportation flight. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gave the green light to establish a humanitarian reception post at Confins, a...
Dozens are injured in a stampede at the massive Maha Kumbh festival in India
NEW DELHI — A stampede injured dozens of people early Wednesday as tens of thousands of Hindus rushed to take a holy bath in the river at the massive Maha Kumbh festival in northern India, local media reported. It was not immediately clear what triggered the panic at the festival...
Canada inquiry found no evidence of ‘traitors’ in parliament, but warns against disinformation
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A public inquiry on foreign interference in Canada concluded Tuesday that while some foreign entities tried to interfere in the country’s elections, its democratic institutions remain “robust,” but warned against the danger of misinformation. The final report of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference found “no...
The discovery of brutal mass graves in Syria reveals Assad’s legacy of horror
DAMASCUS, Syria — The charred remains of at least 26 victims of the Bashar Assad government were located Tuesday by Syrian civil defense workers in two basements outside Damascus. The discovery adds to the growing tally of mass graves unearthed since the fall of the Assad government in December. The...
Weeks after fire ravaged the Pacific Palisades, residents return to dig for their mementosVideo
LOS ANGELES — Jack Hassett was among scores of residents slowly returning on Tuesday to Los Angeles neighborhoods ravaged by wildfires to finally sift through the rubble and salvage any cherished items. Hassett didn’t find much in the ash at his family’s Pacific Palisades house, uncovering only some pottery and...
Trump social media claim of using troops to force water flow refuted by California
President Donald Trump on Monday night heightened his battle with California over water policy by suggesting U.S. military troops had arrived in the state to turn on pumps and send more water flowing — something state officials quickly denied. On Monday evening, Trump wrote that the military “just entered the...
