Terry Anderson, AP reporter abducted in Lebanon and held captive for years, dies at 76
LOS ANGELES — Terry Anderson, the globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, has died at 76. Anderson, who chronicled his abduction and torturous imprisonment by Islamic militants...
Republicans’ defense of the ‘Biden 16’ House districts starts with Pennsylvania’s primary election
NEW HOPE — Mark Houck makes a potent appeal to conservative Republicans in this corner of eastern Pennsylvania when he describes his arrest and subsequent acquittal on federal charges that he pushed a Planned Parenthood volunteer outside a Philadelphia abortion clinic. The account has become a staple of Houck’s first-time...
Young brother, sister dead, several hurt when vehicle crashes into Michigan birthday partyVideo
BERLIN TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A young brother and sister died and several people were injured, some of them seriously, when a vehicle driven by a suspected drunken driver crashed into a young child’s birthday party Saturday at a boat club, a Michigan sheriff said. An 8-year-old girl and her 5-year-old...
Earth Day: How a grocery shopper takes steps to avoid ‘pointless plastic’
ALBANY, N.Y. — Nature wraps bananas and oranges in peels. But in some modern supermarkets, they’re bagged or wrapped in plastic too. For Judith Enck, that’s the epitome of pointless plastic. The baby food aisle is similarly distressing for her, with its rows and rows of blended fruits, vegetables and...
As Columbia protests continue, university rabbi warns Jewish students to stay home
As pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University continue their protest against the war in Gaza, the school’s Orthodox Jewish rabbi sent a message to hundreds of Jewish students urging them to stay home to ensure their own safety. “The events of the last few days, especially last night, have made it...
Key players: Who’s who at Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial shifts to opening statements Monday, followed by the start of witness testimony. A jury of seven men and five women, plus six alternates, was picked last week. The trial centers on allegations the former president falsified his company’s internal records to...
Woman, 18, dies after being shot at Delaware State University; campus closed
DOVER, Del. — An 18-year-old woman died Sunday after she was shot on the campus of Delaware State University, authorities said. Dover police said officers responded at about 1:40 a.m. to a report of shots on the campus. Police said an 18-year-old Wilmington woman who was not a registered student...
Israeli strikes on southern Gaza city of Rafah kill 22, mostly children, as U.S. advances aid packageVideo
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 22 people, including 18 children, health officials said Sunday, as the United States was on track to approve billions of dollars of additional military aid to Israel, its close ally. Israel has carried out near-daily...
Biden sees a $35 price cap for insulin as a pivotal campaign issue. It’s not that clear-cut
WASHINGTON — Rarely a day goes without President Joe Biden mentioning insulin prices. He promotes a $35 price cap for the medication for Americans on Medicare — in White House speeches, campaign stops and even at non-health care events around the country. His reelection team has flooded swing-state airwaves with...
When it comes to government planes and political trips, who pays for a president’s campaign travel?
WASHINGTON — It’s no simple matter to move the commander in chief from point A to B, and it’s even more complicated when the president is seeking a second term. President Joe Biden recently spent three days in Pennsylvania, a pivotal state in the 2024 campaign, and he plans to...
Crush of lawsuits over voting in multiple states creates a shadow war for the 2024 election
CHICAGO — As President Joe Biden and Donald Trump step up their campaigning in swing states, a quieter battle is taking place in the shadows of their White House rematch. The Republican National Committee, newly reconstituted under Trump, has filed election-related lawsuits in nearly half the states. Recent lawsuits over...
Melania Trump set to make return to her husband’s campaign with rare political appearance
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Former first lady Melania Trump is making a return to her husband’s presidential campaign with a rare political appearance after months of being absent from Donald Trump’s latest run for the White House. She planned to attend a fundraiser Saturday for the Log Cabin Republicans,...
War, hostages, antisemitism: A somber backdrop to this year’s Passover observances
Passover is a major Jewish holiday, celebrated over seven or eight days each year, commemorating the exodus of ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as recounted in the Bible. To many Jews, it symbolizes freedom and the birth of a Jewish nation. This year, for many Jews, the holiday’s mood...
Morning sickness? Prenatal check-ups? What to know about new rights for pregnant workers
Pregnant employees have the right to a wide range of accommodations under new federal regulations for enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act that, supporters say, could change workplace culture for millions of people. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency in charge of enforcing the law, adopted an expansive view...
Mojave desert tortoise officially joins California’s endangered list
The California Fish and Game Commission has formally recognized the Mojave desert tortoise as endangered. The designation, granted Thursday, is the latest in a long series of steps to try to protect the dwindling population of the desert creature, which biologists say is heading toward extinction. The tortoise was designated...
House passes billions in aid for Ukraine and Israel after months of struggle. Next is the Senate
WASHINGTON — The House swiftly approved $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies in a rare Saturday session as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of political turmoil over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s invasion. With overwhelming support, the $61 billion in aid...
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
DENVER — A girl who wrote to God in her diaries, a boy with learning disabilities who was just learning to like who he was and a teen who would spend every free minute fishing were among the 13 victims of the Columbine High School shooting remembered during a vigil...
Moscow says 50 Ukrainian drones shot down as attacks spark fires at Russian power stations
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine launched a barrage of drones across Russia overnight, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said Saturday, in attacks that appeared to target the country’s energy infrastructure. Fifty drones were shot down by air defences over eight Russian regions, including 26 over the country’s western Belgorod region close...
Senate passes a reauthorization of key U.S. surveillance program just after a midnight deadline
WASHINGTON — Barely missing its midnight deadline, the Senate voted early Saturday to reauthorize a key U.S. surveillance law after divisions over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans’ data nearly forced the statute to lapse. The legislation approved 60-34 with bipartisan support...
Donald Trump will use his weekend reprieve from the courtroom to campaign in North Carolina
WILMINGTON, N.C. — On a weekend reprieve from the courtroom, former President Donald Trump will campaign Saturday in North Carolina as he juggles legal troubles and his rematch against President Joe Biden. Trump’s evening stop in the coastal city of Wilmington marks his first rally since his criminal hush money...
U.S. military will begin plans to withdraw troops from Niger
DAKAR, Senegal — The United States will begin plans to withdraw troops from Niger, U.S. officials said Saturday, in what experts say is a blow to Washington and its allies in the region in terms of staging security operations in the Sahel. The planned departure comes as U.S. officials said...
Israeli airstrike in Gaza’s south kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory. Israel’s war against the Islamic militant group Hamas has...
Man who set himself on fire outside the courthouse where Trump is on trial dies of his injuries
NEW YORK — The man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said. The New York City Police Department told the Associated Press early Saturday that the man was declared dead by...
Record numbers in the U.S. are homeless. Can cities fine them for sleeping in parks and on sidewalks?
WASHINGTON — The most significant case in decades on homelessness has reached the Supreme Court as record numbers of people in America are without a permanent place to live. The justices on Monday will consider a challenge to rulings from a California-based appeals court that found punishing people for sleeping...
Former Pittsburgh radio host Larry O’Brien, known via ‘O’Brien & Garry’ show, dies at 81
Pittsburgh radio host Larry O’Brien, who comprised half of the popular morning duo “O’Brien & Garry” for 20 years, has died. “He was a funny, bright man, and he kept up on Pittsburgh sports until the very end,” his wife, Winkie O’Brien, said from their home in Hilton Head, S.C....
