New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez will resign from Senate after bribery convictions
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez is slated to resign by the end of the day Tuesday, about a month after a jury convicted him on federal bribery charges. Menendez signaled his resignation last month in a letter to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who said Friday he’s tapping...
Disney drops bid to have allergy-death lawsuit tossed because plaintiff signed up for Disney+
NEW YORK — Disney is no longer asking a Florida court to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit on the grounds that the victim’s family had signed up for its streaming service Disney+. The company filed a notice in Orange County court on Tuesday to withdraw the motion, which had drawn...
Army and police missed chances to intervene before Maine mass shootings, final report says
LEWISTON, Maine — Both the Army Reserve and police missed opportunities to intervene in a gunman’s psychiatric crisis and initiate steps to seize weapons from the spiraling reservist responsible for the deadliest shootings in Maine history, according to the final report released Tuesday by a special commission created to investigate...
Trump ‘accepts’ nomination of so-called Swifties for Trump
Former President Donald Trump welcomed the support of a ” Swifties for Trump” movement that invites lots of question. An online movement to attract Taylor Swift fans to the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign trended on Elon Musk’s social media platform X over the weekend. Much of that support depended on...
King Charles III meets with survivors of stabbing rampage that fueled unrest across Britain
LONDON — King Charles III is visiting the seaside town of Southport to meet with survivors of the stabbing rampage that killed three young girls and sparked more than a week of unrest across the U.K. The monarch traveled to the community northwest of Liverpool on Tuesday for a private...
‘Hitting kids should never be allowed’: Illinois bans corporal punishment in all schools
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — This school year, Illinois will become just the fifth state in the nation to prohibit corporal punishment in all schools. Legislation that Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law this month bans physical punishment in private schools while reiterating a prohibition on the practice in public schools implemented...
Joe Biden’s exit, talk of the glass ceiling, a nod to Gaza protesters. Takeaways from DNC’s Day 1
CHICAGO — The Democratic National Convention ‘s first night showcased speeches from the last Democrat to lose to Donald Trump and the last one to beat him. Hillary Clinton spoke hopefully of finally breaking the “glass ceiling” to elect a female president. Joe Biden laced into Trump and directly acknowledged...
Massive fire rages for 3rd day at a Russian oil depot targeted in a Ukrainian drone attack
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian authorities struggled Tuesday to put out a massive fire in the southern Rostov region for a third consecutive day after an oil depot was hit by Ukrainian drones, as Kyiv’s forces also pushed into Russia’s Kursk region. The fire at the depot in the town of...
Same-sex couples and LGBTQ+ activists rally in Nepal’s capital during the annual Pride parade
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Hundreds of LGBTQ+ people and their supporters rallied in Nepal’s capital Tuesday during the annual Pride parade, the first since gay couples were able to register same-sex marriages officially in the Himalayan nation following a Supreme Court order in Nov 2023. The annual event brings together the...
Blinken ends latest Mideast visit without a cease-fire, warning ‘time is of the essence’
JERUSALEM — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his ninth visit to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began without securing a cease-fire deal, warning on Tuesday that “time is of the essence” even as Hamas and Israel signaled that challenges remain. After meetings in fellow mediating...
Political football: Why former Steeler Jerome Bettis is backing Kamala Harris
The Bus is on board with Kamala Harris. Pittsburgh Steelers legend Jerome Bettis, aka The Bus, joined Harris’ bus tour Sunday, providing a boost to the Democratic ticket as it passed through several stops in Western Pennsylvania, including Sheetz, Primanti Bros. and Aliquippa High School’s football field. Bettis told TribLive...
East Palestine residents want more time and information before deciding to accept $600M settlement
Some East Palestine, Ohio, residents want more time and more information before they have to decide by a deadline this week whether to accept their share of a $600 million class-action settlement with Norfolk Southern over last year’s disastrous train derailment. But it’s not clear whether the judge will rule...
