American soldier detained by North Korea after crossing its heavily armed border
SEOUL, South Korea — An American soldier crossed the heavily armed border from South Korea into North Korea, U.S. officials said Tuesday. He went “willfully and without authorization,” the U.S. military said, becoming the first American detained in the North in nearly five years at a time of heightened tensions...
Phoenix scorches at 110 for 19th straight day, breaking big U.S. city records in global heat wave
PHOENIX — The extreme heat scorching Phoenix set a record Tuesday, the 19th consecutive day temperatures hit at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit in a summer of suffering echoing around much of the globe. As human-caused climate change and a newly formed El Nino combine to shatter heat records worldwide, the...
Rescued Australian man who was adrift 3 months in Pacific with dog ‘grateful’ to be aliveVideo
MANZANILLO, Mexico — An Australian sailor who was rescued by a Mexican tuna boat after being adrift at sea with his dog for three months said Tuesday that he is grateful to be alive after setting foot on dry land for the first time since their ordeal began. Timothy Lyndsay...
No winner in latest Powerball drawing — jackpot hits $1 billion
ST. JOSEPH. Mo. — The Powerball jackpot rose yet again to an estimated $1 billion after no winning ticket was sold for the latest drawing. No ticket for Monday’s drawing matched the white balls 5, 8, 9, 17, 41 and red Powerball 2. The jackpot was estimated at $900 million....
Westmoreland communities receive share of casino revenue
It’s unlikely that one would expect to win money at a casino for bridge repairs or fire department renovations, but a few Westmoreland municipalities found themselves with the lucky hand Monday. Live Casino Pittsburgh doled out its latest round of Local Share Account grants at the Hempfield location Monday, bringing...
Alabama Republicans reject call for 2nd majority Black district, despite Supreme Court ruling
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Republicans, under orders of the U.S. Supreme Court to redraw congressional districts to give minority voters a greater voice in elections, rejected calls Monday to craft a second majority-Black district and proposed a map that could test what is required by the judges’ directive. Lawmakers must...
Georgia’s top court rejects Trump attempt to thwart prosecutor in 2020 election investigation
Georgia’s highest court Monday rejected a request by former President Donald Trump to block a district attorney from prosecuting him for his actions in wake of the 2020 election. The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously shot down a petition that Trump’s attorneys filed last week asking the court to intervene. Trump’s...
Measure to censure Rep. George Santos introduced in House
WASHINGTON — Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., faces another attempt from Democrats to hold him accountable in the chamber, this time with a censure resolution. The censure resolution, introduced Monday by Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., says Santos “repeatedly lied to voters in his district, donors, and the American public during his...
Abortion in Iowa is legal again, for now, after judge blocks new restrictions
DES MOINES — An Iowa judge on Monday temporarily blocked the state’s new ban on most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, just days after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the measure into law. That means abortion is once again legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy while...
Allegheny College’s new president says campus can overcome tough higher education market
Allegheny College didn’t have to look far to find its 23rd president. Ron Cole, 58, already had been named interim leader and then president with a short-term contract after Hilary Link announced her departure in September. Prior to that, he had been Allegheny’s provost since 2015 and a geology professor...
Boy thrown from carnival ride at Illinois community festival
ANTIOCH, Ill. — Carnival rides were shut down at an Illinois community festival after a 10-year-old boy was thrown from his seat and seriously injured, authorities said. The boy was riding Moby Dick, which locks people in at the shoulders and then goes up and down as speed increases. The...
New drug to protect babies and toddlers from RSV gets FDA approval ahead of cold season
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials on Monday approved the first long-acting drug to protect babies and toddlers against a respiratory virus that sends tens of thousands of American children to the hospital each year. RSV is a cold-like nuisance for most healthy people, but it can be life-threatening in the very...
Watchdog calls for House committee to uninvite RFK Jr. after his comments are blasted as antisemiticVideo
NEW YORK — A Democratic watchdog group has called for a U.S. House committee to rescind an invitation to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after the Democratic presidential candidate was filmed falsely suggesting covid-19 could have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. Kyle Herrig, executive director of...
