U.S./World category, Page 304
Idris Elba helps uncover the WWII soldiers of color who never got their dueVideo
NEW YORK — One of Idris Elba’s grandfathers fought in World War II, but he doesn’t know what he endured. No pictures or stories survive. “That part of my family’s history has been erased somewhat,” says Elba. That helped fuel the actor’s push to narrate and executive produce the four-part...
Proposed Gaza cease-fire puts Netanyahu at a crossroads that could shape his legacy
TEL AVIV, Israel — The cease-fire proposal announced by President Joe Biden has placed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a crossroads, with either path likely to shape the legacy of Israel’s longest-serving and deeply divisive leader. The proposal offers the possibility of ending Israel’s war against Hamas, returning scores of...
Biden prepares executive order that would shut down asylum after 2,500 migrants arrive a day
WASHINGTON — The White House is telling lawmakers that President Joe Biden is preparing to sign off on an executive order that would shut down asylum requests to the U.S.-Mexico border once the number of daily encounters hits 2,500 between ports of entry, with the border reopening once that number...
Sandy Hook families ask bankruptcy judge to liquidate Alex Jones’ media company
Relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting are asking a bankruptcy judge to liquidate conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ media company, including Infowars, instead of allowing him to reorganize his business as they seek to collect on $1.5 billion in lawsuit verdicts against him. Lawyers for the families...
As jury selection starts in Hunter Biden’s gun case, president says he has ‘boundless love’ for him
WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal gun case against President Joe Biden’s son Hunter opened Monday with jury selection, following the collapse of a plea deal that would have avoided the spectacle of a trial so close the 2024 election. First lady Jill Biden was seated in the front row of...
Mexico elects Claudia Sheinbaum as its 1st female president
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s projected presidential winner Claudia Sheinbaum will become the first woman president in the country’s 200-year history. “I will become the first woman president of Mexico,” Sheinbaum said with a smile, speaking at a downtown hotel shortly after electoral authorities announced a statistical sample showed she held...
CEOs got hefty pay raises in 2023, widening the gap with the workers they oversee
NEW YORK — The typical compensation package for chief executives who run companies in the S&P 500 jumped nearly 13% last year, easily surpassing the gains for workers at a time when inflation was putting considerable pressure on Americans’ budgets. The median pay package for CEOs rose to $16.3 million,...
Water begins to flow again in downtown Atlanta after outage that began Friday
ATLANTA — Water pressure was returning to downtown Atlanta and nearby neighborhoods on Sunday after a two-day water outage shut down businesses and left faucets dry at many homes. A large swath of the city remained under an order to boil water before drinking it, but Mayor Andre Dickens said...
Swimmer injured by shark attack on Southern California coast
SAN DIEGO — A swimmer was seriously injured in a shark attack on the Southern California coast Sunday, prompting temporary beach closures, authorities said. The attack happened Sunday morning at Del Mar City Beach in Del Mar, about 20 miles north of San Diego, local officials said. The 46-year-old man,...
California firefighters continue battling wind-driven wildfire east of San FranciscoVideo
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California firefighters expected to gain ground Sunday on a wind-driven wildfire that scorched thousands of acres 60 miles east of San Francisco, burned down a home and forced residents to flee the area near the central California city of Tracy. The fire erupted Saturday afternoon in the...
Mayor, police chief ask for public’s help in finding shooters who killed 1, wounded 24 at partyVideo
AKRON, Ohio — The mayor and police chief of Akron called on witnesses to come forward with any information about who carried out a mass shooting in the Ohio city that killed one person and injured 24 others, some critically. “This was a tragic incident which impacts our entire community,”...
Mexico awaits results in an election likely to choose the country’s first female president
MEXICO CITY — Polls closed in a national vote Sunday that will likely give Mexico its first female president, but the heat, violence and polarization continued right through election day. People turned out to vote in the township of Cuitzeo, in the western state of Michoacán, despite the fact that...
