Judge rejects defense efforts to dismiss Hunter Biden’s federal gun case
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Delaware refused Friday to throw out a federal gun case against Hunter Biden, rejecting the president’s son’s claim he is being prosecuted for political purposes as well as other arguments. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika denied defense efforts to scuttle the prosecution charging Hunter...
‘HELP’ on beach points rescuers to men stuck 9 days on Pacific atoll
Three men stranded on an uninhabited Pacific island survived for more than a week and used palm fronds to spell out HELP on the beach — leading to rescue by Navy and Coast Guard aviators who spotted the sign from several thousand feet in the air. They had embarked March...
Police: 1 dead, 13 injured after tractor-trailer rams Texas public safety office
BRENHAM, Texas — A Texas tractor-trailer driver rammed a stolen 18-wheeler through the front of a public safety building where his renewal for a commercial driver’s license had been rejected, killing one person and injuring 13 others, authorities said Friday. The crash into the single-story brick building off a highway...
Biden also used political donations to cover lawyer costs
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, who has criticized Republican rival Donald Trump for relying on political donations to pay his legal bills, used nearly $2 million raised by the Democratic National Committee to pay his own lawyers. The DNC paid $1.1 million to Bob Bauer PLLC, the firm of the...
Judge declines to delay Trump’s N.Y. hush money trial over complaints of pretrial publicity
NEW YORK — The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money criminal case on Friday turned down the former president’s request to postpone his trial because of publicity about the case. It’s the latest in a string of delay denials Trump has gotten from various courts this week as he fights...
Trump pushes Arizona lawmakers to ‘remedy’ abortion ruling he says ‘went too far’
TUCSON, Ariz. — Former President Donald Trump urged Arizona lawmakers Friday to swiftly “remedy” the state Supreme Court ruling allowing prosecutors to enforce a near-total abortion ban that he declared anew “went too far.” Trump repeatedly has expressed pride in his role in overturning the national constitutional right to an...
Prosecutors: South Carolina prison supervisor took $219,000 in bribes; got 173 cellphones to inmates
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A supervisor who managed security at a South Carolina prison accepted more than $219,000 in bribes over three years and got 173 contraband cellphones for inmates, according to federal prosecutors. Christine Mary Livingston, 46, was indicted earlier this month on 15 charges including bribery, conspiracy, wire fraud...
In death, 3 decades after his trial verdict, O.J. Simpson still reflects America’s racial divides
For many people old enough to remember O.J. Simpson’s murder trial, his 1995 exoneration was a defining moment in their understanding of race, policing and justice. Nearly three decades later, it still reflects the different realities of white and Black Americans. Some people recall watching their Black coworkers and classmates...
Sudan’s war began a year ago. Children are among its most fragile survivors
METCHE CAMP, Chad — The war in Sudan began a year ago. Here in a remote camp for tens of thousands of people who have fled into neighboring Chad, the anniversary is marked by near starvation. Assadig Abubaker Salih is a 42-year-old mother of six. The family survived the hot,...
Project to shore up Pompeii yields stunning black banquet hall, with frescoes of Trojan War figures
ROME — Archaeologists excavating new sites in Pompeii have uncovered a sumptuous banquet hall decorated with intricately frescoed mythological characters inspired by the Trojan War, officials said Thursday. The hall, which features a mosaic floor, was uncovered as part of a project to shore up the areas dividing the excavated...
Kremlin says 2022 draft document could serve as starting point for future Ukraine peace talks
MOSCOW — A draft peace agreement that Russia and Ukraine negotiated in the early days of the war could serve as a starting point for talks to end the fighting, the Kremlin said Friday, reviving a proposal that Ukraine had rejected. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the draft document...
‘Every day, we’re dying.’ In Ukraine, defeat was unthinkable. Has that changed?
KYIV, Ukraine — Could Ukraine lose this war? For more than two years, as this country of 44 million people has fought off an all-out invasion by neighboring Russia, a spirit of stubborn optimism prevailed even amid the most frightening moments. Any notion of defeat was unthinkable, an almost taboo...
