U.S./World category, Page 246
Taylor Swift donates $5 million toward hurricane relief efforts
Taylor Swift has donated $5 million to Feeding America to support relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The nonprofit announced the pop star’s donation Wednesday with a “Thank You” graphic resembling a friendship bracelet, a favorite accessory that Swift’s fans trade at her concerts. Feeding America...
Hurricane Milton has caused thousands of flight cancellations. What to do if one of them was yours
NEW YORK — Thousands of flights in and out of the U.S. have been canceled this week as Hurricane Milton barreled into the Gulf of Mexico and plowed across Florida — causing many airports to close their doors in the path of destruction. And airlines across the country grounded flights...
Hurricane Milton’s winds topple crane building west Florida’s tallest residential building
The mayor in St. Petersburg, Florida, warned residents cranes at several construction projects across the city might fall in Hurricane Milton and at the storm’s peak on Wednesday night, one came crashing down. No one was injured when the crane working on a 46-story condominium and office budling — which...
How to help people affected by Hurricane Milton
Communities in Florida still reeling from the impact of Hurricane Helene are now also grappling with the still-unfolding damage from Hurricane Milton. The storm crashed into a community south of Tampa, drenching counties with torrents of rain, downing power lines and bridges and kicking up dangerous storm surges. Here is...
Ethel Kennedy, social activist and widow of Robert F. Kennedy, has died
BOSTON, Mass. — Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy who raised their 11 children after he was assassinated and remained dedicated to social causes and the family’s legacy for decades thereafter, died on Thursday, her family said. She was 96. Kennedy had been hospitalized after suffering a...
Atlantic City mayor and his wife plead not guilty to beating their daughter
MAYS LANDING, N.J. — The mayor of Atlantic City and his wife, who is the seaside gambling resort’s schools superintendent, pleaded not guilty Thursday to beating and abusing their teenage daughter, with a lawyer saying that “parenting struggles are not criminal events.” Mayor Marty Small Sr. and La’Quetta Small, who...
Hurricane Milton disrupts Yom Kippur plans for Jews in Florida
WINTER PARK, Florida — Many Jews worldwide will mark Yom Kippur in fasting and prayer at their synagogues this weekend. But for the faithful in Florida, destructive Hurricane Milton has disrupted plans for observing the Day of Atonement — the holiest day of the year in the Jewish faith —...
Nobel Prize in literature is awarded to South Korean author Han Kang for her ‘intense poetic prose’
STOCKHOLM — The Nobel Prize in literature was awarded Thursday to South Korean author Han Kang for what the Nobel committee called “her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.” Nobel committee chairman Anders Olsson praised Han’s “physical empathy for the vulnerable, often...
Hurricane Milton live feed: Views from around FloridaVideo
Hurricane Milton barreled into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after plowing across Florida as a Category 3 storm, pounding cities with ferocious winds and rain, whipping up a barrage of tornadoes and causing an unknown numbers of deaths. It compounded the misery wrought by Helene while sparing Tampa a direct...
What to know about Hurricane Milton after it slammed Florida’s Gulf Coast
Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida as a Category 3 storm, bringing powerful winds, heavy rain and tornadoes to much of the Gulf Coast, including communities already battered by deadly Hurricane Helene. By early Thursday, Milton — weakened, but still dangerous — was moving off Florida’s east coast as a Category...
Israeli strike on school-turned-shelter in Gaza kills 27
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in the Gaza Strip killed at least 27 people on Thursday, Palestinian medical officials said. The Israeli military said it targeted militants, but people sheltering there said the strike hit a meeting of aid workers. Israel...
Milton causes widespread power outages and several deaths in Florida
TAMPA, Fla. — Rescue teams plucked Florida residents from the flotsam of Hurricane Milton on Thursday after the storm smashed through coastal communities where it tore homes into pieces, filled streets with mud and spawned a barrage of deadly tornadoes. At least eight people were dead. Arriving just two weeks...
Photo collection: Hurricane Milton pounds Florida
Hurricane Milton has made landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm. It has lashed the state with damaging wind, deadly storm surge and potential flooding. The cyclone had maximum sustained wind of 120 mph when it roared ashore near Siesta Key, Florida, at 8:30 p.m., the Miami-based...
