Report: Railroads, regulators must address the dangers of long trains
OMAHA, Neb. — As freight trains have grown ever longer, the number of derailments related to the forces created when railcars push and pull against each other also increased, so the National Academies of Sciences said Tuesday in a long-awaited report that regulators, Congress and the industry should reexamine the...
Penn State taps consultant to assess academic programs
Penn State University has hired a consultant to help determine “if it is teaching the right courses in the right places,” given shifting enrollments and employer demand. Hanover Research, headquartered in Arlington, Va., is expected to begin work in early October on the university’s Academic Portfolio and Program Review (APPR)...
Casualties in Myanmar push Southeast Asia’s death toll from Typhoon Yagi past 500
BANGKOK — Floods and landslides in Myanmar triggered by last week’s Typhoon Yagi and seasonal monsoon rains have claimed at least 226 lives, with 77 people missing, state-run media reported Tuesday. The new figures push the total number of dead in Southeast Asia from the storm past 500. The accounting...
Instagram teen accounts to be made private
Accounts for any Instagram users under 16 will now be made private, Meta announced Tuesday. Users will now need a parent’s approval to change the restricted settings, called “Teen Accounts” — which filter out offensive words and limit who can contact the account, NPR reported. The changes are being made...
Hezbollah hit by a wave of exploding pagers and blames Israel. At least 9 dead, thousands injuredVideo
BEIRUT — Pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded near simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday, killing at least nine people — including an 8-year-old girl — and wounding several thousand, officials said. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to...
Gallery: Photos from Sept. 17, 2024
Here is a selection of photos from Western Pa., around the country and world, for Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024....
Judge orders Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to be jailed in sex trafficking and racketeering charges
NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs presided over a sordid empire of sexual crimes, coercing and abusing women for years while using blackmail and shocking acts of violence to keep his victims in line, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday. The music mogul pleaded not guilty, standing to speak, after...
Man charged with murder over crossbow attack near London that killed 3 women
LONDON — A man appeared in a London court on Tuesday charged with killing three women in a knife and crossbow attack near London in July. Kyle Clifford, 26, faces three murder charges over the deaths of 61-year-old Carol Hunt and her daughters Hannah Hunt, 28, and Louise Hunt, 25....
Facebook owner Meta bans Russia state media outlets over ‘foreign interference’
LONDON — Meta said it’s banning Russia state media organization from its social media platforms, alleging that the outlets used deceptive tactics to amplify Moscow’s propaganda. The announcement drew a rebuke from the Kremlin on Tuesday. The company, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, said late Monday that it will...
Bill Gates calls for more aid to go to Africa and for debt relief for burdened countries
NEW YORK — The billionaire Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates thinks the richest governments should increase their support for African countries that have been overshadowed by development funding increasingly going toward the humanitarian response to the war in Ukraine as well as support for refugees around the world in...
Instagram makes teen accounts private as pressure mounts on the app to protect children
Instagram is introducing separate teen accounts for those under 18 as it tries to make the platform safer for children amid a growing backlash against how social media affects young people’s lives. Beginning Tuesday in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia, anyone under under 18 who signs up for Instagram...
U.S. retail sales ticked up last month in sign of ongoing consumer resilience
WASHINGTON — Americans spent a bit more at retailers last month, providing a small boost to the economy just as the Federal Reserve considers how much to cut its key interest rate. Retail sales ticked up 0.1% from July to August, after jumping the most in 18 months the previous...
5 things to know about the apparent assassination attempt on Trump
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Former President Donald Trump wasn’t harmed by Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt as he golfed near his Florida club. But the second attack on his life in barely two months is likely to further unsettle an election cycle already marked by upheaval. The man suspected in...
Not-so-great expectations: Students are reading fewer books in English class
Chris Stanislawski didn’t read much in his middle school English classes, but it never felt necessary. Students were given detailed chapter summaries for every novel they discussed, and teachers played audio of the books during class. Much of the reading material at Garden City Middle School in Long Island was...
Elon Musk has often inflamed politically tense moments, raising worries for U.S. election
NEW YORK— Hours after an apparent attempt on Donald Trump’s life over the weekend, Elon Musk took to his social platform X to post a thinking emoji and a comment that “no one is even trying to assassinate” the Democratic president and vice president. In the midst of anti-Muslim riots...
Democrats run unopposed to fill 2 state House vacancies in Philadelphia
HARRISBURG — Philadelphia voters on Tuesday will fill two vacant state House seats in special elections, and in both cases a Democratic candidate is the only person on the ballot. Keith Harris is seeking to replace Rep. Donna Bullock, while Andre Carroll is in line to succeed Rep. Stephen Kinsey....
Sen. Josh Hawley releases whistleblower info showing ‘pattern of negligence’ by Secret Service
The second assassination attempt on Donald Trump sparked calls from President Joe Biden and lawmakers to bolster the Secret Service protection for the former president with either more resources, strategic changes or more agency oversight. On Monday, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., issued a report based on information he says he’s...
Postal Service insists it’s ready for a flood of mail-in ballots
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy assured state election officials in a letter released Monday that he’ll work with them to handle their warnings of problems with election mail delivery during the primary season, while insisting that the Postal Service will be ready for the flood of mail-in ballots ahead of...
Ohio state police to protect schools after furor over Haitian immigrants in Springfield
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Ohio state police will help protect schools in a city at the center of a political furor over Haitian migrants, the governor announced Monday, while local officials canceled an annual celebration of cultural diversity in the fallout over former President Donald Trump’s false claims about pet-eating. Ohio...
Pennsylvania court rejects Cornel West’s bid to get on ballot and clears way for mail voting
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court on Monday upheld a lower court ruling that rejected a bid to get independent presidential candidate Cornel West on the ballot for the November election in the battleground state. The courts sided with the secretary of state’s office under Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro in rejecting...
Activists gain meeting with Kim Ward’s office over bill to ban foreign campaign money
Activists demanding campaign finance and lobbying reforms staked out the office of Pennsylvania’s state Senate leader on Monday — and got a commitment to meet with top legislative staff on a bill they hope will clear the chamber soon. Members of March on Harrisburg and other affiliated groups rallied at...
Judge rejects former Trump aide Mark Meadows’ bid to move Arizona election case to federal court
PHOENIX — A judge has rejected a bid by Mark Meadows, a former chief of staff to President Donald Trump, to move his charges in Arizona’s fake elector case to federal court, marking the second time he has failed in trying to get his charges out of state court. In...
Statewide search for historic buildings finds thousands after a decades-long drought
This story first appeared in PA Local, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA taking a fresh, positive look at the incredible people, beautiful places, and delicious food of Pennsylvania. An army of contractors has spent the past several years quietly fanning out across Pennsylvania to find the history state records...
Wind, rain but maybe no name as tropical disturbance approaches coast of the CarolinasVideo
MIAMI — Heavy wind and rain from a storm in the Atlantic that wasn’t quite organized enough to get a name hit a stretch of the southeastern coast Monday. The center of the storm system was expected to reach the South Carolina coast Monday afternoon and then move inland across...
Man accused of trying to kill Trump wrote a book urging Iran to assassinate the ex-president
KAAAWA, Hawaii — Ryan Wesley Routh portrayed himself online as a man who built housing for homeless people in Hawaii, tried to recruit fighters for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia, and described his support and then disdain for Donald Trump — even urging Iran to kill him. “You are...
