U.S./World category, Page 229
China releases 3 Americans it imprisoned for years, and Beijing says US returned 4 people to China
WASHINGTON — Three American citizens imprisoned for years by China arrived back in the United States late Wednesday. Their release, announced earlier by the White House, was the result of a rare diplomatic agreement with Beijing in the final months of the Biden administration. The Chinese government also announced Thursday...
Israelis are wary of returning to the north because they don’t trust the ceasefire with Hezbollah
KIBBUTZ MALKIYA, Israel — Dean Sweetland casts his gaze over a forlorn street in the Israeli community of Kibbutz Malkiya. Perched on a hill overlooking the border with Lebanon, the town stands mostly empty after being abandoned a year ago. The daycare is closed. The homes are unkempt. Parts of...
Police: Armed man dies after being shot by Akron officer on Thanksgiving night
AKRON, Ohio — A police officer in Akron shot and killed an armed man after hearing gunshots on Thanksgiving night, authorities said. Police said in a news release that two patrol officers were in a parked police cruiser in the Sherbondy Hill neighborhood as they worked on a report from...
Notre Dame Cathedral 5 years later: World gets first look of renovations after devastating fire
PARIS — Five years after a catastrophic fire reduced Notre Dame Cathedral to a smoldering shell, The Associated Press entered the Gothic masterpiece for a first glimpse of its fully restored interiors during a visit with French President Emmanuel Macron that was broadcast to the public. The transformation is nothing...
Atlantic hurricane season comes to an end, leaving widespread damage in its wake
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season comes to a close Saturday, bringing to an end a season that saw 11 hurricanes compared to the average seven, and death and destruction hundreds of miles from where storms came ashore on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Meteorologists called it a ” crazy busy ”...
Supreme Court will hear arguments over Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors
WASHINGTON — Advocates for transgender rights are turning to a conservative-dominated Supreme Court after a presidential election in which Donald Trump and his allies promised to roll back protections for transgender people. The justices on Wednesday are taking up the issue of gender-affirming care for transgender minors, which has been...
British lawmakers give initial approval to a bill to allow terminally ill adults to end their lives
LONDON — British lawmakers gave initial approval Friday to a bill to help terminally ill adults end their lives in England and Wales following an impassioned debate that saw personal stories of loss and suffering shared. Members of Parliament approved the assisted dying bill by a vote of 330 to...
U.K. transport secretary quits over decade-old cellphone fraud case
LONDON — British Transport Minister Louise Haigh resigned on Friday over a decade-old fraud conviction for claiming her cellphone had been stolen. In a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Haigh said, “I remain totally committed to our political project, but I now believe it will be best served by...
Thousands of workers march across Italy in general strike demanding better pay and services
MILAN — Thousands of teachers, health care workers, trash collectors and others walked off their jobs across Italy on Friday to protest a decline in spending power, persistently low salaries and government policies they say have weakened public services. Italy’s most powerful trade unions called the eight-hour strike and mobilized...
Australian Parliament bans social media for under-16s
MELBOURNE, Australia — A social media ban for children under 16 passed the Australian Parliament on Friday in a world-first law. The law will make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to...
Footprints suggest 2 species of early humans were neighbors in Kenya 1.5M years ago
WASHINGTON — Muddy footprints left on a Kenyan lakeside suggest two of our early human ancestors were nearby neighbors some 1.5 million years ago. The footprints were left in the mud by two different species “within a matter of hours, or at most days,” said paleontologist Louise Leakey, co-author of...
Trump promised federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe. Will he follow through?
OKLAHOMA CITY — When Kamala Harris and Donald Trump campaigned in North Carolina, both candidates courted a state-recognized tribe there whose 55,000 members could have helped tip the swing state. Trump in September promised that he would sign legislation to grant federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe, a distinction that...
Trump’s tariffs in his first term did little to alter the economy, but this time could be different
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump loved to use tariffs on foreign goods during his first presidency. But their impact was barely noticeable in the overall economy, even if their aftershocks were clear in specific industries. The data show they never fully delivered on his promised factory jobs. Nor did they provoke...
Trump claims a win on immigration after a call with Mexico’s president. But she suggests no change
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump declared a win on stopping illegal immigration through Mexico on Wednesday after talking with that country’s leader. But Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested Mexico was already doing its part and had no interest in closing its borders. The two spoke just days...
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: Big balloons, wet weather and 21 protesters arrested
NEW YORK — The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was drenched in rain Thursday and briefly disrupted by Pro-Palestinian demonstrators. New York City police said they arrested 21 people after protesters sat down on the parade route with Palestinian flags and a “Don’t Celebrate Genocide” banner. People protesting Israel’s war in...
Florida golfer fatally beaten with his own clubs in a random attack, police sayVideo
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — A Florida golfer has died after he was beaten with his own clubs and choked in what police believe was a random attack by a man with a history of violence whose family had just kicked him out of their home. Brian Hiltebeitel, 65, was...
Canada already examining tariffs on certain U.S. items following Trump’s tariff threat
TORONTO — Canada is already examining possible retaliatory tariffs on certain items from the United States should President-elect Donald Trump follow through on his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products, a senior official said Wednesday. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if...
Capitol rioter’s defamation suit against Fox News dismissed
A Delaware court judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News filed by a Jan. 6 rioter who said the network falsely identified him as an FBI informant. U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer L. Hall granted Fox News’ motion to dismiss the suit filed last year by Ray Epps....
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signs bill limiting bathroom use by transgender students
COLUMBUS — Transgender students from kindergarten through college at Ohio public and private schools will be banned from using multiperson bathrooms that fit their gender identities under a measure that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday that he has signed. DeWine signed the law out of public view Tuesday over...
Northern lights may be faintly visible across parts of the U.S. this Thanksgiving
NEW YORK — This Thanksgiving, solar storms may produce faint auroras across the northern rim of the United States. Pale auroras may be seen across many northern states Thursday and Friday, but they may be brief and and seeing them will depend on how intense the solar storms get, NOAA...
White House pressing Ukraine to draft 18-year-olds so they have enough troops to battle Russia
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration is urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilization laws to allow for the conscription of troops as young as 18. A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to...
Massachusetts man wrongfully convicted of murder was awarded $13 million. He won’t get all of it
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — For the nearly three decades that he was behind bars, Michael Sullivan’s mother and four siblings died, his girlfriend moved on with her life and he was badly beaten in several prison attacks. All for a murder he long insisted he never committed. Earlier this month, the...
New York City found in contempt over conditions in city jails
NEW YORK — A federal judge found New York City in contempt on Wednesday over conditions in its city jails, saying conditions have only worsened in the nine years since the city settled accusations of abuse and violence. Judge Laura Taylor Swain in Manhattan issued a written ruling finding the...
Number of Americans filing for jobless benefits falls again and hovers near 7-month lows
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week, remaining near seven-month lows. Jobless claim applications fell by 2,000 to 213,000 for the week of Nov. 23, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 213,000, to 215,000. However, continuing claims,...
2 companies drop McGregor after civil jury ruled he must pay $250K to woman who says he raped her
LONDON — Two companies have cut ties with Conor McGregor after a civil court jury in Ireland ruled last week that he must pay nearly 250,000 Euros ($257,000) to a woman who accused the mixed martial arts fighter of raping her. Proximo Spirits, the owner of Irish whiskey brand Proper...
