U.S./World category, Page 446
Few transplant surgeons are Black. Giving medical students a rare peek at organ donation may help
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It’s long after midnight when the bustling operating room suddenly falls quiet — a moment of silence to honor the man lying on the table. This is no ordinary surgery. Detrick Witherspoon died before ever being wheeled in, and now two wide-eyed medical students are about to...
U.S. state Senator Jeff Wilson arrested in Hong Kong for gun possession; granted bail
HONG KONG — A Washington state senator was arrested in Hong Kong for carrying a gun that was not registered in the semi-autonomous Chinese city, his website and local media reported. He was released on bail Monday. Jeff Wilson, a Republican from Longview, was arrested after landing at the Hong...
‘Superfog’ near New Orleans blamed for highway crashes that killed at least 7Video
NEW ORLEANS — At least seven people were killed Monday after a “superfog” of smoke from marsh fires and dense morning fog caused a series of wrecks on Interstate 55 near New Orleans that left a long stretch of mangled and scorched cars, trucks and tractor-trailers. An estimated 158 vehicles...
Sen. Bob Menendez enters not guilty plea to a new conspiracy charge
NEW YORK — U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez returned to Manhattan federal court Monday to challenge a new criminal charge alleging that he conspired to act as an agent of the Egyptian government when he chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Not guilty,” Menendez, 69, said when Judge Sidney H. Stein...
Detroit police say they’ve identified several people of interest in synagogue president’s killing
DETROIT — Investigators have identified several people of interest in the fatal stabbing of a Detroit synagogue president but would not talk about their connections to the woman during a press conference Monday. Authorities found 40-year-old Samantha Woll’s body outside her home early Saturday after a caller told police about...
Pilots on Horizon Air jet say 3rd pilot in the cockpit tried to shut down engines
PORTLAND, Ore. — An off-duty pilot riding in the extra seat in the cockpit of a Horizon Air passenger jet tried to shut down the engines in midflight and had to be subdued by the crew, according to a pilot flying the plane. Authorities in Oregon identified the man as...
It’s Day 20 with no House speaker, and lower-level names are starting to reach for the gavel
WASHINGTON — On Day 20 without a House speaker, Republicans found themselves starting over Monday — bumbling ahead with few ideas about who will lead, what they are fighting over and when they will get Congress working again. Republicans gathered late in the evening to hear quick speeches from the...
Man who lived in the woods is found guilty of murder in retired New Hampshire couple’s death
CONCORD, N.H. — A man who was living in a tent in the woods in New Hampshire was convicted of murder Monday in the fatal shooting of a retired couple who had gone out for a walk. After a day and a half of deliberation, a jury found Logan Clegg,...
Even with carbon emissions cuts, a key part of Antarctica is doomed to slow collapse, study says
No matter how much the world cuts back on carbon emissions, a key and sizable chunk of Antarctica is essentially doomed to an “unavoidable” melt, a new study found. Though the full melt will take hundreds of years, slowly adding nearly 6 feet (1.8 meters) to sea levels, it will...
Australians’ rejection of the Indigenous Voice in constitutional vote is shameful, supporters say
CANBERRA, Australia — Indigenous campaigners who wanted Australia to create an advisory body representing its most disadvantaged ethnic minority have said its rejection in a constitutional referendum was a “shameful act.” Many proponents of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament maintained a week of silence and flew Aboriginal flags at half-staff...
This procedure is banned in the U.S. Why is it a hot topic in fight over Ohio’s abortion amendment?
COLUMBUS, Ohio — With Election Day closing in, anti-abortion groups seeking to build opposition to a reproductive rights measure in Ohio are messaging heavily around a term for an abortion procedure that was once used later in pregnancy but that hasn’t been legal in the U.S. for over 15 years....
Hamas frees 2 Israeli women as U.S. advises delaying ground war to allow talks on captives
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas released two elderly Israeli women held hostage in Gaza on Monday, as the United States expressed increasing concern that the escalating Israel-Hamas war will spark a wider conflict in the region, including attacks on American troops. The death toll in Gaza was rising rapidly as...
