Hunter Biden sold ‘illusion of access’ to his father, former business partner tells CongressVideo
WASHINGTON — Hunter Biden’s former business partner insisted in testimony to Congress Monday that President Joe Biden was never directly involved in their financial dealings, though Hunter would often put his famous father on speakerphone to impress clients and business associates. The Republican-led House Oversight Committee conducted a more than-five...
Trump political committee has spent more than $40 million on lawyers’ fees as his legal peril mounts
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump ‘s mounting legal woes are growing more expensive, leading his campaign to request a refund from a supportive super PAC and launch a new legal defense fund to help cover costs. His political action committee, Save America, is expected to disclose Monday that it...
Idaho mom Lori Vallow Daybell sentenced in deaths of 2 children and her romantic rivalVideo
BOISE — Idaho mother Lori Vallow Daybell has been sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday in the murders of her two youngest children and a romantic rival in a case that included bizarre claims that her son and daughter were zombies and that she was a goddess sent...
Awaiting Joe Manchin’s decision, West Virginia race tilts toward GOPVideo
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats may have no chance to hold West Virginia’s Senate seat if Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III opts to retire or even run for president, but given the political terrain of the Mountain State, the race now favors the GOP. That’s according to the latest analysis from...
Pa. Gov. Shapiro says millions will go to help train workers for infrastructure projectsVideo
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania will direct up to $400 million in federal money over the next five years to reimburse organizations that train new infrastructure workers on the job, under an executive order signed Monday by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro. A portion of the $19 billion that the state will receive...
$1.05 billion Mega Million jackpot is among a surge in huge payouts due to more than just luck
DES MOINES, Iowa — Another day, another billion dollar lottery jackpot. At least, that’s how it seems ahead of Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing for an estimated $1.05 billion top prize. It’s a huge sum of money, but such giant jackpots have become far more common, with five prizes topping...
Pakistan buries dead from massive suicide attack at political rally that killed 54
KHAR, Pakistan — Hundreds of mourners attended funerals in Pakistan on Monday after a suicide bombing killed at least 54 people at an election rally for a pro-Taliban cleric, carrying caskets draped in colorful cloths to burial sites in the hills. No one immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday’s bombing in...
Russian ballistic missile strikes kill at least 5 people in Zelenskyy’s hometown in central Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian ballistic missiles slammed into an apartment complex and a university building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Monday, killing five people and wounding 64 others as the blasts trapped residents beneath rubble, Ukrainian officials said. One of the two missiles destroyed a section...
South Korean dog meat farmers push back against growing moves to outlaw their industry
PYEONGTAEK, South Korea — The dogs bark and stare as Kim Jong-kil approaches the rusty cages housing the large, short-haired animals he sells for their meat. Kim opens a door and pets one dog’s neck and chest. Kim says he’s proud of the dog meat farm that has supported his...
Trump could be indicted soon in Georgia, here’s a look at that investigation
ATLANTA — A Georgia prosecutor is expected to seek a grand jury indictment in the coming weeks in her investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his Republican allies to overturn the then-president’s 2020 election loss. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began investigating more than two years ago, shortly...
Mar-a-Lago worker charged in Trump’s classified documents case makes 1st court appearance
MIAMI — The property manager of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate made his first court appearance on Monday on charges in the classified documents case against the former president but did not enter a plea because he has not found a Florida-based attorney to represent him. Carlos De Oliveira is accused...
RFK Jr. says he’s not anti-vaccine, but his record shows the opposite
Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. rose to prominence during the covid-19 pandemic because of his strident opposition to vaccines. Yet, he insists he’s not anti-vaccine. He has associated with influential people on the far right — including Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn — to raise his...
As work begins on largest U.S. dam removal project, tribes look to future of growth
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The largest dam removal project in United States history is underway along the California-Oregon border — a process that won’t conclude until the end of next year with the help of heavy machinery and explosives. But in some ways, removing the dams is the easy part. The...
