A 13-foot (and growing) python was seized from a New York home and sent to a zoo
NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. — A 13-foot (4-meter) Burmese python was confiscated from an upstate New York man who was keeping the still-growing snake in a small tank, authorities said. The state Department of Environmental Conservation said it got a complaint about an illegally owned snake in New Hartford on Aug....
A list of mass killings in the United States this year
The latest mass killing in the U.S. happened Wednesday in Winder, Georgia, where four people were fatally shot at Apalachee High School. Students ran for safety in the football stadium. While officers swarmed the campus near Atlanta, parents raced to find out if their children were safe. It was the...
Hunter Biden enters surprise guilty plea to avoid tax trial months after his gun conviction
LOS ANGELES — Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to federal tax charges Thursday in a surprise move that spares President Joe Biden and his family another likely embarrassing and painful criminal trial of the president’s son. Hunter Biden’s stunning decision to guilty plea to misdemeanor and felony charges without the benefits...
How to watch the presidential debate between Trump and Harris
WASHINGTON — The second general election debate of the 2024 campaign season is here, but it’s the first matchup for the current nominees. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are taking part in Tuesday night’s debate in Philadelphia. After a disastrous performance in the first general election...
Can Harris prosecute the political case against Trump? Key questions ahead of their debate
NEW YORK — Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will debate for the first — and perhaps, last — time on Tuesday night as the presidential candidates fight to sway voters on the biggest stage in U.S. politics. The meeting comes just 75 days after President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance...
Footage of motorcade racing JFK to the hospital after he was shot is set to go to auction
DALLAS — Newly emerged film footage of President John F. Kennedy’s motorcade speeding down a Dallas freeway toward a hospital after he was fatally wounded will go up for auction later this month. Experts say the find isn’t necessarily surprising even over 60 years after the assassination. “These images, these...
Small, harmless asteroid burns up in Earth’s atmosphere over the Philippines
NEW YORK — A small asteroid discovered on Wednesday harmlessly burned up in Earth’s atmosphere the same day, NASA said. The asteroid — about 3 feet (1 meter) across — was spotted by astronomers in Arizona and broke apart over the coast of the Philippines hours after the discovery. This...
Father of Georgia school shooting suspect arrested on charges including second-degree murder
WINDER, Ga. — The father of the teenager accused of opening fire at a Georgia high school, killing four people and wounding nine, has been arrested on various charges including second-degree murder, authorities said Thursday. Colin Gray, 54, the father of Colt Gray, was charged with four counts of involuntary...
Kamala Harris visits New Hampshire to tout her small business tax plan
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris used a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Wednesday to propose an expansion of tax incentives for small businesses, a pro-entrepreneur plan that may soften her previous calls for wealthy Americans and large corporations to pay higher taxes. Describing small businesses as “an essential...
Do you speak Gen-Alpha? Test your ‘skibidi’ knowledge with this vocab quiz
As American kids head back to school, they’re likely to return home with an alien language their own parents may find befuddling. From TikTok to the kitchen table, words such as “rizzler” and “skibidi” are finding a foothold in the lexicon of today’s tweens. Are you fluent enough to survive...
Harris accepts rules for Sept. 10 debate with Trump on ABC, including microphone muting
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted the rules set forth for next week’s debate with former President Donald Trump, although the Democratic nominee says the decision not to keep both candidates’ microphones live throughout the matchup will be to her disadvantage. The development, which came Wednesday by way...
Republican Liz Cheney endorses Kamala HarrisVideo
WASHINGTON — Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney on Wednesday said she would support Kamala Harris for president, ending weeks of speculation about how fully the member of a GOP dynasty-turned-Trump critic would embrace the Democratic ticket. Cheney, who co-chaired the House investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, became a...
From the Newsroom: A tale of 2 rallies
Starting last week and over the holiday weekend, the presidential election nominees from both parties have made headlines in Pennsylvania. Former President Donald Trump addressed a crowd in Johnstown on Friday, touching on topics like the Arlington cemetery incident and the Harris-Walz interview. Then, on Labor Day, Vice President Kamala...