No evidence of hate crime, police say as slain Detroit synagogue president mourned as devoted leader
A Detroit synagogue president who was fatally stabbed at her home was remembered Sunday by family, friends and top Michigan officials as a generous, thoughtful leader who built bridges between communities. As mourners gathered to pay respects to Samantha Woll, police said their ongoing investigation of her killing found no...
Israel strikes Gaza, Syria and West Bank as war against Hamas threatens to ignite other fronts
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli warplanes struck targets across Gaza, two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank allegedly used by militants, as the 2-week-old war with Hamas threatened to spiral Sunday into a broader conflict. Israel has traded fire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group since...
Detroit synagogue president fatally stabbed outside her home
DETROIT — A Detroit synagogue president was found stabbed to death outside her home Saturday, police said. The motive wasn’t known. Emergency medical personnel declared the woman, identified in a statement from Mayor Mike Duggan as Samantha Woll, dead at the scene, Cpl. Dan Donakowski said. “While at the scene,...
‘Oppenheimer’ fanfare likely to fuel record attendance at New Mexico’s Trinity atomic bomb test site
WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. — Thousands of visitors are expected to descend Saturday on the southern New Mexico site where the world’s first atomic bomb was detonated, with officials preparing for a record turnout amid ongoing fanfare surrounding Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film, ” Oppenheimer.” Trinity Site, a designated National...
Company bosses and workers grapple with the fallout of speaking up about the Israel-Hamas war
NEW YORK — Starbucks accused a union representing thousands of its baristas of damaging the brand and endangering co-workers with a pro-Palestinian tweet. The CEO of a prominent tech conference is facing boycotts after he publicly suggested Israel was committing war crimes. Company bosses have vowed never to hire members...
Americans’ faith in institutions has been sliding for years. The chaos in Congress isn’t helping
WASHINGTON — For many Americans, the Republican dysfunction that has ground business in the U.S. House to a halt as two wars rage abroad and a budget crisis looms at home is feeding into a longer-term pessimism about the country’s core institutions. The lack of faith extends beyond Congress, with...
Biden is dangling border security money to try to get billions more for Israel and Ukraine
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is trying to sweeten his pitch for more money for Ukraine by mixing in billions of dollars for securing the U.S.-Mexico border in the hope that it will bring more Republicans on board. The idea came up late last month, after Ukraine assistance was stripped...
Egypt’s border crossing opens to let a trickle of desperately needed aid into besieged Gaza
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened on Saturday to let a trickle of desperately needed aid into the besieged Palestinian territory for the first time since Israel sealed it off in the wake of Hamas’ bloody rampage two weeks ago. Just 20 trucks were...
Long lines at pump unlikely, but Middle East crisis could disrupt oil supplies, raise prices
WASHINGTON — Fifty years after the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the current crisis in the Middle East has the potential to disrupt global oil supplies and push prices higher. But don’t expect a repeat of the catastrophic price hikes and long lines at the gasoline pump, experts say. The Israel-Hamas...
French intelligence: Palestinian rocket, not Israeli airstrike, likely caused Gaza hospital blast
PARIS — An assessment by French military intelligence indicates the most likely cause of the deadly explosion at Gaza City’s al-Ahli hospital was a Palestinian rocket that carried an explosive charge of about 11 pounds and possibly misfired, a senior French military official said Friday. Several rockets in the arsenal...
Israel: 2 Americans held hostage by Hamas, a mother and daughter, have been released
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Hamas on Friday freed an American woman and her teenage daughter who had been held hostage in Gaza, Israel said, the first such release from among the roughly 200 people the group abducted from Israel during its Oct. 7 rampage. Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old...
Violent threats from Virginia to Texas disrupt Muslim groups raising support for Palestinians
ARLINGTON, Va. — For more than 20 years, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has held its annual banquet at the Marriott Crystal Gateway hotel in Crystal City, Va., just outside the nation’s capital, according to CAIR’s executive director, Nihad Awad. Sporadic protests and angry phone calls targeting the Muslim civil...
Former Florida lawmaker who sponsored ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law gets prison for covid-19 relief fraud
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The former Florida lawmaker who sponsored the controversial law critics call “Don’t Say Gay” was sentenced to six months in federal prison Thursday for defrauding a federal coronavirus relief loan program for small businesses. Former state Rep. Joe Harding, a 36-year-old Republican, resigned in December after being...
