Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips ends Democratic primary challenge and endorses President Joe Biden
MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota ended his long-shot 2024 Democratic presidential bid on Wednesday after failing to win a primary contest against President Joe Biden. Phillips told WCCO Radio in Minneapolis that he was endorsing Biden. Phillips, a 55-year-old multimillionaire who is among the richest members of...
Pitt taps Joseph J. McCarthy as provost and senior vice chancellor
A nationwide search by the University of Pittsburgh to find its next provost and chief academic officer ultimately led to the person already doing the job since last summer on a temporary basis. Pitt officials announced Wednesday that Joseph J. McCarthy, interim provost and William Kepler Whiteford Professor in the...
Prosecutors drop charges midtrial against 3 accused of possessing stolen ‘Hotel California’ lyrics
NEW YORK — New York prosecutors abruptly dropped their criminal case midtrial Wednesday against three men who had been accused of conspiring to possess a cache of hand-drafted lyrics to “Hotel California” and other Eagles hits. Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Aaron Ginandes informed the judge at 10 a.m. that prosecutors...
8 teens injured in Philadelphia bus shooting, 4th gunfire incident in as many daysVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Police say eight Philadelphia high school students waiting to board a city bus after classes Wednesday were wounded by gunshots from suspects who jumped from a car and opened fire, the fourth shooting on the transit system in as many days. The previous three shootings each involved a...
McConnell endorses Trump for president. He once blamed Trump for ‘disgraceful’ Jan. 6, 2021, attackVideo
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell endorsed Donald Trump for president on Wednesday, a remarkable turnaround from the onetime critic who blamed the then-president for “disgraceful” acts in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack but now supports his bid to return to the White House. McConnell, who was the...
‘We’re going all in on Connellsville’: Penn-Trafford grads, Franklin Regional coach seek to enliven city with event center, restaurant
The city of Connellsville is alive with development. Three Penn-Trafford graduates and a former Franklin Regional High School football coach are a part of the reason why — pitching in with plans to build an event center, restaurant and short-term rental property. When Nate Morgan, a 1993 Penn-Trafford graduate, bought...
U.S. destroyer shoots down missile and drones launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A U.S. destroyer shot down drones and a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels toward it in the Red Sea, officials said Wednesday, as the Indian navy released images of it fighting a fire aboard a container ship earlier targeted by the Houthis. The assault...
How Putin’s crackdown on dissent became the hallmark of the Russian leader’s 24 years in power
TALLINN, Estonia — When charismatic opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down on a bridge near the Kremlin in February 2015, more than 50,000 Muscovites expressed their shock and outrage the next day at the brazen assassination. Police stood aside as they rallied and chanted anti-government slogans. Nine years later,...
China says economy got a strong start in 2024, sets sights on latest technology, upgrading factories
BEIJING — China has plenty of room to maneuver to attain its annual target for robust economic growth of about 5% after a strong start for the year, top economic officials said Wednesday, though they acknowledged it’s a challenge. China’s exports rose about 10% in the first two months of...
Hostage crisis poses dilemma for Israel and offers a path to victory for Hamas
Over the last five months, Israel has killed thousands of Hamas fighters, destroyed dozens of their tunnels and wreaked unprecedented destruction on the Gaza Strip. But it still faces a dilemma that was clear from the start of the war and will ultimately determine its outcome: It can either try...
Nikki Haley suspends her campaign and leaves Donald Trump as the last major Republican candidate
NEW YORK — Nikki Haley suspended her presidential campaign on Wednesday after being soundly defeated across the country on Super Tuesday, leaving Donald Trump as the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination. Haley didn’t endorse the former president in a speech in Charleston, South Carolina. Instead, she...
Cumberland County man who illegally collected body parts given 2 years probationVideo
A former Enola man who admitted to possessing human organs illegally taken from a morgue as part of a nationwide scheme got two years of probation handed down Tuesday as part of a plea deal. Jeremy Pauley, 41, now of Susquehanna County, appeared in court wearing all black alongside his...
