Fighting bogus claims a growing priority in election offices
Election officials preparing for the rapidly approaching midterm elections have one more headache: trying to combat misinformation that sows distrust about voting and results while fueling vitriol aimed at rank-and-file election workers. Some states and counties are devoting more money or staff to a problem that has only grown more...
What’s next for the UK as Queen Elizabeth II laid to rest
LONDON — The death of Queen Elizabeth II set in motion a tightly choreographed series of ceremonial and constitutional steps, as Britain undergoes a period of national mourning and enters the reign of King Charles III. A long-established 10-day plan, code-named Operation London Bridge, covers arrangements for the queen’s final...
Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin takes long road through Scotland
EDINBURGH, Scotland — In a somber, regal procession, Queen Elizabeth II’s flag-draped coffin was driven slowly through the Scottish countryside Sunday from her beloved Balmoral Castle to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh. Mourners packed city streets and highway bridges or lined rural roads with cars and tractors to take part...
Biden honors 9/11 victims, vows commitment to thwart terror
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden marked the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, taking part in a somber wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon held under a steady rain and paying tribute to “extraordinary Americans” who gave their lives on one of the nation’s darkest days. Sunday’s ceremony occurred a...
As small businesses raise prices, some customers push back
NEW YORK — Inflation isn’t only costing small businesses money. It’s costing them customers as well. At the Bushwick Grind Cafe in Brooklyn, New York, Kymme Williams-Davis has raised prices and switched to different types of goods to keep up with the rising costs of milk, coffee, paper goods and...
9/11 attacks still reverberate as U.S. marks 21st anniversary
NEW YORK — Americans remembered 9/11 on Sunday with tear-choked tributes and pleas to “never forget,” 21 years after the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil. Bonita Mentis set out to read victims’ names at the World Trade Center wearing a necklace with a photo of her slain sister, Shevonne...
2 decades later, 9/11 self-professed mastermind awaits trial
NEW YORK — Hours before dawn on March 1, 2003, the U.S. scored its most thrilling victory yet against the plotters of the Sept. 11 attacks — the capture of a disheveled Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, hauled away by intelligence agents from a hideout in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The global manhunt for...
Joe Manchin’s big energy deal attracts pushback from many Democrats
WASHINGTON — Democrats desperately needed the vote of Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia to get their signature legislative priority across the finish line. So they did what Washington does best: They cut a deal. To help land his support for a bill hailed by advocacy groups as the biggest...
Forest-rich Africa looks to grow its carbon market
MOMBASA, Kenya — In villages dotted across the African continent, locals living in once-heavily forested regions are starting to find their land in high demand. In Kenya’s Gazi Bay, arguably the continent’s most famous mangrove restoration project, thousands of trees have been planted thanks to nearly a decade of concerted...
Stepping up: Next generation of royals to see more scrutiny
LONDON — Prince William and wife Kate made a surprise joint appearance with Prince Harry and wife Meghan on Saturday, warmly greeting a large crowd gathered outside Windsor Castle to remember their long-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. Their “walkabout,” the first time the brothers have appeared amicably together in public...
Russia announces troop pullback from Ukraine’s Kharkiv area
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Saturday that it was pulling back troops from two areas in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region where a Ukrainian counteroffensive has made significant advances in the past week. The news came after days of apparent advances by Ukraine south of Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest...
‘Thank you, ma’am’: A singular queen, mourned by her people
LONDON — By early afternoon, the scent of thousands of lilies and roses floated in the air outside Buckingham Palace. But the pilgrims kept arriving, bearing still more bouquets and notes of endearment addressed to the only queen most have ever known. The scene outside the wrought iron gates was...
Queen Elizabeth is featured on several currencies. Now what?
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II has been depicted on British banknotes and coins for decades. Her portrait also has been featured on currencies in dozens of other places around the world, in a reminder of the British empire’s colonial reach. So what happens next after her death this week? It...
Chief Justice John Roberts defends legitimacy of court
DENVER — Chief Justice John Roberts defended the authority of the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution, saying its role should not be called into question just because people disagree with its decisions. When asked to reflect on the last year at the court in his first public appearance since...
Heat wave breaks in Southern California with spotty rain
SAN DIEGO — Southern Californians welcomed cooler temperatures and spotty rain Saturday from a tropical storm veering off the Pacific Coast days after a relentless heat wave nearly overwhelmed the state’s electrical grid. Officials braced for flooding in coastal and mountain areas from the storm and feared powerful winds could...
Charles is proclaimed king; sons unite to thank the public
LONDON — King Charles III was formally proclaimed sovereign of the United Kingdom on Saturday, as officials unveiled details of the meticulously choreographed ceremonies that will culminate in the state funeral of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Sept. 19. In this time of sorrow for the House of Windsor,...
Black preacher arrested while watering flowers sues police
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A Black pastor who was arrested by white police officers while watering the flowers of a neighbor who was out of town filed a federal lawsuit alleging the ordeal violated his constitutional rights and caused lingering problems including emotional distress and anxiety. Michael Jennings filed the lawsuit...
Wolf administration expands access to voter registration forms ahead of election
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 — Pennsylvania will now offer voter registration forms at libraries, state park offices and state-run veterans homes, among other locations,...
Judge tosses Trump’s Russia probe suit against Clinton, FBI
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Florida has dismissed Donald Trump’s lawsuit against 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and former top FBI officials, rejecting the former president’s claims that they and others acted in concert to concoct the Russia investigation that shadowed much of his administration. U.S. District Judge Donald...
Sheriff: 3 children among victims shot to death in Maryland
ELKTON, Md. — Two adults and three children were found shot to death Friday at a Maryland house after a man called 911 from the home to report a shooting, authorities said. Cecil County Sheriff Scott Adams said a man, a woman and three children — in the 5th, 7th...
U.S. counts millionth organ transplant while pushing for more
The U.S. counted its millionth organ transplant on Friday, a milestone that comes at a critical time for Americans still desperately waiting for that chance at survival. It took decades from the first success — a kidney in 1954 — to transplant 1 million organs, and officials can’t reveal if...
Free breakfasts for all Pa. schoolchildren to start soon
Pennsylvania parents will soon be able to check making breakfast off their list of things to do in the morning rush to get their children ready for school. Starting Oct. 1 and running through the remainder of the 2022-23 school year, that morning meal will be provided in schools. Gov....
Slain Las Vegas reporter spent career chasing corruption
LAS VEGAS — In four decades of writing about the Las Vegas underworld and government corruption, investigative reporter Jeff German took on plenty of powerful and dangerous people. The hard-bitten newsman was once punched by an organized crime associate and received veiled threats from mobsters. Nothing seemed to faze him...
Proud Boys Hawaii leader, friend plead guilty in Jan. 6 riot
The founder of the Hawaii Proud Boys chapter and a Texas man who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and posed for a picture in front a door on which one of them had written “Murder the Media” each pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to a felony charge...
King Charles III, in first address, vows ‘lifelong service’
LONDON — King Charles III vowed in his first speech to the nation as monarch Friday to carry on Queen Elizabeth II’s “lifelong service,” as Britain entered a new age under a new sovereign. Around the world, the queen’s exceptional reign was commemorated, celebrated and debated. Charles, who spent much...
