John Durham ends probe of FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation with harsh criticism, but no new charges
WASHINGTON — A special prosecutor found that the FBI rushed into its investigation of ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and relied too much on raw and unconfirmed intelligence as he concluded a four-year probe that fell far short of the former president’s prediction that the “crime of...
Police: At least 3 dead, more wounded in New Mexico shooting
FARMINGTON, N.M. — At least three people were dead and multiple others wounded Monday after a shooting in Farmington, police said, and schools citywide were put on lockdown. “There are multiple civilian victims,” Farmington police reported via Facebook, adding that one suspect “was confronted and killed on scene.” Two officers...
Is it unusual for a Hispanic person to adopt white supremacist beliefs?
When authorities released the name, ethnicity and first details about the alleged gunman who killed eight people at the Allen Premium Outlets, questions soon emerged on social media about how a Hispanic person might hold neo-Nazi and extremist views. One Twitter user wrote, “This seems like misdirection to me. A...
Vice Media files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
NEW YORK — Vice Media is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the most recent digital media company to falter after a meteoric rise. Vice said Monday that it has agreed to sell its assets to a consortium of lenders — Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital...
White House: Russia looks to purchase more attack drones from Iran after depleting stockpile
WASHINGTON — The White House on Monday said Russia is looking to buy additional advanced attack drones from Iran for use in its war against Ukraine after using up most of the 400 drones it had previously purchased from Tehran. The Biden administration last year publicized satellite imagery and intelligence...
Biden plan would open leases to conservation, not just drilling and grazing
BILLINGS, Mont. — The Biden administration wants to put conserving vast government-owned lands on equal footing with oil drilling, livestock grazing and other interests, according to a top administration official who defended the idea against criticism that it could sideline industry. The proposal would allow conservationists and others to lease...
Philadelphia Inquirer hit by cyberattack causing newspaper’s largest disruption in decades
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Inquirer says a weekend cyberattack caused the biggest disruption to its operations in 27 years and prevented it from publishing its Sunday print edition. The attack was detected Saturday morning when employees found that the paper’s content-management system wasn’t working, the Inquirer reported on its website....
Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting law gets beaten up on GOP campaign trail
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Election integrity and Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting law are prominent subjects in the state’s Republican primary contest for an open state Supreme Court seat, as Donald Trump continues to baselessly claim that the 2020 election was stolen. This year, two GOP primary rivals for the state Supreme Court...
Supreme Court to review Democratic lawmakers’ suit over Trump hotel lease
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a Biden administration appeal to limit lawsuits filed by members of Congress against the federal government, in a case that stems from disputes over what was the Trump International Hotel in Washington. The justices said they will review a federal...
Biden endorses Democrat in special election with Pa. House control at stake
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Democrat running for a vacant seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives received President Joe Biden’s endorsement Monday in a race likely to determine control of the legislative chamber, with implications for abortion rights, the 2024 presidential contest and Gov. Josh Shapiro’s agenda. Biden cited the...
A Florida man living underwater won’t resurface even after breaking the recordVideo
KEY LARGO, Fla. — A university professor broke a record for the longest time living underwater without depressurization this weekend at a Florida Keys lodge for scuba divers. Joseph Dituri’s 74th day residing in Jules’ Undersea Lodge, situated at the bottom of a 30-foot-deep lagoon in Key Largo, wasn’t much...
Are you who you say you are? TSA tests facial recognition technology to boost airport security
BALTIMORE — A passenger walks up to an airport security checkpoint, slips an ID card into a slot and looks into a camera atop a small screen. The screen flashes “Photo Complete” and the person walks through — all without having to hand over their identification to the TSA officer...
Government says dogs can dine al fresco but not everyone is on board
Just in time for the summer dining season, the U.S. government has given its blessing to restaurants that want to allow pet dogs in their outdoor spaces. But even though nearly half of states already allow canine dining outdoors, the issue is far from settled, with many diners and restaurants...
Fixing instead of replacing: Average age of vehicles on U.S. roads hits a record high
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — With new and used cars still painfully expensive, Ryan Holdsworth says he plans to keep his 9-year-old Chevy Cruze for at least four more years. Limiting his car payments and his overall debt is a bigger priority for him than having a new vehicle. A 35-year-old...
Turkey’s Erdogan says he could still win, would accept presidential election runoffVideo
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has ruled his country with an increasingly firm grip for 20 years, was locked in a tight election race Sunday, with a make-or-break runoff against his chief challenger possible as the final votes were counted. The results, whether they come within...
Michigan boy uses a slingshot to save his sister from being abducted from backyard, police say
ALPENA, Mich. — A Michigan girl was able to escape an attempted kidnapping when her brother used a slingshot to strike the would-be attacker, authorities said this week. Mlive.com reports that the Michigan State Police arrested the accused assailant Wednesday in the city of Alpena. The 17-year-old’s name has not...
Minneapolis city council nomination brawlers could be expelled from Minnesota Democratic Party
The Minnesota Democratic Party will consider expelling anyone involved in a brawl that broke out over nominations for a Minneapolis City Council seat. At least two people were injured in Saturday’s confrontation. The head of the state Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, Chair Ken Martin, said on Twitter that he plans to call...
Trump changed GOP rules to make winning the nomination even easier — for Trump
Republicans seeking to keep Donald Trump from becoming their party’s nominee will have to overcome rules even more favorable to the former president than the ones that helped him clinch the 2016 nomination. In 2024, more states will award delegates through winner-take-all primaries — a system that helped Trump when...
Biden to graduates of historically Black Howard University: U.S. history hasn’t been a ‘fairy tale’
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Saturday told graduates of a leading historically Black university that American history “has not always been a fairy tale” and that “racism has long torn us apart.” But on the nation’s best days, he said “enough of us have the guts and the heart...
Biden’s reelection pitch that he can govern well faces daunting challenges
WASHINGTON — A showdown with Congress that has the nation’s creditworthiness at stake; a frenzied scene at the border as pandemic restrictions ease; a pivotal foreign trip meant to sustain support for Ukraine and contain a more assertive China in the Indo-Pacific. Three weeks since launching his reelection campaign, President...
AI presents political peril for 2024 with threat to mislead voters
WASHINGTON — Computer engineers and tech-inclined political scientists have warned for years that cheap, powerful artificial intelligence tools would soon allow anyone to create fake images, video and audio that was realistic enough to fool voters and perhaps sway an election. The synthetic images that emerged were often crude, unconvincing...
Pope Francis meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican
ROME — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, saying it was a great honor to meet with the pontiff, who has previously offered to do what he can to try to end the war launched by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year...
‘All we want is to be safe’: Migrants push north after end of Title 42
MEXICO CITY — For weeks, Solangel Contreras raced. The Venezuelan migrant and her family of 22 trudged through the dense jungles of the Darien Gap and hopped borders across Central America. They joined thousands of other migrants from across the Hemisphere in a scramble to reach the United States-Mexico border...
Police: Philadelphia prison escape aided by man charged in deadly cheesesteak shop brawl
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say two escaped prisoners in Philadelphia were helped by a fellow inmate who’s charged with murder in a brawl outside a famed Philadelphia cheesesteak shop. Police said late Friday afternoon that 35-year-old Jose Flores-Huerta has been arrested at the Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center and charged with felony...
Census rejecting some big-city complaints of 2020 undercounts
Some of the largest U.S. cities challenging their 2020 census numbers aren’t getting the results they hoped for from the U.S. Census Bureau — an effort by Memphis to increase its official population resulted in three people being subtracted from its count during an initial appeal. Some successes have come...
