Easter’s message of renewal will be especially poignant this year for four U.S. congregations rebounding from disasters. Their churches were destroyed by a tornado in Kentucky, gutted by a blaze in New York City, shattered when Hurricane Ida hit the Louisiana coast, and filled with smoke and ash by...
Big Dollar Democratic Donor Gets 30 Years for Meth Fetish Deaths
Even after two men were found dead in his California apartment, Ed Buck did not stop injecting gay men with walloping doses of methamphetamine. A federal judge on Thursday sentenced him to 30 years in prison in the deaths of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean. Another man, Dane Brown,...
Court Rejects Devin Nunes’ Defamation Lawsuit Against CNN
A divided New York federal appeals court rejected on Thursday a defamation lawsuit that former U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes brought against CNN. In a 2-to-1 ruling, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld a lower-court judge’s decision last year to toss out the lawsuit. Nunes Sought...
Ukrainians Take Credit as Russia’s Black Sea Flag Ship Sinks
KYIV, Ukraine — The flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, a guided-missile cruiser that became a potent target of Ukrainian defiance in the opening days of the war, sank Thursday after it was heavily damaged in the latest setback for Moscow's invasion. Ukrainian officials said their forces hit the...
For Jews Fleeing Ukraine, Passover Takes on New Meaning
“Good morning! Happy morning!” Rabbi Avraham Wolff exclaimed, with a big smile, as he walked into the Chabad synagogue in Odesa, Ukraine, on a recent morning. Russian missiles had just struck an oil refinery in the Ukrainian city, turning the sky charcoal gray. Hundreds were lining up outside his...
Police: Girl Shot as California Shop Owner Fires at Thieves
A Southern California shoe store owner opened fire at two shoplifters, police said, but mistakenly shot a 9-year-old girl about to get her picture with a mall Easter bunny. The store owner fled the state and was arrested in Nevada, authorities said Wednesday. Marqel Cockrell, 20, was chasing the...
Homeschooling Surge Continues Despite Schools Reopening
The coronavirus pandemic ushered in what may be the most rapid rise in homeschooling the U.S. has ever seen. Two years later, even after schools reopened and vaccines became widely available, many parents have chosen to continue directing their children’s educations themselves. Homeschooling numbers this year dipped from last...
Fate of Russia Warship Unclear After Ukrainians Claim Strike
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials said their forces hit the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet with missiles, and one official said Thursday that the vessel sank. Russia said the Moskva was badly damaged by a fire that forced the warship’s evacuation but that it was still afloat. The...
IMF Chief: Ukraine War and Inflation Threaten Global Economy
The head of the International Monetary Fund warned Thursday that Russia's war against Ukraine was weakening the economic prospects for most of the world’s countries and called high inflation “a clear and present danger’’ to the global economy. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the consequences of Russia's invasion...
Tesla CEO Elon Musk Offers to Buy Twitter for $43 Billion
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is offering to buy Twitter, saying the social media platform he has criticized for not living up to free speech principles needs to be transformed as a private company. Twitter Inc. said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that Musk, currently the company’s biggest individual shareholder, has...