With charges and sanctions, U.S. takes aim at Russian disinformation ahead of November electionVideo
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration seized Kremlin-run websites and charged two Russian state media employees in its most sweeping effort yet to push back against what it says are Russian attempts to spread disinformation ahead of the November presidential election. The measures, which in addition to indictments also included sanctions...
Pa. GOP narrows gap in registered voters with election 2 months out
HARRISBURG — The 2024 presidential election is two months away and, in Pennsylvania, Republicans continue to shrink the margin by which Democrats lead in registered voters. Democrats had 350,341 more registered voters compared to Republicans as of Monday, according to this week’s data update from the Department of State. That...
Trump presses effort to delay N.Y. sentencing with federal appeal
NEW YORK— Donald Trump appealed a ruling that prevents him from moving his New York hush money case to federal court, pressing ahead with a bid to delay his Sept. 18 sentencing until well after the November presidential election. The former president late Tuesday filed a notice of appeal after...
How do you know when AI is powerful enough to be dangerous? Regulators try to do the math
How do you know if an artificial intelligence system is so powerful that it poses a security danger and shouldn’t be unleashed without careful oversight? For regulators trying to put guardrails on AI, it’s mostly about the arithmetic. Specifically, an AI model trained on 10 to the 26th floating-point operations...
14-year-old student fatally shot 4 people in a rampage at a Georgia high school, officials sayVideo
WINDER, Ga. — A 14-year-old student opened fire at a Georgia high school and killed four people on Wednesday, authorities said, sending students scrambling for shelter in their classrooms — and eventually to the football stadium — as officers swarmed the campus and parents raced to find out if their...
Boeing to fly its empty capsule back to Earth soon — 2 NASA astronauts will stay behind
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Boeing will attempt to return its problem-plagued capsule from the International Space Station later this week — with empty seats. NASA said Wednesday that everything is on track for the Starliner capsule to undock from the space station Friday evening. The fully automated capsule will aim...
U.S. accuses Russia of using state media to spread disinformation ahead of the November election
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration accused Russia on Wednesday of a far-reaching effort to influence the U.S. presidential election, including by promoting disinformation and enlisting unwitting American influencers to spread propaganda on Russian state media. The actions taken by the U.S. government include sanctions against leaders of RT, a state...
Trump heads to Pennsylvania as polls show toss-up with Harris
Former President Donald Trump headed to Harrisburg on Wednesday for a town hall forum as new polls show a toss-up race with Vice President Kamala Harris in the crucial Keystone State. Trump will interact with voters at the Fox News event hours after a new poll of battleground states showed...
Attack on Jewish students not a hate crime, officials say
Law enforcement has concluded that the attack on two Jewish students at the University of Pittsburgh was not a hate crime, nor was the assailant targeting a specific group, Pitt officials said. A statement from Pitt on Tuesday offered no motive for why the suspect, Jarrett Buba, 52, of Pittsburgh’s...
Michigan man wins long shot appeal over burglary linked to his DNA on a bottle
DETROIT — A Michigan prisoner has persuaded a judge to throw out his burglary conviction, overcoming long odds by serving as his own lawyer in an appeal of a case that rested solely on his DNA being found on a soda bottle in a beauty shop. Gregory Tucker, 65, argued...
Workers at GM joint venture battery plant in Tennessee unionize and will get pay raise
DETROIT — About 1,000 workers at a General Motors joint venture electric vehicle battery plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, will get big pay raises now that they have joined the United Auto Workers union. GM and LG Energy Solution of Korea, which jointly run the plant, agreed to recognize the...
Atlantic City casino workers plan ad blitz to ban smoking after court rejects ban
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — A group of Atlantic City casino workers seeking to ban smoking in the gambling halls will launch an advertising campaign featuring their children in response to a judge’s rejection of a lawsuit that would have ended smoking in the nine casinos. The workers, calling themselves Casino...