McDonald’s is bringing back a fan favorite after four years; here’s when you can get it
The McDonald’s Big Mac is getting even bigger.
Beginning Jan. 24, the chain is bringing back the Double Big Mac, which has four beef patties instead of the usual two, for a limited time nationwide.
McDonald’s briefly sold the special sandwich in March 2020, announcing its arrival a few days before the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, which forced fast food chains to cut operating hours and reduce menu offerings, including the Double Big Mac.
Unlike the previous version, this Double Big Mac highlights McDonald’s overhaul of its core burger offerings, which includes softer buns, adjusting its grill settings for a better sear and improving how the cheese melts. Big Macs, in particular, are getting more sauce.
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Costco is testing out a new system for entering stores. Here’s where — and how not to get booted
Bad news if you’re mooching off of someone else’s Costco membership: The retail giant is cracking down.
When you enter Costco, you need to show your membership card to an employee to shop. Costco membership cards are non-transferable, but the company allows members to give a second household card to one other person in their home. Anyone with a card can bring up to two guests to the club during each visit, the company stipulates.
But Costco has noticed that non-members have been sneaking in with membership cards that don’t belong to them — particularly since Costco expanded self-checkout.
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Macy’s is laying off thousands of workers and closing stores across US. See the full list
Veteran department-store chain Macy’s is laying off about 3.5% of its workforce, or roughly 2,350 employees, and closing five stores as it continues to shrink its massive retail business for the online-shopping era.
“As we prepare to deploy a new strategy to meet the needs of an ever-changing consumer and marketplace, we made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce by 3.5% to become a more streamlined company,” a Macy’s spokesperson told CNN.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.
Retailers often lay off employees and announce store closures after the holidays, especially if they had a sluggish sales season.
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Top national stories from the week of Jan. 13
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu says he has told US that he opposes Palestinian state in any postwar scenario
UpdatedRAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he has told the United States that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any postwar scenario, underscoring the deep divisions between the close allies three months into Israel’s assault on Gaza aiming to eliminate its Hamas rulers.
The U.S. has called on Israel to scale back its offensive and said that the establishment of a Palestinian state should be part of the “day after.”
But in a nationally broadcast news conference, Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with the offensive until Israel realizes a “decisive victory over Hamas.” He also rejected the idea of Palestinian statehood. He said he had relayed his positions to the Americans.
“In any future arrangement … Israel needs security control all territory west of the Jordan,” Netanyahu told a nationally broadcast news conference. “This collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can you do?”
“The prime minister needs to be capable of saying no to our friends,” he added.
Smoke rises following Israeli bombardments in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)
More than 100 days after Hamas triggered the war with its Oct. 7 attack, Israel continues to wage one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, with the goal of dismantling the militant group that has ruled Gaza since 2007 and returning scores of captives. The war has stoked tensions across the region, threatening to ignite other conflicts.
More than 24,600 Palestinians have been killed, some 85% of the narrow coastal territory’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes, and the United Nations says a quarter of the population is starving.
Hundreds of thousands have heeded Israeli evacuation orders and packed into southern Gaza, where shelters run by the United Nations are overflowing and massive tent camps have gone up. Israel has continued to strike what it says are militant targets in all parts of Gaza, often killing women and children.
Early Thursday, medics said an Israeli airstrike on a home killed 16 people, half of them children, in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.
Dr. Talat Barhoum at Rafah’s el-Najjar Hospital confirmed the toll and said dozens more were wounded. Associated Press footage from the hospital showed relatives weeping over the bodies of loved ones.
“They were suffering from hunger, they were dying from hunger, and now they have also been hit,” said Mahmoud Qassim, a relative of some of those who were killed.
A Palestinian woman flashes a V-sign towards Israeli troops during an army raid in the Tulkarem refugee camp, West Bank, Wednesday, Jan.17, 2024. An Israeli airstrike killed four Palestinians during a raid in the West Bank. The military says it targeted a group of militants who had opened fire and were throwing explosives at Israeli soldiers in the Tulkarem refugee camp. The Palestinian Health Ministry says four people were killed. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Footage emerged Thursday of Israeli troops blowing up the main campus of a university outside Gaza City in a controlled detonation — one of multiple universities they have destroyed. The video, apparently taken by drone, showed a giant explosion engulfing the complex of buildings of Al-Israa University.
The university, a private institution founded in 2014, said in a statement that its main building for graduate studies and bachelor’s colleges were destroyed. It said Israeli forces seized the complex 70 days ago and used it as a base. It was unclear when the explosion took place. The Israeli army had no immediate comment.
According to Hamas, Israeli forces have destroyed more than 390 schools, universities, and educational institutions across Gaza.
Internet and mobile services in Gaza have been down for five days, the longest of several outages during the war, according to internet access advocacy group NetBlocks. The outages complicate rescue efforts and make it difficult to obtain information about the latest strikes and casualties.
There was meanwhile no word on whether medicines that entered the territory Wednesday as part of a deal brokered by France and Qatar had been distributed to dozens hostages with chronic illnesses who are being held by Hamas.
