Cheers, cake and a fist-bump from GOP as Trump returns to Capitol Hill in a first since Jan. 6 riot
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump made a triumphant return to Capitol Hill on Thursday, his first with lawmakers since the Jan.6, 2021 attacks, embraced by energized House and Senate Republicans who find themselves reinvigorated by his bid to retake the White House. Despite pending federal charges against Trump for conspiring to...
G7 summit opens with deal to use Russian assets for Ukraine as EU’s traditional powers recalibrate
BORGO EGNAZIA, Italy — A Group of Seven summit opened Thursday with agreement reached on a U.S. proposal to back a $50 billion loan to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets as collateral, giving Kyiv a strong show of support even as Europe’s political chessboard shifts to the right. Italian Premier...
Feds: Arizona man plotted mass shooting in Atlanta to spark ‘race war’
ATLANTA — Federal prosecutors have arrested an Arizona man in an alleged mass shooting plot targeting Black Atlantans with the intent of sparking a “race war” ahead of the presidential election in November. Mark Adams Prieto, 58, of Prescott, Ariz., was arrested last month after the FBI received a tip...
Kari Lake loses Arizona appeals court challenge of 2022 loss in governor race
PHOENIX — Republican Kari Lake has lost an Arizona appeals court challenge arguing that thousands of Phoenix-area mail ballot signatures were not properly verified when she lost the 2022 governor election to Democrat Katie Hobbs. The state Court of Appeals upheld on Tuesday a judge’s finding last year that Lake...
Louisiana Supreme Court reopens window for lawsuits by adult victims of childhood sex abuse
NEW ORLEANS — Officially reversing a controversial March ruling, Louisiana’s highest court Wednesday gave childhood victims of sexual abuse a renewed opportunity to file damage lawsuits. The state Supreme Court’s 5-2 ruling Wednesday upholds a so-called look-back law that was passed in 2021 and amended in 2022. The law gave...
Young bear spotted relaxing on hammock in Vermont yard
WAITSFIELD, Vt. — Noah and Kristen Dweck have seen a number of black bears around their home in Vermont but this was a first: a bear relaxing on their hammock. Noah Dweck took iPhone video of two young bears in their yard in Waitsfield on Tuesday with one sitting on...
Jersey Shore cops, politicians want to hold parents responsible for kids’ rowdy actions after meleesVideo
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Parents should be held civilly or criminally responsible for the actions of their children that create disturbances or damage in public places, a group of New Jersey police chiefs and Republican lawmakers said Wednesday during a forum held after a second consecutive year of disturbances at...
8 suspects with alleged ties to ISIS arrested in NYC, Philly, LA
NEW YORK — Eight suspected terrorists from Tajikistan have been arrested in major cities across the country, including New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, over their alleged ties to ISIS, according to reports. The group of suspects were taken into custody over the course of several days as part of...
House votes to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for withholding Biden audio
WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over audio of President Joe Biden’s interview in his classified documents case, Republicans’ latest and strongest rebuke of the Justice Department as partisan conflict over the rule of law animates...
Biden faces first lawsuit over asylum crackdown at border
WASHINGTON — A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups sued the Biden administration Wednesday over President Joe Biden’s recent directive that effectively halts asylum claims at the southern border, saying it differs little from a similar move during the Trump administration that was blocked by the courts. The lawsuit — filed...
Biden to nominate Philly federal prosecutor for U.S. District Court judge
President Joe Biden has chosen a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia who is a Temple University alum and U.S. Air Force veteran to be a nominee for judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Mary Kay Costello, 56 and a Bucks County native, has served as...
Florida’s 2024 hurricane season arrives with a rainy delugeVideo
Dangerous flooding from a tropical disturbance inundated much of southern Florida on Wednesday, blocking roads, floating vehicles and delaying the Florida Panthers on their way to Stanley Cup games in Canada against the Edmonton Oilers. The disorganized storm system was pushing across Florida from the Gulf of Mexico at roughly...
Republicans stick to attacking criminal justice system, echoing Trump, after Hunter Biden conviction
PHOENIX — Republicans are responding to Hunter Biden’s conviction on federal gun charges with some version of, “That’s it?” Loyal to Donald Trump, they largely echoed the former president’s claim that the Justice Department has treated President Joe Biden’s son with kid gloves while zealously prosecuting Trump. Using the attention...
