Man who lived in the woods is found guilty of murder in retired New Hampshire couple’s death
CONCORD, N.H. — A man who was living in a tent in the woods in New Hampshire was convicted of murder Monday in the fatal shooting of a retired couple who had gone out for a walk. After a day and a half of deliberation, a jury found Logan Clegg,...
Allegheny County executive, prosecutor, as well as Philly mayor race, could offer lessons for 2024 election
Local elections in Democratic strongholds at both ends of Pennsylvania next month could show how voters feel about progressive candidates and issues such as abortion and crime ahead of the 2024 election. Philadelphia will get a new mayor, and Allegheny County will see a new executive. Voters there will also...
Even with carbon emissions cuts, a key part of Antarctica is doomed to slow collapse, study says
No matter how much the world cuts back on carbon emissions, a key and sizable chunk of Antarctica is essentially doomed to an “unavoidable” melt, a new study found. Though the full melt will take hundreds of years, slowly adding nearly 6 feet (1.8 meters) to sea levels, it will...
Australians’ rejection of the Indigenous Voice in constitutional vote is shameful, supporters say
CANBERRA, Australia — Indigenous campaigners who wanted Australia to create an advisory body representing its most disadvantaged ethnic minority have said its rejection in a constitutional referendum was a “shameful act.” Many proponents of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament maintained a week of silence and flew Aboriginal flags at half-staff...
This procedure is banned in the U.S. Why is it a hot topic in fight over Ohio’s abortion amendment?
COLUMBUS, Ohio — With Election Day closing in, anti-abortion groups seeking to build opposition to a reproductive rights measure in Ohio are messaging heavily around a term for an abortion procedure that was once used later in pregnancy but that hasn’t been legal in the U.S. for over 15 years....
Hamas frees 2 Israeli women as U.S. advises delaying ground war to allow talks on captives
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas released two elderly Israeli women held hostage in Gaza on Monday, as the United States expressed increasing concern that the escalating Israel-Hamas war will spark a wider conflict in the region, including attacks on American troops. The death toll in Gaza was rising rapidly as...
Turnover has plagued local election offices since 2020. Luzerne County is trying to recover.
WILKES-BARRE — The polls had just opened for last year’s midterms in Pennsylvania when the phones began ringing at the election office in Luzerne County. Polling places were running low on paper to print ballots. Volunteers were frustrated, and voters were worried they might not be able to vote. Emily...
No evidence of hate crime, police say as slain Detroit synagogue president mourned as devoted leader
A Detroit synagogue president who was fatally stabbed at her home was remembered Sunday by family, friends and top Michigan officials as a generous, thoughtful leader who built bridges between communities. As mourners gathered to pay respects to Samantha Woll, police said their ongoing investigation of her killing found no...
These 9 Republicans are competing to be next House speakerVideo
Nine Republicans — from the party’s No. 3 leader to an up-and-coming conservative in his second term — are seeking to become the next House speaker, Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., announced shortly after a noon deadline to get in the race passed Sunday. The exact timing of a...
Israel strikes Gaza, Syria and West Bank as war against Hamas threatens to ignite other fronts
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli warplanes struck targets across Gaza, two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank allegedly used by militants, as the 2-week-old war with Hamas threatened to spiral Sunday into a broader conflict. Israel has traded fire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group since...
Detroit synagogue president fatally stabbed outside her home
DETROIT — A Detroit synagogue president was found stabbed to death outside her home Saturday, police said. The motive wasn’t known. Emergency medical personnel declared the woman, identified in a statement from Mayor Mike Duggan as Samantha Woll, dead at the scene, Cpl. Dan Donakowski said. “While at the scene,...
‘Oppenheimer’ fanfare likely to fuel record attendance at New Mexico’s Trinity atomic bomb test site
WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. — Thousands of visitors are expected to descend Saturday on the southern New Mexico site where the world’s first atomic bomb was detonated, with officials preparing for a record turnout amid ongoing fanfare surrounding Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film, ” Oppenheimer.” Trinity Site, a designated National...
