Biden proclamation will establish national monument for 1st U.S. female Cabinet secretary
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will sign a proclamation Monday establishing a national monument honoring the late FDR-era Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, the first woman appointed to serve in a presidential Cabinet and a driving force behind the New Deal, according to the White House. Biden is expected to visit...
Persistent problems with a Pa. grant for beer promotion led to headaches, layoffs for awardees
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. HARRISBURG — At first, things were going smoothly. Filmmaker Nate Kresge said he was receiving grants through a little-known state program to promote Pennsylvania’s beer...
Luigi Mangione’s high-powered attorney is married to Diddy’s top lawyer
Two of New York City’s highest-profile criminal defendants have one thing in common: Their lawyers are married. Karen Friedman Agnifilo, who was retained Saturday by accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione, is married to Marc Agnifilo, who is representing Sean “Diddy” Combs in his case for sex trafficking and racketeering. Friedman...
U.S. agencies should use advanced technology to identify mysterious drones, Schumer says
BOSTON — After weeks of fear and bewilderment about the drones buzzing over parts of New York and New Jersey, elected officials are urging action to identify and stop the mysterious flights. “There’s a lot of us who are pretty frustrated right now,” Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the top Democrat...
Pope Francis makes 1st papal visit to France’s Corsica awash in expressions of popular piety
AJACCIO, Corsica — Pope Francis on the first papal visit ever to the French island of Corsica on Sunday called for a dynamic form of laicism, promoting the kind of popular piety that distinguishes the Mediterranean island from secular France as a bridge between religious and civic society. Francis appeared...
ABC agrees to give $15 million to Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle defamation lawsuit
NEW YORK — ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million toward Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. As part of the settlement made public Saturday,...
Trump appoints longtime foreign policy adviser Richard Grenell to serve as special missions envoy
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday that he’s picked longtime foreign policy adviser Richard Grenell to serve as an envoy for special missions, tasking him with helping the incoming administration deal with some of the toughest foreign policy challenges. Grenell served as ambassador to Germany during...
Columbus, Ohio, police launch homicide investigation after bodies of 3 women found in home
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Authorities in Ohio launched a homicide investigation after the bodies of three women were found Saturday inside a home in Columbus. Officers were called to a home on the city’s south side just before 4 p.m. Saturday for what a 911 caller described as a medical event....
Ukrainian drone hits Russia’s Chechnya as Kyiv continues pushback after Moscow bombardment
KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian drone struck a campus belonging to Russia’s National Guard Sunday in the Russian region of Chechnya, as Kyiv continues to strike back after a mass air attack from Moscow. Footage on social media showed a drone swooping low over the Chechen capital, Grozny, some 500...
Racy photos of Bashar Assad discovered after his fall spark ridicule
BEIRUT — Bizarre and personal photos of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad have surfaced from his abandoned residences, sparking ridicule among Syrians who only until recently were persecuted for criticizing his leadership. The images, reportedly discovered in photo albums from Assad’s mansions in the hills of Damascus and Aleppo, painted...
Death toll in French territory of Mayotte from Cyclone Chido is ‘several hundred,’ top official says
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The death toll in the French territory of Mayotte from Cyclone Chido is “several hundred” and may run into the thousands, the island’s top government official told a local broadcaster Sunday. France rushed rescue teams and supplies to its largely poor overseas department in the...
1 week into a new Syria, rebels aim for normalcy and Syrians vow not to be silent again
DAMASCUS — At Damascus’ international airport, the new head of security — one of the rebels who marched across Syria to the capital — arrived with his team. The few maintenance workers who showed up for work huddled around Maj Hamza al-Ahmed, eager to learn what will happen next. They...
Legalized recreational marijuana is on Pennsylvania’s doorstep
Recreational marijuana remains illegal in Pennsylvania. But lawmakers, advocates and even opponents who have spent countless hours debating the topic in Harrisburg say that likely will change soon. Money, specifically the promise of jobs and new tax revenue, has come to dominate the conversation in the General Assembly. Like the...
Storms across U.S. bring heavy snow, dangerous ice and a tornado in California
OMAHA, Neb. — A tornado near a mall in central California swept up cars, uprooted trees and sent several people to the hospital. In San Francisco, authorities issued the first-ever tornado warning. Elsewhere, inclement weather plagued areas of the U.S., with dangerous conditions including heavy snow in upstate New York,...
Drones, planes or UFOs? Americans abuzz over mysterious New Jersey sightings
CHATHAM, N.J. — That buzzing coming out of New Jersey? It’s unclear if it’s drones or something else, but for sure the nighttime sightings are producing tons of talk, a raft of conspiracy theories and craned necks looking skyward. Cropping up on local news and social media sites around Thanksgiving,...
Former Manhattan prosecutor to represent suspect in killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO
NEW YORK — The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO has added a prominent defense lawyer to his legal team as Manhattan prosecutors work to return him from Pennsylvania to face a murder charge. Luigi Mangione will be represented by Karen Friedman Agnifilo, who was a high-ranking deputy in...
Ukrainian drones strike Russia as Kyiv reels from consecutive massive air attacks
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian drone strikes on southern Russia killed a 9-year-old boy and set fire to a major oil terminal, officials said Saturday, the day after Moscow launched a massive aerial attack on its neighbor that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was one of the heaviest bombardments of the...
U.S. officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that ousted Assad, Blinken says
AQABA, Jordan — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that American officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that spearheaded the overthrow of President Bashar Assad’s government but is designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and others. Blinken is the first...
South Korea’s parliament votes to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his martial law order
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s parliament on Saturday impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his stunning and short-lived martial law decree, a move that ended days of political paralysis but set up an intense debate over Yoon’s fate, as jubilant crowds roared to celebrate another defiant moment in the...
Under Shapiro, half of clemency recommendations remain unsigned
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. HARRISBURG — In his first two years as governor, Josh Shapiro has signed about 50 percent of the clemency applications recommended to him by the...
Trump wants to end daylight saving time
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump wants to turn the lights out on daylight saving time. In a post on his social media site Friday, Trump said his party would try to end the practice when he returns to office. “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate...
‘Crown of Thorns’ returns to Notre Dame Cathedral for public veneration
PARIS — An ancient relic that many Christians revere as Jesus Christ’s “Crown of Thorns” returned Friday to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, five years after it was saved from the flames of the medieval monument’s devastating 2019 fire. The crown — a circular band of branches encased in a...
Syrians cheer end of 50 years of Assad rule at first Friday prayers since government fell
DAMASCUS — Exuberant Syrians observed the first Friday prayers since the ouster of President Bashar Assad, gathering in the capital’s historic main mosque, its largest square and around the country to celebrate the end of half a century of authoritarian rule. The newly installed interim prime minister delivered the sermon...
Feds propose protection for giant salamanders devastated by Hurricane Helene
You never forget your first time seeing a giant salamander, according to Andy Hill. He was a teenager, standing thigh-high in the Watauga River outside Boone, North Carolina, casting a line on an early fall day when he saw his first eastern hellbender. The salamander stretched 2 feet long and...
Texas sues New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills by telemedicine
Texas has sued a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a Texas woman via telemedicine. The lawsuit was filed in Collin County, Texas, by the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday and announced Friday. It appears to be the first challenge anywhere in the U.S. to a...
