Duquesne student’s journey from a cracked violin to master’s degree, fellowship
At age 9, Jesse Thompson heard a violin for the first time and was mesmerized by it during a student assembly as a public school student in Williamsport, Pa. There was one problem. There were not enough violins in school for him to study it in class. “I was bawling...
Heavy fighting in Gaza’s Rafah keeps aid crossings closed, sends 100,000 civilians fleeing
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Rafah has left crucial nearby aid crossings inaccessible and caused over 100,000 people to flee north, a United Nations official said Friday. Israel’s plans for a full-scale invasion of...
Ukraine says Russia trying to break through its defenses in northeastern Kharkiv region
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine rushed reinforcements to its northeastern Kharkiv region to hold off a Russian attempt to breach local defenses, authorities said, a tactical switch in the war by Moscow that Ukrainian officials have been expecting for weeks. Intense nighttime shelling targeted Vovchansk, in the Kharkiv region and less...
John Fetterman slams Biden over threat to withhold some arms supplies to Israel, calling it ‘deeply disappointing’
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman called President Joe Biden’s threat to withhold military aid to Israel “deeply disappointing,” the latest criticism he has levied at the president over his handling of the war in Gaza. On Wednesday, Biden announced on CNN that he would halt some shipments of bombs and artillery...
Barron Trump, 18, to make political debut as Florida delegate to the Republican conventionVideo
MIAMI — Former President Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron Trump, has been chosen to serve as a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention, the state party chairman said Wednesday. Republican Party of Florida chairman Evan Power said the 18-year-old high school senior will serve as one of 41 at-large...
Convicted murderer was last person to see Pittsburgh area woman missing from Dauphin County
A convicted murderer was the last person to see a Pittsburgh area woman who vanished from Dauphin County and who is believed to be dead, court records show. Anthony E. Proctor, 59, also was caught on camera using her state benefits card at a warehouse store in mid-February, one week...
Court rejects Hunter Biden’s appeal in gun case, setting stage for trial to begin next month
WASHINGTON — Hunter Biden’s federal gun case should move forward, an appeals court ruled Thursday, setting the stage for the president’s son to stand trial on criminal charges next month in Delaware. Hunter Biden’s lawyers went to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after the judge overseeing the case...
Pennsylvania to ban cellphone use while driving and require police to collect traffic stop data
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania will join the majority of states that ban motorists from handling a cellphone for almost any purpose while driving, as backers of the legislation hope to reduce distracted driving accidents and deaths after nearly two decades of pressing the measure. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office said Thursday that...
Homeless encampment cleared from drug-plagued Philadelphia neighborhood
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia police have cleared out a homeless encampment in a city neighborhood where drug use has been pervasive for years, but homeless advocates and others have raised concerns about how it was done. The effort, which the city called an “encampment resolution,” started around 7 a.m. Wednesday in...
American river otter returns to Pa. watershed after 100-year absence
An American river otter has been spotted in the Ridley Creek watershed after more than a century of absence. Ridley Creek is a tributary of the Delaware River in Chester and Delaware counties near Philadelphia. The otters have returned to the headwaters of the creek in southeastern Chester County. “This...
Netanyahu on U.S. threat to withhold arms: Israel will fight with its ‘fingernails’ if needed
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a U.S. threat to withhold some arms would not prevent Israel from continuing its offensive in Gaza, indicating it might proceed with an invasion of the packed city of Rafah against the wishes of its closest ally. President Joe Biden has...
Homeless woman was living inside Michigan rooftop store sign with computer, coffee maker
Contractors curious about an extension cord on the roof of a Michigan grocery store made a startling discovery: A 34-year-old woman was living inside the business sign, with enough space for a computer, printer and coffee maker, police said. “She was homeless,” Officer Brennon Warren of the Midland Police Department...
