U.S./World category, Page 21
Mosque bombing in Syria leaves 8 dead and 18 wounded
IDLIB, Syria — A bombing at a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs during Friday prayers killed at least eight people and wounded 18 others, authorities said, as long-standing sectarian, ethnic and political fault lines continue to destabilize the country, even as large-scale fighting has subsided. Images released by...
Scrapyard worker injured in UPS plane crash dies on Christmas, raising deaths to 15
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A man injured in last month’s fiery UPS cargo plane crash in Kentucky died on Christmas Day, raising the death toll from the crash to 15, officials announced late Thursday. Alain Rodriguez Colina worked at a scrapyard that was devastated when the departing cargo plane, fully loaded...
What to know about the militants targeted by U.S. airstrikes in northwest Nigeria
ABUJA, Nigeria — The United States airstrikes that targeted Islamic State militants in northwestern Nigeria on Thursday marked a major escalation in an offensive that Nigeria’s overstretched military has struggled with for years. U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that the “powerful and deadly” strikes in Sokoto state...
China sanctions 20 U.S. defense companies and 10 executives over massive arms sales to Taiwan
BEIJING — Beijing imposed sanctions on Friday against 20 U.S. defense-related companies and 10 executives, a week after Washington announced large-scale arms sales to Taiwan. The sanctions entail freezing the companies’ assets in China and banning individuals and organizations from dealing with them, according to the Chinese foreign ministry. The...
South Korea vows to end foreign adoptions as UN presses Seoul to address past abuses
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s government said it plans to end its waning foreign adoptions of Korean children, while United Nations investigators voiced “serious concern” over what they described as Seoul’s failure to ensure truth-finding and reparations for widespread human rights violations tied to decades of mass overseas adoptions....
Trump’s talks with Zelenskyy to address security guarantees and reconstruction, Ukraine leader says
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend. Zelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks, and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.”...
Trump says U.S. struck Islamic State targets in Nigeria after group targeted Christians
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump said Thursday night that he’d launched a “powerful and deadly strike” against Islamic State forces in Nigeria, after he spent weeks decrying the group for targeting Christians. The president’s post did not include information about how the strike was carried out and...
Somalis vote in 1st 1-person, 1-vote local election in decades
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Residents of Somalia’s capital are set to vote Thursday in a controversial local election that marks the country’s first-ever one-person, one-vote poll since 1969. Analysts say it is a major departure from clan-based power-sharing negotiations. The election of local council members, to be conducted across Mogadishu’s 16...
King Charles III leads family to church ahead of annual Christmas Day broadcast
LONDON — King Charles III led his family to church on foot Thursday, hours before his annual Christmas Day speech to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth was expected to focus on the theme of pilgrimage. Charles and Queen Camilla, along with the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and...
Pope Leo XIV urges the faithful on Christmas to shed indifference in the face of suffering
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV during his first Christmas Day message on Thursday urged the faithful to shed indifference in the face of those who have lost everything, like in Gaza, those who are in impoverished, like in Yemen, and the many migrants who cross the Mediterranean Sea and...
Public release of Epstein records puts Maxwell under fresh scrutiny amid her claims of innocence
NEW YORK — Days after Ghislaine Maxwell asked a judge to immediately free her from a 20-year prison sentence, the public release of grand jury transcripts from her sex trafficking case returned the spotlight to victims whose allegations helped land her behind bars. The disclosure of the transcripts as part...
A Powerball player in Arkansas has won a $1.817 billion lottery jackpot
A Powerball player in Arkansas won a $1.817 billion jackpot in Wednesday’s Christmas Eve drawing, ending the lottery game’s three-month stretch without a top-prize winner. The winning numbers were 04, 25, 31, 52 and 59, with the Powerball number being 19. Final ticket sales pushed the jackpot higher than previous...
