In death, 3 decades after his trial verdict, O.J. Simpson still reflects America’s racial divides
For many people old enough to remember O.J. Simpson’s murder trial, his 1995 exoneration was a defining moment in their understanding of race, policing and justice. Nearly three decades later, it still reflects the different realities of white and Black Americans. Some people recall watching their Black coworkers and classmates...
Sudan’s war began a year ago. Children are among its most fragile survivors
METCHE CAMP, Chad — The war in Sudan began a year ago. Here in a remote camp for tens of thousands of people who have fled into neighboring Chad, the anniversary is marked by near starvation. Assadig Abubaker Salih is a 42-year-old mother of six. The family survived the hot,...
Project to shore up Pompeii yields stunning black banquet hall, with frescoes of Trojan War figures
ROME — Archaeologists excavating new sites in Pompeii have uncovered a sumptuous banquet hall decorated with intricately frescoed mythological characters inspired by the Trojan War, officials said Thursday. The hall, which features a mosaic floor, was uncovered as part of a project to shore up the areas dividing the excavated...
Kremlin says 2022 draft document could serve as starting point for future Ukraine peace talks
MOSCOW — A draft peace agreement that Russia and Ukraine negotiated in the early days of the war could serve as a starting point for talks to end the fighting, the Kremlin said Friday, reviving a proposal that Ukraine had rejected. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the draft document...
‘Every day, we’re dying.’ In Ukraine, defeat was unthinkable. Has that changed?
KYIV, Ukraine — Could Ukraine lose this war? For more than two years, as this country of 44 million people has fought off an all-out invasion by neighboring Russia, a spirit of stubborn optimism prevailed even amid the most frightening moments. Any notion of defeat was unthinkable, an almost taboo...
Seton Hill ships puppets to Florida middle school drama program left without props one week before showtime
When Seton Hill University professor Lisa Leibering’s theater design students created puppets for a local middle school production of “Finding Nemo Jr.,” they never expected their work would travel more than 1,000 miles away from Greensburg. But, when a middle school drama program director from Broward County, Fla., called about...
Treasury wants to boost foreign investment review powers, as Congress dissects Nippon, TikTok deals
WASHINGTON — U.S. Treasury wants to enhance the power of a little-known, secretive government committee to review deals made between U.S. firms and foreign investors. This comes as high-profile deals involving foreign investment in the U.S. — like Chinese firm ByteDance’s ownership of popular social media app TikTok and Japanese...
Voting rights groups appeal ruling that directs Pa. to reject undated mail ballots
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. After a court defeat, Pennsylvania voting rights organizations are trying to convince a larger group of federal appellate judges that the state shouldn’t be allowed to reject mail ballots...
Filings show top conservative donor Jeffrey Yass gave $800K to PAC attacking Summer Lee
A political group behind recent ads attacking U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, received $800,000 from Jeffrey Yass, a billionaire and conservative donor in the Philadelphia area, federal filings this week show. The group, called Moderate PAC, has spent more than $586,000 in the Pittsburgh area, running a series of ads...
Ex-NBA player scores victory with Kentucky bill to expand coverage for stuttering treatment
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Former basketball star Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored a victory Thursday as a leading advocate for a new Kentucky law that will expand insurance coverage for people seeking treatment for stuttering. Kidd-Gilchrist, who played on a national championship team at the University of Kentucky and spent several years playing...
Instagram begins blurring nudity in messages to protect teens and fight sexual extortion
LONDON — Instagram says it’s deploying new tools to protect young people and combat sexual extortion, including a feature that will automatically blur nudity in direct messages. The social media platform said in a blog post Thursday that it’s testing out the features as part of its campaign to fight...
Trump tests limits of gag order with post insulting 2 likely witnesses in criminal trial
NEW YORK — Days after a New York judge expanded a gag order on Donald Trump to curtail “inflammatory” speech, the former president tested its limits by disparaging two key witnesses in his upcoming criminal hush money trial as liars. In a post on his Truth Social platform Wednesday, Trump...
New website includes resources to help in aftermath of Maryland bridge collapse
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland has a new website with information about federal, state and local resources and programs related to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, Gov. Wes Moore said Thursday. The website includes details for affected workers and businesses. It also includes major traffic updates for commuters and guidance...
Reaction to the death of O.J. Simpson
Reaction to the death of O.J. Simpson after prostate cancer. He was 76. Simpson’s family announced the news on his X account. Relatives said he died Wednesday. ——— “I feel that the system failed Nicole Brown Simpson and failed battered women everywhere. I don’t mourn for O.J. Simpson. I do...
Harvard again requiring standardized test scores for those seeking admission
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard University announced Thursday that it is reinstituting standardized tests as a requirement for admission beginning with the class of 2029, joining other colleges that are again mandating tests for those hoping to enter the schools. In June 2020, Harvard began a temporary test-optional policy under which...
‘HELP’ spelled out in palm leaves leads to island rescue in Pacific
It sounds like a tale straight out of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” or a plotline in the “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Three men were stranded on a remote Pacific islet for more than a week after the outboard motor on their 20-foot open skiff stopped working, as reported by...
A look back at O.J. Simpson’s slow-speed chase
EDITOR’S NOTE: The first week of the O.J. Simpson case in mid-June 1994 moved quickly, with reporters racing to reach the news. The only thing that was slow was The Chase. The football great had been accused of killing his ex-wife and her friend, and there he was on live...
10 things to remember about O.J. Simpson
LOS ANGELES — Ten things to remember about O.J. Simpson, the NFL running back-turned actor who was acquitted of murdering his wife and her friend. The family announced on Simpson’s official X account that Simpson died Wednesday after battling prostate cancer. Simpson’s attorney confirmed to TMZ he died in Las...
O.J. Simpson, legendary football player and actor brought down by his murder trial, dies at 76
LAS VEGAS — O.J. Simpson, the football star and Hollywood actor acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend in a trial that mesmerized the public and exposed divisions on race and policing in America, has died. He was 76. The family announced on Simpson’s official X...
New rule will require more gun dealers to run background checks on buyers
WASHINGTON — Thousands more firearms dealers across the United States will have to run background checks on buyers when selling at gun shows or other places outside brick-and-mortar stores, according to a Biden administration rule that will soon go into effect. The rule aims to close a loophole that has...
As his trans daughter struggles, a father pushes past his prejudice. ‘It was like a wake-up’
SMITHVILLE, Mo. — Before his transgender daughter was suspended after using the girls’ bathroom at her Missouri high school. Before the bullying and the suicide attempts. Before she dropped out. Before all that, Dusty Farr was — in his own words — “a full-on bigot.” By which he meant that...
An Israeli airstrike in Gaza kills 3 sons and 4 grandchildren of Hamas’ top leader
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli aircraft killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate cease-fire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh ‘s...
A mission of mercy, then a fatal strike: How an aid convoy in Gaza became Israel’s target
DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — It was hours after sundown when the eight aid trucks drove from the makeshift jetty, cobbled together from tons of wreckage left across Gaza by months of war. The trucks were escorted by three vehicles carrying aid workers from the World Central Kitchen, the...
Ukraine’s parliament passes controversial law to boost much-needed conscripts as war drags on
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s parliament passed a controversial law Thursday that will govern how the country recruits new soldiers to replenish depleted forces who are increasingly struggling to fend off Russian troops. Two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion captured nearly a quarter of the country, the stakes could not be...
Vietnam sentences real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death in its largest-ever fraud case
HANOI, Vietnam — Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced Thursday to death by a court in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam in the country’s largest financial fraud case ever, state media Vietnam Net said. The 67-year-old chair of the real estate company Van Thinh Phat was...
