Category: U.S. & World

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — You don’t have to be just male or female on Facebook anymore. The social media giant has added a customizable option with about 50 different terms people can use to identify their gender as well as three preferred pronoun choices: him, her or them. Facebook said the changes, shared with… Continue reading Facebook offers new gender options for users

An ice storm gripped the winter-weary South on Wednesday, knocking out power to a wide swath of the region as the outages nearly doubled by the hour, and forecasters warned the worst of the potentially “catastrophic” storm was yet to come. From Texas to the Carolinas and the South’s business hub in Atlanta, roads were… Continue reading Ice storm encases parts of the South

BOWLING GREEN, KY. — A sinkhole collapsed part of the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky on Wednesday, swallowing eight cars there but not shutting down the museum. Museum spokeswoman Katie Frassinelli said six of the cars were owned by the museum and two — a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and a 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil — were… Continue reading Sinkhole swallows National Corvette Museum cars

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — President Barack Obama heads to a Nashville high school on Thursday, two days after a student there fatally shot a classmate. Grief counselors were at McGavock Comprehensive High School on Wednesday to help students cope with the shooting. It happened within an hour of the president’s State of the Union address… Continue reading Obama to visit Tenn. school of shooting victim

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Italian gun maker Beretta said Wednesday that Tennessee’s support for gun rights was a major factor in its decision to build a manufacturing and research facility in the Nashville suburb of Gallatin. The $45 million plant is projected to be complete this year and create 300 new jobs. Gun rights were… Continue reading Beretta to build new firearms plant in Tenn.

A former aide to U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander hanged himself in his parents’ basement in Maryland as he awaited trial on child pornography charges, officials said Friday. Ryan Loskarn, 35, was pronounced dead in Sykesville, Md., just after noon Thursday, said Bruce Goldfarb, a spokesman for the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in… Continue reading Sen. Alexander’s former top aide hangs self in Md.

LONDON (AP) — A young British woman has been convicted of disguising herself in a veil and throwing acid on her friend’s face following an argument. Police said that Mary Konye, 21, was “obsessively jealous” of her friend Naomi Oni’s “good looks” and had spent several months hatching a plan for the attack. After following… Continue reading UK woman convicted in acid attack

GENEVA (AP) — Syria’s government said stopping terrorism — not talking peace — was its priority, while the Western-backed opposition said “the road to negotiations” had begun, offering a glimmer of hope Thursday for a way to halt the violence that has killed more than 130,000 people. The two sides did not meet face-to-face, buffered… Continue reading Syrian peace talks yield hard stances, slight hope

KOLKATA, India (AP) — A 20-year-old Indian woman said she was gang-raped on the orders of a village council because she fell in love with a man from a different ethnic group, police said Thursday. Twelve suspects and the head of the council have been arrested for the Monday night attack, police said. The woman… Continue reading India police say village elders ordered gang-rape