Number of monarch butterflies wintering in Mexico drops 22%
MEXICO CITY — The number of monarch butterflies wintering in the mountains of central Mexico dropped 22% from the previous year, and the number of trees lost from their favored wintering grounds tripled.
Biden issues order to strengthen gun background checks
MONTEREY PARK, Calif. — President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday aiming at increasing background checks to buy guns, promoting more secure firearms storage and ensuring U.S. law enforcement agencies get more out of a bipartisan gun control law enacted last summer.
Divide on Ukraine support emerges in early 2024 GOP field
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are emerging as leading rivals for the Republican presidential nomination. But when it comes to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they are united in arguing that stopping the aggression isn’t a vital U.S. strategic interest.
Fed criticized for missing red flags before bank collapse
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Reserve is facing stinging criticism for missing what observers say were clear signs that Silicon Valley Bank was at high risk of collapsing into the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.
Northeast winter storm knocks out power, closes schools
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A winter storm dumped heavy, wet snow in parts of the Northeast on Tuesday, causing tens of thousands of power outages, widespread school closings, dangerous driving conditions and a plane to slide off a taxiway.
New atmospheric river brings rain, wind to soggy California
WATSONVILLE, Calif. — The latest powerful atmospheric river to drench California has put nearly 27,000 people under evacuation orders as of Tuesday due to flooding and landslide risks. On the central coast, workers hauled truckloads of rocks to plug a broken river levee amid steady rain and wind.
U.S. says Russian warplane hits American drone over Black Sea
KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian fighter jet struck the propeller of a U.S. surveillance drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday in a “brazen violation of international law,” causing American forces to bring down the unmanned aerial vehicle, the U.S. said.
Putin rejects theory about Ukrainian role in pipeline blasts
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday dismissed as “sheer nonsense” allegations that Ukrainians could be behind the blasts that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last year, and again pointed the finger at the U.S.
Garbage tarnishes Paris luster as pension strike continues
PARIS — The City of Light is losing its luster with tons of garbage piling up on Paris sidewalks as sanitation workers were on strike for a ninth day Tuesday. The creeping squalor is the most visible sign of widespread anger over a bill to raise the French retirement age by two years.
Hundreds dead as Cyclone Freddy wrecks Malawi, Mozambique
BLANTYRE, Malawi — The devastating Tropical Cyclone Freddy which has ripped through southern Africa in a rare second landfall has killed at least 219 people in Malawi and Mozambique since Saturday night, with the death toll expected to rise.
Netanyahu critics urge Germany, Britain to cancel his visit
JERUSALEM — Hundreds of Israeli writers, artists and intellectuals on Tuesday called on Germany and Britain to cancel upcoming visits by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying his plan to overhaul Israel’s judicial system has put the country on a destructive course.
Government races to reassure U.S. that banking system is safe
NEW YORK — Depositors withdrew savings and investors broadly sold off bank shares Monday as the federal government raced to reassure Americans that the banking system was secure after two bank failures fed fears that more financial institutions could fall.
Alaska’s Willow oil project is controversial. Here’s why.
JUNEAU, Alaska — The Biden administration is approving a major oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope that supporters say represents an economic lifeline for Indigenous communities in the region but environmentalists say is counter to President Joe Biden’s climate goals.
Defense budget speeds toward $1 trillion, with China in mind
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Pentagon intends to load up on advanced missiles, space defense and modern jets in its largest defense request in decades in order to meet the threat it perceives from China. The spending path would put the military’s annual budget over the $1 trillion threshold in just a matter of years, its chief financial officer said Monday.
Cohen testifies before grand jury in Trump hush money probe
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen testified Monday before a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush money payments made on the former president’s behalf.
Flood problems grow as new storm heads toward California
WATSONVILLE, Calif. — A levee break on a storm-swollen river in California’s central coast has quadrupled in size, complicating repair efforts Monday and spilling floodwaters into farmland and agricultural communities — even as yet another atmospheric river took aim at the swamped state.
Biden announces nuclear-powered submarines for Australia
SAN DIEGO — President Joe Biden and the leaders of Australia and the United Kingdom on Monday announced that Australia will purchase nuclear-powered attack submarines from the U.S. to modernize its fleet amid growing concern about China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.
Russia: 60-day extension of wartime grain deal acceptable
GENEVA — A Russian delegation at talks with senior U.N. officials said Monday that Moscow is ready to accept an extension to a grain export deal that has helped bring down global food prices amid the war in Ukraine — but only for 60 days as the Kremlin holds out for changes to how the arrangement is working.
Netanyahu allies in Israel plow ahead on legal overhaul
JERUSALEM — The Israeli parliament on Monday advanced a bill that would make it harder to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the corruption charges against him, as it plowed ahead with a broader plan to overhaul the country’s legal system in defiance of mass protests.
UN inquiry commission: Quake aid was slow to reach Syria
GENEVA — The international community and the Syrian government did not act quickly enough last month to help people in need in the rebel-held northwest after a deadly earthquake hit Turkey and conflict-ravaged Syria, a U.N.-backed commission said Monday.