Pro-Israel group floods airwaves with ads attacking congressional candidate Summer Lee
A pro-Israel political action committee is spending nearly $1 million to air ads attacking Democratic congressional candidate Summer Lee in the final stretch of the race. Some local and national Jewish groups are calling out the ads from United Democracy Project, a PAC tied to the American Israel Public Affairs...
When destitute small towns mean dangerous tap water
KEYSTONE, W.Va. — Donna Dickerson’s heart would sink every time she’d wake up, turn on the faucet in her mobile home and hear the pipes gurgling. Sometimes it would happen on a day when her mother, who is 86 and has dementia, had a doctor’s appointment and needed to bathe....
Powerball jackpot up to $1.6 billion, new lottery record
DES MOINES, Iowa — Strong sales boosted a Powerball jackpot to an estimated $1.6 billion on Friday, making it the largest lottery prize in history. A drawing will be held Saturday night for the Powerball prize, which hasn’t been won in more than three months. That string of 39 consecutive...
Explainer: How impoverished North Korea finances testing spree
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea’s recent barrage of missile tests, including Wednesday’s record of at least 23 launches, is raising an important question about its weapons program: How does the impoverished country pay for the seemingly endless tests? While some experts say each North Korean launch could cost $2...
NASA’s moon rocket returns to pad for next launch attempt
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s moon rocket is back on the pad for another launch attempt, following more repairs. The 322-foot rocket departed its hangar in the middle of the night and completed the 4-mile trip shortly after sunrise Friday. NASA is aiming for a launch attempt on Nov. 14,...
Kellyanne Conway expects Trump to announce 2024 White House bid ‘soon’
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s former senior counselor Kellyanne Conway said she expects the ex-president to announce a widely anticipated comeback bid for the White House “soon.” Conway, who became the first woman to steer a winning presidential campaign with Trump’s surprise 2016 victory, said that she advised her former boss...
Ukraine’s president accuses Russia of ‘energy terrorism’
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of engaging in “energy terrorism” after Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy network left millions of residents without power. About 4.5 million people were without electricity across the country, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Thursday. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said...
Iran marks 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover amid nationwide protests
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran on Friday marked the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran as its theocracy faces nationwide protests after the September death of a 22-year-old woman who was arrested by the country’s morality police. Iranian state-run television aired live feeds of various commemorations around...
Oprah endorses Fetterman over Oz
HARRISBURG — TV icon Oprah Winfrey on Thursday endorsed Democrat John Fetterman in Pennsylvania’s hotly contested Senate race and rejected Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, whom she had helped launch to stardom nearly two decades ago when she brought him on her popular daytime talk show as a regular guest. Until...
Gov. Wolf signs law to yank toll scofflaws’ vehicle registrations
HARRISBURG — A measure to help the Pennsylvania Turnpike recover more unpaid tolls was signed into law Thursday, legislation that could trigger the suspension of thousands of vehicle registrations early next year. Gov. Tom Wolf gave final approval to legislation aimed at getting owners or operators of some 25,000 vehicles...
FBI warns of ‘broad’ threat to synagogues in New Jersey
NEWARK, N.J. — The FBI said on Thursday it had received credible information about a “broad” threat to synagogues in New Jersey, a warning that promoted some municipalities to send extra police officers to guard houses of worship. The nature of the threat was vague. The FBI’s Newark office released...
Judge says he’ll appoint monitor for Donald Trump’s company
NEW YORK — A Manhattan judge said Thursday he will appoint an independent monitor for former President Donald Trump’s real estate empire, restricting his company’s ability to freely make deals, sell assets and change its corporate structure. Judge Arthur Engoron ordered the outside watchdog for the Trump Organization as he...
Paul Pelosi released from hospital a week after assault
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her husband, Paul Pelosi, was released from the hospital Thursday after his treatment for injuries from a violent assault last week in which he was attacked with a hammer. Pelosi said, “Paul remains under doctors’ care as he continues to progress on a long recovery...
U.S. agency softens opioid prescribing guidelines for doctors
NEW YORK — The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday softened its guidelines for U.S. doctors prescribing oxycodone and other opioid painkillers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention new recommendations are an update to 2016 guidelines that added momentum to a decline in opioid painkiller prescriptions. Opioids painkillers...
In 1 classroom, 4 teachers manage 135 kids — and love it
MESA, Ariz. — A teacher-in-training darted among students, tallying how many needed his help with a history unit on Islam. A veteran math teacher hovered near a cluster of desks, coaching some 50 freshmen on a geometry assignment. A science teacher checked students’ homework, while an English teacher spoke into...
Stellantis: Park older models due to 3 Takata air bag deaths
DETROIT — Stellantis and the U.S. government are warning owners of 276,000 older vehicles to stop driving them after Takata air bags apparently exploded in three more vehicles, killing the drivers. The company, formerly Fiat Chrysler, is telling people to stop driving Dodge Magnum wagons, Dodge Challenger and Charger muscle...
Official: Pakistan’s ex-PM Imran Khan wounded in gun attack
ISLAMABAD — A gunman opened fire at a campaign truck carrying Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday, wounding him slightly and also some of his supporters, a senior leader from his party and police said. Party official Asad Umar said Khan was wounded in the leg and was...
Russians try to subdue Ukrainian towns by seizing mayors
KYIV, Ukraine — Not long after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, soldiers broke down the office door of Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov. They put a bag over his head, bundled him into a car and drove him around the southern city for hours, threatening to kill him. Fedorov, 34, is...
Powerball prize up to $1.5 billion, 3rd-largest ever in U.S.
DES MOINES, Iowa — The bad news is that no one won Wednesday night’s huge $1.2 billion Powerball jackpot. The good news is that means the prize has grown even larger to $1.5 billion ahead of the next drawing Saturday night. That is the third-largest lottery prize in U.S. history....
What effect did the Oz-Fetterman debate have on the Pa. Senate race? Here’s what 2 new polls show
For all the attention last week’s debate between John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz received, the race appears virtually unchanged — and extremely close — in its aftermath. Separate polls from the Monmouth University Polling Institute and Muhlenberg University released this week indicate the race is essentially tied with six days...
University makes new review of Doug Mastriano’s doctoral research
HARRISBURG — A Canadian university that granted a doctorate in history to Doug Mastriano nearly a decade before he became the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania is investigating a fresh complaint about his work that makes multiple allegations of academic fraud in his recently public dissertation. University of New...
Biden implores voters to save democracy from lies, violenceVideo
WASHINGTON — After weeks of reassuring talk about America’s economy and inflation, President Joe Biden turned Wednesday night to a darker, more urgent message, warning in the final days of midterm election voting that democracy itself is under threat from former President Donald Trump’s election-denying lies and the violence he...
North Korea continues missile barrage with test over Japan
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea continued its barrage of weapons tests on Thursday, with Japan saying missiles were shot over its northern territory and South Korea saying it detected at least two missiles shot toward its eastern waters. The launches are the latest in a series of North Korean...
Philadelphia Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, wife, acquitted of fraud charges
PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia City Council member and his wife have been acquitted of corruption charges in federal court. Jurors deliberated for five days before finding Councilman Kenyatta Johnson and his wife, Dawn Chavous, not guilty Wednesday in their second trial on honest services wire fraud charges. The Philadelphia Inquirer...
Psychedelic ‘magic mushroom’ drug may ease some depression
The psychedelic chemical in “magic mushrooms” may ease depression in some hard-to-treat patients, a preliminary study found. The effects were modest and waned over time but they occurred with a single experimental dose in people who previously had gotten little relief from standard antidepressants. The study is part of a...