Chinese surveillance balloons flew over the continental United States at least three times during the Trump years, according to a senior administration official, but their incursions weren’t discovered until after Joe Biden took office.

That gap may help explain why the former president, Donald Trump, and the senior officials who worked for ...Read more

For five years, a woman known as the Chicken Lady of South Jersey urged local officials in Haddon Township, New Jersey, to allow her and other residents to keep chickens in their backyards. She eventually won them over — but that was just the beginning.

The woman, Gwenne Baile, became a traveling chicken guru for residents and local leaders ...Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Last October, federal authorities were monitoring an Instagram account when they found a short video, known as a “story,” depicting a man using a grinder power tool to obliterate the serial number of a semi-automatic pistol.

“On the 40, he said f--- it,” the cameraman reportedly said on film, referring to the .40...Read more

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has agreed to either pardon or reduce sentences for some people arrested in a violent crackdown against nationwide anti-government protests, state TV said.

The move excludes anyone charged with serious offenses such as “waging war on god,” “corruption on earth,” espionage, colluding with ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government launched a mission to salvage what officials say is spy equipment from the Chinese balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, as pressure mounted on President Joe Biden to hit back at Beijing over the incident with new export controls on sensitive technology.

The government anticipates ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada is the deepest it’s been in decades, but those storms that were a boon for Northern California won’t make much of a dent in the long-term water shortage for the Colorado River Basin — an essential source of supplies for Southern California.

In fact, the recent storms haven’t changed a ...Read more

Chairs lined the skate ramp and the back of Sac Ramp Skate shop on Saturday afternoon for a memorial and celebration of life of Tyre Nichols.

Family and friends spoke at the event to express fond memories they shared with Nichols and to remember the 29-year-old’s positive attitude on life. At the memorial, Councilwoman Lisa Kaplan, who ...Read more

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov will be replaced by the head of military intelligence as the country braces for a Russian offensive, a senior lawmaker from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party said.

David Arakhamiya, the Servant of the People party’s parliamentary leader, didn’t specify in a Telegram post when Reznikov would ...Read more

NEW YORK — The relative of an off-duty New York police officer shot in the head and critically wounded in a Brooklyn Facebook Marketplace robbery grabbed the wounded officer’s gun and fired back at the assailant, police sources said Sunday.

The manhunt continued Sunday afternoon for the robber who shot the 26-year-old officer in East New ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Florida’s COVID-19 uptick this winter may have peaked without a crushing wave of hospitalizations.

Statewide, the number of new hospital admissions is dropping after an early January high and is far below what Florida recorded at this time last year when the omicron variant first hit.

“We definitely have (virus) activity, ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The downing of China’s alleged spy balloon marked the first time the F-22 Raptor fighter jet brought down an airborne target since it debuted in combat in Syria and Iraq almost a decade ago, defense analysts said.

“Shooting down China’s balloon was indeed the F-22’s first air-to-air kill,” Rebecca Grant, an Air Force ...Read more

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A weeklong saga that had much of the country watching the skies for the small white speck — that federal officials believe was a Chinese spy balloon — ended with a “bang” delivered by a fighter jet stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton.

The F-22 from Langley’s 1st Fighter Wing fired one AIM-9X ...Read more

The Canadian government is escalating efforts to help Haiti’s national police, deploying a long-range military aircraft to provide intelligence on the country’s menacing gangs.

The Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft, a CP-140 Aurora, was observed patrolling Haiti’s airspace on Saturday much to the surprise and curiosity of many Haitians.

...Read more

China’s standing in the Asia-Pacific has been damaged by its decision to stick with "COVID-zero" for most of 2022, leaving the U.S. to cement its position as the most influential power in the region, according to an Australian research group.

The Sydney-based Lowy Institute’s Asia Power Index for 2023 shows that China registered the ...Read more