Hiker falls to death during storm on Yosemite’s iconic Half Dome
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — A bucket-list climb to the top of Yosemite National Park’s Half Dome turned to tragedy for a young Arizona woman who fell to her death during a descent forced by a sudden storm that pounded the iconic granite monolith this month. Grace Rohloff, 20, an...
Park rangers in Canada search for stragglers in evacuation zone of two big wildfires
GRAND PRAIRIE, Alberta — Park rangers scoured the Canadian Rockies’ largest national park in helicopters Wednesday to look for stragglers still inside despite a mass evacuation aiming to move 25,000 visitors and residents away from two large wildfires. Searchers looking through the backcountry trails of Jasper National Park already had...
In fiery speech, Netanyahu vows ‘total victory’ in Gaza, denounces U.S. protesters
WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “total victory” against Hamas and condemned American opponents of the war in Gaza on Wednesday in a scathing speech to Congress boycotted by dozens of Democratic lawmakers and protested by thousands seeking an end to the war and the humanitarian crisis created...
Trump turns his full focus on Harris at 1st rally since Biden’s exit from 2024 race
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of attack lines Wednesday against his likely new opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he called his “new victim to defeat” and accused of deceiving the public about President Joe Biden ‘s ability to run for a second term. The rally in...
Delta CEO, in Paris for the Olympics, says outage-related cancellations should end Thursday
Delta Air Lines canceled significantly fewer flights Wednesday, and the airline’s chief executive said cancellations and delays stemming from a global technology breakdown should end by Thursday. The airline issued a message to customers from Ed Bastian while the CEO was in Paris to attend the Summer Olympics. In the...
Strike at plant that makes truck seats forces production stoppage for Missouri General Motors
Production has halted at a Missouri General Motors plant that manufactures trucks and vans, the result of a strike at the company that supplies seats for the vehicles. About 480 workers at Lear Corp. in Wentzville walked out at midnight Sunday. The strike brought production to a standstill Monday at...
Thousands fill Washington’s streets to protest Israel’s war in Gaza during Netanyahu visitVideo
WASHINGTON — Thousands of people protesting Israel’s war in Gaza marched Wednesday in Washington, chanting “Free, Free Palestine” as they filled blocks of city streets and police used pepper spray on demonstrators while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress. Demonstrators calling for an end to the war that has...
Trump rally gunman looked online for information about Kennedy assassination, FBI director says
WASHINGTON — The gunman in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump is believed to have done a Google search one week before the shooting of “How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday, revealing new details about a suspect he said had taken...
The flickering glow of summer’s fireflies: Too important to lose, too small to notice them gone
DELAWARE SEASHORE STATE PARK — On a muggy July evening, Delaware state biologist Jason Davis is doing what kids have done for ages: Trying to catch a firefly. It’s nowhere near as easy as the summer evenings of his own childhood, with only a few in this large wetland between...
NASA telescope spots a super Jupiter that takes more than a century to go around its star
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A super Jupiter has been spotted around a neighboring star by the Webb Space Telescope — and it has a super orbit. The planet is roughly the same diameter as Jupiter, but with six times the mass. Its atmosphere is also rich in hydrogen like Jupiter’s....
Prosecutor says the New Jersey man who stabbed author Salman Rushdie was trying to carry out a fatwa
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A man who severely injured author Salman Rushdie in a frenzied knife attack in western New York was motivated by a Hezbollah leader’s endorsement of a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death, prosecutors said Wednesday in announcing new terrorism charges. The three-count indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court...
Casino hosts weekly bingo nights benefiting local charities
Live Casino Pittsburgh in Hempfield’s Westmoreland Mall kicked off a series of bingo nights benefiting local charities. Bingo takes place at the casino’s Venue Live event space every Monday. Doors open at 5 p.m. and bingo begins at 7 p.m. The first event, held at the end of June, raised...
Whale surfaces, capsizes fishing boat off New Hampshire coastVideo
RYE, N.H. — Two fishermen are safe after a whale crashed onto their boat, capsizing it off the New Hampshire shore, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The incident occurred Tuesday near Odiorne Point State Park in Rye. The two men, who were thrown overboard, said they had seen the...
