U.S./World category, Page 223
Some in seafood industry see Trump as fishermen’s friend, but tariffs could make for pricier fish
PORTLAND, Maine — The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is likely to bring big changes for one of the oldest sectors of the U.S. economy — seafood — and some in the industry believe the returning president will be more responsive to its needs. Economic analysts paint a more...
A nonprofit leader, a social worker: Here are the stories of the people on Biden’s clemency list
A nonprofit leader who supports at-risk New Orleans youth. A social worker who fosters animals. A counselor and recovery coach who volunteers at organizations that fight sexual assault and domestic violence. They are among the roughly 1,540 people whose sentences were commuted or who were pardoned by President Joe Biden...
Minnesota reaps windfall from epic comeback of lake trout in Lake Superior
MINNEAPOLIS — Once-rare lake trout in Lake Superior are doing so well that state biologists will use the fish to stock the species in lakes around the state, officials have announced. This fall, the Department of Natural Resources successfully harvested lake trout eggs from fish captured in two nets set...
American who says he crossed into Syria on foot is free after 7 months in detentionVideo
DAMASCUS, Syria — An American who turned up in Syria on Thursday said he was detained after crossing into the country on foot seven months ago on a Christian pilgrimage. Travis Timmerman appears to have been among thousands of people released from the country’s notorious prisons after rebels reached Damascus...
IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
WASHINGTON — IRS leadership on Thursday announced that the agency has recovered $4.7 billion in back taxes and proceeds from a variety of crimes since the nation’s tax collector received a massive glut of funding through Democrats’ flagship tax, climate and health law in 2022. The announcement comes under the...
U.S. senator says mysterious drones spotted in New Jersey region should be ‘shot down, if necessary’Video
TOMS River, N.J. — A U.S. senator has called for mysterious drones spotted flying over sensitive areas in New Jersey and other parts of the Mid-Atlantic region to be “shot down, if necessary,” even as it remains unclear who owns them. “We should be doing some very urgent intelligence analysis...
Israeli airstrikes kill 28 in Gaza, including 7 children, health officials say
Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip, including seven children and a woman, hours after the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. One of the strikes overnight and into Thursday flattened a house in...
Some breast cancer patients can avoid certain surgeries, studies suggest
Some early breast cancer patients can safely avoid specific surgeries, according to two studies exploring ways to lessen treatment burdens. One new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, examines whether removing lymph nodes is always necessary in early breast cancer. Another in the Journal of the American...
South Korea’s Yoon defends martial law as an act of governance and vows to ‘fight to the end’
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol defended his martial law decree as an act of governance and denied rebellion charges, vowing Thursday to “fight to the end” in response to attempts to impeach him and intensifying investigations into last week’s dramatic move. The main opposition Democratic...
Trump named Time’s Person of the Year, rings New York Stock Exchange’s opening bell
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump has been recognized for the second time by Time magazine as its Person of the Year. To mark the event, Trump rang the opening bell Thursday at the New York Stock Exchange. The honors for the businessman-turned-politician are a measure of Trump’s remarkable comeback...
Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The commutations announced Thursday...
American who says he crossed into Syria by foot is free after 7 months in detention
DAMASCUS, Syria — An American who turned up in Syria on Thursday says he was detained after crossing into the country by foot on a Christian pilgrimage seven months ago. Travis Timmerman appears to have been among thousands of people released from the country’s notorious prisons after rebels reached Damascus...
East Coast storm makes a mess at ski resorts as strong winds cause power outages
PORTLAND, Maine — Colder weather began to return Thursday after a storm that swept up the East Coast delivered a blow to New England, packing powerful gusts that knocked out power along with a deluge of rain and warming temperatures that washed away snow and dampened ski resorts. An atmospheric...
Suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing could return to New York on a governor’s warrant
PHILADELPHIA — The suspect in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO plans to fight extradition to New York to face murder charges, but officials hope to get him back with what’s called a governor’s warrant. The process could happen quickly or take more than a month. New York Gov. Kathy...
Hannah Kobayashi, missing Hawaii woman whose disappearance prompted a massive search, is found safe
LOS ANGELES — Hannah Kobayashi, the missing Hawaii woman whose disappearance prompted a massive search and a missing persons investigation in Los Angeles, has been found safe, police said Wednesday. Kobayashi vanished last month in Los Angeles. She missed her connecting flight and planned to explore the city the next...
Arguments over whether Luigi Mangione is a ‘hero’ offer a glimpse into an unusual American moment
Is he a hero? A killer? Both? About the same time the #FreeLuigi memes featuring the mustachioed plumber from “Super Mario Brothers” mushroomed online this week, commenters shared memes showing Tony Soprano pronouncing Luigi Mangione, the man charged with murdering the UnitedHealthcare CEO in Manhattan, a hero. There were the...
Blinken faces GOP critics in Congress who say Afghanistan withdrawal ‘lit the world on fire’
WASHINGTON — Under fire from congressional Republicans about one of the darkest moments of Joe Biden’s presidency, Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the administration’s handling of the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying Democrats struggled to make the best of a bad pullout deal struck by Donald Trump. Blinken...
Homeland Security shares new details of mysterious drone flights over New Jersey
The large mysterious drones reported flying over parts of New Jersey in recent weeks appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio, according to a state lawmaker briefed Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security. In a post on the social media platform X, Assemblywoman Dawn...
Britain indefinitely bans puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria
LONDON — The British government on Wednesday indefinitely banned puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria after independent experts found there was an unacceptable safety risk in prescribing the medication. The decision, which will be revisited in 2027, effectively bans a common approach to medical gender transitions for youths. It...
House approves $895B defense bill with military pay raise, ban on transgender care for minors
WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday passed a $895 billion measure that authorizes a 1% increase in defense spending this fiscal year and would give a double-digit pay raise to about half of the enlisted service members in the military. The bill is traditionally strongly bipartisan, but some Democratic lawmakers...
U.S. warns Russia may be ready to use new lethal missile against Ukraine again in ‘coming days’
WASHINGTON — A U.S. intelligence assessment has concluded that Russia may use its lethal new intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine again soon, two U.S. officials said Wednesday. The Oreshnik missile, which was used for the first time last month, is seen more as an attempt at intimidation than as a...
Wisconsin kayaker who faked his death and fled the country is charged after returning to U.S.
GREEN LAKE, Wis. — A Wisconsin man who faked his own drowning and left his wife and three children for Eastern Europe willingly returned to the U.S. after four months and was charged Wednesday with obstructing an intense lake search for his body. The criminal complaint charging Ryan Borgwardt with...
Alex Jones keeps Infowars for now after judge rejects The Onion’s winning auction bid
A federal judge in Texas rejected the auction sale of Alex Jones’ Infowars to The Onion satirical news outlet, criticizing the bidding for the conspiracy theory platform as flawed as well as how much money families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting stood to receive. The decision late Tuesday...
Explosion in Afghan capital kills the Taliban refugee minister
ISLAMABAD — A suicide bombing in the Afghan capital on Wednesday killed the Taliban refugee minister and two others, officials said, in the most brazen attack on a member of the Taliban inner circle since they returned to power three years ago. The explosion struck inside the ministry, killing Khalil...
U.K. spy agency releases annual Christmas card puzzle to uncover future codebreakers
LONDON — What does a spy agency give for Christmas? How about a riddle wrapped in an enigma inside a mystery. GCHQ, Britain’s electronic and cyber-intelligence agency, on Wednesday published its annual Christmas Challenge — a seasonal greeting card that doubles as a set of fiendishly difficult puzzles designed to...
