Can Pennsylvania police search my phone during a traffic stop? Here’s what the law says
If you’re driving in Pennsylvania, you might find yourself pulled over by police for a number of reasons. But what happens if law enforcement officers try to look through your cellphone? When you’ve been pulled over, you might feel legally obligated to hand over your phone if a police officer...
Lawmaker helping lead impeachment of Philadelphia’s prosecutor will run for state attorney general
HARRISBURG — A state lawmaker who is helping lead the effort to impeach Philadelphia’s elected prosecutor on Tuesday became the newest candidate for Pennsylvania attorney general, an office that played a critical role in court defending Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the presidential battleground. Rep. Craig Williams, a Republican who...
U.S. military Osprey aircraft with 8 aboard crashes off southern Japan, at least 1 deadVideo
TOKYO — A U.S. Air Force Osprey based in Japan crashed during a training mission Wednesday off of the country’s southern coast, killing at least one of the eight crew members, the Japanese coast guard said. The cause of the crash and the status of the seven others on board...
U.S. life expectancy rose last year, but it remains below its pre-pandemic level
NEW YORK — U.S. life expectancy rose last year — by more than a year — but still isn’t close to what it was before the covid-19 pandemic. The 2022 rise was mainly due to the waning pandemic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers said Wednesday. But even with...
Trump embraces the Jan. 6 rioters on the trail. In court, his lawyers hope to distance him from them
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump has embraced the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as patriots, vowed to pardon a large portion of them if he wins a second term and even collaborated on a song with a group of jailed defendants. In his election interference case...
Israeli military says 10 Israelis, 4 Thai nationals, have been released by Hamas
JERUSALEM — Hamas released 16 hostages late Wednesday in the last swap for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel under the current Gaza truce, as international mediators raced to seal another extension to allow further exchanges and prolong the halt of Israel’s air and ground offensive. The Israeli military said a...
Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch facing deposition in Smartmatic case
Rupert Murdoch, the former chairman of Fox and News Corp., was set to be deposed Tuesday and Wednesday in connection with the $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit filed by voting technology company Smartmatic. The suit alleges Fox News and its parent company were responsible for amplifying damaging lies about the 2020...
Gas prices have fallen, remained steady 10 weeks straight
NEW YORK — It’s not just you. Across the U.S., prices at the pump have felt milder in recent months. Gas prices have fallen or remained steady since Sep. 19 — marking about a 70-day trajectory of decline, Andrew Gross, spokesperson for motor club AAA, said Tuesday. As of Tuesday,...
Former Pittsburgh man reunites with nephews held hostage by Hamas for over 50 days
It took Ziv Gome four hours to race from Israel’s Eilat to Tel Aviv — roughly the distance from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg — to reunite with his two young nephews, who were released late Monday after being held hostage by Hamas militants for more than 50 days. The trek across...
Rosalynn Carter honored by family, friends, first ladies and presidents — including husband Jimmy
ATLANTA — Rosalynn Carter was being memorialized Tuesday with classical music and beloved hymns, some of her favorite Biblical passages, and a rare gathering of all living U.S. first ladies and multiple presidents, including her 99-year-old husband Jimmy Carter in the front row. The tribute service at Glenn Memorial Church...
Snowstorm slams Erie region, shuts down PennWest Edinboro
Sure, El Niño may be poised to deliver Greater Pittsburgh another warmer-than-usual winter with less precipitation. Up north, the lake effect still rules. An intense snowstorm Tuesday off Lake Erie that is forecast to dump up to 20 inches in Erie County and surrounding areas prompted PennWest University’s Edinboro campus...
Elevator plummets at a platinum mine in South Africa, killing 11 workers and injuring 75
JOHANNESBURG — An elevator suddenly dropped around 656 feet while carrying workers to the surface in a platinum mine in South Africa, killing 11 and injuring 75 — 14 of them critically, the mine operator said Tuesday. It happened Monday evening at the end of the workers’ shift at a...
Putin accuses the West of trying to ‘dismember and plunder’ Russia in a ranting speech
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, in a ranting speech before a presidential election campaign, cast Moscow’s military action in Ukraine as an existential battle against purported attempts by the West to destroy Russia. Putin, who has been in power for more than two decades and is the...
