Scalise is the GOP’s pick to be the House speaker but he faces an uncertain path. What happens next?
WASHINGTON — Now that House Republicans have chosen Majority Leader Steve Scalise as their nominee for speaker, the race is on to secure the 217 votes he will need on the House floor to win the gavel and officially take the place of the ousted Kevin McCarthy. The GOP conference...
Ex-NFL player Sergio Brown arrested in Southern California in connection to mother’s slaying
Former NFL player Sergio Brown was arrested in Southern California in connection with the death of his mother, authorities said, as he tried to reenter the United States from Mexico just weeks after the 73-year-old woman was found slain behind her suburban Chicago home. Brown, 35, was detained Tuesday afternoon...
Huge rocket motors arrive at Los Angeles museum for space shuttle Endeavour displayVideo
LOS ANGELES — Two giant rocket motors required to display the retired NASA space shuttle Endeavour as if it’s about to blast off arrived Wednesday at a Los Angeles museum, completing their long journey from the Mojave Desert. The 116-foot-long (35.3-meter) motors, which look like giant white cylinders, were trucked...
Ukraine President Zelenskyy at NATO defense ministers meeting seeking more support to fight Russia
BRUSSELS — For the first time, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined a meeting of more than 50 defense leaders from around the world Wednesday to make a personal pitch for military aid, in the face of lagging political support in the U.S. and new pressure on allies to send weapons...
Hunter Biden judge agrees to drop old gun count after indictment replaces scuttled plea deal
WASHINGTON — A gun count that had been part of a collapsed plea deal in the Hunter Biden case was dismissed Wednesday as a judge signed off on a prosecution request. The order from U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika formally removes a gun possession charge that has now been replaced...
Abortion rights and marijuana questions expected to drive Ohioans to polls as early voting begins
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Heavier-than-normal turnout is expected Wednesday as early voting begins in Ohio’s closely watched off-year election to decide the future of abortion access and marijuana legalization in the state. Of greatest interest nationally is Issue 1, a proposed constitutional amendment giving every person “the right to make and...
Republicans nominate Steve Scalise to be House speaker and will try to unite before a floor vote
WASHINGTON — Republicans nominated Rep. Steve Scalise on Wednesday to be the next House speaker but now must try to unite their deeply divided majority to elect the conservative in a floor vote after ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the job. In private balloting at the Capitol, House Republicans narrowly...
Dozens of flights canceled after fire rips through parking garage at London’s Luton Airport
LONDON — Thousands of travelers faced disruption as all flights were suspended Wednesday at London’s Luton airport after a fire tore through a newly built parking garage, destroying vehicles and partially collapsing the structure. Four firefighters and an airport employee were treated for the effects of smoke inhalation after the...
Apartment fire in northwestern Spain kills 4 people, including 3 children
VIGO, Spain — Three children and an adult died Wednesday and nine people were injured in a fire in an apartment building believed to be occupied by squatters in Spain’s northwestern city of Vigo, officials said. Spain’s state news agency EFE said the dead included a woman and three of...
ACT test scores for U.S. students drop to new 30-year low
High school students’ scores on the ACT college admissions test have dropped to their lowest in more than three decades, showing a lack of student preparedness for college-level coursework, according to the nonprofit organization that administers the test. Scores have been falling for six consecutive years, but the trend accelerated...
As strikes devastate Gaza, Israel forms unity government to oversee war sparked by Hamas attackVideo
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined with a top political rival Wednesday to create a wartime Cabinet to oversee the fight to avenge the gruesome weekend attack by Hamas militants. In the sealed-off Gaza Strip, Palestinian suffering mounted as Israeli bombardment demolished neighborhoods and the only power plant...
Internal conflicts and power struggles have become hallmarks of the modern GOP
COLUMBUS, Ohio — After Ohio Republicans bolstered their statehouse majority last year due to their dominating showing in the midterm elections, they split into rival camps over who should lead the lower chamber. The division between younger, more impatient conservatives and more traditional ones was only settled when Democrats crossed...
