Hundreds of convictions, but a major mystery is still unsolved 3 years after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — Members of far-right extremist groups. Former police officers. An Olympic gold medalist swimmer. And active duty U.S. Marines. They are among the hundreds of people who have been convicted in the massive prosecution of the Jan 6, 2021, riot in the three years since the stunned nation watched...
Hezbollah leader says his group must retaliate for suspected Israeli strike in Beirut
BEIRUT — The leader of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah said Friday that his group must retaliate after a presumed Israeli strike hit a Beirut neighborhood this week, killing a senior Hamas official, or else all of Lebanon would be vulnerable to Israeli attack. Hassan Nasrallah appeared to be making the...
Actor Christian Oliver and his 2 daughters died in a plane crash in the Caribbean, police sayVideo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — U.S. actor Christian Oliver and his two daughters died in a plane crash near a tiny private island in the eastern Caribbean, according to police in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The crash occurred Thursday just west of Petit Nevis island near Bequia as the...
Pittsburgh Technical College leaders mull possible sale, merger as enrollment falls
Leaders of a nearly 80-year-old technical college in Oakdale are weighing options that include selling or merging the institution amid falling enrollment and financial strains. The issues facing Pittsburgh Technical College resemble those confronting higher education generally. But they have been complicated by recent infighting over leadership, accusations of misconduct...
Fight at Philadelphia train station ends with man being fatally struck by train
PHILADELPHIA — A man involved in a fight at a Philadelphia train station was killed when he fell onto the tracks and was struck by a train, authorities said. The fight at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority station occurred around 4:30 p.m. Thursday when Chaz Wearing, 40, and another man...
NYC subway crews wrestle derailed train back on tracks, as crash disrupts service for 2nd day
NEW YORK — In the cramped confines of a New York City subway tunnel, work crews labored to lift hulking rail cars back onto the tracks after two passenger trains collided and derailed, causing service disruptions that stretched into a second day Friday. The low-speed crash left the trains blocking...
As more Pa. residents rack up medical debt, hope hinges on a state solution
An innovative plan to help Pennsylvanians with crippling medical debt is delayed but not dead, supporters say. The plan calls for using state funds to buy unpaid medical bills from hospitals and health care providers, which are commonly sold at a steep discount. A $10 to $15 million investment by...
Florida resort cancels Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Jan. 6 event
A fundraiser and book signing at a sprawling Central Florida resort featuring U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been canceled after the resort’s owners discovered the event was also a commemoration of the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. “Please be advised that Westgate was...
U.S. employers add a strong 216,000 jobs in a sign of continued economic strength
WASHINGTON — The nation’s employers added a robust 216,000 jobs last month, the latest sign that the American labor market remains resilient even in the face of sharply higher interest rates. Friday’s government report showed that December’s job gain exceeded the 173,000 that were added in November. The unemployment rate...
House Republicans ready contempt of Congress charges against Hunter Biden over a subpoena he defied
WASHINGTON — House Republicans plan to move forward next week with holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress after the president’s son defied a congressional subpoena to appear for a private deposition last month. The Republican chairmen of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees announced Friday that they will hold...
Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius freed after serving nearly 9 years in prison for killing girlfriend
PRETORIA, South Africa — Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee who became a global star competing at his sport’s highest level while running on carbon-fiber blades, was released from prison on Friday after serving nearly nine years for killing his girlfriend, the model Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius, 37, quietly left the...
100 New Jersey firefighters battle blaze at former Singer sewing machine factory
ELIZABETH, N.J. — Over 100 firefighters battled a blaze Friday at a New Jersey industrial park that was home to the Singer Sewing Machine factory for more than a century. A passerby reported the fire around 5:30 a.m., Mayor J. Christian Bollwage said. No one was in the building and...
Los Angeles County has thousands of ‘unclaimed dead.’ These investigators retrace their lives
LOS ANGELES — Arusyak Martirosyan struggles to open the door of a stranger’s one-bedroom apartment overflowing with the belongings from a life lived but not claimed in death. Wedged against the door is a giant box of Gain laundry detergent and plastic tubs piled high. Blouses and T-shirts, suspended by...