Donald Trump is dominating the GOP primary and settling into a new role: Defendant
NEW YORK — After turns as a real estate magnate, a New York tabloid mainstay, a reality TV star and president of the United States, Donald Trump is settling into a new role: defendant. The front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination spent two days this week in a Manhattan courtroom...
Company bosses and workers grapple with the fallout of speaking up about the Israel-Hamas war
NEW YORK — Starbucks accused a union representing thousands of its baristas of damaging the brand and endangering co-workers with a pro-Palestinian tweet. The CEO of a prominent tech conference is facing boycotts after he publicly suggested Israel was committing war crimes. Company bosses have vowed never to hire members...
Americans’ faith in institutions has been sliding for years. The chaos in Congress isn’t helping
WASHINGTON — For many Americans, the Republican dysfunction that has ground business in the U.S. House to a halt as two wars rage abroad and a budget crisis looms at home is feeding into a longer-term pessimism about the country’s core institutions. The lack of faith extends beyond Congress, with...
Biden is dangling border security money to try to get billions more for Israel and Ukraine
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is trying to sweeten his pitch for more money for Ukraine by mixing in billions of dollars for securing the U.S.-Mexico border in the hope that it will bring more Republicans on board. The idea came up late last month, after Ukraine assistance was stripped...
Egypt’s border crossing opens to let a trickle of desperately needed aid into besieged Gaza
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened on Saturday to let a trickle of desperately needed aid into the besieged Palestinian territory for the first time since Israel sealed it off in the wake of Hamas’ bloody rampage two weeks ago. Just 20 trucks were...
A new field of would-be U.S. House speakers takes shape after Jim Jordan fails
WASHINGTON — House Republicans have dispensed with Jim Jordan as their nominee for the U.S. speakership, and several more representatives are preparing to enter the fray. The new field began to take shape minutes after the party voted by secret ballot to rescind the nomination of Jordan, who had been...
Long lines at pump unlikely, but Middle East crisis could disrupt oil supplies, raise prices
WASHINGTON — Fifty years after the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the current crisis in the Middle East has the potential to disrupt global oil supplies and push prices higher. But don’t expect a repeat of the catastrophic price hikes and long lines at the gasoline pump, experts say. The Israel-Hamas...
Spirit Airlines cancels dozens of flights to inspect some planes; disruptions will last days
Spirit Airlines canceled about 100 flights Friday after pulling some planes out of service for inspections, and the airline expects the disruptions to last several days. Spirit did not describe the nature of the inspections and did not respond when asked for further information, but the Federal Aviation Administration said...
French intelligence: Palestinian rocket, not Israeli airstrike, likely caused Gaza hospital blast
PARIS — An assessment by French military intelligence indicates the most likely cause of the deadly explosion at Gaza City’s al-Ahli hospital was a Palestinian rocket that carried an explosive charge of about 11 pounds and possibly misfired, a senior French military official said Friday. Several rockets in the arsenal...
Israel: 2 Americans held hostage by Hamas, a mother and daughter, have been released
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Hamas on Friday freed an American woman and her teenage daughter who had been held hostage in Gaza, Israel said, the first such release from among the roughly 200 people the group abducted from Israel during its Oct. 7 rampage. Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old...
Clean energy funds investment can aid hard-hit communities
If the region can boast there are workers here who are trained in the semi-conductor industry, it could be a boon for economic development. That’s the thinking of Mary Salony, the executive director of the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board. And the group is set to receive $1.4 million in federal...
Violent threats from Virginia to Texas disrupt Muslim groups raising support for Palestinians
ARLINGTON, Va. — For more than 20 years, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has held its annual banquet at the Marriott Crystal Gateway hotel in Crystal City, Va., just outside the nation’s capital, according to CAIR’s executive director, Nihad Awad. Sporadic protests and angry phone calls targeting the Muslim civil...
Former Florida lawmaker who sponsored ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law gets prison for covid-19 relief fraud
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The former Florida lawmaker who sponsored the controversial law critics call “Don’t Say Gay” was sentenced to six months in federal prison Thursday for defrauding a federal coronavirus relief loan program for small businesses. Former state Rep. Joe Harding, a 36-year-old Republican, resigned in December after being...
