Defendant to represent himself in Wisconsin parade trial
Darrell Brooks’ trial was never going to be easy for the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha. Now it could hurt even more. Brooks plowed through the city’s Christmas parade in his Ford Escape last year, killing six people and injuring dozens more, prosecutors allege. His trial opens Monday with jury selection...
Man accused of killing 22 older women goes on trial again
DALLAS — After Mary Brooks was found dead on the floor of her Dallas-area condo, grocery bags from a shopping trip still on her countertop, authorities decided the 87-year-old had died of natural causes. Even after her family discovered jewelry was missing — including a coral necklace she loved and...
Venezuela releases 7 jailed Americans; U.S. frees 2 prisoners
WASHINGTON — In a rare softening of hostile relations, Venezuela has freed seven imprisoned Americans in exchange for the United States releasing two nephews of President Nicolás Maduro’s wife who had been jailed for years on drug smuggling conspiracy convictions, the White House said Saturday. The swap of the Americans,...
Vegas survivors signal hope even as mass shootings persist
LAS VEGAS — It’s been five years since carnage and death sent his family running into the night, leaving them separated and terrified as a gunman rained bullets into an outdoor country music festival crowd on the Las Vegas Strip. The memories don’t fade, they sharpen, William “Bill” Henning said...
Supreme Court poised to keep marching to right in new term
WASHINGTON — With public confidence diminished and justices sparring openly over the institution’s legitimacy, the Supreme Court on Monday will begin a new term that could push American law to the right on issues of race, voting and the environment. Following June’s momentous overturning of nearly 50 years of constitutional...
Russia withdraws troops after Ukraine encircles key city
KYIV, Ukraine — After being encircled by Ukrainian forces, Russia pulled troops out Saturday from an eastern Ukrainian city that it had been using as a front-line hub. It was the latest victory for the Ukrainian counteroffensive that has humiliated and angered the Kremlin. Russia’s withdrawal from Lyman complicates its...
Untested rape kits plagued Memphis long before jogger case
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Problems with rape kit evidence testing keep haunting Memphis. A city long plagued by a heavy backlog of untested sexual assault kits was shaken by Cleotha Henderson’s arrest in the killing of Eliza Fletcher after she was abducted during a morning jog last month. So when authorities...
Two prophets, century-old prayer duel inspire Illinois mosque
ZION, Illinois — A holy miracle happened in Zion 115 years ago. Or so millions of Ahmadi Muslims around the world believe. The Ahmadis view this small-sized city, 40 miles north of Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan, as a place of special religious significance for their global messianic...
Ian leaves dozens dead as focus turns to rescue, recovery
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Dozens of Florida residents left their flooded and splintered homes by boat and by air on Saturday as rescuers continued to search for survivors in the wake of Hurricane Ian, while authorities in South Carolina and North Carolina began taking stock of their losses. The death...
Hurricane Ian shows the risks and costs of living on barrier islands
SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. — When Hurricane Ian struck Florida’s Gulf Coast, it washed out the bottom level of David Muench’s home on the barrier island of Sanibel along with several cars, a Harley-Davidson and a boat. His parents’ house was among those destroyed by the storm that killed at least...
Pa. Supreme Court Chief Justice Max Baer, a Pittsburgh native, dies, called ‘a tireless champion for children’
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has been in the eye of the storm in recent years as it decided a series of hot-button issues that ranged from covid responses and reapportionment to election reform. At its center was Chief Justice Max Baer. Baer, 74, died Friday night at his home near Pittsburgh....
Explainer: A deep dive into risks for undersea cables, pipes
PARIS — Deep under water, the pipes and cables that carry the modern world’s lifeblood — energy and information — are out of sight and largely out of mind. Until, that is, something goes catastrophically wrong. The suspected sabotage this week of gas pipelines that tied Russia and Europe together...
