China continued to insist the balloon shot down off the South Carolina coast on Saturday was a “civilian meteorological airship” during a daily briefing on Thursday, accusing the U.S. of “information warfare.”Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning repeated the country’s claim that the large unmanned…

NEW YORK — A shooting outside a New York City high school Wednesday injured two students and a school security guard, city police said.Gunfire erupted outside Williamsburg Charter High School in Brooklyn at about 2 p.m. around dismissal time during a large fight, authorities said.Police…

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns pulled a midnight blockbuster on Wednesday, acquiring 13-time All-Star Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets, according to reports from ESPN and others.The outlets, citing unnamed sources, said the Suns added Durant to a starting lineup that already includes an All-Star…

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A man convicted of killing three teenagers while they slept in a Texas Panhandle home more than 25 years ago was executed on Wednesday, the sixth inmate to be put to death in the U.S. this year and the second in as…

Women wearing thongs in broad daylight on street corners, pimps following mothers taking their kids to school, and prostitutes twerking at traffic have become common scenes in California.Local leaders claim human trafficking and prostitution are rampant in the Golden State after a new criminal justice…

Authorities recovered the body of a kindergarten teacher in Jersey City Tuesday who they say has been missing since the weekend.Officials found the body of Luz Hernandez, 33, a mother of three and a teacher at BelovED Charter School, while police were conducting a welfare…