U.S. milk to be tested for bird flu virus
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin testing the nation’s milk supply for the bird flu virus known as H5N1, nearly a year after the virus began circulating through dairy cattle, the department announced Friday.
Police find backpack in Central Park, a possible link to gunman who killed CEO
NEW YORK — Investigators said Friday that they had recovered DNA from a water bottle they believed had been discarded by the man who killed a health care executive in a brazen attack in midtown Manhattan this week.
Canada moves to protect Arctic from threats by Russia and China
OTTAWA, Ontario — Citing growing interest by China and Russia in the Arctic as global warming makes the region more accessible, Canada on Friday said it would focus on building stronger alliances with other nations in the region, particularly the United States.
Job growth rebounds with a gain of 227,000 in November
Job creation bounced back in November after disruptions from storms and a major strike, reinforcing a picture of modest employment expansion over the past several months.
Californians know about earthquakes, but tsunamis are a different story
SAN FRANCISCO — For generations, the possibility of another devastating earthquake has lingered in the minds of Californians, who are remarkably familiar with seismological terms and regularly prepare for the next “Big One.”
TikTok faces US ban after losing bid to overturn new law
TikTok is one step closer to disappearing in the United States after a panel of federal judges Friday unanimously upheld a new law that could lead to the banning of the popular Chinese-owned video app by mid-January.
An Arctic hamlet is sinking into the thawing permafrost
TUKTOYAKTUK, Canada — On the shore of Lake Tiktalik in Canada’s Western Arctic, the thawing permafrost had set off two huge landslides into the water, leaving yawning craters on the tundra. These “thaw slumps” measured several hundred feet wide and just as deep.
Torrent of hate for health insurance industry follows CEO’s killing
The fatal shooting Wednesday of a top UnitedHealthcare executive, Brian Thompson, on a New York City sidewalk has unleashed a torrent of morbid glee from patients and others who say they have had negative experiences with health insurance companies at some of the hardest times of their lives.
Images of unmasked suspect emerge as police track CEO’s killer
NEW YORK — Security-camera images of a man wearing a hooded jacket and an easy smile. A fake ID. A cellphone found on a Manhattan sidewalk. Bullets marked with the words “deny” and “delay.”
NASA Artemis moon missions delayed until 2026 and 2027
WASHINGTON — NASA on Thursday postponed a mission to send four astronauts around the moon and back to Earth until April 2026.
Without a law, the government can’t protect your privacy
The Federal Trade Commission just took much-needed action against a company and its subsidiaries. You’ve probably never heard of those companies, but they’ve probably heard of you. More accurately, they know where you’ve been. Exactly where you’ve been.
South Korean general gives a confused account of a failed crackdown
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s military — agents of terror and violence in the 1970s and ’80s — spent decades scrupulously cleaning up its image to become what many people in the country came to see as a modern and disciplined force.
Kindergartners are ‘critical but stable’ a day after a California school shooting
OROVILLE, Calif. — The two kindergartners, close friends, had left their classroom together at the Feather River Adventist School for a simple trip to the restroom.
Supreme Court inclined to uphold Tennessee law on transgender care
WASHINGTON — Members of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed ready Wednesday to uphold a Tennessee law denying transition care to transgender youth, with some of them saying that judgments about contested scientific evidence should be made by legislatures rather than judges.
South Korea’s turmoil is the latest threat to a three-way Pacific alliance
TOKYO — When President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea visited the White House last year, he charmed the Washington establishment by singing Don McLean’s “American Pie.” When he flew to Tokyo to usher in a new era of conciliation with Japan, it was a genial visit, with the prime minister treating Yoon to “omurice,” a Japanese dish the South Korean leader likes.
The last time alcohol poisoned a defense nomination
The nominee for defense secretary was in trouble for carousing, transgressing with women and liquor.
China just showed Washington how it plans to fight the next trade war
BEIJING — When President-elect Donald Trump fired the opening shots in a trade war during his first term, Chinese officials often took days to respond, and Chinese businesses followed every threat with alarm.
Meet Lamb Chop, America’s hottest dog toy
Most toys that cross Foxie’s path rarely last. Rope toys are torn to shreds. Squeaky ones fall silent in her paws. Stuffies lose their eyes and ears once Foxie’s 12-pound frame gets hold of them.
The Midwestern roots, and woods, of NBA courts
AMASA, Mich. — Los Angeles Clippers fans are being wowed this season by the bells and whistles in the team’s new $2 billion home, the Intuit Dome. They can watch replays on the world’s largest double-sided scoreboard, sit in a 51-row section reserved for die-hard supporters and buy a jersey in the 5,000-square-foot team store.
Helping students find their way to college
Nomar Leonardo Melo Cabral was weeks into his first semester in college when an unexpected bill from New York’s Stony Brook University arrived in his inbox.
