NewsPlexus Media January 17, 2020

Search teams aided by Pakistani troops pulled out 21 more bodies from homes destroyed by this week's avalanches in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, raising the overall death toll due to severe winter weather to 160 for Pakistan and Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday.

NewsPlexus Media January 17, 2020

The death toll climbed to three Wednesday from a massive explosion and fire at a petrochemical plant in Spain as one person died in hospital and another body was found in the wreckage, authorities said. Another seven people were injured in the blast near a northeastern city late Tuesday.

NewsPlexus Media January 17, 2020

Elizabeth Warren accused Bernie Sanders of calling her a liar before a national television audience during a tense, post-debate exchange in which she refused to shake his outstretched hand. The Democratic presidential rivals are strong progressives who had steadfastly refused to attack each other for more than a year on the campaign trail. But that changed Monday, when Warren said that, during a private meeting between the two in 2018, he disagreed with her that a woman could win the presidency.

NewsPlexus Media January 17, 2020

President Vladimir Putin engineered a surprise shake-up of Russia's leadership Wednesday, proposing changes to the constitution that could keep him in power well past the end of his term in 2024. Hours after he made the proposals, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev resigned and Putin named the little-known head of Russia's tax service to replace him.

NewsPlexus Media January 17, 2020

A physical therapist killed his wife, their three young children and a dog in an affluent Florida suburb near Walt Disney World and then left their bodies there for days, authorities said Wednesday. Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson said at news conference that Anthony Todt faces homicide charges for the deaths of his wife, Megan, and their three children ranging in ages from 4 to 13.

NewsPlexus Media January 17, 2020

A lawsuit filed by prosecutors in the Virgin Islands says multimillionaire sex offender Jeffery Epstein used two private islands in the U.S. territory to engage in a nearly two-decade conspiracy to traffic and abuse girls. At one point, the suit filed Wednesday alleges, Epstein and associates organized a search party to catch a 15-year-old victim trying to swim away, and kept her passport to keep her captive.

NewsPlexus Media January 17, 2020

There’s a creeping sense of alarm in Rio de Janeiro after more than a week of foul tasting and smelling tap water in dozens of neighborhoods. Rumors are flying, and residents are hoarding bottled water. People in the metropolitan area have taken to social media to show glasses of water that appears reddish or brownish. Several supermarkets visited by the Associated Press on Wednesday had run out of bottled water.

NewsPlexus Media January 17, 2020

Some aviation experts said Wednesday that they were puzzled after the crew of a commercial airliner decided to dump fuel at low altitude during an emergency landing, causing a vapor to fall on schoolyards and neighborhoods east of Los Angeles International Airport.

NewsPlexus Media January 17, 2020

A grand jury has indicted two former Houston police officers — including one who is facing murder counts — for their roles in a deadly January 2019 drug raid that killed a couple, prosecutors announced Wednesday. The indictments follow similar charges that were filed in August by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

NewsPlexus Media January 17, 2020

A Texas inmate with a history of violence against women was executed Wednesday evening for fatally shooting his wife, who had feared she would never get out of her marriage alive. John Gardner, 64, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the January 2005 slaying of Tammy Gardner. Prosecutors said the couple was getting divorced when Gardner broke into his wife's North Texas home and shot her in the head as she was sitting in bed.

NewsPlexus Media January 17, 2020

The impeachment trial of President Donald Trump has barely started and already journalists are getting a glimpse of how hard it will be cover the event under harsh new media restrictions imposed by the Senate. Thursday served as a preview of how the new restrictions will warp the daily functioning of the congressional press corps, who are accustomed to approaching senators as they walk through the hallways or emerge from the Senate subway.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

A 16-year-old student mistakenly shot his friend in their Houston-area high school's ROTC room before fleeing and being arrested several hours later, officials said Wednesday. The two were in a room at Bellaire High School with four other students but no adult Tuesday afternoon when the 16-year-old took a semi-automatic pistol out of his waistband and pulled the trigger, killing 19-year-old Cesar Cortes, said Lt. Greg Bartlett.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

For nearly a year, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders pushed strongly progressive ideas into the Democratic primary spotlight, feeding off each other to build support for proposals long dismissed as radically leftist: “Medicare for All,” tuition-free college and a “Green New Deal” to combat climate change. Now the race’s most progressive candidates are fighting over the politics of gender, and regardless of who prevails, the party’s most liberal wing is nervous the ensuing fallout could torpedo its once-ascendant ideals.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

A Republican state lawmaker will be subject to a sexual harassment investigation for telling a young female reporter she could have “a lot of fun” with a group of high school boys visiting the Michigan Capitol, legislative leaders said Wednesday.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

Virginia moved a step closer to ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment on Tuesday, even as the measure's future nationally remains in doubt. A House committee approved a resolution to ratify the gender equality measure, which advocates hope will become the next amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

