U.S./World category, Page 16
House Republican leaders urge Tony Gonzales to end reelection bid after he admitted to affair with aide
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson and the GOP leadership are calling for Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas to withdraw from his reelection race after he admitted having an affair with a former staff member who later died by suicide. The Republican leadership announced its decision Thursday, a day...
Intense Israeli strikes target Iran and Lebanon as U.S. warns bombardment to ‘surge dramatically’
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Intense Israeli airstrikes pounded the capitals of Iran and Lebanon early Friday as the U.S. apparently struck an Iranian drone carrier at sea, intensifying its campaign targeting the Islamic Republic’s fleet of warships. Iran launched new retaliatory attacks in the Middle East at the end...
Trump fires Homeland Security Secretary Noem after mounting criticism over her leadershipVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, after mounting criticism over her leadership of the department, including the handling of the administration’s immigration crackdown and disaster response. Trump, who said he would nominate Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin in her place, made...
Wisconsin man accused of setting fire to congressman’s office over TikTok ban gets 7 years in prison
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin man who allegedly told police he tried to set fire to a Republican congressman’s office last year because he was angry that the lawmaker backed a bill requiring TikTok’s Chinese owner to sell off its U.S. operations was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison....
Stranded in Dubai, Western Pa. residents await uncertain departure
The attack on Iran by the U.S. and Israel has left some Western Pennsylvania residents stranded in Dubai as escalating tensions in the Middle East disrupt international travel. Jackie Graham of Marshall and Karen Hasenkopf of Brookline received the news of the attack while on a tour in the middle...
No chance asteroid will slam into the moon in 2032, NASA says
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA issued a welcomed all-clear Thursday, saying there’s now zero chance that asteroid 2024 YR will crash into the moon in 2032. The space agency had been predicting a 4.3% chance of a direct hit. But observations by the Webb Space Telescope in February helped scientists...
Stranded travelers share firsthand accounts from the Middle East
Hundreds of thousands of people have been stranded across the Middle East amid the U.S. and Israel’s joint war against Iran. And between swaths of flight cancellations and airspace closures, many are still scrambling for next steps. In a matter of days, the conflict has continued to escalate — particularly...
Hegseth urges Latin American allies to go on offense against drug cartelsVideo
MIAMI — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday urged Latin American countries to take a more aggressive approach against drug cartels, warning that the Trump administration would be forced to act by itself if governments fail to effectively combat criminal organizations that directly threaten the United States and border security....
Smoothie King fires 2 Michigan workers after they refused to serve Trump supporter
Two workers were fired from working at a Smoothie King shop in Michigan after they refused to serve a Trump supporter. The incident took place at an Ann Arbor location and was posted Monday on TikTok, the Detroit Free Press reported. The video shows what appears to be a couple...
Blackout is still on in western Cuba as crews rush to repair damaged thermoelectric plant
HAVANA — Swaths of Cuba remained without power on Thursday nearly a day after a massive blackout hit the western part of the island in the latest outage blamed on a fragile electric grid and a lack of fuel. Crews worked overnight to repair a broken boiler at one of...
Chaos sown by Iran’s attacks across the Persian Gulf is key to its strategyVideo
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — For years, Iran’s theocratic government warned it would blanket the Middle East with missile and drone fire if it felt its existence was threatened. Now, the Islamic Republic is doing just that. Since the U.S. and Israel launched the war Saturday and killed Iranian Supreme...
Whose airstrike hit a girls school in Iran? The U.S. says it’s still investigating
WASHINGTON — Top Trump administration officials said Wednesday that they were still investigating whether it was a U.S. airstrike that hit a girls elementary school in Iran on the opening day of the war. The strike was one of the deadliest attacks of the American-Israeli campaign against Iran so far,...
Trump’s White House ballroom is too big, architect says, as 2nd panel prepares to vote on it
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump ‘s White House ballroom project is way too big and should be scaled back, an architect and member of the board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation said Wednesday — one of a number of changes he has suggested for a project he says...
Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales acknowledges affair with former aide who committed suicide
WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas acknowledged for the first time Wednesday having an affair with an aide who later died after setting herself on fire, a revelation that came on the same day the House Ethics Committee announced it was initiating an investigation into the congressman. Gonzales,...
Homeland Security investigates whether Greg Bovino made disparaging comments about Jewish faith
MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. Customs and Border Protection has opened an internal investigation into whether Gregory Bovino, the one-time architect of President Donald Trump’s large-scale immigration crackdown, made disparaging comments about the Jewish faith of the U.S. attorney for Minnesota. “Following a letter from a Congressman inquiring about reporting on anonymous...
Last 2 names of 6 American soldiers who died in Kuwait attack identified by the Pentagon
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — The last two names of the six U.S. soldiers killed in a Kuwait attack were released Wednesday by the Pentagon, and they are from California and Iowa. The soldiers identified Wednesday were Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento and Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien,...
Iran launches missiles at Israel as attacks in Middle East commence for a 6th dayVideo
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran launched missiles at Israel early Thursday as aerial attacks in the Middle East commenced for a sixth day after an American submarine sank an Iranian warship and Iran threatened the destruction of military and economic infrastructure across the region. Israel announced multiple incoming attacks,...
Trump says deal on data centers will lower electricity prices as tech companies vow to cover costsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump invited technology companies to the White House on Wednesday to commit to developing their own power generation as he tries to ease tensions over the cost of electricity used by data centers to develop artificial intelligence. “They need some PR help because people think that...
Judge rules companies are entitled to refunds for Trump tariffs overturned by the Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — In a defeat for the Trump administration, a federal judge in New York ruled Wednesday that companies that paid tariffs struck down last month by Supreme Court are due refunds. Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade wrote that “all importers of record” were “entitled...
Sen. Fetterman is the only Democrat to vote against curbing Trump’s power to order strikes in Iran
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans voted down an effort Wednesday to halt President Donald Trump’s war against Iran, demonstrating early support for a conflict that has rapidly spread across the Middle East with no clear U.S. exit strategy. The legislation, known as a war powers resolution, failed on a 47-53 vote...
Justice Department, under pressure from Trump, fails to build autopen case against Biden
The Justice Department, after calls by President Donald Trump to investigate former President Joe Biden, scrutinized whether Biden and his aides broke the law in using the autopen to sign presidential documents, but was ultimately unable to move forward with making a case, according to three people briefed on the...
House committee votes to subpoena Attorney General Bondi to answer questions over Epstein files
WASHINGTON — The House Oversight Committee voted Wednesday to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi to answer questions over the Justice Department’s handling of files regarding the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation. Five Republicans joined Democrats to support the subpoena proposed by GOP Rep. Nancy Mace in a sign of continued...
U.S., Ecuador launch military operation against organized crime groups
QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador and the United States have begun joint military operations against organized crime groups in the South American country, the U.S. military said, but neither government has given details of the location and scope of the operation. U.S. Southern Command said in a statement late Tuesday that...
As Israel pounds Lebanon, thousands of Syrians there flee back home
Thousands of Syrians living in Lebanon have fled to their home country in recent days after Lebanon was dragged back into conflict, with Israeli airstrikes bombarding several cities. Earlier this week, Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, fired rockets and launched drones toward Israel, in what it said was retaliation...
Rising energy prices from the Iran war could help Russia pay for fighting in Ukraine
FRANKFURT, Germany — The Iran war’s disruption of Middle East oil and gas supplies and soaring prices are strengthening Russia’s ability to profit from its energy exports, a pillar of the Kremlin’s budget and a key to paying for its own war in Ukraine. Prices for Russia’s oil exports have...