Ukraine unleashes more drones and missiles at Russian areas as part of its new year strategy
Russian air defenses downed dozens of Ukrainian drones in occupied Crimea and southern Russia on Friday, officials said, as Kyiv pressed its strategy of targeting the Moscow-annexed peninsula and taking the 22-month war well beyond Ukraine’s borders. Air raid sirens wailed in Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, and traffic...
Iran mourns those slain in Islamic State-claimed suicide blasts as death toll rises to 89
KERMAN, Iran — Iranian officials tried Friday to link Israel and the U.S. to an Islamic State group-claimed suicide bombing while speaking to a mass funeral for some of the 89 people killed in the attack, seeking to intertwine the assault with wider Middle East tensions from the Israel-Hamas war....
With more records, world sees how Jeffrey Epstein leveraged powerful to abuse vulnerable girls
NEW YORK — A new batch of unsealed documents pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of teenage girls was released Thursday, adding several hundred pages to a trove of information detailing how the financier leveraged connections to the rich, powerful and famous to recruit his victims and cover up his...
House Democrats say Trump hotels got foreign money during presidency
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump-owned hotels received at least $7.8 million in payments from foreign governments and their representatives during his presidency, according to a report from House Democrats. The 155-page report shows this money came from China, Saudi Arabia and more than 20 other countries — and that the amount...
New York City subway train derails in collision with another train, injuring more than 20 people
NEW YORK — A New York City subway train derailed Thursday after colliding with another train at low speed, leaving more than 20 people with minor injuries and causing major service disruptions across Manhattan during the afternoon rush hour, authorities said. At about 3 p.m. on the Upper West Side,...
Poor schools prepared to return to court if Pennsylvania budget falls short on funding plan
HARRISBURG — The poor schools that won a landmark school funding court case in Pennsylvania last year are prepared to go back to court if the Legislature and governor don’t adequately address shortfalls as key junctures approach, the schools’ lawyers said Thursday. Public schools in Pennsylvania are currently underfunded by...
Florida man charged with threatening to kill U.S. Rep Eric Swalwell and his children
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A South Florida man threatened to kill U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell and his children in a series of voicemails left at the California Democrat’s Washington office last month, federal prosecutors said. Michael Shapiro, 72, of Greenacres, Florida, was arrested Wednesday morning on a charge of...
Oscar Pistorius is set to be released on parole. He will be strictly monitored until December 2029
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Oscar Pistorius is due to be released from prison Friday to live under strict conditions at a family home having served nearly nine years of a murder sentence for the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The double-amputee Olympic runner from South Africa is set...
Russia and Ukraine exchange long-range attacks as their front-line forces remain bogged down
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that its air defenses shot down 10 Ukrainian air-launched missiles over Crimea, as both sides in the war pounded each other with long-range aerial strikes while fighting along the front line remained largely deadlocked. The White House, meanwhile, said U.S. intelligence officials have determined that...
Pittsburgh’s Astrobotic Technology is attempting the first U.S. moon landing since the Apollo missions a half-century ago
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — China and India scored moon landings, while Russia, Japan and Israel ended up in the lunar trash heap. Now two private companies are hustling to get the U.S. back in the game, more than five decades after the Apollo program ended. It’s part of a NASA-supported...
Jeffrey Epstein documents: Here’s what we know so far
NEW YORK — The release of dozens of previously sealed court documents from a lawsuit involving Jeffrey Epstein might disappoint online sleuths who anticipated explosive new information. The 40 documents released late Wednesday largely mention figures whose names were already known, including high-profile friends of Epstein’s and victims who have...
Feeling caucus confusion? Your guide to how Iowa works
WASHINGTON — The race for the White House officially begins in less than two weeks, and despite some prolonged jockeying over the election calendar, the long primary season will once again begin in Iowa with a caucus process that has served as the lead-off voting event since the 1970s. While...