Rupert Murdoch ties the knot for the 5th time in ceremony at his California vineyard
NEW YORK — Media magnate Rupert Murdoch, 93, has married for the fifth time, his corporation, News Corp, confirmed Sunday. Murdoch and Elena Zhukova, a 67-year-old Russian-born retired molecular biologist, wed Saturday in a ceremony at his vineyard estate in Bel Air, California. Photographs of the newly married couple were...
A mass parachute jump over Normandy kicks off commemorations for the 80th anniversary of D-Day
CARENTAN-LES-MARAIS, France — Parachutists jumping from World War II-era planes hurled themselves Sunday into now peaceful Normandy skies where war once raged, heralding a week of ceremonies for the fast-disappearing generation of Allied troops who fought from D-Day beaches 80 years ago to Adolf Hitler’s fall, helping free Europe of...
Energy shutdowns hit Ukraine after Russian attacks target infrastructure
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine imposed emergency power shutdowns in most of the country on Sunday, a day after Russia unleashed large-scale attacks on energy infrastructure and claimed it made gains in the eastern Donetsk province. The shutdowns were in place in all but three regions of Ukraine following Saturday’s drone...
Florida sheriff’s office fires deputy who fatally shot airman at home
A Florida Panhandle sheriff on Friday fired a deputy who fatally shot an airman at his home while holding a handgun pointed to the ground, saying the deputy’s life was never in danger and he should not have fired his weapon. Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden fired Deputy Eddie Duran,...
U.S. defense secretary says war with China neither imminent nor unavoidable, stressing need for talks
SINGAPORE — United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a gathering of top security officials Saturday that war with China was neither imminent nor unavoidable, despite rapidly escalating tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, stressing the importance of renewed dialogue between him and his Chinese counterpart in avoiding “miscalculations and...
Hostage families call for cease-fire deal pushed by Biden; Israel says conditions must be met
TEL AVIV, Israel — Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas called for all parties to immediately accept a proposal detailed by U.S. President Joe Biden to end the nearly 8-month-long war and bring their relatives home, but Israel’s government said conditions for a cease-fire still must be met. Biden...
River ferry sinks in Afghanistan, killing at least 20
ISLAMABAD — At least 20 people were killed when a boat sank while crossing a river in eastern Afghanistan Saturday morning, a Taliban official said. Quraishi Badlon, provincial director of the information and culture department in Nangarhar province, said that the boat sank while crossing a river in Mohmand Dara...
Judge denies petition to recall death sentence of man who killed 12-year-old Polly Klaas
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California judge on Friday denied a petition to recall the death sentence against Richard Allen Davis, who in 1993 killed 12-year-old Polly Klaas after kidnapping her from her bedroom at knifepoint in a crime that shocked the nation. Jurors in 1996 found Davis guilty of...
Russia, Ukraine exchange POWs for 1st time in months; bodies of fallen also swapped
SUMY REGION, Ukraine — Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war on Friday, each sending back 75 POWs in the first such swap in the past three months, officials said. A few hours earlier and at the same location, the two sides also handed over bodies of their fallen soldiers....
Israel confirms its forces are in central Rafah in expanding offensive in southern Gaza city
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military confirmed Friday that its forces are operating in central parts of Rafah in its expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city. Israel launched its ground assault into the city on May 6, triggering an exodus of around 1 million Palestinians out of the city and...
Bruhat Soma wins National Spelling Bee after slow night concludes with sudden tiebreaker
OXON HILL, Md. — Bruhat Soma insisted he was nervous during the idle hours as he waited to take the Scripps National Spelling Bee stage, and he felt even more pressure to perform given that he hadn’t lost a spelling bee in eight months. He never showed any nerves in...
Israel could have used smaller weapons against Hamas to avoid deaths in Gaza tent fire, experts say
WASHINGTON — Defense experts who have reviewed debris images from an Israeli airstrike that ignited a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians questioned why Israel did not use smaller, more precise weapons when so many civilians were nearby. They said the bombs used were likely U.S.-made. The strikes,...
Minneapolis police officer dies in ambush shooting that killed 2 others including suspected gunman
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis police officer responding to a shooting call was ambushed and killed Thursday when he stopped to provide aid to a man who appeared to be a victim. That man instead wound up shooting the officer, authorities said. The death of officer Jamal Mitchell happened during a...
