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...
Ford, Stellantis workers join those at GM in approving contract settlement that ended UAW strikes
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union overwhelmingly ratified new contracts with Ford and Stellantis, that along with a similar deal with General Motors will raise pay across the industry, force automakers to absorb higher costs and help reshape the auto business as it shifts away from gasoline-fueled vehicles. Workers...
Patients, staff leave Gaza’s biggest hospital; dozens killed at crowded refugee camp
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Patients, staff and displaced people left Gaza’s largest hospital Saturday, with one describing a panicked and chaotic evacuation as Israeli forces searched and face-scanned men among the evacuees and took some away. Israel’s military has been searching the hospital for a Hamas command center it...
Suspect identified in fatal New Hampshire psychiatric hospital shooting
CONCORD, N.H. — A man killed by a state police trooper after he shot a security guard to death at a New Hampshire psychiatric hospital has been identified, authorities said Saturday. New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said 33-year-old John Madore entered New Hampshire Hospital on Friday afternoon and killed...
SpaceX launched its giant new rocket but explosions end the second test flight
SpaceX launched its mega rocket Starship but lost both the booster and the spacecraft in a pair of explosions minutes into Saturday’s test flight. The rocketship reached space following liftoff from South Texas before communication suddenly was lost. SpaceX officials said it appears the ship’s self-destruct system blew it up...
Political violence threatens to intensify as the 2024 campaign heats up, experts on extremism warn
The man who bludgeoned former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer last year consumed a steady diet of right-wing conspiracy theories before an attack that took place with the midterm elections less than two weeks away. As the 2024 presidential campaign heats up, experts on extremism fear the...
Officials stock up on overdose antidote naloxone after fentanyl-laced letters disrupt vote counting
SEATTLE — The suspicious letters sent to vote centers and government buildings in six states this month were undeniably scary, some containing traces of fentanyl or white powder, accompanied by not-so-veiled threats and dubious political symbols. Harkening back to the anthrax attacks that killed five people in 2001, the mailings...
Tempers flare and bills languish as Speaker Johnson confronts the same problems that vexed McCarthy
WASHINGTON — By most accounts, Speaker Mike Johnson inherited a House Republican majority in disarray after the sudden ouster of his predecessor last month. But as Johnson, R-La., tries to rebuild that slim majority, he’s fast running into the same hard-right factions and divisions that Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was...
Panicked people leave Shifa Hospital, while dozens are killed at a school elsewhere in northern Gaza
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Patients, staff and displaced people fled Gaza’s largest hospital Saturday, with one describing a panicked and chaotic evacuation as Israeli forces searched and face-scanned men among the evacuees and took some away. Israel’s military has been searching Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for traces of...
Satanic Temple after-school club wins $200k settlement from Pennsylvania school district
PHILADELPHIA — The Lehigh Valley school district that tried to ban an after-school Satan Club from meeting on its property this year has agreed to pay $200,000 to cover attorney fees. The school also will give the club the same access to school facilities as “comparable groups.” In the settlement...
Convicted sex offender found guilty of hacking jumbotron at Jacksonville Jaguars’ stadium
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A convicted child molester was found guilty Friday of hacking the jumbotron at the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium after the team learned he was a registered sex offender and fired him. A federal jury found 53-year-old Samuel Arthur Thompson, of St. Augustine, guilty of producing, receiving and possessing...
Bill Cosby accuser files new lawsuit under expiring New York survivors law
A woman who said Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her when she was a young comedy writer more than 50 years ago filed a lawsuit against the actor Thursday under a soon-to-expire New York law that gave victims of sexual abuse a one-year window for claims that would otherwise be barred...
Grand Canyon hiker, 65, dies on popular trail, rangers say
A hiker died while trying to trek across a popular but notoriously dangerous trail in Grand Canyon National Park, rangers said. The hiker’s personal locator beacon alerted dispatchers to the unresponsive hiker on Bright Angel Trail, about 1.5 miles north of Havasupai Gardens, on Thursday, officials said in a news...
Colorado judge keeps Trump on ballot, rejects insurrection argument
DENVER — A Colorado judge on Friday rejected an effort to keep former President Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s primary ballot, the latest blow to groups seeking to block his run for another term using a Civil War-era Constitutional amendment that prevents anyone who “engaged in insurrection” from...
Dogs coming down with an unusual respiratory illness in several states
Veterinary laboratories in several states are investigating an unusual respiratory illness in dogs and encouraging people to take basic precautions to keep their pets healthy as veterinarians try to pin down what’s making the animals sick. Oregon, Colorado and New Hampshire are among the states that have seen cases of...
FDA screens cinnamon imports after more kids sickened by lead-tainted applesauce
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is screening imports of cinnamon from multiple countries for toxic lead contamination after growing reports of children who were sickened after eating pouches of applesauce and apple puree. Cinnamon from a manufacturer in Ecuador is the “likely source” of high levels of lead found...
Judge rejects Trump’s request for a mistrial in civil fraud case
NEW YORK — The judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud case denied his bid for a mistrial Friday, rejecting claims from the former president’s lawyers that the proceedings are poisoned by political bias. Trump’s lawyers had argued Judge Arthur Engoron irreparably harmed Trump’s right to a fair trial through “astonishing...
Victim identified in New Hampshire psychiatric hospital shooting
CONCORD, N.H. — A shooter killed a security guard in the lobby of New Hampshire’s state psychiatric hospital on Friday before being fatally shot by a state trooper, officials said. The shooting happened about 3:30 p.m. at New Hampshire Hospital and was contained to the front lobby of the 185-bed...
Alex Murdaugh pleads guilty to financial crimes in deal that gives him more prison time
BEAUFORT, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh pleaded guilty Friday to stealing millions of dollars from vulnerable legal clients in schemes lasting over a decade under an agreement that all but ensures more prison time for the longtime lawyer who was convicted of killing his wife and younger son. Murdaugh agreed to...
Former Pa. employee gets nearly $200k over sexual harassment claims against former Shapiro cabinet member
A former state employee will receive nearly $200,000 Friday as part of a previous settlement of sexual harassment claims she made against a former cabinet member in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Treasury, it has received requests for a total of $295,000 in payments related...
Rosalynn Carter, 96-year-old former first lady, is in hospice care at home
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter is in hospice care at home in Plains, Georgia, the Carter Center announced Friday. The center said the 96-year-old is at home with former President Jimmy Carter, now 99. The Carter family said through the statement that they are “grateful for the outpouring of love...
In death, one cancer patient helps to erase millions in medical debt
A New York City woman who died Sunday from cancer has raised enough money to erase millions of dollars in medical debt with a posthumous plea for help. Casey McIntyre told followers in a social media message posted by her husband that she had arranged to buy the medical debt...
Ethics chairman launches new bid to expel George Santos after a withering conduct report
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Ethics Committee announced Friday he has filed a resolution to force a vote on expelling Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., from Congress, one day after the committee issued a withering report detailing substantial evidence that Santos converted campaign donations for his own personal use....
Climate change in Texas school textbooks is causing friction in America’s biggest oil and gas state
AUSTIN, Texas — How science textbooks in Texas address climate change is at the center of a key vote expected Friday after some Republican education officials criticized books for being too negative toward fossil fuels in America’s biggest oil and gas state. The issue of which textbooks to approve has...
