Ten years ago: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators kicked off their first substantive round of peace talks in nearly five years, meeting at an undisclosed location in Jerusalem. Riot police swept away two encampments of supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo, sparking running street battles. Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for illegally spending $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items.
Five years ago: A highway bridge collapsed in the Italian city of Genoa during a storm, sending vehicles plunging nearly 150 feet and leaving 43 people dead. A state grand jury report concluded that some 300 Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania had molested more than 1,000 children since the 1940s and that church officials had covered up complaints. Puerto Rico officials announced that power was restored to the entire island for the first time since Hurricane Maria nearly 11 months earlier. Los Angeles transit officials said the city's subway system would become the first in the country to install body scanners to screen passengers for weapons and explosives.
One year ago: A delegation of American lawmakers arrived in Taiwan just 12 days after a visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that angered China. China responded to Pelosi's visit by sending missiles, warships and warplanes into the seas and air around Taiwan. The five-member delegation, led by Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, was there to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and other officials, as well as members of the private sector, to discuss shared interests including reducing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and investments in semiconductors. Salman Rushdie's agent said the author was "on the road to recovery" two days after suffering serious injuries in a stabbing at a lecture in upstate New York. A fire ripped through a packed Coptic Orthodox church during morning services in Egypt's capital, killing 41 worshippers, including at least 15 children, and injuring 16 other people
