Biden party allies close ranks as poll signals voter concernVideo
Key Democrats rallied behind Joe Biden’s reelection bid as a poll suggested his stumbling debate performance against Donald Trump last week made more Americans skeptical about the president’s ability to lead. Representative Jim Clyburn, a critical ally who helped turn around Biden’s floundering 2020 candidacy, said that while “there were...
Tim Scott has benefited from mentors along the way. He’s hoping for another helping hand
COLUMBIA, S.C. — When Tim Scott was a teenager, a Chick-fil-A manager named John Moniz offered him a sandwich, a job, and four years of indispensable mentoring about how to be a businessman and a citizen. Later, after that helping hand put Scott on a path that eventually led him...
How will Louisiana’s new Ten Commandments classroom requirement be funded and enforced?
BATON ROUGE, La. — Even as a legal challenge is already underway over a new Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms, the details of how the mandate will be implemented and enforced remain murky. Across the country there have been conservative pushes to incorporate religion...
Hurricane Beryl approaches the southeast Caribbean after strengthening into a Category 4 stormVideo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Beryl closed in on the southeastern Caribbean late Sunday after strengthening into what experts called an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm as government officials pleaded with people to take shelter. The storm was expected to make landfall in the Windward Islands on Monday morning....
Ten Commandments. Multiple variations. Why the Louisiana law raises preferential treatment concerns
Christians and Jews believe in the Ten Commandments — just not necessarily the version that will hang in every public school and state-funded college classroom in Louisiana. The required text prescribed in the new law and used on many monuments across the United States is a condensed version of the...
U.N. starts to move tons of aid from U.S.-built pier after security fears suspended work
JERUSALEM — Humanitarian workers have started moving tons of aid that piled up at a U.S.-built pier off the Gaza coast to warehouses in the besieged Palestinian territory, the United Nations said Saturday, an important step as Washington considers whether to resume pier operations after yet another pause because of...
For many voters, Biden-Trump debate means a tough choice just got tougher
WASHINGTON — The sound you might have heard after the presidential debate this past week was of voters falling between a rock and a hard place. Apart from the sizable and pumped-up universe of Donald Trump’s supporters, the debate suddenly crystalized the worries of many Americans, a portion of President...
Elvis’ blue suede shoes auctioned for $152K
Elvis Presley didn’t just sing about “Blue Suede Shoes,” he wore a pair during some of his 1950s appearances. On Friday, the footwear changed hands in a British auction, selling for nearly $152,000. The shoes were sold by auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire for £120,000 including fees, according...
Driver charged with DUI for New York nail salon crash that killed 4 and injured 9
DEER PARK, N.Y. — Police on Long Island have arrested a man who is accused of driving while intoxicated after he crashed his SUV into a nail salon, killing four people and injuring nine others. Suffolk County Police said Saturday that Steven Schwally had been speeding through the parking lot...
10 Ukrainians held prisoner for years in Russia return home after Vatican mediation
KYIV, Ukraine — Ten Ukrainian civilians held prisoner for years by Russia arrived in Kyiv overnight Saturday after the mediation of the Vatican, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. They were freed Friday. Some had been captured years before Russia’s full-scale invasion. The pope has said the Holy See has been...
Tropical Storm Beryl swirls toward southeast Caribbean, threatens to strengthen into hurricane
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Beryl chugged toward the southeast Caribbean on Saturday and could strengthen into the year’s first hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday. A hurricane watch was issued for Barbados as the island’s meteorological service warned of flash flooding and power outages. Beryl is expected...
Lawmakers advance proposal to greatly expand Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — Hunting on Sundays in Pennsylvania would be greatly expanded under a proposal that passed the state House on Thursday over objections about trespassing provisions and new restrictions on hunting in state parks. Lawmakers voted 129-73 to send the bill to the state Senate. “Sunday is an opportunity to...
Judge partially ends court oversight of migrant children
LOS ANGELES — A federal judge Friday approved the Biden administration’s request to partially end a nearly three-decade-old agreement to provide court oversight of how the government cares for migrant children in its custody. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ruled special court supervision may end at the U.S. Health and...
Western Pa. Democratic delegates stick with Biden but cast debate performance as ‘wake-up call’
Following President Joe Biden’s lackluster debate performance on Thursday night, alarmed liberal pundits wasted little time in suggesting that the president consider withdrawing from the race. But Biden’s political allies, including Democratic delegates committed to the president’s reelection, are standing by the incumbent, even as they acknowledged his poor showing....
School vouchers may make it into Pa.’s budget, but what would they really do?
This story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — Few arguments in Harrisburg are as fraught as the one happening now over school choice vouchers, and it features a lot of spin from lawmakers...
Research gives more reassurance milk pasteurization kills bird flu, officials say
NEW YORK — A new study that recreated commercial pasteurization in a government lab provides reassurance heat treatment kills bird flu virus in cows’ milk, U.S. officials said Friday. When the bird flu known as H5N1 first was detected in U.S. dairy cows this year, there were no studies of...
Biden’s Democratic allies admit he had a poor debate but say they’re still standing behind him
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden strained to quell Democratic anxieties over his unsteady showing in his debate with former President Donald Trump, as elected members of his party closed ranks around him in an effort to shut down talk of replacing him atop the ticket. Biden’s halting delivery and meandering...
Here’s why it would be tough for Democrats to replace Joe Biden on the presidential ticket
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s halting debate performance has led some in his own party to begin questioning whether he should be replaced on the ballot before November. There is no evidence Biden is willing to end his campaign. And it would be nearly impossible for Democrats to replace him...
Texas Supreme Court upholds ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court upheld the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors Friday, rejecting pleas from parents that it violates their right to seek medical care for their transgender children. The ruling from the all-Republican court leaves in place a law that has been in effect...
Supreme Court makes it harder to charge Capitol riot defendants with obstruction, charge Trump faces
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday made it harder to charge Capitol riot defendants with obstruction, a charge that also has been brought against former President Donald Trump. The justices ruled 6-3 that the charge of obstructing an official proceeding, enacted in 2002 in response to the financial scandal...
Associated Press to create sister nonprofit to fundraise for state, local journalism
The Associated Press announced that it intends to raise money for and support state and local journalism through a new charitable sister organization. The new organization will be a nonprofit governed by an independent board of directors, the AP said Tuesday. The launching of the nonprofit is the latest effort...
How did CNN’s moderators do in the Biden-Trump debate? It almost didn’t matter that they were there
NEW YORK — To a large extent, it almost didn’t matter that Dana Bash and Jake Tapper were on stage. The two CNN journalists prepared meticulously to moderate Thursday’s presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the first ever between a sitting president and his predecessor, and asked several...
Supreme Court weakens federal regulators, overturning decades-old Chevron decision
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday upended a 40-year-old decision that made it easier for the federal government to regulate the environment, public health, workplace safety and consumer protections, delivering a far-reaching and potentially lucrative victory to business interests. The justices overturned the 1984 decision colloquially known as Chevron,...
Iowa’s Supreme Court tells lower court to let strict abortion law go into effect
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Supreme Court said Friday the state’s strict abortion law is legal, telling a lower court to dissolve a temporary block on the law and allowing Iowa to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they are pregnant....
Supreme Court allows cities to enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outside
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court decided on Friday that cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outdoors in West Coast areas where shelter space is lacking. The case is the most significant to come before the high court in decades on the issue and comes as a rising number...