Less-organized migrants, tighter immigration control by Guatemalan authorities and the presence of U.S. advisers have reduced the likelihood that the hundreds of migrants who departed Honduras will form anything like the cohesive procession the term "caravan" now conjures. What awaits them along their journey has changed dramatically. Guatemalan officials are checking documents, Mexico's National Guard has been deployed and if the migrants make it to the U.S. border, officials there will make them await their asylum cases in Mexico or send them to another country in the region they're fleeing to apply for protection there.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

Corrections officials in Georgia are preparing to execute a man convicted of fatally shooting a convenience store clerk more than 30 years ago. Jimmy Fletcher Meders, 58, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday evening at the state prison in Jackson. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to die for the October 1987 killing of Don Anderson in coastal Glynn County.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

Rocky "Soulman" Johnson, a WWE Hall of Fame wrestler who became better known as the father of actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, has died. He was 75. WWE issued a statement on Johnson's death Wednesday night.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

A Philippine volcano belched smaller plumes of ash but shuddered continuously with earthquakes and opened cracks in roads Thursday as police blockaded at-risk towns due to fears of a bigger eruption. A crater lake and nearby river have dried up in signs of the Taal volcano's continuing restiveness, and officials have warned people against speculating the five-day eruption is waning.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

Tyson Steele watched his remote cabin go up in flames, mourned the death of his dog and then spent weeks in the Alaska wilderness, bundling up in an makeshift shelter against the subzero temperatures and eating canned food — unable to reach the outside world. He knew his best chance for rescue would come from worried loved ones sending a plane to check on him. Help came about three weeks later.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

Britain's pragmatic queen brokered a deal Monday to secure the future of the monarchy, charting a course for Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, that allows them to live part time in Canada while still remaining firmly tied to the House of Windsor.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

Female filmmakers were shut out, “Parasite” made history and “Joker” edged out “The Irishman," “1917” and “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” in Monday's Oscar nominations. Todd Phillips’ R-rated superhero smash “Joker” topped all films with 11 nominations to the 92nd Academy Awards, while Martin Scorsese’s elegiac crime epic “The Irishman,” Quentin Tarantino’s 1960s Los Angeles fairy tale “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” and Sam Mendes’ continuous World War I tale “1917” all trailed close behind with 10 nods apiece.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

The U.S. budget deficit through the first three months of this budget year is up 11.8% from the same period a year ago, putting the country on track to record its first $1 trillion deficit in eight years.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

Hemp growers and entrepreneurs who were joyous a year ago after U.S. lawmakers reclassified the plant as a legal agricultural crop now are worried their businesses could be crippled if federal policymakers move ahead with draft regulations. Growers are concerned the government wants to use a heavy hand that could result in many crops failing required tests and being destroyed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency writing the rules, estimates 20% of hemp lots would fail under the proposed regulations.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

Democrat Cory Booker dropped out of the presidential race Monday, ending a campaign whose message of unity and love failed to resonate in a political era marked by chaos and anxiety. His departure now leaves a field that was once the most diverse in history with just one remaining African American candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who is struggling to register in the polls amid a late entry into the race.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

The man who shot several people, killing one, at a zombie-themed festival in Florida more than four years ago was sentenced on Monday to 30 years in prison.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he opposes a Senate resolution asserting that President Donald Trump must seek approval from Congress before engaging in further military action against Iran. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said Monday that the Senate will "soon" debate a measure sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. The measure, co-sponsored by two Republicans, would send the wrong message to U.S. allies after the Trump administration killed Iran's top general earlier this month, McConnell said.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

A U.S. judge ruled Monday that the Trump administration is operating within its authority when separating families stopped at the Mexico border, rejecting arguments that it was quietly returning to widespread practices that drew international condemnation. The American Civil Liberties Union argued that the administration was splitting families over dubious allegations and minor transgressions including traffic offenses.

NewsPlexus Media January 16, 2020

Tensions between the U.S. government and Pacific Gas & Electric are boiling over as the two sides battle over whether a taxpayer-funded agency should be allowed to stake a claim on a $13.5 billion settlement covering most of the losses from catastrophic wildfires blamed on the bankrupt utility.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2020

A small volcano near the Philippine capital that draws tourists for its picturesque setting in a lake erupted with a massive plume of ash and steam Sunday, prompting the evacuation of tens of thousands of people and forcing Manila's international airport to shut down.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2020

Activists placed hundreds of painted-red women's shoes on Mexico City's sun-drenched main square Saturday to call attention to gender-based violence in a country where, on average, 10 women and girls are murdered each day and less than 10 percent of the cases are ever solved.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2020

The point where childhood ends and adulthood begins isn't as straightforward as it seems. Add the limelight and things can get complicated for young people who either voluntarily or through circumstances live very public lives. Those public lives often come with heaping helpings of adult-size sniping. But are children and adolescents who find themselves under global microscopes still entitled to age-appropriate protection from the harshness of public discourse? And, more importantly, can they handle it?

