Nebraska governor signs 12-week abortion ban, limits on gender-affirming care for minorsVideo
LINCOLN, Neb. — Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed a bill Monday that bans abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy and restricts gender-affirming medical care for people younger than 19. The abortion ban takes effect immediately, while the ban on gender-affirming care takes effect on Oct. 1. The hybrid measure...
Closed-door meeting is latest in pattern of potential Sunshine Act violations by Penn State trustees
This story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. Sign up for free here. In a February memo to university leaders, Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi wrote that last year university leaders “brought forward a $245...
Irish actor Ray Stevenson, of ‘Rome’ and ‘Thor’ movies, dies at 58
Ray Stevenson, who played the villainous British governor in “RRR,” an Asgardian warrior in the “Thor” films, and a member of the 13th Legion in HBO’s “Rome,” has died. He was 58. Representatives for Stevenson told The Associated Press that he died Sunday but had no other details to share...
Roof collapses at school in Thailand, killing 6 people who were sheltering from rain
BANGKOK — Six people, including four children, died Monday when strong winds from a rainstorm caused a metal roof on a school’s activity center to collapse in northern Thailand, officials said. Eighteen other people were hospitalized, they said. Some students had gone inside the activity center at the Wat Nern...
Sheriff: Girl, 16, fights off mom to save a sister from being drowned after 2nd sister killed
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A mother drowned one of her daughters in their South Carolina home and was trying to kill another child when the oldest daughter was awakened by screams and managed to save her sister, a sheriff said. Jamie Bradley Brun, 37, was charged with murder and attempted murder...
Suspect ‘stands silent’ in slayings of 4 Idaho college students; judge enters not guilty pleas
BOISE, Idaho — The suspect in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students opted Monday to “stand silent” to murder charges, prompting the judge to enter not guilty pleas on his behalf ahead of a trial in which he could face the death penalty. The Nov. 13, 2022,...
Space station welcomes 2 Saudi visitors, including kingdom’s 1st female astronautVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The International Space Station rolled out the welcome mat Monday for two Saudi visitors, including the kingdom’s first female astronaut. SpaceX’s chartered flight arrived at the orbiting lab less than 16 hours after blasting off from Florida. The four guests will spend just over a week...
Tim Scott launches 2024 presidential bid seeking optimistic contrast with other top rivals
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott launched his presidential campaign on Monday, offering an optimistic and compassionate message he’s hoping can contrast the two figures who have used political combativeness to dominate the early GOP primary field: former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The...
Why Biden is wary of using the 14th Amendment to address the debt limit crisis
WASHINGTON — If the fight with Congress over raising the government’s debt limit is such a dire threat, why doesn’t President Joe Biden just raise the borrowing ceiling himself? It’s theoretically possible, but he’s all but ruled it out for now. The administration has been searching for possible ways to...
Grenade found as family sorted relative’s belongings kills man, injures 2 children
LAKES OF THE FOUR SEASONS, Ind. — A hand grenade found as a family went through an older relative’s belongings exploded, killing an Indiana man and injuring his two teenage children, police said. The explosion fatally injured the 47-year-old man Saturday evening at the home in the community of Lakes...
Russia claims eastern city of Bakhmut, but Ukrainian military leaders say battle isn’t over
KYIV, Ukraine — Although Russia claims it has won control of Ukraine’s eastern city of Bakhmut after a grinding nine-month conflict in which tens of thousands of fighters have died, top Ukrainian military leaders say the battle is not over. Ukrainian officials acknowledge they control only a small part of...
With all the politics and maneuvering, how is life in Florida changing for its residents?
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — “Don’t say gay.” Regulation of books and classroom discussion. Teachers, parents and school librarians all navigating new and uncertain ground. LGBTQ+ rights under attack. A very public spat between state government and Disney. And at the center of it all is a governor who has emerged as...
UN agency: 2M killed, $4.3T in damages from extreme weather over past half-century
GENEVA — The economic damage of weather- and climate-related disasters continues to rise, even as improvements in early warning have helped reduce the human toll, the U.N. weather agency said Monday. The World Meteorological Organization, in an updated report, tallied nearly 12,000 extreme weather, climate and water-related events over the...
