North America

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Senate Wednesday confirmed Barbara Barrett as the next secretary of the Air Force.

Barrett, former U.S. ambassador to Finland, received 85 support votes in her bid to become the top official for the U.S. Air Force.

"I can think of no position that offers more excitement, challenge and meaning than the Secretary of the Air Force," Barrett said after the vote, according to an Air Force news release.

Fort Worth, Texas (AP) -- In the days after Atatiana Jefferson’s killing in her own home by a white Fort Worth police officer, many in the black community say they’ve seen at least initial signs of swifter action with the officer’s arrest, but also are noticing some recurring and troubling themes.

These include the release of police body camera footage and details from an arrest warrant showing that Jefferson had a gun — moves that are being perceived as attempts to place blame on the victim.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists have discovered a mash-up of two feared disasters — hurricanes and earthquakes — and they’re calling them “stormquakes.”

The shaking of the sea floor during hurricanes and nor’easters can rumble like a magnitude 3.5 earthquake and can last for days, according to a study in this week’s journal Geophysical Research Letters. The quakes are fairly common, but they weren’t noticed before because they were considered seismic background noise.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and Syria (all times local):

6:35 p.m.

Two U.S. fighter jets launched airstrikes Wednesday to destroy ammunition that was left behind when American forces left a cement factory south of Kobani, Syria.

The factory had served as a coordination center for the U.S.-led coalition and Kurdish forces in the fight against the Islamic State group.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — “Tarzan” actor Ron Ely’s wife was stabbed to death in their California home by their 30-year-old son, who was then shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies, authorities said Wednesday.

Deputies summoned to the home by a 911 call found Valerie Lundeen Ely, 62, dead with multiple stab wounds shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday, a Santa Barbara County sheriff’s statement said.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The climbers were closing in on the top of California’s second-highest peak when they came upon the grisly discovery of what looked like a bone buried in a boulder field.

Closer inspection revealed a fractured human skull. Tyler Hofer and his climbing partner moved rocks aside and discovered an entire skeleton. It appeared to have been there long enough that all that remained were bones, a pair of leather shoes and a belt.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The grieving parents of a British teenager who was killed in a car crash involving an American diplomat’s wife felt ambushed when President Donald Trump tried to get them to meet with the woman in front of the press, attorneys for the couple said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — He said she’s a “third-grade” politician. She said he’s having a meltdown.

And with that President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chalked up the latest explosive meeting that ended abruptly with a walkout at the White House.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former top State Department aide testified in the impeachment inquiry that the Trump administration’s politicization of foreign policy contributed to his resignation, while the Senate GOP leader briefed colleagues on a possible Christmas impeachment trial.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washing his hands of Syria, President Donald Trump declared Wednesday the U.S. has no stake in defending the Kurdish fighters who died by the thousands as America’s partners against IS extremists. Hours later, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats walked out of a meeting at the White House, accusing him of having a “meltdown,” calling her a “third-grade politician” and having no plan to deal with a potentially revived Islamic State group.