Browsing: News

NEW YORK: A powerful winter storm dumped heavy snow and blasted the U.S. Northeast with high winds, closing schools, restricting travel and snarling transportation from major highways to busy airports. Officials in multiple cities and states declared emergencies and urged residents to stay off the roads as crews worked to clear streets and restore service. Meteorologists described the system as the strongest in a decade for parts of the region, with whiteout conditions reported as snowfall intensified Monday and cleanup continued into Tuesday. Air travel was among the hardest hit. Airlines and flight-tracking services reported more than 8,000 U.S. flight cancellations and delays on Monday,…

TRUCKEE: Recovery crews have recovered the bodies of all nine backcountry skiers killed in a powerful avalanche near Castle Peak in the Lake Tahoe region, ending a four-day search complicated by severe winter weather and unstable snow conditions. The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said the last of the victims was recovered Saturday, Feb. 21, after responders used helicopters and tracked vehicles to reach the slide area. Officials said six other members of the party survived. The group was part of a guided trip operating out of the Frog Lake huts. The sheriff’s office identified the victims as Andrew Alissandratos, 34, of Verdi, Nevada;…

VIRGINIA: Robert Duvall, the Oscar-winning American actor whose performances ranged from the steady consigliere Tom Hagen in The Godfather films to the broken singer at the center of Tender Mercies, has died. He was 95. Duvall died peacefully at his home in Middleburg, Virginia, on Sunday, Feb. 15, according to a statement issued by his wife, Luciana Duvall, and an announcement from his publicist. No cause of death was given. His work in film, television and theater spanned more than six decades. Born Jan. 5, 1931, in San Diego, California, Duvall was raised in a U.S. Navy family and spent part of his childhood on the…

NEW YORK: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on the international community to overcome divisions and step up support for people in need as Ramadan approaches, urging action to protect human rights and dignity amid conflicts and humanitarian crises. In a message delivered by UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric at UN Headquarters in New York, Guterres described Ramadan as a sacred period of reflection and prayer that embodies a vision of hope and peace. He said that vision remains out of reach for many people, citing continued suffering linked to conflict, hunger, displacement and discrimination in multiple regions. Guterres urged people to “bridge divides” and…

DETROIT: President Donald Trump has threatened to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, a major new U.S.-Canada crossing between Detroit and Windsor, unless Canada agrees to terms he outlined on social media. Trump said the bridge should not open until the United States is “fully compensated” and said the U.S. should own at least part of the project, describing a 50% stake as a possible benchmark. In his post, Trump tied the bridge dispute to broader trade complaints with Canada. He cited tariffs on U.S. dairy products and what he described as limited shelf space for some U.S. alcoholic beverages in…

PHOENIX: A federal jury in Phoenix ordered Uber Technologies to pay $8.5 million to a passenger who said she was sexually assaulted by a driver, marking a closely watched verdict in litigation that includes thousands of similar claims against the ride-hailing company across the United States. The award consisted of compensatory damages and followed a trial that tested whether Uber can be held liable for a driver’s conduct during a trip arranged through its app. The plaintiff, Jaylynn Dean, said she was assaulted during an Uber ride in Arizona in November 2023 after she became intoxicated and requested transportation to her hotel. Dean,…

MENA Newswire, WASHINGTON: The death toll from a sprawling winter storm and its aftermath across the United States has reached at least 90, as bitter cold, snow and ice continued to disrupt daily life from the South and Midwest to the Mid Atlantic and Northeast. Fatalities have been reported in multiple states over more than a week of severe weather, with officials attributing deaths to vehicle crashes on icy roads, exposure to extreme cold, and other weather related incidents. Authorities in several states said roughly half of the reported deaths were concentrated in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, where prolonged power outages and dangerous travel conditions followed…

MENA Newswire, WASHINGTON: The U.S. Senate approved a sweeping government funding agreement late Friday, but a short partial shutdown began after the House of Representatives left Washington without taking it up before a midnight deadline. The Senate vote, 71 to 29, advanced a package designed to keep most federal agencies funded through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, while separating the Department of Homeland Security for a brief extension. The measure cleared the Senate after hours of amendment votes and procedural steps, sending the legislation to the House, which is scheduled to return on Monday, Feb. 2. With final congressional action…

MENA Newswire, DAVOS: California has joined a World Health Organization coordinated outbreak response network, state officials said, a day after the United States formally completed its withdrawal from the U.N. health agency. Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said California is the first U.S. state to join the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, known as GOARN, a partnership that links hundreds of public health institutions and laboratories worldwide to support detection and response to health emergencies. The announcement followed Newsom’s meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where his office said he met WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to discuss cooperation on emerging…

MENA Newswire, GENEVA: The United States has formally completed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, ending nearly eight decades of membership in the UN health agency that coordinates global disease surveillance and emergency response. The withdrawal took effect on January 22, 2026, after a required one year notice period following a January 20, 2025 presidential directive ordering the move. U.S. health and foreign policy officials said the United States ended its participation in WHO governing bodies and technical committees, and halted U.S. funding and staffing arrangements tied to the organization. U.S. agencies also began shifting or winding down activities previously conducted through WHO channels,…