Trump warns against infiltration by a ‘bad Santa,’ defends coal in jovial Christmas calls with kids
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump marked Christmas Eve by quizzing children calling in about what presents they were excited about receiving, while promising to not let a “bad Santa” infiltrate the country and even suggesting that a stocking full of coal may not be so bad. Vacationing...
Powerball’s $1.7B jackpot could make Christmas Eve unforgettable for a lucky winner
A Christmas Eve Powerball drawing could add new meaning to holiday cheer as millions of players hope to cash in on the $1.7 billion prize, which comes after months without a jackpot winner. The United States’ 4th-largest jackpot on record comes after 46 consecutive draws without someone claiming to have...
After missing deadline, DOJ says it may need a ‘few more weeks’ to finish releasing Epstein files
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Wednesday that it may need a “few more weeks” to release all of its records on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after suddenly discovering more than a million potentially relevant documents, further delaying compliance with last Friday’s congressionally mandated deadline. The Christmas Eve...
Photos of Christmas celebrations around the world
From Bethlehem to Beijing, people around the world are celebrating the Christmas season. A polar bear mascot boards an elevator during holiday revelry. Swimmers plunge into frigid waters off Northern Ireland for a charity event. Singers fill a stadium in Indonesia. Associated Press photographers have captured diverse, mesmerizing images such...
Faithful return to Bethlehem and Pope Leo XIV celebrates his first Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter’s
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Thousands of people flocked to Bethlehem’s Manger Square on Christmas Eve as families there and at other sites across the Holy Land heralded a much-needed boost of holiday spirit, after two years of subdued celebrations because of the war in Gaza. At the Vatican, Pope Leo...
Average U.S. long-term mortgage rate ticks down to 6.18% this week
WASHINGTON — The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage ticked down modestly this week, remaining in the same narrow range of the past two months. The average long-term mortgage rate fell to 6.18% from 6.21% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Wednesday. A year ago, the rate averaged...
Powerful holiday storm lashes Southern California and threatens mudslides in fire-scarred areas
A powerful winter storm swept across Southern California on Wednesday, with heavy rain threatening mudslides in areas scorched by wildfires, bringing near white-out snow conditions in the mountains and hazardous travel for millions of holiday drivers. Forecasters said Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years and warned about...
3 arrested in $14 million gift card fraud scheme that hit shoppers across Texas
DALLAS — What looked like ordinary gift cards on store racks across Texas were quietly turning into empty plastic. State investigators say a months-long scheme drained millions from unsuspecting shoppers — until it ended with three arrests this week. The Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center has arrested three men accused...
Suspect in national guard shooting faces new federal charges that allow death penalty discussions
WASHINGTON — A man accused of shooting two National Guard troops near the White House has been charged in a complaint with federal firearms charges in connection with the ambush on Nov. 26 that fatally wounded one of the West Virginia National Guard members and seriously injured the second. Rahmanullah...
Zelenskyy says he’s open to a free economic zone in Ukraine’s east but it must be put to a vote
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end Russia’s war, if Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized, free economic zone monitored by international forces....
An explosion in Moscow kills 2 police officers and a bystander
MOSCOW — An explosion in Moscow on Wednesday killed three people, including two police officers, Russian investigators said, days after a car bomb killed a high-ranking general not far away. The two traffic police officers were approaching a suspicious individual when a device detonated, Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said...
China’s military buildup makes U.S. vulnerable, Pentagon report says
WASHINGTON — The Chinese military is in the midst of a “historic military buildup” that has made the U.S. homeland “increasingly vulnerable,” according to the latest edition of a Pentagon report on the capabilities of the Chinese military, presenting a challenge to President Donald Trump’s plans for new limitations on...
U.S. bars 5 Europeans it says pressured tech firms to censor American viewpoints online
WASHINGTON — The State Department announced Tuesday it was barring five Europeans it accused of leading efforts to pressure U.S. tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints. Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not name those he said fell foul of a new visa policy announced in May to...
