Biden tells Dems to quickly pass pared-down economic package
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden seemed to bow Friday to Sen. Joe Manchin’s demand for a slimmed-down economic package, telling Democrats to quickly push the election-year measure through Congress so families could “sleep easier” and enjoy the health care savings it proposes. Biden’s statement came hours after Manchin, the West...
2 suspects arrested in probe of deadly 7-Eleven shootings
LOS ANGELES — Authorities said Friday that two suspects have been arrested in a series of deadly robberies at Southern California 7-Eleven convenience stores where two people were killed and three wounded. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced the arrests on social media. A press conference is scheduled for...
Mexico captures infamous drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero
MEXICO CITY — Infamous drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985, has been captured by Mexican forces nearly a decade after walking out of a Mexican prison and returning to drug trafficking, an official with Mexico’s navy confirmed Friday. The...
3 men cleared in 1995 killing of NYC subway token clerk
NEW YORK — After decades in prison, three men were cleared Friday in one of the most horrifying crimes of New York’s violent 1990s — the killing of a clerk who was set on fire in a subway toll booth. A judge dismissed the murder convictions of Vincent Ellerbe, James...
Russia, U.S. agree to resume ride sharing for space station missions
The U.S. and Russian space agencies said they have agreed to resume having crew members ride to the International Space Station on each others’ rockets. The arrangement with Roscosmos will send an integrated crew to the space station in September, NASA said Friday in an emailed news release. Crews shared...
Georgia DA considers seeking Trump testimony in 2020 probe
ATLANTA — The Georgia prosecutor investigating potential criminal interference in the 2020 presidential election is considering requesting that former President Donald Trump testify under oath to a grand jury, while several people already subpoenaed as part of the probe have received letters informing them that they’re at risk of being...
Biden says he raised Khashoggi murder with crown prince
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — President Joe Biden said he brought up the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in his meeting Friday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, rejecting the idea that he was ignoring the kingdom’s human rights abuses as he tries to reset a critical diplomatic relationship. “I said,...
Fetterman trolls Oz with big funds, Snooki
HARRISBURG — Democrat John Fetterman posted a massive $11 million fundraising haul during the second quarter. He’s on an advertising spree that’s made him a near-constant presence on television in Pennsylvania. And he grabs attention with snarky, irreverent social media posts. Most recently, he employed MTV’s “Jersey Shore” star Nicole...
Texas man arrested in connection with 4 LA-area cold-case killings dating to 1980
LOS ANGELES — A Texas man has been arrested in connection with four cold-case homicides from Los Angeles and Inglewood dating as far back as 1980, authorities said Thursday night. Detectives from the Los Angeles and Inglewood police departments traveled to Fort Worth, where they arrested 76-year-old Billy Ray Richardson...
Man exonerated in Malcolm X killing sues NYC for $40 million
NEW YORK — A man who was exonerated last year in the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X has filed a $40 million lawsuit against New York City for the two decades he spent in prison for a notorious crime he did not commit. Lawyers for 84-year-old Muhammad Aziz filed the...
Prosecutors disavow 3 convictions in 1995 NYC subway killing
NEW YORK — Prosecutors are disavowing the convictions of three men who spent decades in prison for one of the most horrifying crimes of New York’s violent 1990s — the killing of a clerk who was set on fire in a subway toll booth. Vincent Ellerbe, James Irons and Thomas...
Medical examiner: Jayland Walker was shot dozens of times
AKRON, Ohio — Jayland Walker, the 25-year-old Black man who died last month at the hands of police in Akron, Ohio, was shot dozens of times, with 26 bullets recovered from his body, according to a preliminary autopsy report released Friday. Dr. Lisa Kohler, the Summit County medical examiner, said...
What to know about 988 — the new national mental health hotline
PHILADELPHIA — Calling for help in a mental health crisis will now be as simple as remembering a new three-digit hotline. The 988 crisis number that goes live nationwide on Saturday is designed to make it easier to get the services currently offered through the 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline...
Man accused in threats to kill Rep. Pramila Jayapal released
SEATTLE — A 48-year-old Seattle man arrested Saturday on suspicion of committing a hate crime against U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal was released from jail Wednesday. King County prosecutors said Seattle police released him because they couldn’t say with certainty that he told the congresswoman to go back to India or...
Ukrainian rescuers hunt for survivors of Vinnytsia airstrike
VINNYTSIA, Ukraine — Rescue teams with sniffer dogs combed through the debris Friday in a central Ukrainian city looking for people still missing after a Russian missile strike a day earlier killed at least 23 people and wounded over 100 others. Russian forces, meanwhile, pounded other sites in a relentless...
UK issues 1st-ever ‘red’ warning for hot weather next week
LONDON — Britain’s Met Office issued its first ever “red” warning for exceptional heat, saying record temperatures early next week will put even healthy people at risk of serious illness and death. The warning covers Monday and Tuesday, when temperatures in England may reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit for the first...
Deposition of Trump, 2 children delayed after Ivana’s death
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump and two of his children got their questioning postponed Friday in a New York civil investigation into their business dealings, a delay that follows the death of Trump’s ex-wife Ivana. The ex-president, son Donald Jr. and daughter Ivanka had been scheduled for depositions...
House to vote on restoring abortion rights, but law unlikely
The House on Friday is expected to vote on two bills that would restore and guarantee abortion access nationwide as Democrats make their first attempt at responding legislatively to the Supreme Court’s landmark decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The legislation stands little chance of becoming law, with the necessary support...
Democrat says Joe Manchin blocking energy, tax provisions in big bill
WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin will oppose an economic measure he’s been negotiating with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer if it includes climate or energy provisions or boosts taxes on the rich or corporations, a Democrat briefed on the conversations said late Thursday, delivering a stunning blow to one of...
Doctor’s lawyer defends steps in Ohio girl’s cross-state abortion
INDIANAPOLIS — The lawyer for an Indiana doctor at the center of a political firestorm after speaking out about a 10-year-old child abuse victim who traveled from Ohio for an abortion said Thursday that her client provided proper treatment and did not violate any patient privacy laws in discussing the...
Texas sues federal government over emergency abortion guidance
The state of Texas sued the federal government Thursday after the Biden administration said federal rules require hospitals to provide abortions if the procedure is necessary to save a mother’s life, even in cases where state law mostly bans the procedure. The lawsuit, which names the Department of Health and...
Shark bites surfer at same New York beach where lifeguard was bittenVideo
SHIRLEY, N.Y. — A surfer says he was bitten by a shark at the same Long Island beach where a shark bit a lifeguard 10 days earlier. Shawn Donnelly told Newsday that he was lying on his surfboard about 12 yards from shore at Smith Point County Park in Shirley...
Watchdog: Secret Service deleted Jan. 6 text messagesVideo
WASHINGTON — Secret Service agents deleted text messages sent and received around the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol even after an inspector general requested them as part of an investigation into the insurrection, the government watchdog has found. The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General,...
Judge agrees to Penn State’s request to seal entire case concerning search warrants involving student victims
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. STATE COLLEGE — At the request of Penn State, a Centre County judge has agreed...
Ivana Trump, first wife of former president, dies at 73
NEW YORK — Ivana Trump, a skier-turned-businesswoman who formed half of a publicity power couple in the 1980s as the first wife of former President Donald Trump and mother of his oldest children, has died in New York City, her family announced Thursday. She was 73. The former president posted...