Freed Israeli, Palestinian prisoners returned
AL BIREH, West Bank — A bus carrying nearly three dozen Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived in the West Bank early Sunday, following Hamas’ release of 13 Israelis and four foreigners in the second round of swaps under a cease-fire deal. Hundreds of people greeted the International Committee of...
Donald Trump will look to upstage Clemson grad Nikki Haley at her alma mater Clemson’s football rivalry game
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Donald Trump is using a college football rivalry weekend to bask among his supporters in a state and region that are key to his presidential fortunes, while potentially upstaging his Republican opponent Nikki Haley on her home turf. The former president and current front-runner for the 2024...
Penn Township approves preliminary land development plan for independent living facility
Penn Township commissioners voted last week to approve the preliminary land development plan for an independent living facility proposed for Harrison City-Export Road. The 119-unit facility was proposed by contractor Concordia of Monroeville for 21 acres of land behind the Westmoreland Country Club. Commissioners tabled the vote Oct. 18, primarily...
Thousands rally in Italy over violence against women after woman’s killing that outraged the country
ROME — Tens of thousands took to the streets of Italy’s main cities Saturday to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, just as an Italian man suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend was extradited from Germany. The slaying of 22-year-old university student Giulia Cecchettin, allegedly at the...
Ex-officer Derek Chauvin, convicted in George Floyd’s killing, stabbed in prison, AP source says
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, was stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured Friday at a federal prison in Arizona, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press. The attack happened at the Federal Correctional Institution, Tucson, a medium-security prison that...
Florida man accused of threatening Thanksgiving mass shooting on NYC subway
A Florida man’s social media posts threatening a mass shooting on the New York City subway landed him in jail, authorities said Friday. Pinellas Park resident Robert Trout III, 19, posted a video of himself brandishing guns, and wrote: “If you’re from New York City, do not take the train...
Sandy Hook families offer Alex Jones two ways out of bankruptcy
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims’ families proposed conspiracy theorist Alex Jones wind up his bankruptcy by paying creditors at least $85 million over 10 years or undergo an orderly liquidation. The Sandy Hook families, along with an official committee of Jones’ creditors, argued in court papers Wednesday the 11-month-long...
Sea turtle nests break records on U.S. beaches, but global warming threatens their survival
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. — Just as they have for millions of years, sea turtles by the thousands made their labored crawl from the ocean to U.S. beaches to lay their eggs over the past several months. This year, record nesting was found in Florida and elsewhere despite growing concern...
Republican ex-federal prosecutor in Philadelphia to run for Pennsylvania attorney general
HARRISBURG — Former federal prosecutor Katayoun “Kat” Copeland will run for attorney general of Pennsylvania in 2024, she said this week. Copeland, a Republican, recently left her job in the U.S. attorney’s office in Philadelphia ahead of announcing her candidacy for attorney general, the state’s top law enforcement official. The...
Northampton County official resigns as software issues persist during election audit
Following an election process steeped in controversy and software bugs, Northampton County’s administrative director resigned Friday, a news release from County Executive Lamont G. McClure says. The release from the county states Charles M. Dertinger, the county’s director of administrative director for the past six years, says, while the 2020,...
FDA expands cantaloupe recall after salmonella infections double in a week
U.S. health officials recalled three more brands of whole and pre-cut cantaloupes Friday as the number of people sickened by salmonella more than doubled this week. Nearly 100 people in 32 states have gotten sick from the contaminated fruits. Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio have the highest number of...
California examines benefits, risks of using artificial intelligence in state government
LOS ANGELES — Artificial intelligence that can generate text, images and other content could help improve state programs but also poses risks, according to a report released by the California governor’s office this week. Generative AI could help quickly translate government materials into multiple languages, analyze tax claims to detect...
Andrew Cuomo accused of sexual harassment by former aide in new legal filing
ALBANY, N.Y. — Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is being sued by a former aide who says Cuomo sexually harassed her while he was still in office. Cuomo’s former executive assistant Brittany Commisso filed the case against the ex-governor in state Supreme Court in Albany on Wednesday. The filing,...
