Biden hopes ending cancer can be a ‘national purpose’ for U.S.
BOSTON — President Joe Biden on Monday urged Americans to come together for a new “national purpose” — his administration’s effort to end cancer “as we know it.” At the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Biden channeled JFK’s famed moonshot speech 60 years ago, likening the space race...
Pa. high court tells Wolf it won’t fast track amendments lawsuit
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court on Monday rejected a request from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf that it immediately take up his challenge to Republican legislation that has bundled a constitutional amendment regarding abortion with four unrelated proposed changes. In turning down Wolf’s request, the justices said he was free to...
Bezos rocket fails during liftoff, only experiments aboardVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A rocket crashed back to Earth shortly after liftoff Monday in the first launch accident for Jeff Bezos’ space travel company, but the capsule carrying experiments managed to parachute to safety. No one was aboard the Blue Origin flight, which used the same kind of rocket...
Justice Department OK with 1 Trump pick for Mar-a-Lago arbiter
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Monday that it was willing to accept one of Donald Trump’s picks for an independent arbiter to review documents seized during an FBI search of the former president’s Florida home last month. The accommodation could help accelerate the selection process and shorten any delays...
Police believe 3 children drowned by mother at NYC beach
NEW YORK — Three children were found dead in the surf off Brooklyn’s famed Coney Island boardwalk early Monday and police believe they may have been drowned by their mother. The bodies of the 7-year-old boy, 4-year-old girl and 3-month-old girl were found after a nearly three-hour search that began...
Teacher shortages are real, but not for the reason you heard
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Everywhere, it seems, back-to-school has been shadowed by worries of a teacher shortage. The U.S. education secretary has called for investment to keep teachers from quitting. A teachers union leader has described it as a five-alarm emergency. News coverage has warned of a crisis in teaching. In...
Queen hailed in service as a ‘constant in all our lives’
EDINBURGH, Scotland — As Queen Elizabeth II’s four children walked silently behind, a hearse carried her flag-draped coffin along a crowd-lined street in the Scottish capital Monday to a cathedral, where a service of thanksgiving hailed the late monarch as a “constant in all of our lives for over 70...
Testimony: School shooter’s home ruled by chaos
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Chaos reigned in the home where Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz grew up, testimony in his ongoing penalty trial has shown. He and his half-brother Zachary tormented their adoptive, widowed mother, Lynda. By the time Cruz reached middle school in the early 2010s, the pair took...
‘I cannot mourn’: Former colonies conflicted over the queen
NAIROBI, Kenya — Upon taking the throne in 1952, Queen Elizabeth II inherited millions of subjects around the world, many of them unwilling. Today, in the British Empire’s former colonies, her death brings complicated feelings, including anger. Beyond official condolences praising the queen’s longevity and service, there is some bitterness...
Ukraine keeps initiative, claims it reached Russian border
KHARKIV, Ukraine — Ukraine kept the counteroffensive momentum in its war against Russia going Monday, saying it liberated one village after another and claiming that in one region it pushed the invaders back right up to the border in a lightning military move that stunned many. “In some areas of...
Americans give health care system failing mark: AP-NORC poll
WASHINGTON — When Emmanuel Obeng-Dankwa is worried about making rent on his New York City apartment, he sometimes holds off on filling his blood pressure medication. “If there’s no money, I prefer to skip the medication to being homeless,” said Obeng-Dankwa, a 58-year-old security guard. He is among a majority...
‘Women are the reason we can win,’ John Fetterman says at abortion rights rally
John Fetterman looked out at a gymnasium packed with people wearing bright pink “Fetterwoman” T-shirts and predicted that women would be the difference-maker in his closely watched Senate race. “Women are the reason we can win,” Fetterman said in Blue Bell. “Lemme say that again: Women are the reason we...
Weather helping, but threat from Western fires persistsVideo
FORESTHILL, Calif. — Firefighters made progress against a huge Northern California wildfire that was still growing and threatening thousands of mountain homes on Sunday, while crews also battled major blazes that blanketed large swaths of Oregon and Washington in smoke. The Mosquito Fire in foothills east of Sacramento spread to...
Doug Mastriano’s security bubble insulates him from prying eyes and dissenting views
On a weekday afternoon in late August, Doug Mastriano’s campaign bus pulled up outside Gatsby’s Bar & Grill in suburban Philadelphia just after 1 p.m. The words “Restore Freedom” were emblazoned on the side over a red outline of Pennsylvania. It had been billed as a meet-and-greet. Enthusiastic Republicans were...
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...