WAR REVERBERATES ACROSS REGION
The war has rippled across the Middle East, with Iran-backed groups attacking U.S. and Israeli targets. Low-intensity fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon threatens to erupt into all-out war, and Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to target international shipping despite United States-led airstrikes.
The Israeli military said it fired an interceptor at a “suspicious aerial target” — likely a drone or missile — approaching over the Red Sea on Thursday, triggering air raid sirens in the southern Israeli coastal city of Eilat. The Houthis have launched drones and missiles toward Israel that mostly fell short or were intercepted and shot down.
Iran has meanwhile launched a series of missile attacks targeting what it described as an Israeli spy base in Iraq and militant bases in Syria as well as in Pakistan, which carried out reprisal strikes against what it described as militant hideouts in Iran early Thursday.
It was not clear if the strikes in Syria and Pakistan were related to the Gaza war. But they showcased Iran's ability to carry out long-range missile attacks at a time of heightened tensions with Israel and the U.S., which has provided crucial support for the Gaza offensive and carried out its own strikes against Iran-allied groups in Syria and Iraq.
Israel has vowed to dismantle Hamas to ensure it can never repeat an attack like the one on Oct. 7. Militants burst through Israel’s border defenses and stormed through several communities that day, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage.
Israel has also vowed to return all the hostages remaining in captivity after more than 100 — mostly women and children — were released during a November cease-fire in exchange for the release of scores of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Family members and supporters were marking the first birthday of Kfir Bibas, the youngest Israeli hostage, in a somber ceremony Thursday in Tel Aviv.
The red-haired infant and his 4-year-old brother Ariel were captured along with their mother, Shiri, and their father, Yarden. All four remain in captivity.
MEDICINES BOUND FOR HOSTAGES ENTER GAZA
The agreement to ship in medicines was the first to be brokered between the warring sides since November. Hamas said that for every box of medicine bound for the hostages, 1,000 would be sent for Palestinian civilians, in addition to food and humanitarian aid.
Qatar confirmed late Wednesday that the medicine had entered Gaza, but it was not yet clear if it had been distributed to the hostages, who are being held in secret locations, including underground bunkers.
Both France and Hamas had said the International Committee for the Red Cross, which helped facilitate the hostage releases, would have a role in distributing the medications. But on Thursday, the Red Cross said “the mechanism that was agreed to does not involve the ICRC playing any part in its implementation, including the delivery of medication.”
Hamas has continued to fight back across Gaza, even in the most devastated areas, and launch rockets into Israel. It says it will not release any more hostages until there is a permanent cease-fire, something Israel and the United States, its top ally, have ruled out.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 24,620 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, around two-thirds of them women and children, with over 61,800 wounded. It says many other dead and wounded are trapped under rubble or unreachable because of the fighting. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.
Israel blames the high civilian death toll on Hamas because it fights in dense residential areas. Israel says its forces have killed roughly 9,000 militants, without providing evidence, and that 193 of its own soldiers have been killed since the Gaza ground offensive began.
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Jeffery reported from London and Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.
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Israel-Hamas war at 100 days
Police officers evacuate a woman and a child Oct. 7 from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, southern Israel.
Palestinians wave their national flag Oct. 7 and celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the southern Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis.
Fire and smoke rise Oct. 8 following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.
Israelis evacuate a site struck by a rocket fired Oct. 9 from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, southern Israel.
An Israeli firefighter kneels to compose himself Oct. 9 after he and his colleagues extinguished cars set on fire by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, Israel.
Palestinians inspect the rubble of the Yassin Mosque on Oct. 9 after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike at Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.
An Israeli soldier walks Oct. 11 by a house destroyed in fighting with Hamas militants in kibbutz Be'eri.
Antonio Macías' mother cries over her son's body covered with the Israeli flag Oct. 15 at Pardes Haim cemetery in Kfar Saba, near Tel Aviv, Israel. Macias was killed by Hamas militants Oct. 7 while attending a music festival in southern Israel.
Mourners gather around the five coffins of the Kotz family during their funeral Oct. 17 in Gan Yavne, Israel. The family was killed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 at their house in Kibbutz Kfar Azza near the border with the Gaza Strip.
Rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel over destroyed buildings Oct. 19 following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, central Gaza Strip.
An Israeli soldier hugs his partner Oct. 20 near the border with the Gaza Strip, southern Israel.
Palestinians walk Oct. 20 by buildings destroyed in an Israeli bombardment on al-Zahra, on the outskirts of Gaza City.
Palestinians evacuate a building hit Oct. 22 in an Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in Rafah.
Palestinians inspect the rubble of destroyed buildings Oct. 26 following Israeli airstrikes on the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.
Israeli security forces on Nov. 1 inspect charred vehicles burned in the Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas militants outside the town of Netivot, southern Israel.
Kenzi al Madhoun, a 4-year-old wounded in an Israeli bombardment, lies Nov. 1 at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah City, Gaza Strip.
An Israeli soldier stands in an apartment Nov. 8 during a ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians flee Nov. 11 to the southern Gaza Strip on Salah al-Din Street in Bureij, Gaza Strip.
Palestinians wounded in an Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip wait for treatment Nov. 15 at a hospital in Khan Younis.
