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A new US-run pier off Gaza could help deliver 2 million meals a day – but it comes with security risks

Current News / News & Features /

The U.S. has dispatched eight Army and Navy vessels from Virginia to build a temporary pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip. The aim of this work: to supply food and other necessary items for Palestinians as the war between Israel and Hamas continues and the resulting humanitarian crisis worsens.

Even before Oct. 7, 2023, and the ...Read more

What is Volt Typhoon? A cybersecurity expert explains the Chinese hackers targeting US critical infrastructure

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Volt Typhoon is a Chinese state-sponsored hacker group. The United States government and its primary global intelligence partners, known as the Five Eyes, issued a warning on March 19, 2024, about the group’s activity targeting critical infrastructure.

The warning echoes analyses by the cybersecurity community about Chinese state-...Read more

'The Key Bridge is us': For those who grew up in its shadow, bridge was a lifetime connection

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BALTIMORE — For almost as long as the Francis Scott Key Bridge existed, Roy Plummer could see it from his kitchen window. If it had rained the night before, the bridge would shine in the morning when the sun rose to touch it.

When he was a senior in high school, his friend’s father got him a job helping with the bridge’s construction. On ...Read more

Latino community and beyond rallies to support victims, families of Key Bridge collapse

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BALTIMORE — Like many others in Baltimore, Susana Barrios awoke early Tuesday morning to a flood of messages asking if she was okay. She soon learned that the Francis Scott Key Bridge had collapsed into the Patapsco River. As with all tragedies, Barrios, vice president of the Latino Racial Justice Circle, started to wonder if members of her ...Read more

Pratchaya Leelapatchayanont/Dreamstime/TNS

Is a centuries-old disease endemic in Florida? What to know about the spread of leprosy

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MIAMI — Leprosy, a disease of the skin and nerves, hearkens back centuries, all the way to its reference in the Bible in the Book of Leviticus.

People in Florida are talking about leprosy again — and not just in church or Sunday school.

While leprosy remains rare in the U.S., more cases are popping up across the country, including in ...Read more

Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Nevada prosecutors move to dismiss federal case against alleged MS-13 leader

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LAS VEGAS — Prosecutors on Thursday moved to dismiss an indictment against a man accused of being a high-ranking leader in the international MS-13 gang.

The dismissal would allow for his release nearly four years after he was charged in a sweeping indictment against members of the group accused of selling drugs and guns in Las Vegas.

Adali ...Read more

Arvin Temkar/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Georgia Senate approves bill to ban puberty blockers for trans minors

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The Georgia Senate on Thursday voted to ban medical professionals from prescribing puberty blockers to transgender minors.

The Senate voted 32-19 to approve House Bill 1170, with Democrats opposing it.

Just last year, the General Assembly approved legislation that banned minors from receiving any potential permanent changes from hormone ...Read more

Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Dungeness crab season in San Francisco Bay Area, Central Coast will come to an early end

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — The already-shortened 2023-2024 Dungeness crab season in the San Francisco Bay Area and central California will come to an end early, in slightly more than a week.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials on Thursday ordered an April 8 close to the commercial season to minimize the risk of humpback whales ...Read more

Jung Yeon-je/Getty Images North America/TNS

Russia blocks UN expert panel on North Korea nuclear program

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Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution to extend a panel of experts that has reported on North Korea’s development of its nuclear arsenal for 15 years, underscoring the increasingly close ties between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Reports by the panel of experts inform decisions on international sanctions established by the ...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

Virginia Gov. Youngkin vetoes bills that would legalize retail marijuana sales, increase minimum wage

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NORFOLK, Va. — Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Thursday vetoed seven bills, including those with the potential to reshape life in Virginia.

HB 698 and SB 448 aimed to establish a retail market for marijuana starting in May 2025. HB 1 and SB 1 would have increased the state’s minimum wage from $12 per hour to $13.50 at the start of the new year and $...Read more

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/TNS

Fatal NYPD shooting of Queens teen holding scissors spurs outrage over cops' actions

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NEW YORK — As new details emerge on a teen’s fatal shooting by an NYPD officer on Wednesday, outrage has bubbled up over the tactics used by the officers who responded to a 911 call made by the teen himself.

