HAVANA — Australian endurance swimmer Chloe McCardel ended her attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida after 11 hours in the water when she was stung by a jellyfish Wednesday night.
Nation and World
A wildfire fueled by hot temperatures, gusty winds and thick, bone-dry forests has destroyed 92 homes, damaged five more and prompted more than 7,000 residents northeast of Colorado Springs to flee, sheriff’s official said Wednesday.
CHICAGO — An unusually massive line of storms packing hail, lightning and tree-toppling winds was rolling through the Midwest on Wednesday and could affect more than one in five Americans from Iowa to Maryland.
WASHINGTON — The director of the National Security Agency said Wednesday that once-secret surveillance programs disrupted dozens of terrorist attacks, explicitly describing for Congress how the programs worked in collecting Americans’ phone records and tapping into their Internet activity.
WASHINGTON — The man who told the world about the U.S. government’s gigantic data grab also talks a lot about himself.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is refusing to provide additional money to help rebuild the small Texas town where a deadly fertilizer plant explosion leveled numerous homes and a school, and killed 15 people.
CLEVELAND — A man accused of holding three women captive in his home for about a decade pleaded not guilty Wednesday, and the defense hinted that a trial can be avoided with a plea if he escapes the death penalty.
STANTON, Calif. — A 72-year-old Southern California grandmother who shot at — and narrowly missed — a man trying to break into her home said Tuesday she was shocked at the attention her action was getting but does not regret defending herself and her husband, an 85-year-old World War II veteran who uses a wheelchair.
MINEOLA, N.Y. — A lawsuit accusing JetBlue of negligence after a pilot had a meltdown on a New York-to-Las Vegas flight has been quietly settled.
The new Myspace.com was unveiled Wednesday, revealing a site focused on entertainment that combines social networking with streaming music. There are new features aimed at helping musicians, writers and other artists connect with their followers, an app and a radio function.
Three Czech companies have teamed up to make a prototype of an electric bicycle that successfully took off Wednesday and landed safely after a remote-controlled, five-minute flight.
NEW YORK — An aspiring actress has helped police track down a suspect in her father’s 1986 slaying.
NEWARK, N.J. — Kobe Bryant settled two lawsuits with a New Jersey auction house over plans to sell his memorabilia, and the parents of the All-Star basketball guard apologized to him for their actions.
TOKYO — Japan’s Jiroemon Kimura, who had been recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest living person and the oldest man ever, died Wednesday of natural causes. He was 116.
ISTANBUL — Protesters and Turkey’s prime minister both refused to back down Tuesday in what could become the final battle for Istanbul’s Taksim Square, the symbol of nationwide grievances against his government.