Got cold symptoms? Here’s when kids should take a sick day from school
PHOENIX — As schools reopen for another year, they are focused on improving student attendance. But back-to-school is hitting just as covid-19 cases are increasing, raising the question: When is a child too sick for school? School absences surged during the pandemic and have yet to recover. Nearly 1 in...
Pa. Republican official’s home swatted after saying on CNN he’s voting for Kamala HarrisVideo
A suburban Philadelphia Republican leader’s home was swatted Friday after he publicly urged others to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. Matthew McCaffery, who is a local leader for Upper Merion Republicans, made it clear last month in an opinion piece he wrote for the Inquirer that he’s not voting...
U.S. intelligence officials: Iran to blame for hacks targeting Trump, Biden-Harris campaigns
WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence officials said Monday they were confident that Iran was responsible for the hack of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, casting the cyber intrusion as part of a brazen and broader effort by Tehran to interfere in American politics and undermine faith in democratic institutions. Although the Trump...
Oakland bustling as Pitt, Carnegie Mellon students move in
Brand-new pillows still in their packaging, bulky room fans and other poundage piled into overburdened moving carts explained the frazzled looks on some entering dorms at the University of Pittsburgh on Monday. Then there was Devin Knause, 17, a first-year student from Tenafly, N.J., who arrived outside Litchfield Tower A...
Democrats seek to toss Kennedy, others off Georgia ballots as new trial opens in New York
ATLANTA — Challengers seeking to throw Robert F. Kennedy Jr. off Georgia’s November ballot told a judge on Monday that the independent presidential candidate must be disqualified because the New York address he used on Georgia ballot access petitions is a “sham.” It shows how a decision by a New...
Sen. Fetterman says absence from DNC this week not a result of squabbles with fellow Democrats
Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, who has sparred with fellow Democrats over his support for Israel and President Joe Biden, won’t be at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week but it’s not because of those issues, he said. Instead, Fetterman told The Free Press in an article on...
Penn State student killed during hazing incident will be focus of A&E series’ next episode
A series on A&E will feature an episode dedicated to a hazing at Penn State which left one student dead. Episode three of “Houses Of Horror: Secrets of College Greek Life” will focus on the story of Tim Piazza, a 19-year-old freshman at Penn State who was pledging at the...
Floods from ‘training thunderstorms’ lead to dramatic rescues and 2 deaths in ConnecticutVideo
OXFORD, Conn. — Torrential rains turned streets into raging rivers in parts of Connecticut and New York’s Long Island, trapping people in cars and a restaurant, covering vehicles in mud, and sweeping two women to their deaths, authorities said. Dramatic rescues unfolded as a foot of rain fell on some...
Former U.S. Rep George Santos pleads guilty to wire fraud and identity theft in his federal caseVideo
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — George Santos, the former New York congressman who spun lies into a brief political career, pleaded guilty Monday to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, acknowledging that he allowed his ambitions to cloud his judgment. Santos, 36, is likely to spend at least six years in...
Blinken says Israel has accepted U.S.-backed proposal for a cease-fire, calls on Hamas to do sameVideo
TEL AVIV, Israel — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Israel has accepted a proposal to bridge differences holding up a cease-fire and hostage release in Gaza, and he called on Hamas to do the same, without saying whether it had addressed concerns cited by the militant...
Some protesters tear down security fence as thousands march outside Democratic National Convention
CHICAGO — Dozens of protesters broke through a security fence near the site of the Democratic National Convention on its opening day Monday as thousands took to the streets to voice their opposition to the war in Gaza. Families with babies in strollers, students, elected leaders and others holding signs...
Fetterman to skip DNC in Chicago to spend time with his kids
The Democratic National Convention, which kicks off Monday in Chicago, won’t feature one of its largest figures. Pennsylvania’s junior U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, who stands 6 feet 8 or 6 feet 9 (depending on the source of information), will not be attending the four-day convention, his office confirmed to TribLive...
Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible TV genre, dead at 88
Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre that made household names of Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams, Ellen DeGeneres and many others, has died. He was 88. NBC’s “Today” show, citing family members, said Donahue died Sunday after a long illness. Dubbed “the king of daytime...