Israeli Cabinet approves cease-fire with Hamas that includes release of some 50 hostages
JERUSALEM — Israel’s Cabinet on Wednesday approved a temporary cease-fire with the Hamas militant group that is expected to bring the first halt in fighting in a devastating six-week war and win freedom for dozens of hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip. The deal calls for a four-day cease-fire,...
Latest images from the Webb telescope present a new look at the vast universe
Make a wish — here are a half-million stars to choose from when you’re making it. The latest image from NASA’s James Webb telescope, released on Monday, looks deep into the heart of our Milky Way galaxy, showing a cluster of “baby” stars glowing within a dusty cloud. At the...
Court appears inclined to keep restricting Trump’s trial speech. But gag order could be narrowed
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court appeared inclined Monday to reimpose at least some restrictions on Donald Trump’s speech in his landmark election subversion case. But the judges wrestled with how to craft a gag order that doesn’t infringe on the former president’s free speech rights or prevent him from...
Pa. lawmakers to get early holiday gift: a pay increase will bump base salary to $106k
Base salaries for lawmakers will soon top $106,000 a year, establishing Pennsylvania again as the third highest paid state legislature in the nation. The 3.5% pay raise starting Dec. 1, pushes yearly salaries to $106,422 — or $8.869 a month — up from the $102,844 received last December when lawmakers’...
Shapiro says unfinished business includes vouchers, more school funding and higher minimum wage
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Monday that his list of unfinished business for the state Legislature includes passing a private school voucher program, increasing the minimum wage and approving bills to curb gun violence. Shapiro also said he wants lawmakers to lift limits that prevent adult victims of...
Federal appeals court deals blow to Voting Rights Act, ruling that private plaintiffs can’t sue
WASHINGTON — A divided federal appeals court on Monday ruled that private individuals and groups such as the NAACP do not have the ability to sue under a key section of the federal Voting Rights Act, a decision voting rights advocates say could further erode protections under the landmark 1965...
What’s open and closed on Thanksgiving this year?
The holiday season is here, which means spending time with family on Thanksgiving and also, for millions of people, hunting for the best deals on Black Friday. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November each year, which takes place this week. A lot of national retailers are keeping...
Shippers anticipate being able to meet holiday demand
Carriers like the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx and United Parcel Service have capacity to meet projected demand this holiday season, which is cheery news for shippers and shoppers alike. Like last year, there’s expected to be little drama compared to struggles during the pandemic when people hunkered down at home...
Hat worn by Napoleon fetches $1.6 million at an auction of the French emperor’s belongings
PARIS — A faded and cracked felt hat worn by Napoléon Bonaparte fetched $1.6 million at an auction Sunday of the French emperor’s belongings Yes, $1.6 million. The signature broad, black hat — one of a handful still in existence that Napoléon wore when he ruled 19th century France and...
No more Thanksgiving ‘food orgy’? New obesity medications change how users think of holiday meals
For most of her life, Claudia Stearns dreaded Thanksgiving. As a person who struggled with obesity since childhood, Stearns hated the annual turmoil of obsessing about what she ate — and the guilt of overindulging on a holiday built around food. Now, after losing nearly 100 pounds using medications including...
Driving or flying before feasting? Here are some tips for Thanksgiving travelers
CONCORD, N.H. — Getting a big holiday meal on the table can be stressful for the cook (see “The Bear,” Season two, Episode six.) But for guests, just getting to the table also can be difficult, and there’s no Butterball hotline for harried travelers. The number of people traveling 50...
Israel battles Hamas near another Gaza hospital sheltering thousands
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli forces pressed their offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza on Monday, battling militants around a hospital where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks, and where health officials managed to evacuate some of the wounded. A medical worker inside the...
Morning Roundup: Multiple buildings destroyed in North Braddock fire; man arrested after police chase
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Monday, Nov. 20. Multiple buildings destroyed in North Braddock fire The local Red Cross is assisting 11 people who were displaced after a fire late Sunday night in North Braddock destroyed several buildings on Grandview Avenue. TribLive news partner...
Rosalynn Carter, outspoken former first lady, dead at 96
ATLANTA — Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, has died at the age of 96. The Carter Center said she died Sunday after living with dementia and suffering many months...
Voters back abortion rights, but some foes won’t relent. Is the commitment to democracy in question?
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The statewide battles over abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to abortion have exposed another fault line: the commitment to democracy. As voters in state after state affirm their support for abortion rights, opponents are acting with escalating defiance toward the democratic...
Maine and Massachusetts are the last states to keep bans on Sunday hunting. That might soon change
PORTLAND, Maine — Some states are steadily chipping away at longstanding bans on Sunday hunting, and there’s a push to overturn the laws in Maine and Massachusetts, the final two states with full bans. Maine’s highest court is considering a lawsuit asking whether the state’s 19th century law, which prevents...
Democratic-led cities pay for migrants’ tickets to other places as resources dwindle
DENVER — As weary migrants arrive in Denver on buses from the U.S.-Mexico border city of El Paso, Texas, officials offer them two options: temporary shelter or a bus ticket out. Nearly half of the 27,000 migrants who arrived in Denver since November 2022 have chosen the bus, plane or...
Do snitches net fishes? Scientists turn invasive carp into traitors to slow their Great Lakes push
LA CROSSE, Wis. — Wildlife officials across the Great Lakes are looking for spies to take on an almost impossible mission: stop the spread of invasive carp. Over the last five years, agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources have employed a...
Sugar prices are rising worldwide after bad weather tied to El Nino damaged crops in Asia
Skyrocketing sugar prices left Ishaq Abdulraheem with few choices. Increasing the cost of bread would mean declining sales, so the Nigerian baker decided to cut his production by half. For scores of other bakers struggling to stay afloat while enduring higher costs for fuel and flour, the stratospheric sugar prices...
41 workers remain trapped in tunnel in India for 7th day as drilling operations face challenges
LUCKNOW, India — Forty-one workers remained trapped in a collapsed road tunnel in northern India for a seventh day Saturday as a new drilling machine arrived on site to replace the damaged one. The nature of the exceptionally hard rock formation in the area coupled with the clearing of debris...
31 premature babies are evacuated from Gaza’s largest hospital, but scores of trauma patients remain
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Health officials said 31 premature babies in “extremely critical condition” were transferred safely Sunday from Gaza’s main hospital and will go to Egypt, while over 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remained stranded days after Israeli forces entered the compound to...
More than a foot of snow, 100 mph winds possible in Sierra Nevada storm
RENO, Nev. — The National Weather Service issued advisories Saturday along the California-Nevada line ahead of an early winter storm that could bring more than a foot of snow to the upper elevations of the Sierra and winds gusting up to 100 mph over ridgetops. The winter weather advisories, in...
Biden: ‘Revitalized Palestinian Authority’ should govern Gaza, West Bank
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden says achieving a cease-fire amid Israel’s war with Hamas “is not peace” and that an important key to lasting stability is a reunited Gaza Strip and West Bank that can be governed under “a revitalized Palestinian Authority.” In an op-ed published Saturday in the...
Man fatally shot while hunting in western New York state
SAVANNAH, N.Y. — A man on a hunting trip was shot and killed in Western New York on Saturday, the first day of the state’s regular deer and bear hunting seasons, authorities said. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office said it responded about 7 a.m. to a report a hunter had...
IBM, EU, Disney pull ads from Elon Musk’s X over concerns about hate speech
Advertisers are fleeing social media platform X over concerns about their ads showing up next to pro-Nazi content and hate speech on the site in general, with billionaire owner Elon Musk inflaming tensions with his posts endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory. IBM, NBCUniversal and its parent company Comcast said this...