Palestinians displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip seek cover from a winter rainfall Nov. 19 at a U.N. tent camp in the southern town of Khan Younis, Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled their homes in northern Gaza as Israel moved ahead with a ground offensive against the ruling Hamas militant group.
Palestinians flee to northern Gaza as Israeli tanks block the Salah al-Din road Nov. 24 in the central Gaza Strip, as a temporary cease-fire begins.
A Red Cross vehicle carrying Israeli hostages drives by Nov. 25 at the Gaza Strip crossing into Egypt in Rafah.
An Israeli soldier looks at Palestinians fleeing south Nov. 26, the third day of a temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, at Salah al-Din road in central Gaza Strip.
Israelis embrace Nov. 28 next to photos of people killed and taken captive by Hamas during militants' Oct. 7 rampage through the Nova music festival in southern Israel, at the site of the event near kibbutz Re'im.
A Palestinian woman gestures Dec. 7 following Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip.
Israeli soldiers on Dec. 8 stand by a truck packed with bound and blindfolded Palestinian detainees rounded up for interrogation in northern Gaza during a search for Hamas fighters.
Palestinians mourn Dec. 20 outside a morgue in Khan Younis for relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians line up for a free meal Dec. 21 in Rafah, Gaza Strip. International aid agencies say Gaza is suffering from shortages of food, medicine and other essential supplies as a result of the war.
A makeshift tent camp Jan. 1 where Palestinians displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are staying in the Muwasi area.
With the U.S Capitol in the background, demonstrators rally Jan. 13 during the March on Washington for Gaza at Freedom Plaza in Washington. The protest was part of a global day of action ahead of the Israel-Hamas war's 100-day mark.
View photos of the celebrities arriving for the 75th Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Hunter Biden agrees to closed-door deposition with House Republican after months of defiance
UpdatedWASHINGTON — Hunter Biden has agreed to appear before House Republicans for a private deposition next month, ending months of defiance from the president's son, who had insisted on testifying publicly.
Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son, accompanied by his attorney Abbe Lowell, left, talks to reporters Jan. 10 as they leave a House Oversight Committee hearing in Washington.
The House Oversight Committee announced Thursday that the two parties have agreed for Hunter Biden to sit for a deposition on Feb. 28.
“His deposition will come after several interviews with Biden family members and associates,” Rep. James Comer, the chairman of the Oversight Committee, and Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman of the Judiciary panel, said in a statement. "We look forward to Hunter Biden’s testimony.”
A request for comment from Hunter Biden's attorneys was not immediately returned.
Republicans had been set to advance a contempt resolution against him to the House floor this week but called it off Tuesday to give the attorneys additional time to negotiate.
The agreement concludes months of contentious back-and-forth between President Joe Biden's son and Republicans who have been investigating his overseas business dealings for over a year in a so far futile effort to connect it to his father.
Republicans, led by Comer and Jordan, first subpoenaed the younger Biden in November, demanding that he appear before lawmakers in a private setting by mid-December. Biden and his attorneys refused to comply with the private interview, saying that it would allow information to be selectively leaked and manipulated by House Republicans and insisted that he would only testify in a public setting.
When Republicans denied those terms, Hunter Biden and his attorneys made two separate appearances at the U.S. Capitol, further angering congressional investigators. In both instances, Biden again refused to testify privately, instead delivering statements to the press where he defended his business affairs and castigated the yearslong investigations into him and his family.
The impeachment inquiry into the president, which began in September, has focused heavily on Hunter Biden and his international business affairs, questioning whether the president profited from that work. It has so far failed to uncover evidence directly implicating Joe Biden in wrongdoing involving his son’s work.
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Photos: Hunter Biden through the years
Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) holds his daughter Ashley while taking a mock oath of office from Vice President George Bush during a ceremony on Capitol Hill, Jan. 3, 1985. Biden's sons Beau and Hunter hold the bible during the ceremony. (AP Photo/Lana Harris)
FILE - In this March 24, 1988, file photo, Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., wearing a University of Delaware baseball cap, leaves Walter Reed Army Hospital accompanied by his son Hunter Biden in Washington. Biden had been in the hospital for 11 days so that surgeons could implant a small umbrella-like filter in a vein to prevent blood clots from reaching his lungs. (AP Photo/Adele Starr, File)
Hunter Biden, right, and his stepmother Jill Biden on stage after the vice presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)
Vice President-elect, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., left, stands with his son Hunter during a re-enactment of the Senate oath ceremony, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009, in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Vice President Joe Biden with his son Hunter Biden, right, react to the crowd as they participate in the Inaugural Parade in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2010, file photo, Vice President Joe Biden, left, with his son Hunter, right, at the Duke Georgetown NCAA college basketball game in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2012, file photo, Hunter Biden waits for the start of the his father's, Vice President Joe Biden's, debate at Centre College in Danville, Ky. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
Family members gather for a road naming ceremony with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, center, his son Hunter Biden, left, and his sister Valerie Biden Owens, right, joined by other family members during a ceremony to name a national road after his late son Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, in the village of Sojevo, Kosovo, on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. President Joe Biden is the guest of honor during the street dedication ceremony naming the national road Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III.AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
President-elect Joe Biden, right, embraces his son Hunter Biden, left, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)
President Joe Biden hugs first lady Jill Biden, his son Hunter Biden and daughter Ashley Biden after being sworn-in during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Beau Biden, right, son of Hunter Biden, second from right, holds a branch from the official 2021 White House Christmas Tree that was given to him by first lady Jill Biden, left, at the White House, Monday, Nov. 22, 2021, in Washington. This year's tree is an 18.5-foot Fraser fir presented by Rusty and Beau Estes of Peak Farms in Jefferson, N.C. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
President Joe Biden, third from left, watches as his son Hunter Biden follows his grandson Beau Biden as the family leave St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Wilmington, Del., Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021. Today is the anniversary of Neilia and Naomi Biden's death. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Grand jury indicts Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting of cinematographer on movie set in New Mexico
UpdatedSANTA FE, N.M. — A grand jury indicted Alec Baldwin on Friday on an involuntary manslaughter charge in a 2021 fatal shooting during a rehearsal on a movie set in New Mexico, reviving a dormant case against the A-list actor.