Penn State spars with conservative activist over whether campus event was booked correctly
Penn State says a conservative activist did not appear for a speech on campus because her event was not booked properly, although the speaker’s representatives suggested the university was using this as cover for preventing the event out of political concerns. Riley Gaines made waves among conservative press outlets after...
Scrutiny of Arkansas governor’s $19,000 lectern deepens after new records are released
LITTLE ROCK — New public records have widened questions over when Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office planned to use Republican Party funds to reimburse the state for a $19,000 lectern, which was bought in June using a government credit card. The Arkansas GOP paid for the lectern in September,...
Rep. George Santos faces new charges he stole donor IDs, made unauthorized charges to their credit cards
NEW YORK — A new indictment filed Tuesday charged U.S. Rep. George Santos with stealing the identities of donors to his campaign and then using their credit cards to ring up tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges. Prosecutors said some of that stolen money ended up in his...
Lidia makes landfall as Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph wind near Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta resort
MEXICO CITY — Hurricane Lidia made landfall as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm Tuesday evening with winds of 140 mph near Mexico’s Pacific coast resort of Puerto Vallarta. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Lidia’s eye appeared to have reached land near Las Penitas in the western state of...
After 1 week without a House speaker, Republicans appear no closer to choosing a new leader
WASHINGTON — The House Republican majority is stuck, one week after the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, with lawmakers unable to coalesce around a new leader in a stalemate that threatens to keep Congress partly shuttered indefinitely. On Tuesday evening, two leading contenders for the gavel, Majority Leader Steve Scalise...
Palestinians scramble for safety as Israel pounds sealed-off Gaza Strip to punish HamasVideo
JERUSALEM — Israeli warplanes hammered the Gaza Strip neighborhood by neighborhood on Tuesday, reducing buildings to rubble and sending people scrambling to find safety in the tiny, sealed-off territory now suffering severe retaliation for the deadly weekend attack by Hamas militants. Humanitarian groups pleaded for the creation of corridors to...
Canadian auto workers, GM reach tentative contract agreement, ending strike that began at midnight
TORONTO — General Motors and the union representing Canadian auto workers reached a tentative contract agreement Tuesday, ending a strike that began just after midnight. About 4,300 striking workers at two GM factories and a parts warehouse will return to work Tuesday afternoon and will vote on the three-year deal...
Atlanta police chief fires officer after traffic stop led to Black deacon’s death
ATLANTA — Atlanta’s police chief on Tuesday fired an officer who shocked a 62-year-old Black church deacon with a stun gun during a dispute over a traffic ticket, leading to the man’s death. Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said Officer Kiran Kimbrough didn’t follow department procedures Aug. 10 when he didn’t...
Pennsylvania universities are still waiting for state subsidies. It won’t make them more affordable
HARRISBURG — Four of Pennsylvania’s universities are plugging budget gaps while they await hundreds of millions of dollars in aid that has been snarled in a partisan dispute among lawmakers in a state that has one of the nation’s most abysmal records for funding higher education. Education advocates argue that...
X promises ‘highest level’ response on posts about Israel-Hamas war, yet misinformation still flourishes
The social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, says it is trying to take action on a flood of posts sharing graphic media, violent speech and hateful conduct about the war between Israel and Hamas. X says it’s treating the crisis with its highest level of response. But outside...
Hamas got around Israel’s surveillance prowess by going dark
Facing one of the most sophisticated surveillance states on the planet, Hamas simply went dark. The militant group’s attack on Saturday caught Israel’s national security apparatus completely off guard — a shocking fact given the scope of the incursion, which included attacks by sea, air and land, and pushed deep...
Former baseball MVP Steve Garvey joins California U.S. Senate race
LOS ANGELES — Former baseball MVP Steve Garvey joined the race Tuesday to succeed the late California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, giving Republicans a splash of star quality on the ballot in a heavily Democratic state where the GOP hasn’t won a Senate race in 35 years. Garvey, 74, launched his...
Biden’s 2nd try at student loan cancellation moves forward with debate over the plan’s details
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s second attempt at student loan cancellation began moving forward Tuesday with a round of hearings to negotiate the details of a new plan. In a process known as negotiated rulemaking, 14 people chosen by the Biden administration are meeting for the first of three hearings...
