‘Deeply concerned’ with China doping allegations, U.S. drug czar sends letter to anti-doping agency
The U.S. drug czar sent a pointed letter to world anti-doping officials, saying leaders in governments across the globe “remain deeply concerned” about the response to allegations of Chinese doping before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Rahul Gupta, who holds a position on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s executive committee, sent...
FBI, Homeland Security warn of possible threats to LGBTQ events, including Pride Month activities
WASHINGTON — Foreign terrorist organizations or their supporters might target LGBTQ-related events and venues as part of June’s Pride Month, federal agencies warned in a recent public announcement. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued the announcement May 10 to raise awareness of “foreign terrorist organizations (FTOS) or...
Military hearing officer deciding whether to recommend court-martial for Pentagon leaker
BEDFORD, Massachusetts — A Massachusetts Air National Guard member who pleaded guilty in March to federal crimes for leaking highly classified military documents appeared Tuesday before a military hearing officer who will recommend whether the guardsman should face a court-martial. Jack Teixeira, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, is facing three charges...
Tennessee governor OKs bill allowing death penalty for child rape convictions
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has approved legislation allowing the death penalty in child rape convictions, a change the Republican-controlled Statehouse championed amid concerns that the U.S. Supreme Court has banned capital punishment in such cases. Lee, a Republican, quietly signed off on the legislation last week without...
German court convicts prominent far-right politician for using a Nazi slogan, imposes a fine
HALLE, Germany — A court on Tuesday convicted one of the best-known figures in the far-right Alternative for Germany party of using a Nazi slogan in a speech and ordered him to pay a fine. The verdict in Björn Höcke’s trial comes months before a regional election in the eastern...
Judge rejects Hunter Biden’s bid to delay his June trial on federal gun charges
WILMINGTON, Del. — Hunter Biden’s federal gun case will go to trial next month, a judge said Tuesday, denying a bid by lawyers for the president’s son to delay the prosecution. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected Hunter Biden’s request to push the trial until September, which the defense said...
Appeals court upholds gag order in Trump hush money trial
NEW YORK — A New York appeals court on Tuesday upheld the gag order in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, finding that the judge “properly determined” that Trump’s public statements “posed a significant threat to the integrity of the testimony of witnesses and potential witnesses in this case as well.”...
Pa. Treasury has $4.5B in unclaimed property — how to find out if some belongs to you
Are you still missing any belongings after searching for years? You might be owed part of the billions of dollars’ worth of unclaimed property held by the Pennsylvania Treasury. According to a news release published Monday, the state treasury holds more than $4.5 billion worth of unclaimed property as of...
IUP prepares for academic overhaul with proposed college name changes
Indiana University of Pennsylvania is poised to undergo an academic restructuring that would include name changes for three of its five colleges, discontinuing low-enrolled programs and identifying areas for future growth. Those moves and others will be reviewed by the State System of Higher Education in Harrisburg in the coming...
Appeals court upholds ruling requiring Georgia county to pay for a transgender deputy’s surgery
ATLANTA — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that a Georgia county illegally discriminated against a sheriff’s deputy by failing to pay for her gender-affirming surgery. In its ruling Monday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was tasked with determining whether a health...
Driver of truck that hit farmworker bus in Florida, killing 8, arrested on DUI charges
OCALA, Fla. — The Florida Highway Patrol has arrested the driver of a pickup truck that crashed into a farmworker bus early Tuesday, killing eight, on charges of driving under the influence-manslaughter. Bryan Maclean Howard faces eight counts of DUI-Manslaughter, the FHP said in a statement. No further details were...
Hot history: Tree rings show that last northern summer was the warmest since year 1
The broiling summer of 2023 was the hottest in the Northern Hemisphere in more than 2,000 years, a new study found. When the temperatures spiked last year, numerous weather agencies said it was the hottest month, summer and year on record. But those records only go back to 1850 at...