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2020

A North Korean official on Saturday said that the U.S. and South Korea are dreaming if they think that President Donald Trump's sending a birthday message would get leader Kim Jong Un back to the negotiating table.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2020

The reins of political power in the U.S. for the next decade could be determined in this year's elections — not necessarily by who wins the presidency, but by thousands of lower-profile contests for state legislative seats across the country. In many states, the winners of those legislative races will have a role in drawing new districts for Congress or state legislatures based on the 2020 census. If a political party can win control of those state legislative chambers now, it can draw voting districts to boost its chances in future elections.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2020

Oman's new ruler, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, vowed Saturday to uphold his predecessor Sultan Qaboos bin Said's foreign policy approach, which steered the Arab country through choppy Persian Gulf waters by balancing close relations with both the United States and Iran. The new ruler, who was Oman's culture minister, spoke after being named successor to Sultan Qaboos, the Middle East's longest-ruling monarch whose death was announced Saturday.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2020

In a defining week for President Donald Trump on the world stage, national security adviser Robert O'Brien was a constant presence at the president's side as the U.S. edged to the brink of war with Iran and back again. The contrasts with O'Brien's predecessor along the way — in secret consultations at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, in the Oval Office and in basement deliberations in the White House Situation Room — could not have been more stark.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2020

Iran's only female Olympic medalist said she defected from the Islamic Republic in a blistering online letter that describes herself as “one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran.” Taekwondo athlete Kimia Alizadeh posted the letter on Instagram as Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency said she had fled to the Netherlands.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2020

More than two dozen men and women say they were physically, sexually and emotionally abused as children at New Hampshire's state-run youth detention center over the course of three decades, according to attorneys who have filed a class action lawsuit on their behalf. The lawsuit filed Saturday in Merrimack County Superior Court comes six months after two former counselors were charged with repeatedly raping a teenage boy at the Youth Development Center in Manchester, New Hampshire, in the late 1990s.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2020

He was a middle-aged French author becoming known, even celebrated, for writing about sex with children. She was a fragile 14-year-old, too young to foresee the damage she says was done to her life by his predatory grip on her body and mind. Now a grown woman, Vanessa Springora is causing a literary, legal and cultural storm in France with her explosive tell-all book that alleges, in cutting detail, an underage and destructive sexual relationship with French writer Gabriel Matzneff, now in his eighties.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2020

It took the Great War to finally take down "Star Wars." Director Sam Mendes' World War I story "1917" brought in $36.5 million in its first weekend of wide release, easily topping the box office and ending the three-week reign of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," which brought in $15 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2020

The founder and former top employees of a pharmaceutical company are facing a reckoning for their role in a bribery scheme that prosecutors say boosted sales of a powerful, highly addictive painkiller and helped fuel the national opioid epidemic. Starting Monday, seven people who worked for Insys Therapeutics will appear in Boston to be sentenced by a federal judge.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2020

Authorities say 12 people were shot, five of them fatally, in eight separate weekend shootings in Baltimore.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2020

People throughout the Canadian province of Ontario awoke Sunday to a cellphone alert warning them of an "incident" at a nuclear plant just east of Toronto — only to later be told the message was a mistake. The message, which was transmitted throughout the nation's most populous province, was accompanied by a shrill emergency broadcast noise.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2020

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Sunday that a monument will be put up to memorialize nine U.S.-Mexican dual citizens ambushed and slain last year by suspected drug gang assassins along a remote road in the northern border region near New Mexico.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2020

A 7-year-old girl is dead and her 4-year-old brother is missing after they and their father were swept into the ocean on the Oregon coast amid a high-surf warning.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2020

Icy roads, deadly tornadoes, punishing waves — severe weekend weather has been blamed for 11 deaths and major damage in parts of the Midwest, South and Northeast. Tens of thousands remained without electrical power Sunday as a result of the storms a day earlier. Officials in farflung locations were assessing the damages while utility crews worked to restore power.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2020

Crews battling Australia's wildfires said Sunday that they have been able to turn from defense to offense for the first time in weeks thanks to a break in the weather.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2020

Retired Pope Benedict XVI has broken his silence to reaffirm the value of priestly celibacy, co-authoring a bombshell book at the precise moment that Pope Francis is weighing whether to allow married men to be ordained to address the Catholic priest shortage.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2020

The United States is preparing to remove more than a dozen Saudi military students from a training program and return them to their home country after an investigation into a deadly shooting by a Saudi aviation student at a Florida navy base last month, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2020

Hong Kong authorities barred the head of Human Rights Watch from entering the Chinese territory Sunday, the advocacy group said. Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch's executive director, had planned to launch the organization's annual world report in Hong Kong this week. The report's focus is China's efforts to “deliberately undermine the international human rights system," Roth said in video posted to his Twitter.