8-year-old girl sought medical help 3 times on day she died, immigration officials say
HARLINGEN, Texas — An 8-year-old girl who died last week in Border Patrol custody was seen at least three separate times by medical personnel on the day of her death — complaining of vomiting, a stomachache and later suffering what appeared to be a seizure — before she was taken...
TikTok, social media trends are thrusting performance crimes into spotlight
NEW YORK — Jonnifer Neal’s Kia was stolen twice in one day — first from in front of her Chicago home and later from outside the mechanic shop where she took it to get fixed. But Neal’s ordeal didn’t end there. After her car was recovered a month later, she...
Warner CEO booed at Boston University as supporters of writers’ strike picket outsideVideo
BOSTON — Scores of Boston University students turned their backs on the head of one of Hollywood’s biggest studios, and some shouted “pay your writers,” as he gave the school’s commencement address Sunday in a stadium where protesters supporting the Hollywood writers’ strike picketed outside. About 100 protesters chanted “No...
SpaceX sends Saudi astronauts, including nation’s 1st woman in space, to International Space StationVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Saudi Arabia’s first astronauts in decades rocketed toward the International Space Station on a chartered multimillion-dollar flight Sunday. SpaceX launched the ticket-holding crew, led by a retired NASA astronaut now working for the company that arranged the trip from Kennedy Space Center. Also on board: a...
FBI, tribe’s police investigating fatal shooting of tribal member by Border Patrol agents
AJO, Ariz. — The FBI and Tohono O’odham Nation police are investigating the fatal shooting of a tribal member by U.S. Border Patrol agents in southern Arizona. Customs and Border Protection officials said agents from the Ajo Border Patrol Station were involved in a fatal shooting on the Tohono O’odham...
Police: Phoenix high schooler arrested after bringing AR-15, ammunition to school
On Friday, police arrested a student who allegedly brought an AR-15 and ammunition to a Phoenix high school. The student now faces “serious felony charges” for bringing the semi-automatic rifle, the same style of weapon behind the majority of the 21 deadliest mass shootings in the U.S. since 2006. The...
Police: 3 dead, 2 wounded in early morning shooting at Kansas City bar
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Three people were killed and two others wounded — including one critically — in a shooting at a Kansas City bar early Sunday, police said. Multiple officers responded to the shooting at Klymax Lounge that was reported just before the bar’s 1:30 a.m. closing time. They...
Civil rights groups warn tourists about Florida in wake of ‘hostile’ laws
ORLANDO, Fla. — The NAACP over the weekend issued a travel advisory for Florida, joining two other civil rights groups in warning potential tourists that recent laws and policies championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.” The...
Using ‘he/him,’ ‘she/her’ in emails got 2 dorm directors fired at N.Y. Christian college
NEW YORK — Shua Wilmot and Raegan Zelaya, two former dorm directors at a small Christian university in western New York, acknowledge their names are unconventional, which explains why they attached gender identities to their work email signatures. Wilmot uses “he/him.” Zelaya goes by “she/her.” Their former employer, Houghton University,...
Low-income tenants lack options as old mobile home parks are razed
PHOENIX — Alondra Ruiz Vazquez and her husband were comfortable in Periwinkle Mobile Home Park for a decade, feeling lucky to own their mobile home and pay about $450 a month for their lot in a city with spiraling rents. But now they and dozens of other families have until...
Soccer stadium stampede in El Salvador leaves 12 dead
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — A stampede by fans at a quarterfinals soccer match in the Salvadoran league has left 12 people dead and injured dozens more, officials said early Sunday. The crush happened when soccer fans pushed through one of the gates during Saturday’s game between Alianza and FAS...
New York City has a right to shelter, but will it establish a right to sleep outside?
NEW YORK — New York Mayor Eric Adams has hailed his city’s right to shelter as a hallmark of compassion for its most destitute. Now he must decide if he will extend that compassion by bestowing homeless people with the right to sleep outside. The City Council unanimously approved a...
