Secret Service says suspect opened fire on them and was shot in exchange near Washington Monument
WASHINGTON — A man spotted carrying a gun in the vicinity of the White House by plainclothes officers and agents was shot by law enforcement Monday after he opened fire on them near the Washington Monument, the Secret Service said. Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn said plainclothes agents spotted...
Shapiro demands a stop to ‘excessive’ utility rate increases, but has little authority to force change
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — As Pennsylvanians struggle with rising energy prices, Gov. Josh Shapiro wants the commonwealth’s utility companies to control...
Judge asks why jail placed suspect in White House correspondents’ dinner attack on suicide watch
WASHINGTON — A federal magistrate judge on Monday pressed a jail official to explain why a man charged with trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and attempting to kill President Donald Trump was placed on restrictive suicide watch after his arrest. Officials at the city jail in...
AP, Reuters, Minnesota Star Tribune among Pulitzer winners for 2025 work
NEW YORK — The Associated Press won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for an investigation into mass surveillance tools and their impact in China, and Reuters won the award Monday for reporting on U.S. President Donald Trump’s use of executive power. Spanning three years, thousands of pages of...
Britney Spears pleads guilty to lesser ‘wet reckless’ charge in DUI case, avoids further jail time
VENTURA, Calif. — Britney Spears pleaded guilty through her lawyer Monday to a lesser charge that will allow her to avoid jail time after California prosecutors accused her of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The 44-year-old pop star, who recently completed a stint at a rehabilitation facility,...
Rudy Giuliani is breathing on his own while hospitalized with pneumonia, spokesperson says
NEW YORK — Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is breathing on his own after being hospitalized with pneumonia and placed on a ventilator, his spokesperson said Monday. Giuliani, 81, remains in critical but stable condition at a Florida hospital and is being monitored as a precautionary measure, spokesperson...
Supreme Court restores access to abortion pill mifepristone through telehealth, mail and pharmacies
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday restored broad access to the abortion pill mifepristone, blocking a lower-court ruling that had threatened to upend one of the main ways abortions are provided across the nation. The order signed by Justice Samuel Alito temporarily allows women seeking abortions to obtain the...
Rubio plans to visit the Vatican this week as tensions between Trump and the pope rise
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Rome and Vatican City this week in a bid to ease rising tensions between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV over U.S. policies, particularly the Iran war. The State Department said Monday that Rubio, a Catholic who with this...
Astronomers believe they’ve detected an atmosphere around a tiny, icy world beyond Pluto
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A new study suggests that a tiny, icy world beyond Pluto harbors a thin, delicate atmosphere that may have been created by volcanic eruptions or a comet strike. Just 300 miles or so across, this mini Pluto is thought to be the solar system’s smallest object...
Redistricting war accelerates winner-take-all political combat that’s straining American democracy
Willie Simon stood outside the Memphis motel where Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968, now a museum dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement. Days after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Simon feared what the decision would mean not just...
As U.S. plans fewer troops in Germany, Europe sees need for bigger role within NATO
YEREVAN, Armenia — European leaders on Monday said President Donald Trump’s surprise decision to pull thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany is just the latest signal that Europe must take more responsibility for its security. The Pentagon announced last week it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany,...
What to know about hantavirus, the illness suspected in a cruise ship outbreak
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A rodent-borne illness is suspected of causing an outbreak aboard a cruise ship that has killed three people and sickened others. Studies indicate hantaviruses have been around for centuries, with outbreaks documented in Asia and Europe. In the Eastern Hemisphere, it has been linked with hemorrhagic fever...
Does frequent worship lead to better mental health? Often, but not always, experts say
NEW YORK — Worldwide, the landscape of religion is not serene. Many denominations have been racked by divisions. In some regions, believers are targeted with violence. Countless faith leaders have betrayed their flocks via corruption or sexual abuse. Against this backdrop, there has been a long-running discussion about the role...
U.S. fights to reopen Strait of Hormuz as the UAE comes under attack in a test of Iran truce
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. military said it fired on Iranian forces and sank six small boats targeting civilian ships as it moved to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. The United Arab Emirates, a key American ally, said it had come under attack from Iran for...
Nearly 200,000 people affected as over 5,400 flee ash from Philippine volcano
MANILA, Philippines — Nearly 200,000 people in 124 villages in the northeastern Philippines were affected and over 5,400 fled massive plumes of ash that billowed from Mayon volcano over the weekend due to the collapse of lava deposits from its slopes, officials said Monday. There was no explosive eruption from...
Police search for suspects in Oklahoma shooting that sent at least 18 people to hospitals
EDMOND, Okla. — Authorities in Oklahoma were looking for suspects Monday in a weekend shooting at an unsanctioned lakeside party packed with young adults that left at least 23 people injured, some critically, according to police and hospital officials. It wasn’t clear how many of those injured had been shot,...
Princess Eugenie and her husband announce they are expecting their 3rd child
LONDON — Britain’s Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, announced Monday that they are expecting their third child. Eugenie, the younger daughter of the former Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, is set to give birth this summer, Buckingham Palace said in a statement. The couple’s two sons...
California, Arizona and Nevada announce new water-saving plan for dwindling Colorado River
With the Colorado River’s giant reservoirs declining toward critically low levels, negotiators for California, Arizona and Nevada announced they have agreed on a water-saving plan for the next two years. Representatives of the three states said in a written statement that their plan aims to “stabilize the Colorado River through...
Rudy Giuliani hospitalized in critical condition, his spokesman says
NEW YORK — Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is hospitalized in critical but stable condition, his spokesperson said Sunday, days after the Republican hoarsely told his talk show audience that his voice was “a little under the weather.” The spokesperson, Ted Goodman, didn’t say what sent Giuliani, 81,...
United flight landing in Newark strikes light pole on New Jersey Turnpike, FAA says
NEWARK, N.J. — Federal authorities are investigating after a United Airlines passenger jet landing Sunday at Newark Liberty International Airport struck a light pole on the adjacent New Jersey Turnpike. The Federal Aviation Administration said the incident involving United Airlines Flight 169 happened at about 2 p.m. Sunday. The Boeing...
1,500 beagles will get new lives, warm laps after release from research facility
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The first beagles removed from a Wisconsin dog breeding and research facility that was the site of recent protests seemed to know right away that they were safe. “They started within an hour or so coming up to us, wanting attention. Some crawled in people’s laps....
A suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus on a cruise ship in the Atlantic kills 3 people
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — A suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus infection on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean killed three people, including an elderly married couple, and sickened at least three others, the World Health Organization and South Africa’s Department of Health said Sunday. In a statement...
Control of U.S. House hinges on historically low number of seats
A shrinking number of seats will determine control of the U.S. House after both Republicans and Democrats spent much of the past year redrawing congressional maps to erase swing districts. Even before Florida’s legislature approved a new Republican-leaning map last week, just 16 seats were listed as “tossups” by the...
Trump flexes executive power with unprecedented flouting of lower court rulings
When a federal judge shot down a Trump administration policy of holding immigrants without bond last December, it seemed like a serious blow to the president’s mass deportation effort. Instead, a top Justice Department official insisted the ruling wasn’t binding, and the administration continued denying detainees around the country a...
Agent hit by buckshot from the gun of man charged in correspondents’ dinner attack, prosecutor saysVideo
WASHINGTON — Authorities have determined that buckshot from the gun of the man charged with trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in an attempt to kill President Donald Trump struck a Secret Service agent, according to the federal prosecutor overseeing the investigation. Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney...