Ohio voters just passed abortion protections. When and how they take effect is before the courts
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s new constitutional protections for abortion access and other reproductive rights take effect Dec. 7, a month after voters resoundingly passed them. How and when their impacts are felt remains unclear. Existing abortion-related lawsuits are moving again through the courts now that voters have decided the issue,...
Tensions on college campuses over Israel-Hamas War prompt federal investigations
University of Pittsburgh senior Eitan Weinkle lost an acquaintance in the Hamas attack at a festival in Israel on Oct. 7 and knows someone else who was taken hostage. He shoulders that grief and a fear shared by his Jewish peers at Pitt as antisemitic threats on college campuses rise....
Victims in Niagara Falls border bridge crash identified as Western N.Y. couple
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The two people killed when their car crashed into a border checkpoint in Niagara Falls and exploded in a fiery wreck were identified Friday as a western New York husband and wife whose family owns a lumber business and several hardware stores in the Buffalo area....
A rapidly melting Antarctica gets the attention of UN chief ahead of COP28 climate talks
KING GEORGE ISLAND, Antarctica — On the cusp of the COP28 climate talks, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited frozen but rapidly melting Antarctica and said Thursday that intense action must be taken at the conference where countries will address their commitments to lowering emissions of planet-warming gases. “We are witnessing...
Israel releases 39 Palestinians from prison as part of cease-fire swap
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas on Friday released 24 hostages who had been held captive in Gaza for weeks, and Israel freed 39 Palestinians from prison in the first stage of a swap under a four-day cease-fire deal. The freed hostages included 13 Israelis, 10 people from Thailand and...
UN confirms sexual spread of mpox in Congo for the 1st time as country sees a record outbreak
LONDON — The World Health Organization said it has confirmed sexual transmission of mpox in Congo for the first time as the country experiences its biggest-ever outbreak, a worrying development that African scientists warn could make it more difficult to stop the disease. In a statement issued late Thursday, the...
Balloons, bands and Santa: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade ushers in holiday season in New York
NEW YORK — Beloved characters like Snoopy and SpongeBob SquarePants soared through the skies above New York City on Thursday and bands marched along the streets below as the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade ushered in the holiday season. The parade started on Manhattan’s Upper West Side making its way...
FBI ends investigation of car wreck at Niagara Falls bridge, no indication of terrorism
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The FBI has ended its investigation of a fiery car wreck that killed two people at a border checkpoint in Niagara Falls after finding no evidence that it was a terror attack, easing a period of high tensions as Americans headed into the Thanksgiving holiday. The...
New Girl Scout troop for migrants in New York shelter aims to empower youths as they navigate challenges
NEW YORK — Earlier this year, about 100 new Girl Scouts took their first trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, touring the sights, learning their history and hearing how New York City has long been a beacon to migrants from across the globe. The spring visit had...
Hezbollah fires rockets at north Israel after an airstrike kills 5 of the group’s senior fighters
BEIRUT — The militant Hezbollah group fired more than 50 rockets at military posts in northern Israel on Thursday, a day after an Israeli airstrike on a home in southern Lebanon killed five of the group’s senior fighters. The waves of rockets sent over the border represented one of the...
Qatar says Gaza cease-fire will begin at 7 a.m. Friday, with aid to follow ‘as soon as possible’
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Qatar said Thursday that a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war will begin at 7 a.m. Friday, with aid “going in as soon as possible.” Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, made the announcement in a news conference in Doha, Qatar. The cease-fire had...
OxyContin maker’s settlement plan divides victims of opioid crisis. Now it’s up to the Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — The agreement by the maker of OxyContin to settle thousands of lawsuits over the harm done by opioids could help combat the overdose epidemic that the painkiller triggered. But that does not mean all the victims are satisfied. In exchange for giving up ownership of drug manufacturer Purdue...
