Fort Ligonier reenactors portray historical figures from across globe
About 50 reenactors portraying 18th century military units from across the globe roamed the grounds of Fort Ligonier during Memorial Day weekend as musket and cannon fire pierced the air. Revolutionary War era reenactors intermingled with French and Prussian militia units, an Austrian officer and a Hungarian soldier, said Matt...
From collapsed plea deal to trial: How Hunter Biden has come to face jurors on federal gun charges
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s son was in federal court, prepared to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses. The culmination of a sprawling investigation, the deal between Hunter Biden and prosecutors was going to spare him a politically explosive trial in the middle of his father’s reelection campaign and likely...
Republicans join Trump’s attacks on justice system and campaign of vengeance after guilty verdict
WASHINGTON — Embracing Donald Trump’s strategy of blaming the U.S. justice system after his historic guilty verdict, Republicans in Congress are fervently enlisting themselves in his campaign of vengeance and political retribution as the GOP runs to reclaim the White House. Almost no Republican official has stood up to suggest...
Florida sheriff’s office fires deputy who fatally shot airman at home
A Florida Panhandle sheriff on Friday fired a deputy who fatally shot an airman at his home while holding a handgun pointed to the ground, saying the deputy’s life was never in danger and he should not have fired his weapon. Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden fired Deputy Eddie Duran,...
U.S. defense secretary says war with China neither imminent nor unavoidable, stressing need for talks
SINGAPORE — United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a gathering of top security officials Saturday that war with China was neither imminent nor unavoidable, despite rapidly escalating tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, stressing the importance of renewed dialogue between him and his Chinese counterpart in avoiding “miscalculations and...
Hostage families call for cease-fire deal pushed by Biden; Israel says conditions must be met
TEL AVIV, Israel — Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas called for all parties to immediately accept a proposal detailed by U.S. President Joe Biden to end the nearly 8-month-long war and bring their relatives home, but Israel’s government said conditions for a cease-fire still must be met. Biden...
River ferry sinks in Afghanistan, killing at least 20
ISLAMABAD — At least 20 people were killed when a boat sank while crossing a river in eastern Afghanistan Saturday morning, a Taliban official said. Quraishi Badlon, provincial director of the information and culture department in Nangarhar province, said that the boat sank while crossing a river in Mohmand Dara...
Judge denies petition to recall death sentence of man who killed 12-year-old Polly Klaas
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California judge on Friday denied a petition to recall the death sentence against Richard Allen Davis, who in 1993 killed 12-year-old Polly Klaas after kidnapping her from her bedroom at knifepoint in a crime that shocked the nation. Jurors in 1996 found Davis guilty of...
Ohio explosion caused by cut gas line thought to be turned off, investigators say
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A crew working in the basement area of an Ohio building intentionally cut a gas line not knowing it was pressurized before a deadly explosion this week, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday. NTSB board member Tom Chapman said preliminary investigation shows workers were in the...
Running for U.S. president from prison? Eugene V. Debs did it, a century ago
NEW YORK — Following his unprecedented felony conviction, former president and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has to wait to find out what his sentence will be. But even if it involves time behind bars, that doesn’t mean his campaign to return to the White House comes to an end....
Russia, Ukraine exchange POWs for 1st time in months; bodies of fallen also swapped
SUMY REGION, Ukraine — Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war on Friday, each sending back 75 POWs in the first such swap in the past three months, officials said. A few hours earlier and at the same location, the two sides also handed over bodies of their fallen soldiers....
Israel confirms its forces are in central Rafah in expanding offensive in southern Gaza city
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military confirmed Friday that its forces are operating in central parts of Rafah in its expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city. Israel launched its ground assault into the city on May 6, triggering an exodus of around 1 million Palestinians out of the city and...
Upside-down American flag reappears as a right-wing protest symbol after Trump’s guilty verdict
CHICAGO — After Donald Trump’s historic guilty verdict, a steady flow of images showing upside-down American flags has appeared on social media as his supporters and right-wing commentators protest his felony conviction. At least one such flag was spotted Friday outside Trump Tower in New York City as the Republican...
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia registers as independent, citing ‘partisan extremism’
WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced Friday he has switched his registration to independent, raising questions about his political plans since the move could help his chances should he seek elected office again in a state that has turned heavily Republican. Manchin, 76, has often been...
Federal rule on Title IX is a ruse to require trans sports participation, GOP states say
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Biden administration has put on hold a plan to prohibit across-the-board bans on transgender athletes on school teams during an election year in which Republicans are rallying around restrictions on trans youths. But GOP state leaders are making sure voters know the issue is still...
Bruhat Soma wins National Spelling Bee after slow night concludes with sudden tiebreaker
OXON HILL, Md. — Bruhat Soma insisted he was nervous during the idle hours as he waited to take the Scripps National Spelling Bee stage, and he felt even more pressure to perform given that he hadn’t lost a spelling bee in eight months. He never showed any nerves in...
Israel could have used smaller weapons against Hamas to avoid deaths in Gaza tent fire, experts say
WASHINGTON — Defense experts who have reviewed debris images from an Israeli airstrike that ignited a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians questioned why Israel did not use smaller, more precise weapons when so many civilians were nearby. They said the bombs used were likely U.S.-made. The strikes,...
Minneapolis police officer dies in ambush shooting that killed 2 others including suspected gunman
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis police officer responding to a shooting call was ambushed and killed Thursday when he stopped to provide aid to a man who appeared to be a victim. That man instead wound up shooting the officer, authorities said. The death of officer Jamal Mitchell happened during a...
Barred from combat, women working as codebreakers, cartographers and coxswains helped D-Day succeed
LONDON — What did you do in the war, Granny? For British women who came of age during World War II, the answer to that question is often: quite a lot. The history of D-Day is often told through the stories of the men who fought and died when the...
Trump responds to his guilty verdict by falsely blasting a ‘rigged trial’ and attacking star witness
NEW YORK — Donald Trump launched into attacks on the judge in his criminal trial and continued to undermine New York’s criminal justice system Friday as he tried to repackage his conviction on 34 felony charges as fuel, not an impediment, to his latest White House bid. Trump spoke to...
Biden said to be finalizing plans for migrant limits as part of a U.S.-Mexico border clampdown
WASHINGTON — The White House is finalizing plans for a U.S.-Mexico border clampdown that would shut off asylum requests and automatically deny entrance to migrants once the number of people encountered by American border officials exceeded a new daily threshold, with President Joe Biden expected to sign an executive order...
Western Pa. voters react to Trump’s guilty verdict
Forest Hills’ Joel Johnson said Thursday evening that former President Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts will sway his vote in November. Johnson, 43, described the unprecedented trial as a “hot mess.” As a self-proclaimed independent, he said he usually votes for who he believes is the least dangerous...
Republican lawmakers react with fury to Trump verdict and rally to his defense
WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers reacted with immediate fury on Thursday as a New York jury convicted former President Donald Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 election, speaking out with near unanimity in questioning the legitimacy of the trial and how it was conducted. House...
Roberts rejects Senate Democrats’ request to discuss Supreme Court ethics, Alito flag controversy
WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday declined an invitation to meet with Democratic senators to talk about Supreme Court ethics and the controversy over flags that flew outside homes owned by Justice Samuel Alito. Roberts’ response came in a letter to the senators a day after Alito separately...
Impact of Trump conviction uncertain, but even a small shift in Pa. could have big implications
Former President Donald Trump made history Thursday as the first U.S. president to be convicted of a felony, but the impact that will have on the November election is very much up in the air, according to party leaders and political experts across Pennsylvania. Republican and Democratic leaders in Western...