Seton Hill ships puppets to Florida middle school drama program left without props one week before showtime
When Seton Hill University professor Lisa Leibering’s theater design students created puppets for a local middle school production of “Finding Nemo Jr.,” they never expected their work would travel more than 1,000 miles away from Greensburg. But, when a middle school drama program director from Broward County, Fla., called about...
Treasury wants to boost foreign investment review powers, as Congress dissects Nippon, TikTok deals
WASHINGTON — U.S. Treasury wants to enhance the power of a little-known, secretive government committee to review deals made between U.S. firms and foreign investors. This comes as high-profile deals involving foreign investment in the U.S. — like Chinese firm ByteDance’s ownership of popular social media app TikTok and Japanese...
Voting rights groups appeal ruling that directs Pa. to reject undated mail ballots
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. After a court defeat, Pennsylvania voting rights organizations are trying to convince a larger group of federal appellate judges that the state shouldn’t be allowed to reject mail ballots...
Filings show top conservative donor Jeffrey Yass gave $800K to PAC attacking Summer Lee
A political group behind recent ads attacking U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, received $800,000 from Jeffrey Yass, a billionaire and conservative donor in the Philadelphia area, federal filings this week show. The group, called Moderate PAC, has spent more than $586,000 in the Pittsburgh area, running a series of ads...
Ex-NBA player scores victory with Kentucky bill to expand coverage for stuttering treatment
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Former basketball star Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored a victory Thursday as a leading advocate for a new Kentucky law that will expand insurance coverage for people seeking treatment for stuttering. Kidd-Gilchrist, who played on a national championship team at the University of Kentucky and spent several years playing...
Instagram begins blurring nudity in messages to protect teens and fight sexual extortion
LONDON — Instagram says it’s deploying new tools to protect young people and combat sexual extortion, including a feature that will automatically blur nudity in direct messages. The social media platform said in a blog post Thursday that it’s testing out the features as part of its campaign to fight...
Trump tests limits of gag order with post insulting 2 likely witnesses in criminal trial
NEW YORK — Days after a New York judge expanded a gag order on Donald Trump to curtail “inflammatory” speech, the former president tested its limits by disparaging two key witnesses in his upcoming criminal hush money trial as liars. In a post on his Truth Social platform Wednesday, Trump...
New website includes resources to help in aftermath of Maryland bridge collapse
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland has a new website with information about federal, state and local resources and programs related to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, Gov. Wes Moore said Thursday. The website includes details for affected workers and businesses. It also includes major traffic updates for commuters and guidance...
Reaction to the death of O.J. Simpson
Reaction to the death of O.J. Simpson after prostate cancer. He was 76. Simpson’s family announced the news on his X account. Relatives said he died Wednesday. ——— “I feel that the system failed Nicole Brown Simpson and failed battered women everywhere. I don’t mourn for O.J. Simpson. I do...
Harvard again requiring standardized test scores for those seeking admission
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard University announced Thursday that it is reinstituting standardized tests as a requirement for admission beginning with the class of 2029, joining other colleges that are again mandating tests for those hoping to enter the schools. In June 2020, Harvard began a temporary test-optional policy under which...
‘HELP’ spelled out in palm leaves leads to island rescue in Pacific
It sounds like a tale straight out of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” or a plotline in the “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Three men were stranded on a remote Pacific islet for more than a week after the outboard motor on their 20-foot open skiff stopped working, as reported by...
A look back at O.J. Simpson’s slow-speed chase
EDITOR’S NOTE: The first week of the O.J. Simpson case in mid-June 1994 moved quickly, with reporters racing to reach the news. The only thing that was slow was The Chase. The football great had been accused of killing his ex-wife and her friend, and there he was on live...
10 things to remember about O.J. Simpson
LOS ANGELES — Ten things to remember about O.J. Simpson, the NFL running back-turned actor who was acquitted of murdering his wife and her friend. The family announced on Simpson’s official X account that Simpson died Wednesday after battling prostate cancer. Simpson’s attorney confirmed to TMZ he died in Las...
