2 Americans dead, 2 rescued from violent Mexico kidnapping
CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico —A road trip to Mexico for cosmetic surgery ended with two Americans dead — and two others found alive in a rural area near the Gulf coast — after a violent shootout and abduction that was captured on video, officials said Tuesday. The surviving Americans were back...
Biden says new taxes on the rich can help save Medicare
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday proposed new taxes on the rich to help fund Medicare, saying the plan would help to extend the insurance program’s solvency by 25 years and provide a degree of middle-class stability to millions of older adults. In his plan, Biden is overtly declaring...
Cyclone Freddy set to slam Mozambique in rare 2nd hit
MOMBASA, Kenya — Still recovering from the effects of the first battering, the southeastern African nation of Mozambique is bracing for a rare second hit by long-living Tropical Cyclone Freddy late on Friday night, a regional weather center said Tuesday. The United Nations’ monitoring station on the Indian Ocean island...
U.S. defense secretary makes unannounced visit to Baghdad
BAGHDAD — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit Tuesday to the Iraqi capital where he vowed to continue the fight against the Islamic State group until the extremists are defeated. Austin, whose visit came just days before the 20th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam...
Hope Hicks meets with New York prosecutors investigating TrumpVideo
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s former spokesperson Hope Hicks met Monday with Manhattan prosecutors who are investigating hush-money payments made to women on the ex-president’s behalf — the latest member of the Republican’s inner circle to be questioned in the renewed probe. Hicks and her lawyer, Robert Trout, spent several...
16 Pa. GOP female lawmakers call on Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel accused of sexual harassment to resign
Pressure continues to mount on a Delaware County Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel to resign in the wake of the sexual harassment accusations leveled against him with the latest call for him to step down coming from a group of 16 House Republican lawmakers. In a letter sent on Monday to...
Paul Manafort, U.S. government settle civil case for $3.15 million
WASHINGTON — Paul Manafort, the former chairman of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, has agreed to pay $3.15 million to settle a civil case filed by the Justice Department over undeclared foreign bank accounts. When the civil case was filed in April 2022, prosecutors alleged that Manafort had failed to...
Zelenskyy vows not to retreat from Ukrainian city of Bakhmut
CHASIV YAR, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed Monday not to retreat from Bakhmut as Russian forces encroached on the devastated eastern city they have sought to capture for six months at the cost of thousands of lives. Less than a week ago, an adviser to Zelenskyy said the...
Fetterman ‘on his way to recovery,’ chief of staff says
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s staff said Monday that he is being briefed on activity and discussing updates on legislation and other priorities, several weeks after he checked himself into the hospital for treatment of clinical depression. Fetterman’s chief of staff Adam Jentleson said he had a productive morning with Fetterman...
Dozens charged with terrorism in Atlanta ‘Cop City’ protestVideo
ATLANTA — More than 20 people from around the country faced domestic terrorism charges Monday after dozens of young people in black masks attacked the site of a police training center under construction in a wooded area outside Atlanta where one protester was killed in January. The area has become...
Feds: Florida woman funded lavish lifestyle with stolen covid money
BOSTON — A Florida woman — who authorities say chartered a private jet to fly her cross-country with some of the more than $1 million in federal coronavirus relief funds that she fraudulently obtained by using stolen identities — pleaded guilty Monday, federal prosecutors said. Danielle Miller, 32, of Miami,...
Street near Miami named for Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
CUTLER BAY, Fla. — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson came home to South Florida on Monday to celebrate the renaming of a street in her honor in the community where she grew up. “I hope that this street naming will also serve as a testament to what is...
Florida bill would force bloggers to register with state
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Republican lawmaker in Florida wants bloggers who write about elected officials to register with the state, raising concern among First Amendment groups who are calling the proposal unconstitutional. The bill, filed by Sen. Jason Brodeur of Lake Mary, would require bloggers to file periodic reports with...
Twitter glitches as links, logins fail
Twitter experienced a bevy of glitches Monday for a time being as links stopped working, some users were unable to log in and images were not loading for others. The company, which has experienced an uptick instability and bugs in recent months after Elon Musk cut its staff sharply, said...
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...