Alec Baldwin speaks at the Ripple of Hope Award Gala at New York Hilton Midtown on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, in New York.
Special prosecutors brought the case before a grand jury in Santa Fe this week, months after receiving a new analysis of the gun that was used.
Defense attorneys for Baldwin indicated they’ll fight the charges.
“We look forward to our day in court," said Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, defense attorneys for Baldwin, in an email.
While the proceeding is shrouded in secrecy, two of the witnesses seen at the courthouse included crew members — one who was present when the fatal shot was fired and another who had walked off the set the day before due to safety concerns.
Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on the Western movie “Rust,” was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on a movie set outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.
Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer, but not the trigger, and the gun fired.
The charges have again put Baldwin in legal trouble and created the possibility of prison time for an actor who has been a TV and movie mainstay for nearly 40 years, with roles in the early blockbuster “The Hunt for Red October," Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” and the sitcom “30 Rock."
Judges recently agreed to put on hold several civil lawsuits seeking compensation from Baldwin and producers of “Rust” after prosecutors said they would present charges to a grand jury. Plaintiffs in those suits include members of the film crew.
Special prosecutors dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin in April, saying they were informed the gun might have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned. They later pivoted and began weighing whether to refile a charge against Baldwin after receiving a new analysis of the gun.
The analysis from experts in ballistics and forensic testing relied on replacement parts to reassemble the gun fired by Baldwin, after parts of the pistol were broken during testing by the FBI. The report examined the gun and markings it left on a spent cartridge to conclude that the trigger had to have been pulled or depressed.
In this screen grab from lapel camera video provided by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, movie set armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, right, speaks with a sheriff's deputy as other colleagues stand with her on the set of the western move "Rust," shortly after the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal, Oct. 21, 2021, in New Mexico. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the weapons supervisor on the film set where Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer in 2021 waived her arraignment in a separate case, pleading not guilty to a charge of carrying a gun into a Santa Fe bar.
The analysis led by Lucien Haag of Forensic Science Services in Arizona stated that although Baldwin repeatedly denied pulling the trigger, “given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.”
The weapons supervisor on the movie set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering in the case. Her trial is scheduled to begin in February.
“Rust” assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to unsafe handling of a firearm last March and received a suspended sentence of six months of probation. He agreed to cooperate in the investigation of the shooting.
An earlier FBI report on the agency’s analysis of the gun found that, as is common with firearms of that design, it could go off without pulling the trigger if force was applied to an uncocked hammer, such as by dropping the weapon.
The only way the testers could get it to fire was by striking the gun with a mallet while the hammer was down and resting on the cartridge, or by pulling the trigger while it was fully cocked. The gun eventually broke during testing.
The 2021 shooting resulted in a series of civil lawsuits, including wrongful death claims filed by members of Hutchins’ family, centered on accusations that the defendants were lax with safety standards. Baldwin and other defendants have disputed those allegations.
The Rust Movie Productions company has paid a $100,000 fine to state workplace safety regulators after a scathing narrative of failures in violation of standard industry protocols, including testimony that production managers took limited or no action to address two misfires on set before the fatal shooting.
The filming of “Rust” resumed last year in Montana, under an agreement with the cinematographer’s widower, Matthew Hutchins, that made him an executive producer.
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High-tech baby monitor can translate cries using AI, and more of today's top videos
A new baby monitor product promises to break the communication barrier between parents and infant, a neighborhood in Haiti is under siege by gangs, and more of today's top videos.
Shooter who killed 5 people at Colorado LGBTQ+ club charged with hate crimes in federal court
UpdatedDENVER (AP) — The shooter who killed five people and endangered the lives of over 40 others at a LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs was charged with federal hate crimes Tuesday.
The charges, which include gun counts, after Anderson Aldrich, 23 , pleaded guilty last June in state court to five counts of murder and 46 counts of attempted murder — one for each person at Club Q during the attack on Nov. 19, 2022.
Aldrich, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, also pleaded no contest to state charges for hate crimes charges under a plea agreement. The plea was an acknowledgment there was a good chance Aldrich would be convicted of those crimes without admitting guilt. The pleas carried the same weight as a conviction.
