Hurricane Lee charges through open Atlantic waters as it approaches northeast CaribbeanVideo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Lee whirled through open waters on Thursday as forecasters warned it could become the first Category 5 storm of the Atlantic season. Lee was not expected to make landfall while on a projected path that will take it near the northeast Caribbean, although forecasters...
Severe flooding in Greece leaves at least 4 dead and 6 missing, villages cut off
ATHENS, Greece — Widespread flooding in central Greece left at least four people dead, six missing and dozens trapped, with severe rainstorms turning streams into raging torrents, bursting dams, washing away roads and bridges, and hurling cars into the sea. Flooding triggered by severe rainstorms also hit neighboring Bulgaria and...
Search for escaped Pennsylvania murderer enters 8th day
WEST CHESTER — As the hunt for an elusive murderer stretches into a second week, residents of suburban southeast Pennsylvania say they’re unsettled and perhaps frustrated — but not panicked — as hundreds of heavily armed searchers scoured roads, neighborhoods and dense woodlands. Danilo Souza Cavalcante, a 34-year-old from Brazil,...
Mexican Supreme Court’s abortion decision expands access to millions, stands in contrast to U.S.
MEXICO CITY — The decision by Mexico’s Supreme Court to invalidate all federal criminal penalties for abortion opened access for millions of people in the sprawling public health system a year after the court’s U.S. counterpart went in the opposite direction. Under Mexico ‘s legal system, however, the ruling did...
Greek shipper pleads guilty to smuggling Iranian crude oil and will pay $2.4 million fine
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A Greek shipping company has pleaded guilty to smuggling sanctioned Iranian crude oil and agreed to pay a $2.4 million fine, newly unsealed U.S. court documents seen Thursday by The Associated Press show. The now-public case against Empire Navigation, which faces three years of probation...
Biden administration cancels remaining oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic RefugeVideo
JUNEAU, Alaska — In an aggressive move that angered Republicans, the Biden administration canceled the seven remaining oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Wednesday, overturning sales held in the Trump administration’s waning days, and proposed stronger protections against development on vast swaths of the National...
Mar-a-Lago tech director cuts deal to aid government in Trump classified documents case, defense lawyer says
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Mar-a-Lago technology worker employed by Donald Trump agreed to testify for the government in the former president’s classified documents case after he was offered a non-prosecution agreement, a defense lawyer asserted in a filing made public Wednesday. The worker, identified in court papers as “Trump...
This summer was a global record breaker for the highest heat ever measured, meteorologists say
GENEVA — Earth has sweltered through its hottest Northern Hemisphere summer ever measured, with a record warm August capping a season of brutal and deadly temperatures, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Last month was not only the hottest August scientists ever recorded by far with modern equipment, it was...
Tropical Storm Lee strengthens into a hurricane as it churns across Atlantic toward CaribbeanVideo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Lee strengthened into a hurricane on Wednesday as it churned through the open waters of the Atlantic on a path that would take it near the northeast Caribbean. The hurricane was located about 1,130 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands. It had...
Ron DeSantis returned to the campaign trail with 2 fundraisers in Pennsylvania this week
PHILADELPHIA — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis raised about $400,000 in a fundraising swing through Pennsylvania Tuesday, his campaign told The Inquirer. The trip marked DeSantis’ return to the campaign trail after a week hiatus overseeing recovery efforts in Florida following Hurricane Idalia. He met with donors at a luncheon in...
Judge orders Texas to remove border buoys from Rio Grande, rejects Gov. Abbott’s ‘invasion’ claim
AUSTIN — Texas must remove floating border buoys by Sept. 15 and cannot install any similar structures in the Rio Grande without receiving proper approval, a federal judge wrote Friday in a scathing ruling criticizing Gov. Greg Abbott for ignoring federal laws. Federal Judge David Ezra of the Western District...
Trump White House adviser acted ‘above the law’ in defying Jan. 6 Committee, prosecutors say
WASHINGTON — A White House adviser to President Donald Trump acted as if he were “above the law” when he refused to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, prosecutors argued at his trial Wednesday. Peter Navarro was charged with two counts...
