German court convicts a prominent far-right politician for using a Nazi slogan again
BERLIN — A high-profile politician in the far-right Alternative for Germany party was convicted for the second time Monday of knowingly using a Nazi slogan at a political event. Björn Höcke, who plans to run for governor in the eastern state of Thuringia in September, was fined for using the...
Hurricane Beryl grows to Category 5 strength as it razes southeast Caribbean islandsVideo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Beryl has strengthened to Category 5 status as it crosses islands in the southeastern Caribbean. Beryl ripped off doors, windows and roofs in homes across the southeastern Caribbean on Monday after making landfall on the island of Carriacou in Grenada as the earliest Category...
Biden allies rally behind him with a public show of support as he spends family time at Camp David
WASHINGTON — While President Joe Biden was out of sight at Camp David Sunday spending time with family, prominent Democrats rallied with a public show of unwavering support for his campaign following his unsteady debate performance and growing anxiety over whether he should remain in the White House race. “I...
French voters propel far-right National Rally to strong lead in first-round legislative electionsVideo
PARIS — The far-right National Rally leaped into a strong lead Sunday in France’s first round of legislative elections, polling agencies projected, bringing the party closer to being able to form a government in round two and dealing a major slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron and his risky decision...
Family demands accountability for New York police killing of 13-year-old boy. Police said he aimed BB gunVideo
On Wednesday, Nyah Mway finished middle school in the central New York city where his family moved about a decade ago as refugees from Myanmar, relatives said. By Friday night, the 13-year-old was fatally shot by police who’d tackled him to the ground after he allegedly pointed what turned out...
An English bulldog named Babydog makes a surprise appearance in a mural on West Virginia history
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The English bulldog had never been featured prominently in West Virginia history. It has now. Gov. Jim Justice’s 4-year-old pure breed Babydog joined the ranks of Abraham Lincoln, Civil War soldiers and odes to Appalachian folk music in new murals under the golden dome of the state...
Biden party allies close ranks as poll signals voter concernVideo
Key Democrats rallied behind Joe Biden’s reelection bid as a poll suggested his stumbling debate performance against Donald Trump last week made more Americans skeptical about the president’s ability to lead. Representative Jim Clyburn, a critical ally who helped turn around Biden’s floundering 2020 candidacy, said that while “there were...
Tim Scott has benefited from mentors along the way. He’s hoping for another helping hand
COLUMBIA, S.C. — When Tim Scott was a teenager, a Chick-fil-A manager named John Moniz offered him a sandwich, a job, and four years of indispensable mentoring about how to be a businessman and a citizen. Later, after that helping hand put Scott on a path that eventually led him...
How will Louisiana’s new Ten Commandments classroom requirement be funded and enforced?
BATON ROUGE, La. — Even as a legal challenge is already underway over a new Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms, the details of how the mandate will be implemented and enforced remain murky. Across the country there have been conservative pushes to incorporate religion...
Hurricane Beryl approaches the southeast Caribbean after strengthening into a Category 4 stormVideo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Beryl closed in on the southeastern Caribbean late Sunday after strengthening into what experts called an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm as government officials pleaded with people to take shelter. The storm was expected to make landfall in the Windward Islands on Monday morning....
Ten Commandments. Multiple variations. Why the Louisiana law raises preferential treatment concerns
Christians and Jews believe in the Ten Commandments — just not necessarily the version that will hang in every public school and state-funded college classroom in Louisiana. The required text prescribed in the new law and used on many monuments across the United States is a condensed version of the...
U.N. starts to move tons of aid from U.S.-built pier after security fears suspended work
JERUSALEM — Humanitarian workers have started moving tons of aid that piled up at a U.S.-built pier off the Gaza coast to warehouses in the besieged Palestinian territory, the United Nations said Saturday, an important step as Washington considers whether to resume pier operations after yet another pause because of...
For many voters, Biden-Trump debate means a tough choice just got tougher
WASHINGTON — The sound you might have heard after the presidential debate this past week was of voters falling between a rock and a hard place. Apart from the sizable and pumped-up universe of Donald Trump’s supporters, the debate suddenly crystalized the worries of many Americans, a portion of President...
Elvis’ blue suede shoes auctioned for $152K
Elvis Presley didn’t just sing about “Blue Suede Shoes,” he wore a pair during some of his 1950s appearances. On Friday, the footwear changed hands in a British auction, selling for nearly $152,000. The shoes were sold by auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire for £120,000 including fees, according...
Driver charged with DUI for New York nail salon crash that killed 4 and injured 9
DEER PARK, N.Y. — Police on Long Island have arrested a man who is accused of driving while intoxicated after he crashed his SUV into a nail salon, killing four people and injuring nine others. Suffolk County Police said Saturday that Steven Schwally had been speeding through the parking lot...
10 Ukrainians held prisoner for years in Russia return home after Vatican mediation
KYIV, Ukraine — Ten Ukrainian civilians held prisoner for years by Russia arrived in Kyiv overnight Saturday after the mediation of the Vatican, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. They were freed Friday. Some had been captured years before Russia’s full-scale invasion. The pope has said the Holy See has been...
Tropical Storm Beryl swirls toward southeast Caribbean, threatens to strengthen into hurricane
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Beryl chugged toward the southeast Caribbean on Saturday and could strengthen into the year’s first hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday. A hurricane watch was issued for Barbados as the island’s meteorological service warned of flash flooding and power outages. Beryl is expected...
Lawmakers advance proposal to greatly expand Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — Hunting on Sundays in Pennsylvania would be greatly expanded under a proposal that passed the state House on Thursday over objections about trespassing provisions and new restrictions on hunting in state parks. Lawmakers voted 129-73 to send the bill to the state Senate. “Sunday is an opportunity to...
Judge partially ends court oversight of migrant children
LOS ANGELES — A federal judge Friday approved the Biden administration’s request to partially end a nearly three-decade-old agreement to provide court oversight of how the government cares for migrant children in its custody. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ruled special court supervision may end at the U.S. Health and...
Western Pa. Democratic delegates stick with Biden but cast debate performance as ‘wake-up call’
Following President Joe Biden’s lackluster debate performance on Thursday night, alarmed liberal pundits wasted little time in suggesting that the president consider withdrawing from the race. But Biden’s political allies, including Democratic delegates committed to the president’s reelection, are standing by the incumbent, even as they acknowledged his poor showing....
School vouchers may make it into Pa.’s budget, but what would they really do?
This story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — Few arguments in Harrisburg are as fraught as the one happening now over school choice vouchers, and it features a lot of spin from lawmakers...
Research gives more reassurance milk pasteurization kills bird flu, officials say
NEW YORK — A new study that recreated commercial pasteurization in a government lab provides reassurance heat treatment kills bird flu virus in cows’ milk, U.S. officials said Friday. When the bird flu known as H5N1 first was detected in U.S. dairy cows this year, there were no studies of...
Biden’s Democratic allies admit he had a poor debate but say they’re still standing behind him
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden strained to quell Democratic anxieties over his unsteady showing in his debate with former President Donald Trump, as elected members of his party closed ranks around him in an effort to shut down talk of replacing him atop the ticket. Biden’s halting delivery and meandering...
Here’s why it would be tough for Democrats to replace Joe Biden on the presidential ticket
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s halting debate performance has led some in his own party to begin questioning whether he should be replaced on the ballot before November. There is no evidence Biden is willing to end his campaign. And it would be nearly impossible for Democrats to replace him...
Texas Supreme Court upholds ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court upheld the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors Friday, rejecting pleas from parents that it violates their right to seek medical care for their transgender children. The ruling from the all-Republican court leaves in place a law that has been in effect...