The federal charges follow an FBI investigation into the shooting that was confirmed after Aldrich’s sentencing in state court. At the time, District Attorney Michael Allen said the threat of the death penalty in the federal system was a “big part of what motivated the defendant” to plead guilty to the state charges.
Get the full story here:
22 of America's deadliest mass shootings in the past 10 years
July 20, 2012: Aurora, Colorado
Updated
Incident date: July 20, 2012
City/county: Aurora, Colorado
Killed: 12
Family members stand outside Gateway High School where witnesses were brought for questioning after a gunman opened fire at the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises Batman movie Friday, July 20, 2012 in Aurora, Colo.
Dec. 14, 2012: Newtown, Connecticut
Updated
Incident date: Dec. 14, 2012
City/county: Newtown, Connecticut
Killed: 26
Parents leave a staging area after being reunited with their children following a shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman opened fire, leaving 26 people dead, including 20 children on Dec. 14, 2012.
Sept. 16, 2013: Washington, D.C.
Updated
Incident date: Sept. 16, 2013
City/county: Washington, D.C.
Killed: 12
A police boat patrols near the scene of a shooting at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday, Sept. 16, 2013, in Washington. At least one gunman opened fire inside a building at the Washington Navy Yard.
June 17, 2015: Charleston, South Carolina
Updated
Incident date: June 17, 2015
City/county: Charleston, South Carolina
Killed: 9
Worshippers embrace following a group prayer across the street from the scene of a shooting at Emanuel AME Church, Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside the historic black church, killing multiple people, including the pastor, in an assault that authorities described as a hate crime.
Oct. 1, 2015: Roseburg, Oregon
Updated
Incident date: Oct. 1, 2015
City/county: Roseburg, Oregon
Killed: 10
A woman is comforted as friends and family wait for students at the local fairgrounds after a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015.
Dec. 2, 2015: San Bernardino, California
Updated
Incident date: Dec. 2, 2015
City/county: San Bernardino, California
Killed: 14
Authorities search for a suspect following a shooting that killed multiple people at a social services facility Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015, in San Bernardino, Calif.
June 12, 2016: Orlando, Florida
Updated
Incident date: June 12, 2016
City/county: Orlando, Florida
Killed: 49
Police officers direct family members away from a fatal shooting at Pulse Orlando nightclub in Orlando, Fla. A gunman massacred 49 people and wounded many others at the gay nightclub.
Oct. 1, 2017: Las Vegas, Nevada
Updated
Incident date: Oct. 1, 2017
City/county: Las Vegas, Nevada
Killed: 58
In this Oct. 3, 2017, file photo, windows are broken at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino in Las Vegas, the room from where Stephen Craig Paddock fired on a nearby music festival, killed 58 and injuring hundreds on Oct. 1, 2017.
Nov. 5, 2017: Sutherland Springs, Texas
Updated
Incident date: Nov. 5, 2017
City/county: Sutherland Springs, Texas
Killed: 25
A law enforcement official walks past the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, the scene of a mass shooting, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017, in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
Feb. 14, 2018: Parkland, Florida
Updated
Incident date: Feb. 14, 2018
City/county: Parkland, Florida
Killed: 17
Parents wait for news after a reports of a shooting that killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018.
May 18, 2018: Santa Fe, Texas
Updated
Incident date: May 18, 2018
City/county: Santa Fe, Texas
Killed: 10
People react outside the unification center at the Alamo Gym, following a shooting at Santa Fe High School Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe, Texas.
Oct. 27, 2018: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Updated
Incident date: Oct. 27, 2018
City/county: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Killed: 11
Students from the Yeshiva School in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, pay their respects as the funeral procession for Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz passes their school en route to Homewood Cemetery following a funeral service at the Jewish Community Center, Tuesday Oct. 30, 2018.
Nov. 7, 2018: Thousand Oaks, California
Updated
Incident date: Nov. 7, 2018
City/county: Thousand Oaks, California
Killed: 12
In this image taken from video a victim is treated near the scene of a shooting, Wednesday evening, Nov. 7, 2018, in Thousand Oaks, Calif. A hooded gunman dressed entirely in black opened fire on a crowd at a country dance bar holding a weekly "college night" in Southern California, killing multiple people and sending hundreds fleeing including some who used barstools to break windows and escape, authorities said Thursday. The gunman was later found dead at the scene.
May 31, 2019: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Updated
Incident date: May 31, 2019
City/county: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Killed: 12
A police chaplain heads toward Princess Anne Middle School in Virginia Beach, Va, on Friday, May 31, 2019. A longtime city employee opened fire at a municipal building in Virginia Beach, killing 11 people before police shot and killed him, authorities said. Six other people were wounded in the shooting, including a police officer whose bulletproof vest saved his life, said Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera.
Aug. 3, 2019: El Paso, Texas
Updated
Incident date: Aug. 3, 2019
City/county: El Paso, Texas
Killed: 23
An El Paso police officer talks to a store employee following a shooting at a shopping mall in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019. Multiple people were killed and one person was in custody after a shooter went on a rampage at a shopping mall, police in the Texas border town of El Paso said.
