U.S. Catholic bishops meet; leaders call for unity, peace amid internal strife and global conflictVideo
BALTIMORE — Catholic leaders called for peace in a war-torn world and unity amid strife within their own clerical ranks on Tuesday, as U.S. bishops gathered in Baltimore for their annual fall meeting. The meeting came soon after two actions by Pope Francis that illustrated the divisive challenges facing the...
The Georgia district attorney who charged Trump expects his trial to be underway over Election Day
ATLANTA — The Georgia district attorney who charged former President Donald Trump over his efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election said Tuesday that she expects his trial will be underway through Election Day next year and could possibly stretch past the inauguration in 2025. Fulton County District Attorney Fani...
Mother of Sorrows principal will take administrative reins at Greensburg Central Catholic
Theresa Szmed is going to have to get used to seeing older students in the hallways of her workplace. Szmed, who has served as principal at Mother of Sorrows School in Murrysville since 2016, will become the new principal at Greensburg Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School starting in January, diocese...
GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin challenges Teamsters leader to a fight in a fiery exchange at hearingVideo
WASHINGTON — A congressional hearing devolved into an angry confrontation between a senator and a witness on Tuesday after Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma challenged Sean O’Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to “stand your butt up” and settle longstanding differences right there in the room....
Ex-fundraiser for George Santos pleads guilty to posing as congressional aide to raise campaign cash
A former fundraiser for U.S. Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal wire fraud charge, admitting he impersonated a high-ranking congressional aide while raising campaign cash for the embattled New York Republican. Sam Miele was caught soliciting donations in late 2021 under the alias Dan Meyer, who was...
Kevin McCarthy foe accuses former speaker of ‘sucker punch’ elbow in Capitol hallwayVideo
WASHINGTON — Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., accused former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., whom he helped oust from the post last month, of elbowing him in a Capitol Hill hallway on Tuesday. “You just don’t expect a guy who was at one time three steps away from the White House to...
Tens of thousands of supporters of Israel rally in Washington, crying ‘never again’
WASHINGTON — Supporters of Israel rallied by the tens of thousands on the National Mall under heavy security Tuesday, voicing solidarity in the fight against Hamas and crying “never again.” The “March for Israel” offered a resounding and bipartisan endorsement of one of America’s closest allies as criticism has intensified...
Colorado supermarket shooting suspect pleads not guilty by reason of insanity
BOULDER — The defendant in a 2021 mass shooting that killed 10 people at a Colorado supermarket pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on Tuesday after a judge ruled that the case can move to trial. Attorneys for Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa entered the plea on his behalf before...
New Jersey man who posted threat to synagogues gets 15 months in prison
CAMDEN, N.J. — A New Jersey man who admitted posting a broad online threat aimed at synagogues and Jewish schools in the state last year was sentenced to 15 months in prison Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Christine O’Hearn in Camden imposed the sentence on Omar Alkattoul, 19, of Sayreville who...
Paris mayor says her city has too many SUVs, so she’s asking voters to decide on a parking fee hike
PARIS — Does Paris have too many SUVs? The mayor is putting that question to voters in the runup to next year’s Olympic Games, the latest salvo in her long-running campaign to make the city more friendly to pedestrians and the planet, and less friendly to cars. Voters will be...
ESPN Bet, a rebranded sports gambling app from Penn Entertainment, is almost here
NEW YORK — ESPN Bet, a rebranded sports-gambling app owned by Penn Entertainment, is set to launch Tuesday. Penn signed a $1.5 billion deal with ESPN for rights to the sports media giant’s name in August. Under the agreement, Penn will operate ESPN Bet while ESPN promotes the app across...
Pa. leads nation in Lyme disease cases and development in forests is boosting the risk
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. HOUSERVILLE — Pennsylvania leads the nation in Lyme disease cases, and the continued development of forested areas increases people’s risk of being bitten by the...