Win Rozario’s death has also raised broader questions about how the city responds to mental health emergencies, fueling criticism ...Read more

Emily Curiel/Kansas City Star/TNS

Kansas Republicans send strict ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors to Gov. Laura Kelly

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TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas Republicans sent a strict ban on specific health care for transgender minors to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, setting up for another veto-override fight over the lives and rights of LGBTQ Kansans.

The Kansas House and Senate voted Wednesday to approve a bill banning hormone therapy and gender transition surgery, often ...Read more

Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Jurors award $11.5 million to former LAPD K-9 handler who claimed discrimination over Samoan heritage

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LOS ANGELES — A jury this week awarded $11.5 million to a former Los Angeles police K-9 handler who sued the city alleging that his supervisors retaliated and discriminated against him in part because of his Samoan ancestry.

The officer, Mark Sauvao — pronounced "su-VOW" — alleged he was unfairly punished after he reported some of his ...Read more

News briefs

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Black Maryland politicians respond to racist comments following Key Bridge collapse

BALTIMORE — With less than two weeks left before they adjourn for the year, the Maryland General Assembly has continued its work in the face of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. But, for some lawmakers, it tinges the remainder of the legislating to...Read more

Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun/TNS

Did warnings to get off the Key Bridge reach the construction crew fixing potholes?

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BALTIMORE — The duty officer radioed to two fellow Maryland Transportation Authority Police officers working an extra-duty shift in Tuesday’s early morning hours. He needed one stationed on each side of the Francis Scott Key Bridge to block traffic.

“There’s a ship approaching that just lost their steering,” the duty officer advised, ...Read more

Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Biden administration approves initial $60 million for Key Bridge response

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BALTIMORE — Gov. Wes Moore’s administration on Thursday requested an initial $60 million in federal funds to cover preliminary costs for mobilization, operations and debris recovery following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collision, and the Biden administration approved the funding hours later.

Damage assessments were ongoing and a full cost...Read more

Hartford Courant/Hartford Courant/TNS

Connecticut Lt. Gov. to trans community: 'We see you, we respect you, and we will keep fighting for you'

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HARTFORD, Conn. — When Mia Lozado booked her first appointment for gender-affirming hormone therapy, she thought her grandmother would kick her out.

Lozado told her she was prepared to pack up her clothes and sleep in the park, but as the words fell from her mouth, Lozado said her grandmother looked at her and said, “You don’t have to do ...Read more

Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Murder charges dismissed against teen accused of fatally beating 73-year-old with traffic cone

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PHILADELPHIA — The murder and conspiracy charges against one of the 14-year-olds accused of fatally striking a 73-year-old man with a traffic cone nearly two years ago — in a case that drew national attention and outrage — have been dismissed.

Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara McDermott dismissed all charges against Richard Jones, now 16, ...Read more

Hampton County Sheriff's Office/Hampton County Sheriff's Office/TNS

Murdaugh's lawyers deny he lied on polygraph test. They want to debate it in open court

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COLUMBIA, S.C.— Lawyers for convicted killer and multimillion-dollar fraudster Alex Murdaugh launched a robust attack Thursday on a claim by federal prosecutors that Murdaugh flunked a lie detector test and is therefore eligible for a stiffer federal prison sentence.

Murdaugh “denies the allegation” that he broke a plea deal agreement by ...Read more

Emily Curiel/ecuriel@kcstar.com/Kansas City Star/TNS

Kansas launches challenge to federal student loan forgiveness. Missouri could be next

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Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a lawsuit Thursday aimed at blocking President Joe Biden’s latest attempt at forgiving billions in student loan debt for Americans.

Kobach is leading a coalition of 11 Republican attorneys general to challenge the plan, which the Biden administration has introduced through a series of programs over ...Read more