Iranian-born Norwegian man is charged over deadly Oslo Pride attack in 2022
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran was charged Friday with aggravated terrorism for the 2022 deadly shooting ahead of an LGBTQ festival in the nightlife district of the capital, Oslo. Two people were killed and nine seriously wounded in the shooting at three locations, chiefly outside the...
Groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State take root on the coast of West Africa
ATACORA, Benin — The insurgents pressured Zackari to join their movement, and he turned them down. Now he’s frightened of their revenge. He has been on the run from the jihadi fighters for more than a year. They regularly call the 33-year-old, warning: “We haven’t forgotten about you.” Groups linked...
The great grift: Covid-19 aid thieves bought fancy cars, a Pokemon card — even a private island
YANKEETOWN, Fla. — A freshwater spring bubbles amid the mangroves, cabbage palms and red cedars on Sweetheart Island, a two-acre uninhabited patch of paradise about a mile off the coast of this little Gulf Coast town. Pelicans divebomb nearby into the cool waters of Florida’s Withlacoochee Bay and the open...
Palestinian evacuees say thousands of people sheltering at Shifa hospital have fled after strikes
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Thousands of Palestinians on Friday fled from around Gaza City’s main hospital after a series of strikes that staff blamed on Israel hit in and around several hospitals overnight. They joined a growing exodus of people toward the south amid intensified fighting as Gaza officials...
U.S. childhood vaccination exemptions reach their highest level ever
NEW YORK — The proportion of U.S. kindergartners exempted from school vaccination requirements has hit its highest level ever, 3%, U.S. health officials said Thursday. More parents are questioning routine childhood vaccinations that they used to automatically accept, an effect of the political schism that emerged during the pandemic around...
Former Arizona senator reports being molested while running in Iowa
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — A former United States senator from Arizona has said she was molested while jogging along the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Martha McSally described the attack on Wednesday morning in a video she posted online. “A man came up behind me and he engulfed me...
Election offices are sent envelopes with fentanyl or other substances. Authorities are investigatingVideo
WASHINGTON — Authorities were hunting Thursday for whoever sent suspicious letters — including some containing fentanyl — to elections offices in at least five states this week, delaying the counting of ballots in some local races in the latest instance of threats faced by election workers around the country. The...
FBI offers $10,000 reward for info leading to capture of Jan. 6 attack fugitive from New Jersey
HELMETTA, N.J. — After two days of searching for a suspect in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol who fled as federal agents approached his home, the FBI on Thursday offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the New Jersey man. The agency said...
Man accuses riverboat co-captain of assault during Alabama riverfront brawl
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A Black riverboat co-captain at the center of an Alabama riverfront brawl that drew national attention has been accused of misdemeanor assault in the melee by one of the white boaters charged in the fight. Court records show one of the white men accused of assaulting the...
Senate Judiciary delays votes on subpoenas over Supreme Court ethics
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee abruptly adjourned Thursday without voting on whether to authorize subpoenas for a billionaire Republican donor and a conservative judicial activist as part of the panel’s probe into Supreme Court ethics. Members of the Senate panel were set to vote Thursday on whether to authorize...
Pastor’s suicide brings grief, warnings of the dangers of outing amid erosion of LGBTQ+ rights
SMITHS STATION, Ala. — After the 2019 suicide of a local teenager, small-town mayor and pastor F.L. “Bubba” Copeland helped students place roadside signs in his Alabama community to try to reach others who might be hurting. “You are worthy of love.” “Don’t give up.” “You matter.” Those were the...
Trump ally Steve Bannon appeals conviction in Jan. 6 committee contempt case
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s longtime ally Steve Bannon on Thursday appealed his criminal conviction for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Bannon’s attorney argued he didn’t ignore the subpoena, but was trying to avoid running afoul of executive...
