Paris: Notre Dame Cathedral set to reopen in December 2024Video
PARIS — The reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is going fast enough to allow its reopening to visitors and faithful at the end of 2024, less than six years after a fire ravaged its roof, French officials said Monday. The cathedral’s iconic spire, which collapsed in the blaze,...
No one hurt when 2 United flights touch at Boston airport
BOSTON — Two flights scheduled to depart from Boston Logan International Airport on Monday morning made contact with each other near the gate area, federal aviation and airport officials said. United Airlines Flight 515 was being pushed back from the gate by a tow tug when its right wing struck...
Many kids are struggling in school. Do their parents know?
BOSTON — Evena Joseph was unaware how much her 10-year-old son was struggling in school. She found out only with help from somebody who knows the Boston school system better than she does. Her son, J. Ryan Mathurin, wasn’t always comfortable pronouncing words in English. But Joseph, a Haitian immigrant...
Proposed rule clarifies grocery meat labels
Shoppers could soon find it easier to tell if those grocery store steaks or pork chops were really “Made in the USA.” Federal agriculture officials on Monday released new requirements that would allow labels on meat, poultry or eggs to use that phrase — or “Product of USA” — only...
Virginia DOC says execution audio tapes should remain secret
RICHMOND, Va. — On a 1989 audio recording crackling with static, an inmate is barely audible as he offers his last words before he is executed in Virginia’s electric chair. “I would like to express that what is about to take place … is a murder,” Alton Waye — who...
Jurors: Murdaugh didn’t help his defense by testifying
WALTERBORO, S.C. — Alex Murdaugh didn’t help his defense when he took the stand at his trial for the murder of his wife and son, three jurors said on Monday. Murdaugh’s testimony only managed to cement what they were already thinking — that he easily lied and could turn on...
What to expect from Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s first budget proposal
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 — As Gov. Josh Shapiro prepares to pitch his first state budget, he’s doling out a few hints about what...
A month after earthquake, survivors need shelter, sanitation
ANKARA, Turkey — One month after a powerful quake devastated parts of Turkey and Syria, hundreds of thousands of people still need adequate shelter and sanitation, and an appeal for $1 billion to assist survivors is only 10% funded, hampering efforts to tackle the humanitarian crisis, a United Nations official...
Thousands of pro-Trump bots are attacking DeSantis, Haley
WASHINGTON — Over the past 11 months, someone created thousands of fake, automated Twitter accounts — perhaps hundreds of thousands of them — to offer a stream of praise for Donald Trump. Besides posting adoring words about the former president, the fake accounts ridiculed Trump’s critics from both parties and...
Toy maker Funko dumps $30M in dolls to cut inventory
A toy maker known for its line of big-headed pop culture dolls depicting characters from film, TV and animation is planning to toss out about $30 million worth of the collectables to deal with some of the financial losses it is experiencing. Funko Inc. reported last week that it suffered...
Landslide in Indonesia kills at least 11; dozens missing
JAKARTA, Indonesia — A landslide caused by torrential rain killed at least 11 people and left dozens of others missing on an island in Indonesia’s remote Natuna regency on Monday, disaster officials said. Tons of mud fell from surrounding hills onto houses in Serasan village in Natuna. Rescuers recovered at...
2 dead in stampede at GloRilla concert in New York
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The death toll rose to two on Monday following a stampede at a rap concert in Rochester, New York, that authorities said may have been triggered by unfounded fears of gunfire. The Memphis rap stars GloRilla and Finesse2tymes had finished performing Sunday night at Rochester’s Main Street...
Fox libel defense at odds with top GOP presidential foesVideo
NEW YORK — Fox News is on an unlikely collision course with two leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination over the rights of journalists. In defending itself against a massive defamation lawsuit over how it covered false claims surrounding the 2020 presidential election, the network is relying on a...
Biden reelection bid faces resistance from some Democrats
LACONIA, N.H. — Steve Shurtleff was at Joe Biden’s side in 2019 when he filed papers in the New Hampshire State House to run for president. He repeatedly trekked across the state with Biden to court primary voters. And when Biden ultimately won the presidency, it was Shurtleff, then the...
Snow has been a no-show for some traditionally wintry cities
BOSTON — Growing up in New England, Leah Ofsevit’s most cherished childhood memories were blanketed in snow. She remembers running barefoot outside with her brother at the first sign of it, building snowmen and ice castles most winters, strapping on skis as a toddler. Ofsevit and her husband, Jeremy Garczynski,...
Fatal shooting erupts at Georgia party with over 100 teens
DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — A Georgia shooting has killed two of the more than 100 teenagers who had gathered at a house party Saturday, with six others wounded, authorities said. Investigators have been piecing together what transpired at the Douglasville home. No arrests have been made in the shooting, and it...
Nations reach accord to protect marine life on high seasVideo
WASHINGTON — For the first time, United Nations members have agreed on a unified treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas - representing a turning point for vast stretches of the planet where conservation has previously been hampered by a confusing patchwork of laws. The U.N. Convention on the...
Donald Trump Jr. calls John Fetterman ‘a vegetable’ at conservative conference
Donald Trump Jr. is taking flak for calling Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, D-Pa., “a vegetable” during an address at the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday. Trump Jr., who often manages to out-brash his own father when it comes to taunting political opponents, made his latest slam during a rant about...
Immigration activists try to stop Allentown hospital from sending comatose woman out of the country
Immigration activists are trying to stop an Allentown hospital from forcibly repatriating a desperately ill woman to her Dominican Republic homeland, saying the undocumented mother of two could die if sent away. The 46-year-old woman, identified only as S.C. to protect her privacy, experienced complications from surgery after suffering a...
Woman gets 12 to 24 years in I-76 crash that killed Pa. firefighter
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — A New Jersey woman has been sentenced to 12 to 24 years in prison in the death of a firefighter struck along with two other firefighters and a state trooper as they were responding to a crash on Interstate 76 in suburban Philadelphia more than a year...
In Selma, Biden says right to vote remains under assault
SELMA, Ala. — President Joe Biden used the searing memories of Selma’s “Bloody Sunday” to recommit to a cornerstone of democracy, lionizing a seminal moment from the civil rights movement at a time when he has been unable to push enhanced voting protections through Congress and a conservative Supreme Court...
Restoring rights for felons a rare bipartisan voting change
LINCOLN, Neb. — TJ King had candidates and causes to support, but couldn’t vote in Nebraska’s last election. An outreach specialist with the Nebraska AIDS Project, King came off probation in August after serving time for drug and theft convictions. In many states, he could have voted in the November...
Army boss’ mission: Persuade schools to welcome recruiters
CHICAGO — Army recruiters struggling to meet enlistment goals say one of their biggest hurdles is getting into high schools, where they can meet students one on one. But they received a recent boost from a recruiting advocate whom school leaders couldn’t turn away: the secretary of the Army. During...
Ex-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan won’t challenge Trump in 2024
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Larry Hogan, the former Republican governor of Maryland who positioned himself as one of his party’s fiercest critics of Donald Trump, said Sunday he will not challenge the ex-president for the GOP’s White House nomination in 2024. “I would never run for president to sell books or...
Latest Ohio derailment poses no public risk, officials say
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Authorities in Ohio say there is no indication of any risk to public health from the derailment of a Norfolk Southern cargo train between Dayton and Columbus, the second derailment of a company train in the state in a month. Norfolk Southern and Clark County officials say...
