California murder suspect, teen daughter killed in shootout
LOS ANGELES — An abducted 15-year-old girl and her father — a fugitive wanted in the death of the teen’s mother — were both killed amid a shootout with law enforcement Tuesday on a highway in California’s high desert, authorities said. San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus did not specify...
Hurricane Ian strikes Cuba, Florida braces for wind, floodingVideo
HAVANA — Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba as a major hurricane Tuesday, knocking out power to the entire country and leaving 11 million people without electricity, before churning on a collision course with Florida over warm Gulf waters amid expectations it would strengthen into a catastrophic Category 4 storm....
Capitol rioter Kyle Young a ‘one-man wrecking ball,’ gets 7-year term
DES MOINES, Iowa — A judge sentenced a Capitol rioter to seven years in prison Tuesday, calling the Iowa man a “one-man wrecking ball” who helped in a sustained assault on a police officer. Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Kyle Young in U.S. District Court in Washington to the long...
Teen killed, 4 wounded in shooting after football scrimmage at Philly area high school
PHILADELPHIA — A 14-year-old youth was killed and four other students wounded in a shooting near a northwest Philadelphia high school athletic field after a football scrimmage, authorities said. Police said players were walking off the field behind Roxborough High School after a scrimmage involving three schools when at least...
Mitch McConnell backs post-Jan. 6 revisions to elections lawVideo
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he will “proudly support” legislation to overhaul rules for certifying presidential elections, bolstering a bipartisan effort to revise a 19th century law and avoid another Jan. 6 insurrection. The legislation would clarify and expand parts of the 1887 Electoral Count Act,...
Virginia students protest Gov. Youngkin’s transgender policiesVideo
McLEAN, Va. — Student activists held school walkouts Tuesday across Virginia to protest Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed changes to the state’s guidance on transgender student policies, revisions that would roll back some accommodations. Beginning Tuesday morning, students streamed out of their classrooms to decry the model policies unveiled earlier...
Records: Texas attorney general fled home to avoid subpoenaVideo
DALLAS (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ran out of his house and jumped into a truck driven by his wife, a state senator, to avoid being served a subpoena to testify Tuesday in an abortion access case, according to court documents. A process server wrote in an affidavit...
Jan. 6 panel delays hearing as Hurricane Ian aims at Florida
WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol announced Tuesday that it had postponed a hearing scheduled for Wednesday as a hurricane hurtled toward the Florida coast. The committee had planned to hold what was likely to be its final investigative hearing Wednesday afternoon,...
Colorado woman hit by train while detained in police car leaves hospitalVideo
GREELEY, Colo. — A 20-year-old woman who was seriously injured when the parked police patrol vehicle she was detained in was struck by a freight train in northern Colorado has been released from the hospital. Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, of Greeley, is recovering at home with nine broken ribs, a broken arm,...
Philadelphia mayor issues ban on guns at city parks, pools
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed an executive order Tuesday banning guns and deadly weapons from the city’s indoor and outdoor recreation spaces including parks, basketball courts and pools. The order is the latest attempt by Philadelphia officials to regulate guns inside city limits, something made difficult by Pennsylvania’s...
Millions of Americans will save on Medicare fees next year
WASHINGTON — For the first time in a decade, Americans will pay less next year on monthly premiums for Medicare’s Part B plan, which covers routine doctors’ visits and other outpatient care. The rare 3% decrease in monthly premiums — a savings of $5.20 for most — comes after millions...
Libertarian group sues to block student debt cancellation
A libertarian group in California filed a legal challenge to President Joe Biden’s plan for student debt cancellation on Tuesday, calling it an illegal overreach that would increase state tax burdens for some Americans who get their debt forgiven. The lawsuit, believed to be the first targeting Biden’s plan, was...
Former student convicted of spying for Chinese government
CHICAGO — A former graduate student has been convicted of spying for the Chinese government by gathering information on scientists and engineers in the U.S. who had knowledge about aerospace technology and other technology. A federal jury in Chicago convicted Ji Chaoqun, 31, on Monday of conspiracy to act as...
Leaks on Russian gas pipelines raise concerns about sabotage
WARSAW, Poland — Explosions rattled the Baltic Sea before unusual leaks were discovered on two natural gas pipelines running underwater from Russia to Germany, seismologists said Tuesday. Some European leaders and experts are pointing to possible sabotage during an energy standoff with Russia provoked by the war in Ukraine. The...
Appeals ruling leaves Trump fate in defamation suit in flux
NEW YORK — A federal appeals court asked a Washington D.C. appeals court Tuesday to help it decide whether the United States should be substituted for former President Donald Trump as the defendant in a defamation lawsuit brought by a woman who says he raped her over a quarter century...
Jan. 6 sedition trial underway for Oath Keepers leader
WASHINGTON — Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of the founder of the Oath Keepers extremist group and four associates charged with seditious conspiracy, one of the most serious cases to emerge from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Stewart Rhodes and the others are the...
China’s Xi reappears on state TV amid rumors over absence
BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping reappeared on state television Tuesday after a several-day absence from public view that sparked rumors about the 69-year-old leader’s political fortunes. Xi was shown visiting a display at the Beijing Exhibition Hall on the theme of “Forging Ahead into the New Era.” Accompanied by...
Vote in Ukraine’s Russia-held areas stokes tension with West
KYIV, Ukraine — Kremlin-orchestrated referendums that are expected to serve as a pretext for Moscow to annex Russian-held regions of Ukraine concluded Tuesday as the preordained outcome of the votes heightened tension between Russia and the West. Moscow-backed officials in the four occupied regions in southern and eastern Ukraine said...
British pound stabilizes, but turmoil still roils U.K. economy
LONDON — The British pound stabilized Tuesday as U.K. authorities tried to ease investor concerns after the biggest tax cuts in 50 years sent the currency tumbling to a record low the previous day. The turmoil is already having real-world effects, with several British mortgage lenders pulling offers from the...
Hurricane Ian strikes Cuba, Florida braces for Cat 4 damage
HAVANA — Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba on Tuesday as a major hurricane, with nothing to stop it from intensifying into a catastrophic Category 4 storm before it hits Florida, where officials ordered 2.5 million people to evacuate before it crashes ashore Wednesday. Ian made landfall at 4:30 a.m....
Pennsylvania spending $45M to establish 3 new state parks
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is spending $45 million to add new state parks at a nature preserve in Tunkhannock, on Big Elk Creek in the Philadelphia suburbs and along the Susquehanna River near Wrightsville, officials were set to announce Tuesday. The additions to the state’s 121-park system will be an existing...
Meta disables Russian propaganda network targeting Europe
A sprawling disinformation network originating in Russia sought to use hundreds of fake social media accounts and dozens of sham news websites to spread Kremlin talking points about the invasion of Ukraine, Meta revealed Tuesday. The company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said it identified and disabled the operation before...
Prosecutors: Jurors need to see ‘extreme views’ of central Pa. woman accused of stealing Pelosi’s laptop
Weeks before prosecutors say Riley Williams broke into the U.S. Capitol and stole House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop during the Jan. 6 riots, she attended pro-Trump rallies featuring a white supremacist leader, according to new court documents filed in her case. Prosecutors filed motions on Friday advising the court they...
CBO: Biden’s student debt plan would cost $400 billion over 30 years
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s plan for student debt cancellation will cost the federal government about $400 billion over the next 30 years, according to new estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. The figures were released Monday in response to a request from Republican lawmakers who oppose Biden’s plan in...
Pa. election 2022: No constitutional amendments on Nov. 8 ballot, but big ones are looming
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 voters will not see any proposed constitutional amendments on this year’s November ballot, but that is almost certain...