Nikki Haley will meet with donors to her shuttered presidential campaign; no Trump endorsement expected
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Nikki Haley is meeting next week with donors who supported her now-abandoned Republican presidential campaign, a reentry into public life that comes as the former South Carolina governor keeps drawing notable support in some state primaries despite Donald Trump’s status as the presumptive nominee. Haley will appear...
10 injured as Boeing 737 catches fire and skids off the runway at a Senegal airport
DAKAR, Senegal — A Boeing 737-300 plane carrying 85 people skidded off a runway at the airport in Dakar, Senegal’s capital, injuring 10 people, according to the transport minister, an airline safety group and footage from a passenger that showed the aircraft on fire. “Our plane just caught fire,” wrote...
Trump’s hush money trial hinges on business transactions, not on Stormy Daniels’ shocking testimony
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s defense attorney on Thursday accused Stormy Daniels of slowly altering the details of an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, trying to persuade jurors that a key prosecution witness in the former president’s hush money trial cannot be believed. “You made all this up, right?”...
Israel says it reopened a key Gaza crossing after a rocket attack but the UN says no aid has entered
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Wednesday that it has reopened its Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza after days of closure, but the U.N. said no humanitarian aid has yet entered and there is no one to receive it on the Palestinian side after workers fled during Israel’s military incursion...
Guns are being stolen from cars at triple the rate they were 10 years ago, a report finds
WASHINGTON — The rate of guns stolen from cars in the U.S. has tripled over the last decade, making them the largest source of stolen guns in the country, an analysis of FBI data by the gun safety group Everytown found. The rate of stolen guns from cars climbed nearly...
Cruise ship sails into New York City port with 44-foot dead whale across its bow
NEW YORK — A cruise ship sailed into a New York City port with a 44-foot dead whale across its bow, marine authorities said. The whale, identified as an endangered sei whale, was caught on the ship’s bow when it arrived at the Port of Brooklyn on Saturday, National Oceanic...
Powerful storms kill 3 as tornadoes tear through central and southeastern U.S.Video
COLUMBIA, Tenn. — Severe storms tore through the central and southeast U.S. late Tuesday and Wednesday, spawning damaging tornadoes, producing massive hail, and killing two people in Tennessee and one person in North Carolina. A storm that rumbled across northeastern Tennessee brought high winds that knocked down powerlines and trees....
Penn State branch campuses will offer faculty, staff buyouts
Penn State University is offering eligible faculty, staff and administrators on its 20 Commonwealth campuses the option to leave their jobs with a lump sum payment and benefits. The move comes as Pennsylvania’s flagship public university works to shrink a multimillion-dollar budget deficit. A number of its Commonwealth campuses, including...
Attorneys: Florida deputies who fatally shot U.S. airman burst into wrong apartment
MIAMI — Deputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot a Black U.S. Air Force airman who was home alone when they saw he was armed with a gun, an attorney for the man’s family said Wednesday. Senior Airman...
Pennsylvania will make animal sedative xylazine a controlled substance
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will sign legislation to criminalize the misuse of a powerful animal tranquilizer called xylazine that is showing up in supplies of illicit drugs and contributing to a growing number of human overdose deaths, his office said Wednesday. Xylazine, which is being mixed into fentanyl...
Biden says U.S. won’t supply weapons for Israel to attack Rafah, in warning to allyVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he would not supply offensive weapons that Israel could use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah — the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza — over concern for the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there. Biden, in...
RFK Jr. says he had a dead worm in his brain. What are these parasites and how common are they?Video
Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made various claims about his health over the years, but the most shocking came Wednesday when it was revealed that Kennedy once insisted that a worm died in his brain over a decade ago. Kennedy’s assertion, which was reported by The New York...
House quickly rejects Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s effort to remove Speaker Johnson from officeVideo
WASHINGTON — Hardline Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stunned colleagues Wednesday calling for a vote to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, but lawmakers quickly rejected it. Greene pressed ahead with her long-shot effort despite pushback from Republicans at the highest levels tired of the political chaos. One of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters...
