Deep-sea craft carrying 5 people to Titanic wreckage reported missing, search underwayVideo
A rescue operation was underway deep in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean on Monday in search of a technologically advanced submersible vessel carrying five people to document the wreckage of the Titanic, the iconic ocean liner that sank more than a century ago. The vessel was reported overdue Sunday...
UN complains Russia won’t let aid workers into area of Ukraine dam collapse, Moscow says it’s unsafe
KYIV, Ukraine — The Kremlin’s spokesman said Monday that U.N. aid workers who want to visit areas ravaged by the recent Kakhova dam collapse in southern Ukraine can’t go there because fighting in the war makes it unsafe. The United Nations rebuked Moscow on Sunday for allegedly denying aid workers...
Europe defense ministers are holding talks in Paris on how to defend the continent’s airspace better
PARIS — Defense ministers and other representatives of 20 European countries will hold a conference in Paris on Monday on how to better defend Europe’s airspace, a long-divisive issue that takes on new urgency because of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The talks will include anti-drone combat and ballistic missile defense,...
U.K. lawmakers likely to back a scathing report that slammed Boris Johnson over ‘partygate’
LONDON — Britain’s House of Commons is likely Monday to endorse a report that found Boris Johnson lied to lawmakers about lockdown-flouting parties in his office, a humiliating censure that would strip the former prime minister of his lifetime access to Parliament. Lawmakers will debate a report by the Privileges...
Amazon, Marriott and other companies vow to hire thousands of refugees in Europe
LONDON — Multinational companies including Amazon, Marriott and Hilton pledged Monday to hire more than 13,000 refugees, including Ukrainian women who have fled the war with Russia, over the next three years in Europe. Just ahead of World Refugee Day on Tuesday, more than 40 corporations say they will hire,...
Blinken and Xi pledge to stabilize deteriorating ties between U.S., China
BEIJING — The United States and China have pledged to stabilize their badly deteriorated ties during a critical visit to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi pronounced himself satisfied with progress made during talks in Beijing. But, Blinken told...
Biden plans 4 fundraisers in San Francisco area as he revs up 2024 campaign
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden ramps up his reelection effort this week with four fundraisers in the San Francisco area, as his campaign builds up its coffers and lays strategic foundations for 2024. In the back half of June, Biden’s campaign will have over 20 fundraisers involving the president, Vice...
Trump and other Republicans conjure a familiar enemy in attacking Democrats as ‘communists’
NEW YORK — Lashing out after his arraignment on federal charges last week, Donald Trump took aim at President Joe Biden and Democrats with language that seemed to evoke another era: He was being persecuted, he said, by “Marxists” and “communists.” Trump has used the labels since he first appeared...
Weekend mass shootings leave 6 people dead and dozens injured across the U.S.
Mass shootings and violence across the U.S. killed at least six people this weekend, including a Pennsylvania state trooper, and wounded dozens of people. Multiple people with guns fired shots at a holiday crowd in Missouri and bullets flew among teenagers partying in Illinois. The shootings follow a surge in...
Pete Buttigieg vows to reopen Philadelphia I-95 bridge ‘within weeks’
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg reiterated the government’s determination to respond quickly to revive the collapsed Interstate 95 bridge in Philadelphia, saying it was expected to reopen “within weeks.” “Within weeks they are going to be able to get that done with novel approaches to filling that back in,” Buttigieg said...
Blinken opens 2nd day of talks in Beijing on mission to ease soaring U.S.-China tensions
BEIJING — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has opened a second and final day of critical meetings with senior Chinese officials as the two sides expressed willingness to talk but showed little inclination to bend on hardened positions that have sent tensions soaring. Blinken was meeting Monday morning with...
Trump’s former attorney general says indictment is his own faultVideo
Former Attorney General Bill Barr said the U.S. has a “very strong” criminal case against Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents and said the former president has himself to blame. “He had no right to those documents,” Barr, who served as U.S. attorney general under Trump, said Sunday on...