Lawsuit contends Constitution’s ‘insurrection’ clause bars Trump from running again for president
DENVER — A liberal group on Wednesday filed a lawsuit to bar former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot in Colorado, arguing he is ineligible to run for the White House again under a rarely used clause in the U.S. Constitution aimed at candidates who have supported an “insurrection.”...
Prosecutors seeking new indictment for Hunter Biden before end of September
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors plan to ask a grand jury to indict President Joe Biden’s son Hunter by the end of the month, according to court documents filed Wednesday. The exact charges the president’s son would face were not immediately clear, but appeared related to a gun possession charge in...
Pennsylvania inmate escaped by climbing up a wall and over razor wire, prison official saysVideo
WEST CHESTER — A murderer on the loose in suburban Philadelphia was able to escape from a jail yard by climbing up a wall and over razor wire last week, prison officials said Wednesday. A security video of the escape shows Danelo Cavalcante, 34, standing in a passageway before bracing...
West Virginia University faculty express symbolic no confidence in President E. Gordon Gee
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia University faculty approved a symbolic motion on Wednesday expressing no confidence in President E. Gordon Gee as the university addresses a $45 million budget shortfall. The university is struggling with the financial toll of dwindling enrollment, revenue lost during the covid-19 pandemic and an increasing...
The writer who won a sex abuse and defamation lawsuit against Trump scores another victory
NEW YORK — Four months after a civil trial jury found that Donald Trump sexually abused and defamed advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday that still more of the ex-president’s comments about her were libelous. The decision means that an upcoming second trial will concern...
61 indicted in Georgia on racketeering charges connected to ‘Stop Cop City’ movement
ATLANTA — Sixty-one people have been indicted in Georgia on racketeering charges following a long-running state investigation into protests against a planned police and firefighter training facility in the Atlanta area that critics call “Cop City.” In the sweeping indictment released Tuesday, Republican Attorney General Chris Carr alleged the defendants...
Things to know about aid, lawsuits and tourism nearly a month after fire leveled Hawaiian community
HONOLULU — Nearly a month after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century killed at least 115 people, authorities on Maui are working their way through a list of the missing that has grown almost as quickly as names have been removed. Lawsuits are piling up in court...
Blinken visits Kyiv in show of support for Ukraine’s counteroffensive
KYIV, Ukraine — U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Ukraine’s capital Wednesday for an unannounced visit hours after Russia launched a missile attack on the city, in a trip intended to show confidence in Kyiv’s forces amid a grinding counteroffensive. Blinken’s trip aimed to assess Ukraine’s 3-month-old counteroffensive...
WVU cuts come into focus as no-confidence vote for President E. Gordon Gee is set for Wednesday
An expected decision by West Virginia University’s governing board on which academic programs to cut has come into sharper focus as a potential vote of no-confidence in president E. Gordon Gee looms Wednesday. The preliminary recommendations from WVU administrators involving two dozen academic departments were made public Aug. 11. They...
To mask or not to mask? Biden goes both ways after first lady tests positive for covid-19
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden turned up in a mask for the first time in months on Tuesday, a day after his wife tested positive for covid-19. But the president quickly ditched it during a ceremony honoring an 81-year-old Vietnam veteran, and the two unmasked octogenarians shared a hearty handshake...
Geneva College to waive tuition for students from families earning under $70KVideo
Geneva College says it will waive undergraduate tuition starting next fall for students from households making less than $70,000 — the latest move by a small private campus in a tough higher education market to give price breaks based on family income. The private Christian college in Beaver Falls said...
Gov. Shapiro opens door wider for small businesses to compete for state contracts
Small businesses may now have a better chance at landing a state government contract as a result of an executive order Gov. Josh Shapiro signed on Tuesday. The order expands increases the amount of money the commonwealth spends on contracts with small diverse businesses, building on former Gov. Tom Wolf’s...
An equipment outage holds up United flights, but the airline and FAA say they’re resuming
United Airlines departures have resumed after being halted nationwide for a brief time Tuesday because of a technology outage. Federal officials said that United crews had been unable to contact airline dispatchers through normal means. “United asked the FAA to pause the airline’s departures nationwide,” the Federal Aviation Administration said...