House Speaker Johnson is running out of time to avoid shutdown
Speaker Mike Johnson, the little-known Louisiana congressman who emerged from a hardliner revolt as House Republicans’ new leader, is short on both time and experience to avert a US government shutdown. The novice to major Washington negotiations plans to release as soon as Thursday his proposal for temporary government funding...
Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin won’t seek reelection, giving GOP a key pickup opportunityVideo
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced Thursday that he won’t seek reelection in 2024, giving Republicans a prime opportunity to pick up a seat in the heavily GOP state. Manchin, 76, said in a statement that he had made the decision “after months of deliberation...
Penn-Trafford to bring Shakespeare ‘play within a play’ to stage this weekend
The Penn-Trafford High School Drama Guild will bring a twist on a Shakespeare classic to the stage this weekend for the first time in about two decades. The drama guild will perform “Romeo and Juliet: Together and Alive At Last,” a story about two middle school students, Anabell and Pete,...
The man accused of attacking Nancy Pelosi’s husband was caught up in conspiracies, defense says
SAN FRANCISCO — The man accused of bludgeoning former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer was caught up in conspiracies when he broke into her San Francisco home last year, his defense attorney said at his trial opened Thursday. The attack on then-82-year-old Paul Pelosi in the early...
Can Michigan activists keep Trump off the ballot? A judge heard arguments today
A judge in Michigan heard arguments Thursday on whether Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has the authority to keep Donald Trump’s name off state ballots for president. Activists sued Benson in the Michigan Court of Claims to force her to keep Trump’s name off ballots and to assess Trump’s constitutional...
Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial will go on after lawyers seek early verdict ending case
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s lawyers were thwarted Thursday in their longshot bid to immediately end the New York civil fraud trial that threatens the former president’s real estate empire. Judge Arthur Engoron didn’t rule on the request, but indicated the trial will go on as scheduled Monday with Donald...
Israel agrees to 4-hour daily pauses in Gaza fighting to allow civilians to flee, White House says
WASHINGTON — The White House said Israel has agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in its assault on Hamas in northern Gaza starting on Thursday, as the Biden administration said it has secured a second pathway for civilians to flee fighting. President Joe Biden had asked Israeli...
Census Bureau sees an older, more diverse America in 2100 in 3 immigration scenarios
By the end of the century, the U.S. population will be declining without substantial immigration, older adults will outnumber children and white, non- Hispanic, residents will account for less than 50% of the population, according to projections released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The population projections offer a glimpse...
Man receives the first eye transplant plus a new face
NEW YORK — Surgeons have performed the world’s first transplant of an entire human eye, an extraordinary addition to a face transplant — although it’s far too soon to know if the man will ever see through his new left eye. An accident with high-voltage power lines had destroyed most...
National Zoo’s giant pandas fly home amid uncertainty about future panda exchanges
WASHINGTON — The day that panda lovers have been dreading has finally come. The National Zoo’s three giant pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji. on Wednesday began their long trip to China, leaving behind an empty panda exhibit with no certainty that pandas ever would...
Minnesota Supreme Court dismisses ‘insurrection clause’ challenge and allows Trump on primary ballot
MINNEAPOLIS — Former President Donald Trump will stay on the Minnesota primary ballot after the state supreme court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking end his candidacy under a rarely-used constitutional provision that forbids those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office. The Minnesota Supreme Court declined to become the...
Israeli strikes pound Gaza City, which tens of thousands have fled in recent days
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes pounded Gaza City overnight into Thursday as ground forces battled Hamas militants in dense urban neighborhoods from which tens of thousands have fled in recent days. Israeli troops were around 3 kilometers (2 miles) from Shifa Hospital in the heart of downtown, the...
8 dead in crash after police chased a suspected human smuggler, Texas officials say
AUSTIN, Texas — Eight people died Wednesday when the driver of a car suspected of carrying smuggled migrants fled police and smashed into an oncoming vehicle on a South Texas highway. The crash happened around 6:30 a.m. when the driver of a 2009 Honda Civic tried to outrun deputies from...
