Russia seeks explanation for Serbian rockets in Ukraine
BELGRADE, Serbia — Russia is seeking an official explanation from its ally Serbia about reports that the Balkan country has delivered thousands of rockets to Ukraine for its fight against Russia’s invasion. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed “deepest concern” about the reports, which first came from pro-government Russian...
Shapiro aims tax break at police officers, teachers, nurses
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Saying Pennsylvania is in the midst of a workforce crisis, Gov. Josh Shapiro said he will propose a three-year incentive of up to $2,500 a year for newly certified teachers, police officers and nurses when the Democrat unveils his budget plan on Tuesday. The incentive is a...
No bail for Pennsylvania man with explosives in suitcase
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania man admitted packing explosive materials, fuses and a lighter in a suitcase he checked for a commercial flight to Florida and fled the Lehigh Valley airport when he feared arrest, federal authorities said in a court document filed Thursday. Marc Muffley, 40, of Lansford, called his...
Pittsburgh Lenten fish-fry map unites innovation, tradition
By the time the doors open at 4:30 p.m., a boisterous line of 50 hungry people is looping around the gymnasium foyer at Blessed Francis Seelos Academy. Their objective: to occupy tables on the basketball court and, for the parish’s first time since the pandemic descended in 2020, sit down...
Jury quickly finds Murdaugh guilty of murder of wife, son
WALTERBORO, S.C. — Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was convicted of murder Thursday in the shooting deaths of his wife and son in a case that chronicled the unraveling of a powerful Southern family with tales of privilege, greed and addiction. The jury deliberated for less than three hours...
Did dioxins spread after the Ohio train derailment?
After a catastrophic 38-train car derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, some officials are raising concerns about a type of toxic substance that tends to stay in the environment. Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance, the U.S. senators from Ohio, sent a letter to the state’s environmental protection agency expressing concern that...
Pence won’t say whether he’d support Trump as 2024 nominee
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — Former Vice President Mike Pence declined to say Thursday whether he would back Donald Trump if his former boss were to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2024. Pence, widely expected to seek the nomination himself, suggested that Trump’s leadership style isn’t what the party needs...
As Tennessee, others target drag shows, many wonder: Why?
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — “If I hadn’t been a girl, I’d have been a drag queen.” Dolly Parton has uttered those words famously and often. But if she really were a drag queen, one of Tennessee’s most famous daughters would likely be out of a job under legislation signed into law...
As Biden projects unity, Senate Democrats see little action
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden visited the Senate on Thursday to demonstrate unity among Democrats — but he ended up endorsing a Republican priority instead. With Democrats acknowledging they cannot get much done in the closely divided Congress, Biden has pledged to try to find areas where the two parties...
New Pa. House rules expand who can file a sexual harassment complaint against lawmakers
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 — Two months into an impasse-riddled session, the members of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives have passed the rules that will...
Deadly Greek train crash prompts strike; relatives give DNA
THESSALONIKI, Greece — Family members awaited the results of DNA testing to identify victims of a train crash that killed nearly 60 people in Greece, as workers went on strike Thursday saying the rail system is outdated, underfunded and dangerous. The government has blamed human error, and a railway official...
NTSB: Key tank car part melted after Ohio train derailment
OMAHA, Neb. — The fire that erupted after last month’s train derailment in Ohio melted a key part of the tank cars filled with toxic chemicals, so federal officials warned railcar owners Thursday to check their fleets for similar flaws. The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that investigators determined...
PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ about to get 1st U.S. limits
The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to propose restrictions on harmful “forever chemicals” in drinking water after finding they are dangerous in amounts so small as to be undetectable. But experts say removing them will cost billions, a burden that will fall hardest on small communities with few resources. Concerned...
No bail for Pennsylvania man with explosives in suitcase
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania man admitted packing explosive materials, fuses and a lighter in a suitcase he checked for a commercial flight to Florida and fled the Lehigh Valley airport when he feared arrest, federal authorities said in a court document filed Thursday. Marc Muffley, 40, of Lansford, called his...
Defense says zeal to convict Murdaugh derailed investigation
WALTERBORO, S.C. — A defense lawyer for Alex Murduaugh said Thursday that state agents were so determined to get the disgraced South Carolina attorney convicted of murder in the killings of his wife and son that they lied about or misrepresented evidence. Attorney Jim Griffin gave the defense’s closing, emphasizing...
Trump can be sued for Jan. 6 riot harm, Justice Dept. says
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump can be sued by injured Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the Justice Department said Thursday in a federal court case testing Trump’s legal vulnerability for his speech before the riot. The Justice Department...
Pennsylvania unseals more search warrant details in Idaho killings
STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Law enforcement officials have revealed more details regarding items seized from the Pennsylvania home where they arrested a graduate student charged with stabbing four University of Idaho students to death. Additional court documents made public Thursday stated that a knife, a pocketknife, and a Glock 22 handgun...
Gunmen leave Argentine soccer star Messi a menacing message
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Gunmen left a threatening message Thursday for Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi and opened fire at a supermarket owned by his in-laws in Argentina’s third-largest city, police said. Nobody was injured in the early morning attack, and it was unclear why assailants would target Messi or...
Rehab on hold: covid devastated prison learning programs
CHOWCHILLA, California — Joseph Sena has spent nearly half his 27 years in prison for manslaughter. For almost as long, he’s been striving to make himself a better man than when he first arrived. He has taken courses in creative writing, addressed his addictions, and attended school in prison, hoping...
Egypt unveils newly discovered chamber inside Great Pyramid
CAIRO — Egypt’s antiquities authorities on Thursday unveiled a newly discovered, sealed-off chamber inside one of the Great Pyramids at Giza, just outside of Cairo, that dates back some 4,500 years ago. The corridor — on the northern side of the Pyramid of Khufu — was discovered using modern scanning...
Trump set to headline diminished gathering of conservatives
OXON HILL, Md. — The annual Conservative Political Action Conference was once one of the premier gatherings on the GOP campaign calendar — a must-stop for serious contenders testing the waters on presidential runs. No longer. Many of the party’s best-known likely candidates — from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to...
Russia claims Ukraine crossborder sabotage raid; Kyiv denies
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian officials accused Ukrainian saboteurs of crossing into western Russia and attacking local villages Thursday, an accusation that Ukraine denied, warning that Moscow could use the claims to justify stepping up its own assaults in the ongoing war. The exact circumstances of the incident reported in the...
Blinken, Lavrov meet briefly as U.S.-Russia tensions soar
NEW DELHI — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov talked briefly Thursday at a meeting of top diplomats from the Group of 20 nations in the highest-level in-person talks between the two countries since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The short encounter came as relations...
NASA mission with North Allegheny grad launches to space stationVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX launched four astronauts, including a North Allegheny graduate, to the International Space Station for NASA early Thursday morning. The mission also includes the first person from the Arab world going up for an extended monthslong stay. The Falcon rocket bolted from Kennedy Space Center shortly...
Connecticut hunter who killed pet dogs says he thought they were coyotes
DANBURY, Conn. — A hunter who told authorities he killed and skinned what he thought were two coyotes, but later discovered they were a Connecticut family’s pet German shepherds, has been criminally charged. During a hearing Wednesday in Danbury Superior Court that drew dozens of people including the dogs’ owners...