Heat wave triggers big storms, power outages in the Southeast, raises wildfire concerns in SouthwestVideo
Forecasters warned people celebrating Father’s Day outdoors to take precautions as triple-digit temperatures prompted heat advisories across much of the southern U.S., triggered thunderstorms that knocked out power from Oklahoma to Mississippi and whipped up winds that raised wildfire threats in Arizona and New Mexico. A suspected tornado struck early...
Stalled contract jeopardizes relations between new Disney governing body, firefighters
ORLANDO, Fla. — After appointees of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took over Walt Disney World’s governing district earlier this year, its firefighters were among the few employees who publicly welcomed them with open arms. But that warm relationship is in jeopardy as a new district administrator has reopened negotiations on...
A Utah city violated the First Amendment in denying a drag show permit, judge rules
SALT LAKE CITY — The city of St. George must issue a permit for a Utah-based group that organizes drag performances to host an all-ages drag show in a public park, a federal judge ruled, calling the city’s attempt to stop the show unconstitutional discrimination. “Public spaces are public spaces....
1 trooper killed, 1 critically wounded in central Pennsylvania
MIFFLINTOWN — State police in Pennsylvania have identified the trooper killed and another trooper critically wounded in separate encounters Saturday with a gunman who attacked a state police barracks and was later shot and killed himself after a manhunt and a fierce gunbattle. Trooper Jacques Rougeau Jr., 29, was killed...
Attorney General Garland keeps poker face as firestorm erupts after Trump charges
WASHINGTON — On his first day as attorney general, Merrick Garland pledged a return to what he called the “norms” of the Justice Department and said he would work to eliminate the perception of political interference. But in the two years since he took office, the former federal judge has...
Parking lot party shooting leaves 1 dead and 22 people hurt in suburban Chicago
WILLOWBROOK, Ill. — At least 23 people were shot, one fatally, early Sunday during a gathering in a parking lot that drew hundreds of people in suburban Chicago, authorities said. TV news video showed the strip mall lot in Willowbrook filled with debris and police tape, about 20 miles (32.1...
State trooper, suspect killed in Juniata County shootout; 1 other trooper badly injured
Two people were killed, including a Pennsylvania State Police trooper and a suspect from an earlier shooting, during a gun battle in Walker Township, Juniata County shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon. A second trooper was also shot in the earlier, but related incident in Mifflintown. He was being treated...
Putin meets with African leaders in Russia to discuss Ukraine peace plan, but no visible progress
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday met with a group of leaders of African countries who traveled to Russia on a self-styled “peace mission” the day after they went to Ukraine, but the meeting ended with no visible progress. The seven African leaders — the presidents of...
How a landmark school funding lawsuit is shaping Pa. budget negotiations
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — A court decision requiring Pennsylvania lawmakers to make the funding system for public schools more equitable is front and...
6 key points from the scathing report on Minneapolis police after George Floyd’s killing
The Justice Department on Friday issued a scathing assessment of Minneapolis police, alleging that racial discrimination and excessive force went unchecked before George Floyd’s killing because of inadequate oversight and an unwieldy process for investigating complaints. The probe began in April 2021, a day after former officer Derek Chauvin, who...
Heat wave has U.S. South sweltering, from tornado-ravaged West Texas town to Florida beaches
Communities from Houston to New Orleans opened cooling centers to bring relief as steamy hot temperatures settled across a broad swath of the U.S. South on Saturday, and beachgoers fled a water spout that swept ashore on a Florida beach. Gov. Greg Abbott meanwhile visited Perryton in the Texas Panhandle,...
Collapsed stretch of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia to reopen within 2 weeks, governor says
PHILADELPHIA — The collapsed stretch of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia will reopen within two weeks, Pennsylvania’s governor said Saturday, after joining President Joe Biden on a helicopter tour over the critical stretch of highway closed to East Coast traffic since last weekend. “We are getting it done here in Philly,”...
Sudan officials say airstrike kills 17, including 5 children, in capital Khartoum
CAIRO — An airstrike in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Saturday killed at least 17 people, including five children, health officials said, as fighting continued between rival generals seeking to control the country. The attack was one of the deadliest of the clashes in urban areas of Khartoum and elsewhere in...
