South Korea launches jets, fires shots after North flies drones
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s military fired warning shots, scrambled fighter jets and flew surveillance assets across the heavily fortified border with North Korea on Monday, after North Korean drones violated its airspace for the first time in five years, officials said. South Korea’s military detected five drones from...
Josh Shapiro’s win is high note amid antisemitism surge
PITTSBURGH — Josh Shapiro will be taking office as Pennsylvania’s next governor in January after running a campaign in which he spoke early and often about his Jewish religious heritage. At a time of rising concern about overt expressions of antisemitism, some observers are seeing a bright spot in his...
Migrants dropped near VP Harris home on frigid Christmas Eve
WASHINGTON — Three buses of recent migrant families arrived from Texas near the home of Vice President Kamala Harris in record-setting cold on Christmas Eve. Texas authorities have not confirmed their involvement, but the bus drop-offs are in line with previous actions by border-state governors calling attention to the Biden...
Frigid monster storm across U.S. claims at least 34 lives
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The deep freeze from a deadly winter storm that walloped much of the United States will continue into the week as people in western New York deal with massive snow drifts that snarled emergency vehicles and travelers across the country see canceled flights and dangerous roads. The...
Pope’s lament: Icy winds of war buffet humanity at Christmas
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis used his Christmas message Sunday to lament the “icy winds of war” buffeting humanity and to make an impassioned plea for an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, a 10-month-old conflict he decried as “senseless.” At noon in Rome, Francis delivered the traditional “Urbi...
Some Ukrainians move up Christmas to part ways with Russia
BOBRYTSIA, Ukraine — Ukrainians usually celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, as do the Russians. But not this year, or at least not all of them. Some Orthodox Ukrainians have decided to observe Christmas on Dec. 25, like many Christians around the world. Yes, this has to do with the war,...
King Charles salutes late queen, public workers in speech
LONDON — King Charles III evoked memories Sunday of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, as he broadcast his first Christmas message as monarch in a speech that also paid tribute to the “selfless dedication” of Britain’s public service workers, many of whom are in a fight with the government...
Passenger laptop fire forces plane evacuation at JFK Airport
NEW YORK — Emergency responders evacuated a JetBlue flight at JFK International Airport in New York City as a result of a small fire in a passenger’s laptop on Saturday evening, officials said. Officials from the FAA, JetBlue and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the...
House passes $1.7 trillion spending bill with Ukraine aid
WASHINGTON — A $1.7 trillion spending bill financing federal agencies through September and providing more aid to a devastated Ukraine cleared the House on Friday as lawmakers raced to finish their work for the year and avoid a partial government shutdown. The bill passed mostly along party lines, 225-201. It...
U.S. officials: Covid, bomb cyclone won’t slow Santa’s travelsVideo
The U.S. military agency known for tracking Santa Claus as he delivers presents on Christmas Eve doesn’t expect covid-19 or the “bomb cyclone” hitting North America to affect Saint Nick’s global travels. NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is responsible for monitoring and defending the skies above North America....
Bloody property disputes a dark side of Mexico real estate
MEXICO CITY — A grisly pre-Christmas killing of two young men and their uncle at an early 1900s house in Mexico City cast attention on the dark side of the capital’s booming real estate market, fed by a lack of legal documents and gangs that illegally seize properties. Actor Andrés...
Ukraine president back in Kyiv; Russia keeps up attacks
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sounded another defiant note on his return to his nation’s capital Friday following his wartime visit to the United States, saying his forces are “working toward victory” even as Russia warned that there would be no end to the war until it achieved...
Sports reporter’s snarky winter storm coverage goes viralVideo
What do you do when your TV news team is short-staffed around the holidays and you have a major winter storm blowing in? Well, send your sports reporter into the field, of course. But you’d better be prepared for some blowback. Because they were low on reporters and most of...
Rep. Conor Lamb reflects on Capitol riot and aftermath as he departs office
As U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb’s tenure comes to a close, he has not been able to shake the memory of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. “On that day, it just felt like an attack on our country,” he said. The Democrat from Mt. Lebanon will be leaving office come...
What Josh Shapiro’s transition team says about how he’ll govern, and why some picks are raising eyebrows
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 — The transition team helping Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro prepare for office is wide-ranging and, in some cases, controversial, offering a...
Jan. 6 panel releases report, describes Trump ‘conspiracy’
WASHINGTON — The House Jan. 6 committee’s final report asserts that Donald Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol, concluding an extraordinary 18-month investigation into the former president...
Arizona lawyers: Kari Lake election loss lawsuit lacks merit
PHOENIX — Republican Kari Lake didn’t offer evidence to back her claims of widespread, intentional misconduct on Election Day at her two-day trial challenging her loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs in Arizona governor’s race, lawyers for the state said Thursday. Lake also never established her claim that printer problems at...
White House: Russia’s Wagner received arms from North Korea
WASHINGTON — The White House said Thursday that the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company, has taken delivery of an arms shipment from North Korea to help bolster its forces as it fights side-by-side with Russian troops in Ukraine. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said U.S....
Have a safe trip: Oregon trains magic mushroom facilitators
DAMASCUS, Ore. — At a woodsy retreat center in Oregon, some 30 men and women are seated or lying down, masks covering their eyes and listening to serene music. They are among the first crop of students being trained how to accompany patients tripping on psilocybin, as Oregon prepares to...
Florida high court OKs grand jury probe of covid-19 vaccines
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Supreme Court will convene a grand jury at Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request to investigate any wrongdoing with respect to the covid-19 vaccines, the court announced Thursday. The Republican governor, who is often mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2024, earlier this month called for...
Rep.-elect George Santos says he’ll address questions
NEW YORK — A newly elected New York Republican whose life story has come under question since his election to the U.S. House of Representatives said Thursday that he plans to respond to the concerns. In a statement on Twitter, Rep.-elect George Santos said, “I have my story to tell...
Pennsylvania Treasury becomes the latest state agency to ban TikTok from its phones, computers
Amid national security concerns involving the social media app TikTok, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced on Thursday she has banned its use on Treasury-owned phones and computers. This comes at a time when Congress is considering a similar ban of the video-sharing app on all federal government devices and possibly,...
Senate passes $1.7 trillion bill to fund goverment, aid UkraineVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a massive $1.7 trillion spending bill Thursday that finances federal agencies through September and provides another significant round of military and economic aid to Ukraine one day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s dramatic address to a joint meeting of Congress. The bill, which runs for...
Scientists reveal secrets of frog transparency
WASHINGTON — Now you see them, now you don’t. Some frogs found in South and Central America have the rare ability to turn on and off their nearly transparent appearance, researchers report Thursday in the journal Science. During the day, these nocturnal frogs sleep by hanging underneath tree leaves. Their...
Key Jan. 6 witness Cassidy Hutchinson says lawyer sought to influence testimony
WASHINGTON — Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson described to the House Jan. 6 committee a wide-ranging pressure campaign from Donald Trump’s allies aimed at influencing her cooperation with Congress and stifling potentially damaging testimony about him. In extraordinary closed-door testimony made public Thursday, Hutchinson recounted how those in the...
