Diplomacy aimed at securing a cease-fire in Lebanon showed tentative signs of progress on Thursday as Israel pounded its northern neighbor including heavy airstrikes on the stronghold of militant group Hezbollah near Beirut. Pressing its offensive against the Iran-backed group, Israel hit Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, carrying out intense attacks there for a third consecutive day. Plumes of smoke rose over the suburbs known as Dahiyeh, where Israeli strikes destroyed five buildings, sources familiar with the damage said. “We say God help us,” said Ayat, a 33-year-old Lebanese woman. The Israeli military said its fighter jets targeted weapons warehouses, military headquarters and other Hezbollah sites. In addition, Israeli strikes in the eastern city of Baa...

HONG KONG — Hong Kong ’s high court on Thursday sentenced a man to 23 years and 10 months in prison for being the mastermind of an alleged plot to attack police with explosives during the city’s pro-democracy and anti-China protests in 2019. The man, Ng Chi-hung, 28, had been charged with “prohibitions against bombing of prescribed objects” under the United Nations Anti-Terrorism Ordinance and a conspiracy to use explosives and firearms to endanger life. Another defendant, Wong Chun-keung, the leader of a group known as the “Dragon Slayers” that was active during the 2019 protests, was sentenced to 13 years and six months imprisonment. Justice Judianna Barnes also sentenced five others to between 5 years and 10 months and 12 years for various offenses including possessing f...

South African police were in a standoff Friday with hundreds of illegal miners believed to be underground in a disused shaft, after a cabinet minister said the government was trying to “smoke them out.” Police have been trying for weeks to empty the abandoned gold mine in the North West province as part of a crackdown on illegal mining, which has plagued South Africa for decades through small-time pilfering and organized criminal networks.More than 1,000 illegal miners resurfaced after police cut off their food and water supplies, but a police spokesperson said hundreds more could still be underground. A decomposed body was brought up on Thursday, with pathologists on the scene, spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said. On Wednesday, asked whether the government would send help to the ...

The 2024 Latin Grammy Awards are here — and it's a milestone anniversary. This year the event celebrated 25 years of honoring the best of Latin music in Spanish and Portuguese. Thursday night's ceremony at the Kaseya Center in Miami, considered the epicenter of Latin culture in the U.S., was packed with star-studded performances highlighting the explosive growth of Latin music in recent years — it's now the nation's fastest-growing streaming genre . More than 700 artists were nominated across 58 categories this year, according to Manuel Abud, CEO of the Latin Recording Academy. Merengue and bachata great Juan Luis Guerra was the biggest winner of the night taking home the top award: album of the year for “Radio Güira.” The Dominican singer electrified the stage with ...

What to watch in Washington today President-elect Donald Trump continues to build out his Cabinet ahead of his inauguration, announcing today that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , an anti-vaccine activist, is his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. The pick has been met with mixed reactions from senators. Trump also this evening announced he'd tapped Todd Blanche to be deputy attorney general, former Rep. Doug Collins to be secretary of veterans affairs and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to be secretary of the interior . A gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference kicked off at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida today. Trump himself took the stage and announced the selection of...

A spider monkey belonging to a Dallas-area influencer had a disease caused by malnutrition when police took him from his owner over the weekend, officials said. The monkey, named Jorgie Boy, was taken from his owner, Brandi Botello, on Saturday morning after Dallas police officers responded to a single-vehicle accident. The driver was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated, police said in a statement. Police did not identify the driver in the statement. Botello told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth that she was charged with DWI but maintained that she was not driving. She said that at the time of the crash, she was intoxicated and had passed out in the passenger seat holding the nearly 3-year-old spider monkey. "I didn't even know what was going on. I slept through the car ...

What to watch in Washington today President-elect Donald Trump continues to build out his Cabinet ahead of his inauguration, announcing today that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , an anti-vaccine activist, is his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. The pick has been met with mixed reactions from senators. Trump also this evening announced he'd tapped Todd Blanche to be deputy attorney general, former Rep. Doug Collins to be secretary of veterans affairs and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to be secretary of the interior . A gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference kicked off at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida today. Trump himself took the stage and announced the selection of...

President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that he will nominate Doug Collins, a former House member from Georgia, to lead the Department of Veteran Affairs in his administration. Collins, an Iraq war veteran who left Congress in 2021, was a fierce defender of Trump during his 2019 impeachment inquiry. "Doug is a Veteran himself, who currently serves our Nation as a Chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command, and fought for our Country in the Iraq War," Trump said in a statement Thursday . "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need." Collins, who has been an Air Force reservist since 20...

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he plans to select North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as his nominee to be the secretary of the Department of the Interior. "We have a big announcement, and I won’t tell you, it’s — I won’t tell you the name of his, the exact name," Trump teased during his remarks at Mar-a-Lago for an America First Policy Institute event. "I think he’s an incredible person, got an unbelievably wonderful wife named Kathryn. So, I won’t tell you — his name might be something like 'Burgum.' Burgum." "He’s from North Dakota. He’s going to be announced tomorrow for a very big position," Trump added before pointing to and waving at Burgum. Moments later, he announced that Burgum is "going to head the Department of Interior, and he's going to be fantasti...