Check stubs, fake receipts, blind loyalty: Michael Cohen offers inside knowledge in Trump’s hush money trial
NEW YORK — It wasn’t until after a decade in the fold, after his family pleaded with him, after the FBI raided his office, apartment and hotel room, Michael Cohen testified Tuesday, that he finally decided to turn on Donald Trump. That decision led to a 2018 guilty plea to...
Palestinians mark 76 years of dispossession as a potentially even larger catastrophe unfolds in Gaza
JERUSALEM — Palestinians on Wednesday will mark the 76th year of their mass expulsion from what is now Israel, an event that is at the core of their national struggle. But in many ways, that experience pales in comparison to the calamity now unfolding in Gaza. Palestinians refer to it...
Primaries in Maryland and West Virginia will shape the battle this fall for a Senate majority
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Voters across Maryland and West Virginia will decide key primary elections Tuesday with big implications in the fight for the Senate majority this fall. At the same time, Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump hope to project strength in low-stakes presidential primaries, while further...
Cave-in leaves 2 miners dead, 1 missing and 12 injured at a coal mine in Poland
WARSAW, Poland — Two miners were killed and one remains missing after a cave-in at the Myslowice-Wesola coal mine in southern Poland early Tuesday in which 12 other miners were hurt, mining authorities said Tuesday. The cave-in happened around 3:30 a.m. about 2,800 feet underground in an area where 15...
Blinken in Kyiv says U.S. arms will make a difference in Ukraine as new Russian offensive pushes on
KYIV, Ukraine — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that American military aid on its way to Ukraine will make a “real difference” on the battlefield, as the top diplomat made an unannounced visit to reassure an ally facing a fierce new Russian offensive. In increasingly intense attacks...
U.S. investigating Waymo autonomous vehicles after reports of crashes or possible traffic violations
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s highway safety agency has opened another investigation of automated driving systems, this time into crashes involving Waymo’s self-driving vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration posted documents detailing the probe on its website early Tuesday after getting 22 reports of Waymo vehicles either crashing or...
Biden blocks Chinese-backed crypto mining firm from land ownership near Wyoming missile base
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday issued an order blocking a Chinese-backed cryptocurrency mining firm from owning land near a Wyoming nuclear missile base, calling its proximity to the base a “national security risk.” The order forces the divestment of property operated as a crypto mining facility near the...
Investigators continue search for the hit-and-run boater who killed a 15-year-old girl in Florida
MIAMI — Investigators continue to search for the boater who fatally struck a 15-year-old girl off a South Florida beach and fled without stopping, while friends and family members mourn her loss. A funeral service for Ella Adler was held Monday morning at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach. Adler...
U.S. energy panel approves rule to expand transmission of renewable power
WASHINGTON — Federal energy regulators on Monday approved a long-awaited rule to make it easier to transmit renewable energy such as wind and solar power to the electric grid — a key part of President Joe Biden’s goal to eliminate carbon emissions economy-wide by 2050. The rule, under development for...
Crews conduct controlled demolition on Baltimore bridge span as cleanup continues at collapse siteVideo
BALTIMORE — Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The explosives flashed orange and let off a cloud of black smoke upon detonation, and the span crumpled into the water in seconds. The longest trusses...
Truck driver accused of intentionally killing Utah officer had been holding woman against her will
A truck driver accused of intentionally killing a police officer during a traffic stop on a Utah highway had been holding a woman against her will inside the cab of his truck, new court documents reveal. Michael Aaron Jayne, 42, is accused of driving his rig into Santaquin Police Sgt....
Melinda French Gates resigns as Gates Foundation co-chair, 3 years after her divorce from Bill Gates
NEW YORK — Melinda French Gates will step down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the nonprofit she and her ex-husband Bill Gates founded and built into one of the world’s largest philanthropic organizations over the past 20 years. “This is not a decision I came to...
Russian assault opens new front, diverting Ukraine forces as Western aid trickles in
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian troops were locked in intense battles with Ukrainian soldiers around the embattled town of Vovchansk in northeast Ukraine on Monday, pushing ahead with a ground offensive that opened a new front and put more pressure on overstretched Ukrainian forces. Moscow’s renewed northeast offensive, launched late last...