Biden, Zelenskyy will sign security agreement between U.S., Ukraine at G7
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE — President Joe Biden and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will sign a bilateral security agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine on Thursday when they meet on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Italy, aiming to send a signal to Russia of American resolve in...
Blinken says some of Hamas’ proposed changes to a cease-fire plan in Gaza are workable and some not
BEIRUT — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday mediators would keep trying to close an elusive cease-fire deal for Gaza after Hamas proposed changes to a U.S.-backed plan, some of which he said were “workable” and some not. The back-and-forth laid bare frustration over the difficulty of reaching...
3 deputies shot while responding to northern Illinois home, suspect also wounded, official says
DIXON, Ill. — Three sheriff’s deputies were shot Wednesday while responding to a northern Illinois home, and the suspect was also wounded, authorities said. Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said the deputies were responding to a report that someone inside the home in the Lost Lake community near Dixon was...
Senators blast health and law enforcement officials over illegal e-cigarettes used by teensVideo
WASHINGTON — Senators on Wednesday blasted top health and law enforcement officials for not doing more to combat the rise of illegal electronic cigarettes in the U.S., a multibillion-dollar business that has flourished amid haphazard enforcement. Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed frustration and exasperation while questioning...
Federal court dismisses appeal of lawsuit contesting transgender woman in Wyoming sorority
DENVER — A federal court on Wednesday dismissed the appeal of a lawsuit that challenged a transgender woman’s acceptance into a sorority at the University of Wyoming, ruling it had no jurisdiction to hear the case. The lawsuit could not be appealed because a lower court judge in Wyoming left...
Southern Baptists narrowly reject formal ban on churches with any women pastors
INDIANAPOLIS — Southern Baptists narrowly rejected a proposal Wednesday to enshrine a ban on churches with women pastors in the denomination’s constitution after opponents argued it was unnecessary because the denomination already has a way of ousting such churches. The vote received support from 61% of the delegates, but it...
Jerry West, a 3-time Hall of Fame selection and the NBA logo, dies at 86
Jerry West, who was selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame three times in a storied career as a player and executive and whose silhouette is considered to be the basis of the NBA logo, died Wednesday morning, the Los Angeles Clippers announced. He was 86. West, nicknamed “Mr. Clutch”...
Thefts of charging cables pose yet another obstacle to appeal of electric vehicles
DETROIT — Just before 2 a.m. on a chilly April night in Seattle, a Chevrolet Silverado pickup stopped at an electric vehicle charging station on the edge of a shopping center parking lot. Two men, one with a light strapped to his head, got out. A security camera recorded them...
What’s next for Hunter Biden after his conviction on federal gun charges
WILMINGTON, Del. — Hunter Biden’s legal woes are not over after his conviction on three felony firearms charges in a trial that put a spotlight on his drug-fueled past. Now, President Joe Biden’s son faces sentencing, and another criminal trial on tax charges in the middle of his father’s reelection...
Hezbollah fires scores of rockets at northern Israel as Gaza cease-fire talks hang in the balance
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Hezbollah fired a massive barrage of rockets into northern Israel on Wednesday to avenge the killing of a top commander, further escalating regional tensions as the fate of an internationally-backed plan for a cease-fire in Gaza hung in the balance. The retaliatory attack came as U.S. Secretary...
Michael Rulli’s win in Ohio will grow GOP’s razor-thin majority in the U.S. House
COLUMBUS — Republican state Sen. Michael Rulli won a special election Tuesday in eastern Ohio for a U.S. House seat that has sat vacant for months, expanding the GOP’s narrow majority in the congressional chamber. Rulli, 55, defeated Democrat Michael Kripchak to fill the remainder of Republican Bill Johnson’s unexpired...
North Carolina lawmakers approve mask bill that allows health exemption after pushback
RALEIGH — A new, reworked version of a bill that originally caught flak for removing a pandemic-era health exemption for wearing a mask in public was approved by North Carolina lawmakers on Tuesday. The amended bill still increases punishments for people wearing masks while committing a crime. It was brought...
