TikTok’s parent has a new app: What to know about Lemon8
NEW YORK — As lawmakers debate whether to ban TikTok nationwide, its Chinese parent company has introduced a new app that’s already getting some traction. The app, called Lemon8, is likely to face some of the same scrutiny as TikTok, which has been dogged by claims the Chinese government could...
Trump’s bravado tested as legal woes overlap with campaign
NEW YORK — When Donald Trump stepped into a Manhattan courthouse Tuesday afternoon, his usual bravado was replaced with palpable anger and notable silence as the former president was reduced to a criminal defendant in custody. By the time he returned to his Mar-a-Lago club hours later, he was ready...
Man kills 4 children with hatchet at daycare center in BrazilVideo
RIO DE JANEIRO — A man with a hatchet jumped over a wall and invaded a daycare center Wednesday in Brazil, killing four children and wounding at least five others, authorities said. The assailant turned himself in at a police station and did not appear to have any connection with...
DOJ tentatively settles over Texas church shooting for $144M
AUSTIN, Texas — The Justice Department announced Wednesday a tentative $144 million settlement with families and victims of a 2017 mass shooting at a Texas church that was carried out by a former U.S. airman who was able to purchase firearms despite a criminal history. More than two dozen people...
Patrol: Missouri tornado kills at least 4, sows destruction
ST. LOUIS — A large tornado tore through southeastern Missouri before dawn on Wednesday, causing widespread destruction and killing at least four people as a broad swath of the Midwest and South braced for further storm s that could spawn additional twisters and hail. A twister in Illinois also caused...
Blinken says Wall Street Journal reporter ‘wrongfully detained’ by Russia
BRUSSELS — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday he has “no doubt” that Russia has wrongfully detained an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal who was arrested last week on spying allegations. However, Blinken said a formal determination of Evan Gershkovich’s wrongful detention has not yet been...
Violence at Jerusalem holy site raises fears of escalation
JERUSALEM — Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City early Wednesday, firing stun grenades at Palestinians who hurled stones and firecrackers in a burst of violence during a sensitive holiday season. Palestinian militants in Gaza responded with rocket fire on southern Israel, prompting repeated Israeli airstrikes. The...
Italian ex-leader Berlusconi hospitalized in ICU, but alert
ROME — Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalized Wednesday in intensive care because of a problem related to a previous infection, but was alert and speaking, Italy’s foreign minister said. The 86-year-old three-time premier was in the ICU at Milan’s San Raffaele hospital, the clinic where he routinely receives...
Zelenskyy visit tightens bonds with Poland amid Russian war
WARSAW, Poland — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy won new pledges of deeper military and economic cooperation on a state visit to Poland on Wednesday as the neighbors sought to forge a tighter relationship in defiance of Russia’s full-scale war against Kyiv that has reshaped international alliances. Polish President Andrzej Duda...
French prime minister, unions meeting fails ahead of pension protests
PARIS — French trade union leaders walked out of talks with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Wednesday after failing to find a compromise on the contentious plan to raise the country’s legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years. The heads of France’s major unions, who want the withdrawal of...
Party switch gives GOP veto-proof control in North Carolina
RALEIGH — A Democratic state lawmaker in North Carolina announced Wednesday that she is jumping to the Republican Party, giving the GOP veto-proof majorities in both the state’s legislative chambers that should make it easier to enact conservative policies over the opposition of Gov. Roy Cooper. Whether the switch by...
To counter China, U.S. trade rep seeks closer ties to allies
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is pressing its case for a new approach to global trade, arguing that America’s traditional reliance on promoting free trade pacts failed to anticipate China’s brass-knuckled brand of capitalism and the possibility a major power like Russia would go to war against one of its...
Stormy Daniels must pay $122,000 in Trump legal bills
LOS ANGELES — Stormy Daniels must pay nearly $122,000 of Donald Trump’s legal fees that were racked up in connection with the porn actor’s failed defamation lawsuit, an appeals court ruled Tuesday. The decision in California came at about the same time that that Trump became the only ex-president to...
Paying for paradise? Hawaii mulls fees for ecotourism crush
HONOLULU — Repairing coral reefs after boats run aground. Shielding native forest trees from a killer fungus outbreak. Patrolling waters for swimmers harassing dolphins and turtles. Taking care of Hawaii’s unique natural environment takes time, people and money. Now Hawaii wants tourists to help pay for it, especially because growing...
Cities will get nearly $200M in grants for pipeline upgrades
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Federal officials announced the first $196 million of grants Wednesday in a $1 billion program to repair and replace aging and sometimes leaking natural gas pipelines across the country. The Transportation Department and its Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration announced that the city of Las...
Brandon Johnson elected Chicago mayor in victory for progressives
CHICAGO — Brandon Johnson, a union organizer and former teacher, was elected Chicago mayor on Tuesday, a major victory for the party’s progressive wing as the nation’s third-largest city grapples with high crime and financial challenges. Johnson, a Cook County commissioner endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, won a close...
Dangerous severe storms again hitting Midwest, SouthVideo
DES MOINES, Iowa — People still sorting through the wreckage of their homes after deadly weather hit over the weekend braced for another wave of strong storms, including tornadoes, that began rolling into parts of the Midwest and South beginning Tuesday evening. Officials warned residents to have shelter ready before...
Janet Protasiewicz wins Wisconsin court seat ahead of abortion ruling
MADISON — A Democratic-backed Milwaukee judge won the high stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court race Tuesday, ensuring liberals will take over majority control of the court for the first time in 15 years with the fate of the state’s abortion ban on the line. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz, 60,...
Court documents: Friend kills 12-year-old boy after making fun of his mom
A 13-year-old boy fatally shot his friend in York County over the weekend after making a joke about his friend’s mother, court documents said. Pennsylvania State Police have not made any arrests in the death of 12-year-old Kain Heiland around 8:30 p.m. Saturday in Red Lion. Troopers have collected photographs,...
Legal experts say jury selection in Trump trial could be sticking point
The coverage around former President Donald Trump’s arraignment has created a media circus, and Pittsburgh legal experts expect that trend to accelerate, as it could have an effect on jury selection for the trial. An indictment unsealed Tuesday claimed Trump conspired to illegally influence the 2016 election through a series...
At a glance: The 3 hush money cases in Trump indictmentVideo
The criminal charges that Donald Trump is now facing in New York stem from three separate instances in which the former president and his associates are accused of making hush money payments during his 2016 campaign: to two women to suppress information about extramarital sexual encounters they said they had...
Supporters hope Pa.’s new legislature will embrace open primaries, but at least one big hurdle remains
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Lawmakers and advocates who support opening Pennsylvania’s primary elections to over a million independent voters hope the legislature will...
Trump’s expected surrender creates New York spectacle
NEW YORK — A small park built on a site that was once a swampy, sewage-filled pond was ground zero for the frenzy surrounding former President Donald Trump’s expected surrender Tuesday at a courthouse in Lower Manhattan. Hundreds of onlookers, protesters, journalists and a few politicians swarmed into the confines...
About 5K GM salaried workers take buyouts, avoiding layoffs
DETROIT — About 5,000 white-collar workers at General Motors took the company’s buyout offers, which the automaker says is enough to avoid layoffs at this time. GM said Tuesday that the offers will save about $1 billion per year in costs, about half of the $2 billion it wants to...
Officials reach deal to restart northern Iraq oil exports
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s central government and officials from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region reached a deal Tuesday to resume oil exports from northern Iraq via a pipeline to Turkey. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, announced the deal at a press...