Aug. 4, 2019: Dayton, Ohio
Updated
Incident date: Aug. 4, 2019
City/county: Dayton, Ohio
Killed: 9
Shoes are piled outside the scene of a mass shooting at Ned Peppers bar, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2019, in Dayton, Ohio. Nine people in Ohio were killed in the second mass shooting in the U.S. in less than 24 hours.
Aug. 31, 2019: Midland, Texas
Updated
Incident date: Aug. 31, 2019
City/county: Midland, Texas
Killed: 7
Law enforcement officials process the crime scene from a shooting which ended with the shooter being shot dead by police in a stolen mail van, right, in Odessa, Texas. The mass shooting in West Texas spread terror over more than 10 miles as the gunman fired from behind the wheel of a car.
March 16, 2021: Atlanta
Updated
Incident date: March 16, 2021
City/county: Atlanta, Georgia
Killed: 8
Law enforcement officials confer outside a massage parlor following a shooting on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, in Atlanta. Shootings at two massage parlors in Atlanta and one in the suburbs left eight people dead, several of them women of Asian descent, authorities said Tuesday.
March 22, 2021: Boulder, Colorado
Updated
Incident date: March 22, 2021
City/county: Boulder, Colorado
Killed: 10
Police work on the scene outside a King Soopers grocery store where gunman killed 10 people on Monday, March 22, 2021, in Boulder, Colo.
April 15, 2021: Indianapolis
Updated
Incident date: April 15, 2021
City/county: Indianapolis
Killed: 9
Police stand near the scene where multiple people were shot at the FedEx Ground facility early Friday morning, April 16, 2021, in Indianapolis. A gunman killed eight people and wounded several others before apparently taking his own life in a late-night attack at a FedEx facility near the Indianapolis airport, police said.
May 14, 2022: Buffalo, New York
Updated
Incident date: May 14, 2022
City/county: Buffalo, New York
Killed: 10
People pray outside the scene of a shooting where police are responding at a supermarket, in Buffalo, N.Y., May 15, 2022. When police confronted Payton Gendron, the white man suspected of killing 10 Black people at the supermarket, he had an AR-15-style rifle and was cloaked in body armor. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
May 24, 2022: Uvalde, Texas
Updated
Incident date: May 24, 2022
City/county: Uvalde, Texas
Killed: 21
A visitor places bracelets on crosses at a memorial as he and others pay their respects to the victims killed in the Robb Elementary School shooting, Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Justice Department report finds 'cascading failures' and 'no urgency' during Uvalde, Texas, shooting
UpdatedUVALDE, Texas — Police officials who responded to the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas “demonstrated no urgency” in setting up a command post and failed to treat the killings as an active shooter situation, according to a Justice Department report released Thursday that identifies “cascading failures” in law enforcement’s handling of one of the deadliest massacres at a school in American history.
The Justice Department report, the most comprehensive federal accounting of the haphazard police response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School, identifies a vast array of problems from failed communication and leadership to inadequate technology and training that federal officials say contributed to the crisis lasting far longer than it should have, even as terrified students inside the classrooms called 911 and agonized parents begged officers to go in.
“The victims and survivors of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School deserved better,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “The law enforcement response at Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022 — and the response by officials in the hours and days after — was a failure. As a consequence of failed leadership, training, and policies, 33 students and three of their teachers — many of whom had been shot — were trapped in a room with an active shooter for over an hour as law enforcement officials remained outside.”
Artist Abel Ortiz, left, gives Attorney General Merrick Garland, right, and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, center, a tour of murals of shooting victims, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. The Justice Department is planning this week to release findings of an investigation into the 2022 school shooting. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Even for a mass shooting that has already been the subject of intense scrutiny and in-depth examinations, the nearly 600-page Justice Department report adds to the public understanding of how police in Uvalde failed to stop an attack that killed 19 children and two staff members.
Uvalde, a community of more than 15,000, continues to struggle with the trauma left by the killing of 19 elementary students and two teachers, and remains divided on questions of accountability for officers’ actions and inaction.
The shooting has already been picked over in legislative hearings, news reports and a damning report by Texas lawmakers who faulted law enforcement at every level with failing “to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety.”
Uvalde school district officers arrived within three minutes of Ramos’ arrival at the school and ran toward the classroom, but as they approached, Ramos fired from inside the classroom. Two officers were hit by shrapnel and police retreated to take cover.
Family members and others affected by the Robb Elementary shooting leave a meeting where Attorney General Merrick Garland shared a report on the findings of an investigation into the 2022 school shooting, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
“An active shooter with access to victims should never be considered and treated as a barricaded subject,” the report says, with the word “never” emphasized in italics.
In the 20 months since the Justice Department announced its review, footage showing police waiting in a hallway outside the fourth-grade classrooms where the gunman opened fire has become the target of national ridicule.
Attorney General Merrick Garland was in Uvalde on Wednesday ahead of the release of the report, visiting murals of the victims that have been painted around the center of the town. Later that night, Justice Department officials privately briefed family members at a community center in Uvalde before the findings were made public.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, right, and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, left, tour murals of shooting victims, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. The Justice Department is planning this week to release findings of an investigation into the 2022 school shooting. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Berlinda Arreola, whose granddaughter was killed in the shooting, said following Wednesday night's meeting that accountability remained in the hands of local prosecutors who are separately conducting a criminal investigation into the police response.