Ohio interstate crash involving busload of high school students leaves 6 dead, sends 18 to hospitalVideo
ETNA, Ohio — A charter bus filled with high school students was rear-ended by a semitruck on an Ohio highway Tuesday morning, leaving six people dead and 18 others injured, officials said. Five vehicles were involved in the crash, including a Pioneer Trails charter bus carrying students and chaperones from...
Fire that indefinitely closed section of vital Los Angeles freeway was arson, governor says
LOS ANGELES — Arson was the cause of a massive weekend fire that charred and indefinitely closed a vital section of a major Los Angeles freeway, causing major traffic headaches for hundreds of thousands of commuters, California authorities said. Gov. Gavin Newsom said investigators are trying to determine if more...
Disney says it has $40 billion economic impact in Florida as it battles DeSantis in court
ORLANDO, Fla. — Disney on Tuesday released a study showing its economic impact in Florida at $40.3 billion as it battles Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his appointees over their takeover of the district that governs the entertainment company’s massive resort in central Florida. Disney accounted for 263,000 jobs in...
New Speaker Mike Johnson formally endorses Trump
NEW YORK — House Speaker Mike Johnson endorsed Donald Trump for president on Tuesday, a move that was a symbolic departure from his ousted predecessor leading the House. Johnson, an ally and defender of the former president, said Tuesday morning in an interview on CNBC, “I have endorsed him wholeheartedly.”...
A veteran journalist who is refusing to divulge her sources could be held in contempt of court
WASHINGTON — In a case with potentially far-reaching press freedom implications, a federal judge in Washington is weighing whether to hold in contempt a veteran journalist who has refused to identify her sources for stories about a Chinese American scientist who was investigated by the FBI but never charged. The...
3rd round of U.S. sanctions against Hamas focuses on money transfers from Iran to Gaza
WASHINGTON — The U.S. on Tuesday said it imposed a third round of sanctions on a group of Hamas officials, members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad who work to transfer money from Iran to Gaza, and a Lebanese money exchange service that facilitates the transfers. The Treasury Department sanctions, coordinated...
In fight to curb climate change, a grim report shows world is struggling to get on track
The world is off track in its efforts to curb global warming in 41 of 42 important measurements and is even heading in the wrong direction in six crucial ways, a new international report calculates. The only bright spot is that global sales of electric passenger vehicles are now on...
House votes to prevent a government shutdown as GOP Speaker Johnson relies on Democrats for help
WASHINGTON — The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to prevent a government shutdown after new Republican Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to reach across the aisle to Democrats when hard-right conservatives revolted against his plan. The bipartisan tally — 336-95 with 93 Republicans voting no —showed Johnson’s willingness to leave his...
Biden administration is slow to act as millions are booted off Medicaid, advocates say
WASHINGTON — Up to 30 million of the poorest Americans could be purged from the Medicaid program, many the result of error-ridden state reviews that poverty experts say the Biden administration is not doing enough to stop. The projections from the health consulting firm Avalere come as states undertake a...
As fighting empties north Gaza, humanitarian crisis worsens in south
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — About 200,000 Palestinians have streamed out of northern Gaza toward worsening conditions in the south in recent days, a U.N. agency said Tuesday, as Israeli troops battled militants around hospitals where patients, newborns and medics are stranded with no electricity and dwindling supplies. Only one...
Casey proposes anti-bullying bill
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, introduced a bill last month that could help protect K-12 students from bullying and harassment. The Safe Schools Improvement Act would require school districts to include a line in their code of conduct prohibiting bullying and harassment surrounding race, color, national origin, sex, disability and...
Biden, Xi to announce deal for China to crack down on fentanyl
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, are set to announce an agreement that would see Beijing crack down on the manufacture and export of fentanyl, according to people familiar with the matter, potentially delivering the U.S. president a major victory. Under the deal — which is...
Nearly 2 dozen toddlers sickened by lead linked to tainted applesauce pouches, CDC says
U.S. health officials are warning doctors to be on the lookout for possible cases of lead poisoning in children after at least 22 toddlers in 14 states were sickened by lead linked to tainted pouches of cinnamon apple puree and applesauce. Children ages 1 to 3 were affected, and at...