Children lost in flooding as U.S. endures extreme weather, from smoke up north to heat in the West
WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pa. — Pennsylvania authorities drew on 100 people, drones and cadaver dogs Monday in their search for two missing children whose family’s car was swept away in flash flooding that ravaged the East Coast over the weekend. Other parts of the country endured threateningly high temperatures and severe...
2nd Alzheimer’s drug in pipeline can slow the disease by a few months but with safety risk
WASHINGTON — Another experimental Alzheimer’s drug can modestly slow patients’ inevitable worsening — by about four to seven months, researchers reported Monday. Eli Lilly and Co. is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval of donanemab. If cleared, it would be only the second Alzheimer’s treatment convincingly shown to delay the...
Sen. Ted Cruz on the Supreme Court? GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy lists his would-be picks
Biotech entrepreneur and Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy on Monday released a list of 16 people he’d nominate to the U.S. Supreme Court or federal appellate courts if he becomes president, making him the first in the party’s field to itemize his possible top judicial appointments. Ramaswamy’s list includes Sens....
Freight train derails in southeast Pennsylvania, but no known injuries or hazards
WHITEMARSH TOWNSHIP — A freight train derailment in southeast Pennsylvania early Monday spurred precautionary evacuations, but officials said no injuries were reported and there was no known hazard to the public. The 40-car CSX train, which was operating on tracks owned by Norfolk Southern, derailed around 4:50 a.m. in a...
Pope’s Ukraine peace envoy heads to Washington with plight of children atop his agenda
ROME — Pope Francis’ peace envoy was traveling to Washington on Monday as part of the Holy See’s peace initiatives for Ukraine, hoping to support humanitarian operations especially concerning children, the Vatican said Monday. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi’s visit, which lasts through Wednesday, follows his recent mission to Moscow and an...
5-story apartment building collapses in Cairo killing at least 9
CAIRO — A five-story apartment building collapsed Monday in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, leaving at least nine people dead, authorities said, as rescuers searched through the rubble. Building collapses are common in Egypt, where shoddy construction and a lack of maintenance are widespread in shantytowns, poor city neighborhoods and...
Russia halts wartime deal allowing Ukraine to ship grain in a blow to global food security
LONDON — Russia halted a breakthrough wartime deal on Monday that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would suspend...
Georgia suspect in 4 killings shot and killed, 2 officers hurt during encounter, official says
HAMPTON, Ga. — Officers shot and killed a man wanted in four weekend killings near Atlanta during an exchange of gunfire, and a sheriff’s deputy and a police officer were injured trying to take the suspect into custody, authorities said. Henry County Sheriff’s spokesperson Syntonnia Moore said Andre Longmore was...
Couple checking out barking dog leads to encounter with escapee, his recapture
YOUNGSVILLE — A couple checking out a barking dog on their northwestern Pennsylvania property led to the capture of a homicide suspect who had used bed sheets to escape from jail, authorities said. Michael Burham, 34, was captured nine days after he fled the Warren County jail in the late...
DeSantis presidential campaign is cutting staff as new financial pressure emerges
NEW YORK — Republican presidential contender Ron DeSantis is cutting campaign staff as he struggles to catch former President Donald Trump in the GOP’s crowded primary contest while facing unexpected financial pressure. DeSantis, the Florida governor, let go fewer than 10 paid staffers late last week to help reduce operating...
Heavy rain swamps Northeast again as flash flooding claims at least 5 lives in Pennsylvania
WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pa. — Heavy rain pounded an already saturated Northeast on Sunday for the second time in a week, spurring another round of flash flooding, cancelled airline flights and power outages. In Pennsylvania, a sudden flash flood late Saturday afternoon claimed at least five lives. Officials in Bucks County’s...
The Iowa caucuses are six months away. Some Republicans worry Trump may be unstoppable
NEW YORK — He’s been indicted twice. Found liable for sexual abuse. And he’s viewed unfavorably by about a third of his party. But six months before Republicans begin to choose their next presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump remains the race’s dominant front-runner. Early leaders don’t always go on...