“I have a lot of emotions right now. I don’t have a lot of words to say,” Arreola said.
The review by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services was launched just days after the shooting, and local prosecutors are still evaluating a separate criminal investigation by the Texas Rangers. Several of the officers involved have lost their jobs.
Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell said in a statement Wednesday that she had not been given an advance copy of the Justice Department’s report but had been informed it does not address any potential criminal charges.
Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta tours murals of shooting victims, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. The Justice Department is planning this week to release findings of an investigation into the 2022 school shooting. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
How police respond to mass shootings around the country has been scrutinized since the tragedy in Uvalde, about 85 miles (140 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio.
In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott initially praised the courage of officers' response and blame was later cast heavily on local authorities in Uvalde. But an 80-page report from a panel of state lawmakers and investigations by journalists laid bare how over the course of more than 70 minutes, a mass of officers went in and out of the school with weapons drawn but did not go inside the classroom where the shooting was taking place. The 376 officers at the scene included state police, Uvalde police, school officers and U.S. Border Patrol agents.
The delayed response countered active-shooter training that emphasizes confronting the gunman, a standard established more than two decades ago after the mass shooting at Columbine High School showed that waiting cost lives. As what happened during the shooting has become clear, the families of some victims have blasted police as cowards and demanded resignations.
At least five officers have lost their jobs, including two Department of Public Safety officers and Uvalde’s school police chief, Pete Arredondo, who was the on-site commander during the attack.
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Bleiberg reported from Dallas, Tucker and Whitehurst reported from Washington, D.C.
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Photos: Scenes of mourning in Uvalde
Crosses with the names of Tuesday's shooting victims are placed outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A family pays their respects next to crosses bearing the names of Tuesday's shooting victims at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Messages are written on a cross honoring Irma Garcia, a teacher who was killed in this week's elementary school shooting, in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Children pray and pay their respects at a memorial site for the victims killed in this week's elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A child writes a message on a cross at a memorial site for the victims killed in this week's elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A woman reacts as she pays her respects at a memorial site for the victims killed in this week's elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A child leaves flowers at a memorial site for the victims killed in this week's elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
People gather at a memorial site to pay their respects for the victims killed in this week's elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A vehicle passes an electronic billboard Thursday, May 26, 2022, in Richland, Miss., that expresses support for the residents of Uvalde, Texas, in the wake of the deadly school shooting Tuesday. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Candles are lit at dawn at a memorial site in the town square for the victims killed in this week's elementary school shooting on Friday, May 27, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Balloons and candles adorn a memorial site in the town square for the victims killed in this week's elementary school shooting early morning Friday, May 27, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Lights illuminate a cross made of flowers at a memorial site in the town square for the victims killed in this week's elementary school shooting on Friday, May 27, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Eloise Castro, 75 a resident of Uvalde visits a memorial site to lay flowers and a candle in the town square for the victims killed in this week's elementary school shooting on Friday, May 27, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Vincent Salazar, right, father of Layla Salazar, weeps while kneeling in front of a cross with his daughter's name at a memorial site for the victims killed in this week's elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Friday, May 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A young man places flowers while paying his respects at a memorial site for the victims killed in this week's shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Friday, May 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A woman pays her respects at a memorial site for the victims killed in this week's shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Friday, May 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A woman pays her respects at a memorial site for the victims killed in this week's shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Friday, May 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
People place flowers at a memorial site for the victims killed in this week's shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Friday, May 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A child looks at a memorial site for the victims killed in this week's shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Friday, May 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
People pay their respects at a memorial site for the victims killed in this week's shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Friday, May 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
Senators reject Bernie Sanders’ effort to curb Israel-Hamas war, but vote signals rising unease
UpdatedWASHINGTON — In a notable test Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders forced colleagues to decide whether to investigate human rights abuses in the Israel-Hamas war, a step toward potentially limiting U.S. military aid to Israel as its devastating attacks on Gaza grind past 100 days.
Senators overwhelmingly rejected the effort, a first of its kind tapping into a decades-old law that would require the U.S. State Department to, within 30 days, produce a report on whether the Israeli war effort in Gaza is violating human rights and international accords. If the administration failed to do so, U.S. military aid to Israel, long assured without question, could be quickly halted.
But the roll call vote begins to reveal the depth of unease among U.S. lawmakers over Israel’s prosecution of the war against Hamas. With no apparent end to the bombardment, Israel’s attacks against Palestinians, an attempt to root out Hamas leaders, are viewed by some as disproportional to the initial terrorist attack on Israel.
In all, 11 senators joined Sanders in the procedural vote, mostly Democrats from across the party's spectrum, while 72 opposed.
“To my mind, Israel has the absolute right to defend itself from Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attack on October 7, no question about that,” Sanders told AP during an interview Monday ahead of the vote.
enators overwhelmingly rejected an effort Tuesday launched by Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to decide whether to investigate human rights abuses in the Israel-Hamas war.