Nikki Haley wins backing from powerful Koch network as she aims to take on Trump
NEW YORK — Americans for Prosperity, the political arm of the powerful Koch network, formally endorsed Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign on Tuesday, promising to commit its nationwide army of activists — and virtually unlimited funds — to helping Haley defeat former President Donald Trump in the GOP primary contest. “AFP...
Man who wounded 14 in Pennsylvania elementary school with machete dies in prison 22 years later
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A man imprisoned since 2001 for attacking educators and students in a Pennsylvania elementary school with a machete, wounding 14, has died in prison. William Stankewicz died Monday, Pennsylvania prison officials said. He was 78. Stankewicz was found unresponsive in his cell at the State Correctional Institution...
Ukraine says spy chief’s wife is being treated for poisoning with heavy metals
KYIV, Ukraine — The wife of Ukraine’s intelligence chief has been diagnosed with heavy metals poisoning and is undergoing treatment in a hospital, a spokesperson for the agency said Tuesday as the country’s war with Russia stretched into its 22nd month. Marianna Budanova is the wife of Lt. Gen. Kyrylo...
Belarus raids apartments of opposition activists as part of sweeping probe called latest crackdown
TALLINN, Estonia — Belarus’ criminal investigation agency said Tuesday that it has conducted raids as part of a sweeping probe into an alleged attempt by the opposition to seize power three years ago. Critics called it the latest move in authorities’ crackdown on dissent. Belarus was rocked by mass protests...
Indian rescuers reach 41 workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel for 17 days, start pulling them outVideo
UTTARKASHI, India — Cheers and jubilation erupted as rescuers in India on Tuesday reached 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel for over two weeks in the country’s north and started pulling them out, officials said. After less than an hour, Kirti Panwar, a government spokesperson, said 34...
U.S. tells Israel any ground campaign in southern Gaza must limit further civilian displacement
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has told Israel that it must work to avoid “significant further displacement” of Palestinian civilians in southern Gaza if it renews its ground campaign aimed at eradicating the Hamas militant group, senior U.S. officials said. The administration, seeking to avoid more large-scale civilian casualties or...
In new challenge to indictment, Trump’s lawyers argue he had good basis to question election results
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump had a “good faith” basis to question the results of the 2020 election, his lawyers said in demanding that prosecutors turn over any evidence related to voting irregularities and potential foreign interference in the contest won by Democrat Joe Biden. A defense motion filed late Monday...
Hunter Biden tells Congress he’ll testify publicly, setting up a potential high-stakes face-off
WASHINGTON — Hunter Biden offered Tuesday to testify publicly before Congress, striking a defiant note in response to a subpoena from Republicans and setting up a potential high-stakes face-off even as a separate special counsel probe unfolds and his father, President Joe Biden, campaigns for reelection. The Democratic president’s son...
Thick fog likely caused a roughly 30-vehicle collision on an Idaho interstate, police say
POCATELLO, Idaho — A thick layer of fog is believed to have caused a roughly 30-vehicle collision on an Idaho interstate, state police said. The collision occurred Monday morning on eastbound Interstate 86, near milepost 56, west of Pocatello, near the Pocatello Regional Airport. Police said the fog caused visibility...
Cities crack down on homeless encampments. Advocates say that’s not the answer
PORTLAND, Ore. — Tossing tent poles, blankets and a duffel bag into a shopping cart and three wagons, Will Taylor spent a summer morning helping friends tear down what had been their home and that of about a dozen others. It wasn’t the first time and wouldn’t be the last....
Trump says he will renew efforts to replace ‘Obamacare’ if he wins 2nd term
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump threatened over the weekend to reopen the contentious fight over the Affordable Care Act after failing to repeal it while in the White House, saying he is “seriously looking at alternatives” if he wins a second term. Trump’s comments drew rebuke from Democratic President...
Israel says 12 more hostages have been freed by Hamas and have arrived in Egypt
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — A fragile truce between Israel and Hamas held for a fifth day Tuesday, as the militant group released more hostages to delay the expected resumption of the war. Israel came under pressure from the United States to better protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza if its...