Evacuation underway for stranded tourists after multiple avalanches trap 1,000 people in China
BEIJING — Rescuers evacuated tourists on Tuesday from a remote skiing area in northwestern China where dozens of avalanches triggered by heavy snow have trapped more than 1,000 people for a week, state media said. The avalanches have blocked roads, stranding both tourists and residents in a village in Altay...
Trump glowers and gestures in court, then leaves to campaign as sex abuse defamation trial opensVideo
NEW YORK — Donald Trump shook his head in disgust Tuesday as the judge in his New York defamation trial told would-be jurors that an earlier jury had already decided the former president sexually abused columnist E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s. Trump left court before opening statements, jetting to...
Most Trump supporters in Iowa caucuses say they knew they’d support him all along
WASHINGTON — In some ways, Iowa’s Republican caucuses were practically over before they began, with Donald Trump cultivating a deep network of support over three presidential runs. About 7 in 10 Iowans who caucused for Trump on Monday night said they have known all along that they would support a...
Korean Air plane bumps parked Cathay Pacific aircraft at a Japanese airport but no injuries reported
TOKYO — A Korean Air plane carrying 289 people hit a parked Cathay Pacific aircraft while being pushed by a ground vehicle ahead of takeoff at northern Japan’s New Chitose Airport on Tuesday but caused no fire or injuries, fire and airline officials said. The incident happened only two weeks...
Iran strikes targets in northern Iraq and Syria as regional tensions escalate
IRBIL, Iraq — Iran fired missiles late Monday at what it claimed were Israeli “spy headquarters” near the U.S. Consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, and at targets linked to the extremist group Islamic State in northern Syria. Four civilians were killed and six injured after missiles hit...
‘Up and running’: Penn-Trafford creates 1st security camera policy, installs new devices
After purchasing more than 400 security cameras and seven door access systems in the fall, the Penn-Trafford School District has a policy to guide the use of its new technology. The school board voted this month to approve the district’s first security camera policy. “We really didn’t have a policy,...
Vivek Ramaswamy announces he’s suspending his presidential bid after a disappointing finish in Iowa
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy suspended his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Monday and endorsed former President Donald Trump after finishing a distant fourth in Iowa’s leadoff caucuses. Ramaswamy said he made the decision after determining there was no path forward for him in the race, “absent things...
New law aims to make guardianship a last resort in Pa., but some experts say it doesn’t go far enough
This story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — With little fanfare, Gov. Josh Shapiro in December signed into law a bill aimed at fixing long-standing problems within Pennsylvania’s vexing system for safeguarding adults...
Gaza death toll tops 24,000 as UN agencies call urgently for more aid
Israeli strikes hit Gaza City and soldiers battled militants in southern Gaza on Monday as the heads of three major U.N. agencies said the enclave desperately needs more aid to ward off famine and disease outbreaks. More than 100 days into Israel’s war against Hamas, Palestinian authorities said the death...
Iowa caucuses: What to watch as voters weigh in on the Republican campaign’s first contest of 2024
As frigid temperatures scour the Midwest, the Republican presidential nominating process will officially start Monday with Iowa’s caucuses. The quadrennial contest has been unusually quiet this year, a mark of former President Donald Trump’s commanding lead in the race. An arctic blast dropping the state into subzero temperatures and dumping...
Trump wins Iowa caucuses in crucial victory at the outset of the Republican presidential campaign
DES MOINES, Iowa — Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses Monday, a crucial victory at the outset of the Republican primary that reinforces the former president’s bond with his party’s voters even as he faces extraordinary legal challenges that could complicate his bid to return to the White House. The...
Biden and the Democrats raise $97 million to close out 2023 after a December fundraising blitz
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee said they raised more than $97 million in the final three months of last year, boosted by a star-studded December fundraising blitz that came even as the political world’s attention shifted to the start of the 2024 Republican presidential primary....
U.S. Defense Secretary is released from hospital after complications from prostate cancer surgery he kept secret
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released from the hospital on Monday, after spending two weeks there to treat complications from surgery for prostate cancer he kept secret from senior Biden administration leaders and staff for weeks. Austin will be working from home as he recovers, and his doctors...