July keeps sizzling as Phoenix hits another 110-degree day and wildfires spread in California
PHOENIX — Phoenix sizzled through its 31st consecutive day of at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) and other parts of the country grappled Sunday with record temperatures after a week that saw significant portions of the U.S. population subject to extreme heat. The National Weather Service said Phoenix climbed...
Record heat waves illuminate plight of poorest Americans who suffer without air conditioning
DENVER — As Denver neared triple-digit temperatures, Ben Gallegos sat shirtless on his porch swatting flies off his legs and spritzing himself with a misting fan to try to get through the heat. Gallegos, like many in the nation’s poorest neighborhoods, doesn’t have air conditioning. The 68-year-old covers his windows...
Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against CNN over ‘the Big Lie’ dismissed in Florida
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit Donald Trump filed against CNN in which the former U.S. president claimed that references in news articles or by the network’s hosts to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election as “the Big Lie” was tantamount to comparing him to Adolf Hitler. Trump...
8 dogs died from extreme heat in the Midwest during unairconditioned drive
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — At least eight dogs died of heat -related injuries after being transported in the back of an uncooled cargo van through northern Indiana Thursday night, authorities said. The dogs that died were among 18 shepherds traveling from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago to a training facility in...
In summer heat, bear spotted in Southern California backyard Jacuzzi
BURBANK, Calif. — With the summer heat wave in full swing in Southern California, a backyard pool is a tempting place to take a dip. Even for a bear. Police in the city of Burbank responded to a report of a bear sighting in a residential neighborhood and found the...
Consumer demand for speed and convenience drives labor unrest among workers in Hollywood and at UPS
NEW YORK — Six straight days of 12-hour driving. Single digit paychecks. The complaints come from workers in vastly different industries: UPS delivery drivers and Hollywood actors and writers. But they point to an underlying factor driving a surge of labor unrest: The cost to workers whose jobs have changed...
Joe Biden, America’s oldest sitting president, needs young voters to win again. Will his age matter?
At 24, Alberto Rodriguez has grandparents younger than Joe Biden. But he’s more interested in the 80-year-old president’s accomplishments than his age. “People as young as me, we’re all focusing on our day-to-day lives and he has done things to help us through that,” Rodriguez, a cook at Mandalay Bay...
Facing legal peril, Trump calls on GOP to rally around him as he threatens primary challenges
NEW YORK — At a moment of growing legal peril, Donald Trump ramped up his calls for his GOP rivals to drop out of the 2024 presidential race as he threatened to primary Republican members of Congress who fail to focus on investigating Democratic President Joe Biden and urged them...
U.S. announces $345 million military aid package for Taiwan
WASHINGTON — The United States has announced $345 million in military aid for Taiwan, in what is the Biden administration’s first major package drawing on America’s own stockpiles to help Taiwan counter China. The White House said Friday the package would include defense, education and training for the Taiwanese. Washington...
Violent crime is rising in the nation’s capital. DC seeks solutions as Congress keeps close watch
WASHINGTON — Pamela Smith’s voice soared and quivered like a preacher in midsermon as she recalled her troubled childhood and how it helped prepare her for the challenges she faces as the new police chief in the nation’s capital. “I stand before you as a child who had no hopes,...
Water is refreshing in the heat, right? In parts of Florida this past week, not so much
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — In the sweltering summer heat, nobody tries to cool off by jumping into a hot tub. In parts of Florida, however, that’s what the ocean has felt like. Earlier this week, sea surface temperatures reached as high as 101.2 degrees Fahrenheit (38.4 degrees Celsius) around the...
Two supermoons in August mean double the stargazing fun
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The cosmos is offering up a double feature in August: a pair of supermoons culminating in a rare blue moon. Catch the first show Tuesday evening as the full moon rises in the southeast, appearing slightly brighter and bigger than normal. That’s because it will be...