Israeli defense minister warns an attack on Iran would be ‘lethal’ and ‘surprising’
JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister warned on Wednesday that his country’s retaliation for a recent Iranian missile attack will be “lethal” and “surprising,” while the Israeli military pushed ahead with a large-scale operation in northern Gaza and a ground offensive in Lebanon against Hezbollah militants. On the diplomatic front, Israeli...
5 dead after small plane crashes on Santa Catalina Island off the Southern California coast
AVALON, Calif. — Five people were killed when a small plane crashed during takeoff from Santa Catalina Island off the Southern California coast, authorities said Wednesday. The twin-engine Beechcraft 95 crashed shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday, just moments after it departed from Catalina Airport near the island city of Avalon,...
Social Security’s scheduled cost of living increase ‘won’t make a dent’ for some retirees
WASHINGTON — Sherri Myers, an 82-year-old resident of Pensacola City, Florida, says the Social Security cost-of-living increase she’ll receive in January “won’t make a dent” in helping her meet her day-to-day expenses. “Inflation has eaten up my savings,” she said. “I don’t have anything to fall back on — the...
As FEMA prepares for Hurricane Milton, it battles rumors surrounding Helene recovery
WASHINGTON — The rumors surrounding Hurricane Helene are many. There are false claims that people taking federal relief money could see their land seized. Or that $750 is the most they will ever get to rebuild. Or that the agency’s director — on the ground since the storm hit —...
Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper for work on proteins
STOCKHOLM — The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded Wednesday to three scientists for their breakthrough work predicting and even designing the structure of proteins, the building blocks of life. The prize was awarded to David Baker, who works at the University of Washington in Seattle, and to Demis Hassabis...
Israeli offensive in hard-hit northern Gaza kills dozens and threatens hospitals
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — A large-scale Israeli operation in northern Gaza has killed dozens of people and threatens to shut down three hospitals over a year into the war with Hamas, Palestinian officials and residents said Wednesday. Heavy fighting was underway in Jabaliya, where Israeli forces have carried out...
Biden sets 10-year deadline for cities to replace lead pipes nationwide
WASHINGTON — A decade after the Flint, Michigan, water crisis raised alarms about the continuing dangers of lead in tap water, President Joe Biden on Tuesday set a 10-year deadline for cities across the nation to replace their lead pipes, finalizing an aggressive approach aimed at ensuring that drinking water...
Las Vegas blows a kiss goodbye — literally — to the Tropicana with a flashy casino implosionVideo
LAS VEGAS — Sin City blew a kiss goodbye to the Tropicana before first light Wednesday in an elaborate implosion that reduced to rubble the last true mob building on the Las Vegas Strip. The Tropicana’s hotel towers tumbled in a celebration that included a fireworks display. It was the...
FBI arrests Afghan man who officials say planned Election Day attack in the U.S.
WASHINGTON — The FBI has arrested an Afghan man who officials say was inspired by the Islamic State militant organization and was plotting an Election Day attack targeting large crowds in the U.S., the Justice Department said Tuesday. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, of Oklahoma City told investigators after his arrest...
Bob Woodward book reveals Trump’s calls with Putin and Biden’s private remarks on Obama, Netanyahu
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump has had as many as seven private phone calls with Vladimir Putin since leaving office and secretly sent the Russian president covid-19 test machines during the height of the pandemic, Bob Woodward reported in his new book, “War.” The revelations were made in the famed Watergate...
The hunt for gasoline is adding to Floridians’ anxiety as Milton nears
TAMPA, Fla. — Florida gas stations struggled to keep up with demand Tuesday as long lines and empty pumps compounded the stress for residents planning to hunker down or flee as Hurricane Milton approached the state’s western coast. Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference that state officials were...
Some East Palestine derailment settlement payments should go out even during appeal of the deal
People who lived near the disastrous East Palestine derailment last year should still be able to receive personal injury payments even while the bulk of their $600 million class action settlement with Norfolk Southern railroad remains on hold during an appeal. A spokesperson for the attorneys who represented residents said...