Fake 911 report of fire at the White House triggers emergency response while Biden is at Camp David
WASHINGTON — A fake 911 call that the White House was on fire sent emergency vehicles to the complex Monday morning, when President Joe Biden and his family were at Camp David. Fire engines and other emergency vehicles responded to a report just after 7 a.m. that the White House...
Kosovo remembers 45 people killed in 1999 and denounces Serbia for not apologizing
RECAK, Kosovo — Hundreds of Kosovars gathered in a southern village on Monday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a mass killing of 45 ethnic Albanians by Serb forces, an event that helped spark international intervention to end a 1998-99 war in Kosovo. Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Prime Minister Albin...
Election results tell you who won and lost. AP VoteCast tells you why
WASHINGTON — When the dust settles from Monday’s first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, the returns will reveal who had Republican caucusgoers’ vote, but they won’t shed much light on the types of people who voted or what was on their minds as they cast their ballots. That’s where AP VoteCast comes in....
Iceland’s president says country faces daunting period after lava from volcano destroys homes in fishing town
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Iceland’s president said the country is battling “tremendous forces of nature” after molten lava from a volcano in the island’s southwest consumed several houses in the evacuated town of Grindavik. Scientists said Monday that the eruption appeared to be dying down, but it was too soon to...
Pitt Ohio to donate semi-trailer to Forbes Road school in Monroeville
Students in Forbes Road Career & Technology School’s diesel technology program get plenty of experience working on the massive trucks that haul goods back and forth across the country. The difficulty is those trucks are often from the mid-1990s. “There’s none of the modern controls or emissions technology, and there’s...
Pope acknowledges resistance to same-sex blessings but doubles down: ‘The Lord blesses everyone’
ROME — Pope Francis has defended his controversial decision to let priests bless same-sex couples but admitted that “solitude is a price you have to pay” when you make difficult decisions. Francis doubled down and insisted that the “Lord blesses everyone,” during a Sunday interview with an Italian talk show....
Biden and the Democrats raise $97M to close out 2023 after a December fundraising blitz
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee said they raised more than $97 million in the final three months of last year, boosted by a star-studded December fundraising blitz that came even as the political world’s attention shifted to the start of the 2024 Republican presidential primary....
King Frederik X visits Danish parliament on his 1st formal work day as Denmark’s new monarch
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark’s new King Frederik X visited the Danish parliament Monday, on his first formal day on the job, a day after his mother, Queen Margrethe, abdicated after 52 years on the throne. “We begin our responsible work as Denmark’s king in the belief that the Danish parliament...
Houthi rebels strike a U.S.-owned ship off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden, raising tensions
JERUSALEM — Houthi rebels fired a missile, striking a U.S.-owned ship Monday just off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden, less than a day after they launched an anti-ship cruise missile toward an American destroyer in the Red Sea, officials said. The attack on the Gibraltar Eagle,...
Arctic freeze continues to blast huge swaths of the U.S. with sub-zero temperatures
PORTLAND, Ore. — A dangerous Arctic blast will continue sweeping across the U.S. on Monday and linger through at least midweek, prolonging a bitter cold that set record-low temperatures in parts of the country and threatens to further disrupt daily life, including an NFL playoff game and the first-in-the-nation presidential...
Ukraine claims it shot down 2 Russian command and control aircraft in a significant blow to Moscow
KYIV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian air force shot down a Russian Beriev A-50 early warning and control plane and an Il-22 command center aircraft in a significant blow for the Kremlin’s forces, Ukraine’s military chief claimed Monday. The planes are key tools in helping orchestrate Russian battlefield movements in Ukraine....
Migrant deaths in Rio Grande intensify tensions between Texas, Biden administration over crossings
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — After Texas fenced off a park along the U.S.-Mexico border and began turning away Border Patrol agents, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott explained why at campaign stop near Houston. “We are not allowing Border Patrol on that property anymore,” Abbott said Friday, drawing applause from supporters at a...
