Former Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker sees no justice in 9/11 prisoner plea deal
For more than 20 years, former Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker has been a conduit for information and healing for the families of the 33 passengers of United Flight 93, all of whom were killed on Sept. 11, 2001 in the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil. In many ways, Schweiker...
Pennsylvania’s long-running dispute over dates on mail-in voting ballots is back in the courts
HARRISBURG — A technical requirement that Pennsylvania voters write accurate dates on the exterior envelope of mail-in ballots was again the subject of a court proceeding on Thursday as advocates argued the mandate unfairly leads to otherwise valid votes being thrown out. A five-judge Commonwealth Court panel heard about two...
Wisconsin judge refuses GOP request to pause absentee voting ruling sought by disabled people
MADISON — A judge refused Thursday to put on hold his ruling that allows disabled people in Wisconsin to be emailed absentee ballots at home in November’s presidential election in the closely watched battleground state. Republicans asked the judge to not enforce his ruling while their appeal is pending. But...
Pennsylvania man accused of beheading father in their home is competent to stand trial, judge rules
DOYLESTOWN — The man accused of beheading his father in their suburban Philadelphia home early this year and posting a video of the severed head online is competent to stand trial, a judge ruled Thursday. The decision by Judge Stephen Corr came after a five-hour hearing in which prosecutors and...
West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice in fight to keep historic hotel amid U.S. Senate campaign
CHARLESTON — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, is in a fight to keep his iconic Greenbrier hotel. A legal notice announcing a public auction for the luxury resort near White Sulphur Springs due to unpaid debts was publicized in the West Virginia Daily News...
GOP senators reject legislation that would expand child tax credit, restore business tax breaksVideo
WASHINGTON — A bill to expand the child tax credit and restore some tax breaks for businesses failed to advance Thursday in the Senate as Republicans largely opposed the measure, arguing they would be in position to get a better deal next year. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., dared Republicans...
Who’s in the prisoner swap between Russia and the West?
TALLINN, Estonia — One spent over 5½ years behind bars in Russia while other, higher-profile detainees were released ahead of him. Another was jailed for only a few months. They include journalists, veteran political activists and those simply opposed to the war in Ukraine. The youngest is 19, the oldest...
Myspace celebrates its 21st birthday. Do we still need it?
Happy 21st birthday to Myspace. On this day in 2003, the first social media platform was launched. It’s now a platform for music sharing. Even alongside the launch of Facebook, Myspace overtook Google and Yahoo Mail in 2006 — becoming America’s most visited website, according to Hitwise data, TechRadar reported....
Inmate sentenced to over 4 years in prison killing of Boston gangster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — An inmate was sentenced to more than four years Thursday for his role in the 2018 fatal bludgeoning of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger in a troubled West Virginia federal prison. Massachusetts gangster Paul J. DeCologero was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to an...
Federal protections of transgender students are in effect where courts haven’t blocked them
New federal protections for transgender students at U.S. schools and colleges took effect Thursday with muted impact because judges have temporarily blocked enforcement in 25 states and hundreds of individual colleges and schools across the country. The regulation also adds protections for pregnant students and students who are parents, and...
Appeals court upholds Trump’s gag order as he again presses judge to bow out of hush money case
NEW YORK — Two months after his felony conviction, Donald Trump still isn’t allowed to say everything he wants about his historic hush money criminal case. After a New York appeals court upheld his gag order on Thursday, he won’t be for a while. The state’s mid-level appellate court denied...
Hezbollah leader says war with Israel has entered ‘new phase’ after killings of top militant figures
BEIRUT — Hezbollah’s leader warned Thursday that the conflict with Israel has entered a “new phase,” as he addressed mourners at the funeral of a commander from the group who was killed by an Israeli airstrike this week in Beirut. Meanwhile in Tehran, Iran’s supreme leader prayed over the body...
Mpox cases have surged by 160% in Africa so far this year, but few treatments and vaccines available
BANGUI, Central African Republic — African health officials said mpox cases have spiked by 160% so far this year, warning the risk of further spread is high given the lack of effective treatments or vaccines on the continent. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report...
Trump draws thousands to Harrisburg rally only weeks after Western Pa. shooting: ‘I’m thrilled to be back’
Former President Donald Trump returned to Pennsylvania on Wednesday for a campaign rally in Harrisburg, unleashing a stream of attacks on the presumptive Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. It marked the first time since the July 13 attempt on his life during a rally at a fairgrounds in Butler...
Proposed U.S. rule would ban airlines from charging parents additional fees to sit with their children
The U.S. Department of Transportation is proposing a new rule that would ban airlines from charging parents more to sit with their young children. Under the proposal, released Thursday, U.S. and foreign carriers would be required to seat children 13 or younger next to their parent or accompanying adult for...
What polling shows about the top VP contenders for Kamala Harris
As Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to announce her running mate, a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that several of the top contenders for the role are largely unknown to Americans. Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly stands out as one with more name recognition and...
Gershkovich, Whelan released in Russian prisoner swap; Fogel remains in custodyVideo
WASHINGTON — The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history Thursday, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free, the White House said. The Wall Street Journal reported that...
Trump ramps up his defense of Vance after one of the rockiest VP rollouts in recent memory
HARRISBURG — Donald Trump is used to defending himself. But this week, the Republican presidential nominee has been put in the rare position of having to defend someone else — his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. When Vance was first introduced at the Republican National Convention last month, many...
British police charge 17-year-old with murder over a stabbing attack that killed 3 children
LONDON — British police said Thursday they have charged a 17-year-old with murder over a stabbing attack that left three little girls dead and several more in critical condition. The charges came as the traumatized town of Southport cleaned up after a bout of far-right violence, and agitators fired up...
Hopes of finding more survivors in the mud and debris wane after landslides in India kill 194
WAYANAD, India — Hopes of finding more than 180 missing people alive waned as rescue workers searched through mud and debris for a third day Thursday after landslides set off by torrential rains killed at least 194 people in southern India. The rescue work was challenging in a forested, hilly...
By the dozen, accusers tell of rampant sexual abuse at Pennsylvania juvenile detention facilities
A group of nearly 70 people alleged Wednesday they were sexually abused as children while housed in detention centers in Pennsylvania, adding to earlier lawsuits targeting what the accusers’ lawyers say is the state’s broken juvenile justice system. The latest group of plaintiffs filed suit in state or federal court...
Undercover sex-trafficking sting nets 14 arrests, recovery of 10 possible victims at Comic-Con
SAN DIEGO — A three-day human trafficking sting targeting people attending the San Diego Comic-Con Convention last week resulted in 14 arrests and the recovery of 10 potential trafficking victims — including a 16-year-old girl, authorities said. The undercover operation, launched by agencies as part of the San Diego Human...
Mt. Lebanon native Mark Cuban leads venture capitalists group supporting Kamala Harris
DALLAS — Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban is the top signature of a new group of 100-plus venture capitalist investors from prominent tech regions like Silicon Valley supporting Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the White House. The group, made up of names such as Cuban, LinkedIn co-founder Reid...
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused as the main plotter of 9/11 attacks, agrees to plead guilty
WASHINGTON — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused as the mastermind of al-Qaida’s Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, has agreed to plead guilty, the Defense Department said Wednesday. The development points to a long-delayed resolution in an attack that killed thousands and altered the course of the United States...
Man shot to death outside mosque as he headed to pray was a 43-year-old Philadelphia resident
PHILADELPHIA — A man shot and killed outside the Philadelphia mosque where he was headed for a prayer service was identified by police on Wednesday as a 43-year-old resident of the city. Police and the district attorney’s office said they had no new information about what motivated a man in...