“But what Israel does not have a right to do — using military assistance from the United States — does not have the right to go to war against the entire Palestinian people,” said Sanders, the independent from Vermont. “And in my view, that’s what has been happening.”
The White House has rejected the approach from Sanders as “unworkable” as President Joe Biden's administration seeks a transition from Israel and works to ensure support at home and abroad against a stirring backlash to the scenes of destruction from Gaza.
Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, moved to table the measure, arguing it is “counterproductive" and would make it more difficult for the U.S. to prevent escalation of the expanding conflict.
“We do not believe that this resolution is the right vehicle to address these issues. And we don’t think now is the right time. It’s unworkable, quite frankly,” said a statement from the White House National Security Council’s John Kirby.
“The Israelis have indicated they are preparing to transition their operations to a much lower intensity. And we believe that transition will be helpful both in terms of reducing civilian casualties, as well as increasing humanitarian assistance,” Kirby said.
With repeated overtures to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, including shuttle diplomacy last week by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Biden administration is pushing Israel to shift the intensity of the battle. Some 24,000 people in Gaza, the majority of them women and children, have been killed and the bombings have destroyed most of the housing units, displacing most of its 2.3 million people in a humanitarian catastrophe.
The Senate action comes as Biden's request for $106 billion supplemental national security aid for Israel as well as Ukraine and other military needs is at a standstill. Republicans in Congress are insisting on attaching vast policy changes to stop the flow of immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Paint retailer Kelly-Moore abruptly closing all stores across US, days after laying off 700 workers
UpdatedKelly-Moore Paints is shutting down operations nationwide only days after laying off 700 workers and halting production at its Hurst manufacturing plant.
The company said Friday that it unsuccessfully tried to attract new investors to keep the 77-year-old company afloat amid “massive legal and financial burdens that have been weighing on the company for many years.”
Kelly-Moore Paints has abruptly halted operations and closed all of its stores after failing to secure a cash infusion, the company said Friday.
Kelly-Moore immediately closed its retail stores and production facilities, including the 330,000-square-foot plant in Hurst that opened in 2017. The company said it plans to fulfill as many customer orders as it can from inventory at its Union City, Calif., distribution facility.
Employees would be paid for time worked, the company said, and it pledged to continue collecting on bills in an attempt to meet accrued benefits, such as paid time off.
“Our owners took on significant financial risks in the acquisition last year,” said Kelly-Moore CEO Charles Gassenheimer in a statement. “Unfortunately, despite their extraordinary efforts after acquiring this distressed business, they simply couldn’t overcome the unexpectedly large challenges, and will be exiting the business.”
Miami-based investment firm Flacks Group bought Kelly-Moore in late 2022. Kelly-Moore had $400 million in annual revenues and 1,200 employees at the time. It sold paint through 157 company-managed stores and resellers.
One of the first things the company did after the acquisition was to move its headquarters from San Carlos, Calif., to Irving, Texas. Gassenheimer said at the time that his goal was to grow revenue to the $800 million to $1 billion range.
The paint maker has been fighting lawsuits for years over using asbestos in its cement and texture products. The practice, banned in 1981, has cost the company over $600 million to settle claims. The company estimates it faces another $170 million in future asbestos liabilities.
“Through the cumulative cash drain caused by legal settlements and the cost of defending ever-continuing case filings, the company’s ability to reinvest in the business – including investments needed to address historical supply chain challenges that were exacerbated by the recent pandemic — has been severely constrained for an extended period of time,” the company’s announcement said.
Clayton Tageson, a 33-year store manager in Clovis, Calif., said he learned by email Friday afternoon that he was out of a job. He started with Kelly-Moore as a part-time driver and worked his way up over 10 years.
“I just feel relieved now,” he said. “This is better than sitting in the dark or hoping that something might change while knowing nothing’s gonna change. At least I have an opportunity now to go find another job.”
Tageson said he and his co-workers had suspicions about the company’s financial condition since his store had been operating for months with limited inventory. “But no one was answering our questions,” he said.
“We were constantly having to tell customers that we didn’t have what they wanted. Maybe (Flacks Group) saw the financials coming down, but that message didn’t come down to us.”
Gassenheimer said the company exhausted all alternatives for rescuing the business. Not even filing for bankruptcy or in-court liquidation could save it, he said, since the company is out of money, leases all of its facilities and doesn’t have assets to pay creditor claims.
“My deepest sympathy goes out to our loyal employees, customers, industry partners and the communities where we do business, who have supported Kelly-Moore throughout its long history,” he said.
The move to Texas was supposed to mold the company for the future by exploring new supply-chain partnerships, planning technology and store upgrades, and resolving many asbestos claims, the company said. But attracting investors or acquirers proved to be futile with additional asbestos suits hanging over the company’s head.
Gassenheimer said he’s disappointed with the outcome.
“The ownership group’s commitment from day one was to fix the business if we could,” he said. “Sadly, no matter how great the Kelly-Moore team, products and reputation for service, we simply couldn’t overcome the massive legal and financial burdens that have been weighing on the company for many years.”
Kelly-Moore was one of the nation’s largest independent paint companies, selling 90% of its products to professional paint contractors and other trade professionals.