Biden and Trump dominate Super Tuesday races and move closer to a November rematch
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, romped through more than a dozen states on Super Tuesday, all but cementing a November rematch and pushing the former president’s last major rival, Nikki Haley, out of the Republican race. Their victories from coast to coast, including the delegate-rich...
Miami Beach is breaking up with spring break — or at least trying toVideo
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Miami Beach is trying to break up with spring break, but it’s not yet clear whether spring break will take the hint. After three consecutive years of spring break violence, Miami Beach officials are implementing monthlong security measures aimed at curbing the chaos, including parking restrictions...
Explosive fire at site housing vaping supplies kills 1 outside Detroit, sends debris a mile awayVideo
CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A fire that destroyed a building which housed supplies for the vaping industry caused multiple explosions that killed one person and injured a firefighter as the blasts rocked suburban Detroit, sending gas cannisters and debris shooting far into the air, authorities said. The debris fell Monday...
Rewritten indictment against Sen. Bob Menendez alleges new obstruction of justice crimes
NEW YORK — New obstruction of justice crimes were added Tuesday to charges against Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife that allege they accepted gold bars, cash and a luxury car in return for favors the senator carried out to assist three businessmen. The new charges were in a rewritten...
Arctic Ocean could be ‘ice-free’ within the decade, researchers warn
The loss of Arctic sea ice has long been a graphic measure of human-caused climate change, with wrenching images of suffering polar bears illustrating a worsening planetary crisis. Now, new research has found that Arctic Ocean sea ice is shrinking even faster than previously thought — and that the Arctic...
Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona says she won’t seek reelection, avoiding 3-way race
PHOENIX — Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona announced Tuesday that she won’t run for a second term after her estrangement from the Democratic Party left her politically homeless and without a clear path to reelection. Sinema’s announcement comes after Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan bill to help secure the...
Liberty University will pay $14 million, the largest fine ever levied under the federal Clery Act
Liberty University has agreed to pay an unprecedented $14 million fine for the Christian school’s failure to disclose information about crimes on its campus and for its treatment of sexual assault survivors, the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday. The fine is by far the largest ever levied under the...
West Virginia bus driver charged with DUI after crash sends multiple children to the hospital
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia bus driver was arrested Monday for driving under the influence after a crash that sent multiple injured students to the hospital, state police said. Jeffrey Brannon, 54, was charged with multiple counts of driving while intoxicated and child neglect resulting in injury, State Police...
Ambitious Pitt BioForge project could help cut medical treatment costs
Seated at a table of nonscientists, Kaigham “Ken” Gabriel explained how an ordinary-looking construction site in Hazelwood just might propel Pittsburgh to the forefront of reducing medical costs through gene therapy manufacturing. To make his point, the newly hired CEO of the University of Pittsburgh’s BioForge initiative pulled from his...
Court rules Florida’s ‘stop woke’ law restricting business diversity training is unconstitutional
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Florida law pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that limits diversity and race-based discussions in private workplaces is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court has ruled. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a Florida federal judge’s August 2022...
1st baby right whale of season dies from injuries caused by ship collision
The first confirmed baby right whale of the year has been found dead from a collision with a ship, a devastating blow for the vanishing species. North Atlantic right whales number less than 360 and they are vulnerable to ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Federal authorities were notified...
Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads logins restored after widespread outage
A technical issue caused widespread login issues for a few hours across Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Messenger platforms Tuesday. Andy Stone, Meta’s head communications, acknowledged the issues on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said the company “resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted,...
EU plans to boost defense industry and move away from U.S. dependency in the face of Russian threats
BRUSSELS — The European Union on Tuesday outlined ambitious plans to boost its defense industry as it responds to the threat posed by Russia’s war on Ukraine and seeks to wean member nations off an over-dependence on the U.S. defense industry. The plans by the EU Commission center on streamlining...