Monday breaks the record for the hottest ever day on Earth
Monday was recorded as the hottest day ever globally, beating a record set the day before, as countries around the world from Japan to Bolivia to the United States continue to feel the heat, according to the European climate change service. Provisional satellite data published by Copernicus on Wednesday showed...
Iowa law banning most abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy to take effect Monday
DES MOINES — An Iowa judge has ruled the state’s strict abortion law will take effect Monday, preventing most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. The law passed last year, but a judge had blocked it from being enforced. The Iowa Supreme...
Wildfires send about 25,000 fleeing from Canadian Rockies’ largest national park, nearby town
EDMONTON, Alberta — Multiple wildfires in the Canadian Rockies’ largest national park sent up to 25,000 visitors and residents fleeing west over the last open mountain road Tuesday, navigating through darkness and soot following a government alert during the area’s busiest tourist time of the year. “It’s wall-to-wall traffic,” Carolyn...
Republican leaders urge colleagues to steer clear of racist and sexist attacks on Kamala HarrisVideo
WASHINGTON — Republican leaders are warning party members against using overtly racist and sexist attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris, as they and former President Donald Trump ‘s campaign scramble to adjust to the reality of a new Democratic rival less than four months before Election Day. At a closed-door...
Brazil to allow miles of selective logging in effort to preserve the Amazon
BRASILIA, Brazil — To combat ongoing destruction in the Amazon rainforest, Brazil announced a plan Tuesday to dramatically expand selective logging to an area the size of Costa Rica over the next two years. In Brazil, vast forest lands are designated as public yet have no special protection or enforcement...
U.S. Army worker who stole nearly $109 million to buy mansions and luxury cars is sentenced
A Texas woman who pleaded guilty to charges of stealing nearly $109 million from a youth development program for children of military families and using it to fund an extravagant lifestyle that included multiple mansions, a fleet of luxury cars and designer accessories was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in...
European climate agency: Sunday was the hottest day on Earth in all recorded history
WASHINGTON — On Sunday, the Earth sizzled to the hottest day ever measured by humans, yet another heat record shattered in the past couple of years, according to the European climate service Copernicus Tuesday. Copernicus’ preliminary data shows that the global average temperature Sunday was 62.76 degrees, beating the record...
Federal court won’t block New Mexico’s 7-day waiting period on gun purchases amid litigation
SANTA FE, N.M. — A federal judge has ruled that New Mexico can continue to enforce a new, seven-day waiting period on gun sales while a court challenge backed by the National Rifle Association moves forward. In a ruling Monday, Albuquerque-based U.S. District Court Judge James Browning denied the NRA’s...
Oscar Mayer Wienermobile flips onto its side after crash along suburban Chicago highwayVideo
OAK BROOK, Ill. — An Oscar Mayer Wienermobile got into a pickle on a Chicago highway. The hot-dog shaped Wienermobile hit a car Monday morning along Interstate 294 and its driver lost control and overcorrected, causing it to roll onto its side near the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, Illinois...
Family of Utah murder victim wants ‘an eye for an eye’ as inmate’s execution date looms
Family members of a woman slashed and stabbed to death in 1998 pressed Utah officials Tuesday to proceed with next month’s scheduled execution of the convicted killer, presenting emotional testimony about a crime they say still traumatizes their close-knit Native American community. Taberon Dave Honie is asking Utah’s parole board...
Gamblers betting on Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro for Harris’ VP pick as election predictions flood online markets
Who will Vice President Kamala Harris choose as her running mate? Online gamblers think they have it figured out. Harris, who on Monday secured enough state delegation endorsements to earn her the Democratic nomination following President Joe Biden’s abrupt exit from the race, has yet to indicate who she will...
North Korea is again flying balloons likely carrying trash toward South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea again flew balloons likely carrying trash toward South Korea on Wednesday, days after South Korea’s military boosted anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts across the rivals’ heavily armed borer, Seoul officials said. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the North Korean balloons are...