Uvalde families make presence felt at Texas governor debate
EDINBURG, Texas — Parents of some of the 19 children killed in the Uvalde school massacre in Texas lashed out at Republican Gov. Greg Abbott over his opposition to tougher gun control on Friday before the issue was likely to take center stage in his only debate with Democratic challenger...
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says she has ‘a seat at the table’
WASHINGTON — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said Friday she has “a seat at the table now and I’m ready to work,” leaning into her history-making role as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. Jackson spoke at the Library of Congress several hours after she made her first appearance...
For Obama, 1 Trump term wasn’t a big worry, but ‘8 years would be a problem’
Former President Barack Obama told reporters in his last days as president that he wasn’t worried about a single Donald Trump term, but was concerned about a “sustained period” of political norms being undermined if he served two terms, according to newly released documents obtained by Bloomberg News. Obama met...
Doug Mastriano says ‘lawlessness is killing Philadelphia,’ as protesters outside call him ‘extremist’
PHILADELPHIA — State Sen. Doug Mastriano told a crowd in North Philadelphia on Friday, that Latinos were the future of the Republican Party and encouraged them to support his campaign for governor, which he said was all about “Dios, patria, familia.” “Now it’s up to the Republican Party to get...
Oz tells Pittsburgh press conference Fetterman should be more transparent in his Senate campaign
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz called for more transparency in the campaign, saying he is open to answering questions from the public and the press, and claimed that his opponent, Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, is not. At a half-hour press conference at the Wyndham Hotel in Downtown...
Hurricane Ian lashes South Carolina as Florida’s death toll climbs
CHARLESTON, S.C. — A revived Hurricane Ian pounded coastal South Carolina on Friday, ripping apart piers and flooding streets after the ferocious storm caused catastrophic damage in Florida, trapping thousands in their homes and leaving at least 27 people dead. The powerful storm, estimated to be one of the costliest...
Shapiro sets spending record, outraises Mastriano in final weeks of governor’s race
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 — Democrat Josh Shapiro’s campaign spent a staggering $28 million on his bid for Pennsylvania governor over the past three...
Resilient U.S. consumers spend slightly more in August
WASHINGTON — Consumers spent a bit more in August than the previous month, a sign the economy is holding up even as inflation lifts prices for food, rent, and other essentials. Americans boosted their spending at stores and for services such as haircuts by 0.4% in August, after it fell...
In Hurricane Ian’s wake, worried families crowdsource rescue efforts
Many people whose loved ones stayed behind in the pathway of Hurricane Ian are crowdsourcing rescue efforts as they grapple with the helplessness of waiting and not knowing. In TikTok videos and Facebook posts, families are sharing their desperate pleas and strangers are answering their calls, even as local officials...
Fetterman-Oz in statistical dead heat heading into home stretch of Senate campaign
With 40 days until Election Day, John Fetterman and Dr. Mehmet Oz are in a statistical dead heat for the state’s U.S. Senate seat. Multiple polls released in the past few days show Oz, the celebrity heart doctor and Republican candidate, still trailing Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor and Democratic...
Army officers appear on Burkina Faso TV, declare countercoup
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — More than a dozen members of Burkina Faso’s army seized control of state television late Friday, declaring that the country’s coup leader-turned-president, Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, had been overthrown. The spokesman introduced Capt. Ibrahim Traore as the new head of the volatile West African...
Putin illegally annexes Ukrainian regions as part of Russia
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties Friday for an illegal annexation of occupied Ukrainian territory in a sharp escalation of his seven-month invasion of Ukraine. Its leader immediately countered with a surprise application to join the NATO military alliance. Putin’s land-grab and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s signing of...
Suicide bomber strikes Kabul education center, killing 19
KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber struck an education center in a Shiite area of the Afghan capital on Friday, killing 19 people and wounding 27, including teenagers who were taking practice entry exams for university, a Taliban spokesman said. The morning explosion at the center took place in Kabul’s...
