Review suggests Israeli fire killed reporter, no final word
JENIN, West Bank — Who killed Shireen Abu Akleh? Almost two weeks after the death of the veteran Palestinian-American reporter for Al Jazeera, a reconstruction by The Associated Press lends support to assertions from both Palestinian authorities and Abu Akleh’s colleagues that the bullet that cut her down came from...
200 bodies found in Mariupol as war rages in Ukraine’s east
KYIV, Ukraine — Workers digging through rubble found 200 bodies in Mariupol, Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday, another grim discovery in the ruined port city that has seen some of the worst suffering of the 3-month-old war. The bodies found in the basement of a collapsed apartment building were in a...
Pakistan bans Imran Khan’s rally, cracks down on supporters
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan on Tuesday banned ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan from holding a massive, planned rally in the capital of Islamabad and cracked down on his supporters in overnight raids across the country, arresting hundreds. The ban came hours after a policeman was killed during one of the raids,...
GOP to intervene in lawsuit over Pa. Senate race vote-count
HARRISBURG — The national Republican Party is stepping in on the neck-and-neck GOP primary contest for U.S. Senate and opposing a lawsuit that could help former hedge fund CEO David McCormick close the vote gap between him and celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s votes. McCormick’s lawsuit was...
David Perdue says Stacey Abrams ‘demeaning her own race’ ahead of primaryVideo
ATLANTA — Georgia Republican candidate David Perdue on Monday accused Stacey Abrams of “demeaning her own race” in Abrams’ recent criticism of Georgia’s quality of life for its residents. Abrams is bidding to be the first Black woman to be a governor of an American state. She’s without opposition in...
Manhattan DA urges judge to proceed with case against Trump Organization and its CFO
NEW YORK — The Manhattan district attorney’s fraud case against former President Donald Trump’s family real estate business and its long-serving bookkeeper should move forward, prosecutors urged a judge in lengthy court filing Monday. The filing comes in answer to a February motion by the Trump Organization and its chief...
Michigan bureau: 2 top GOP governor candidates short signatures
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s elections bureau said late Monday that five Republican candidates for governor, including two leading contenders, failed to file enough valid nominating signatures and should not qualify for the August primary. The recommendations immediately transformed the race in the battleground state and dealt a major blow to...
Police seek public’s help in search for NYC subway shooter
NEW YORK — Police searching for an unidentified man who shot and killed another passenger on a moving New York City subway train asked for the public’s help Monday. “We need all eyes on this,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell tweeted. She posted two surveillance camera photographs of the unidentified suspect,...
David McCormick sues over counting mail ballots in Pa. Senate race
HARRISBURG — The campaign of David McCormick, who is in a neck-and-neck Republican primary contest for the U.S. Senate against celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, sued in a Pennsylvania court Monday to try to ensure counties obey a brand-new federal appeals court decision that could help him make up...
Watchdog: West Virginia Rep. Alex Mooney likely broke rules with Aruba trip
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A congressional watchdog has determined that Rep. Alex Mooney likely broke House rules when the West Virginia Republican accepted a trip to Aruba allegedly paid for by a campaign client and family friend. The latest allegations were included in a statement released Monday by the House Ethics...
4 people fall off California cliff; 1 dead and 2 badly hurt
PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. — Four people fell off a Southern California ocean cliff before dawn Monday and a man was killed and two women were critically injured, authorities said. The fourth person, a man who suffered minor injuries, managed to climb back up from the beach below and alert...
Ethics panel opens investigation into GOP’s Madison Cawthorn
WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee is investigating allegations that Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn had a conflict of interest in a cryptocurrency he promoted and engaged in an improper relationship with a member of his staff, the panel said Monday. The investigation is just the latest moment of high-profile scrutiny...
Expert: Monkeypox likely spread by sex at 2 raves in EuropeVideo
LONDON — A leading adviser to the World Health Organization described the unprecedented outbreak of monkeypox in developed countries as “a random event” that might be explained by sexual behavior at two recent raves in Europe. Dr. David Heymann, who formerly headed WHO’s emergencies department, told The Associated Press that...
How Doug Mastriano built a grassroots movement in Pa. on election denial, Christianity and Facebook
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 — Two years ago, one Republican operative responded to the thought of a Doug Mastriano gubernatorial run with: “Seriously?” Now,...
Sheriff: Man slain by cop who thought he saw gun was unarmed in South Carolina
AIKEN, S.C. — A motorcyclist who was shot and killed by a deputy in South Carolina who thought he had a gun after a long chase turned out to be unarmed, authorities said. The shooting early Saturday remains under investigation by state agents and Aiken County deputy Christopher Owens is...
Jury selection in school shooter’s trial upended by T-shirt
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The already slow slog of picking jurors in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz hit a new stumbling block Monday when a potential juror’s T-shirt honoring those killed and traumatized in the 2018 massacre resulted in the dismissal of her entire group of...
Florida suspends abortion clinic after hospitalizations
PENSACOLA, Fla. — An abortion clinic that serves women from all over the U.S. South had its license suspended this weekend under an emergency order from Florida health officials after two women who underwent procedures at the clinic were hospitalized this year. The state Agency for Health Care Administration ordered...
N.Y.C. to pay $7M to man wrongfully convicted in 1996 killing
NEW YORK — New York City has agreed to pay $7 million to a man who spent 23 years behind bars for a murder he didn’t commit, Comptroller Brad Lander said Monday. Grant Williams was exonerated last July in the 1996 shooting of Shdell Lewis outside a Staten Island public...
Life imitates art: ‘Jaws’ extra named police chief
OAK BLUFFS, Mass. — A man who as a child had a brief but key role in “Jaws” has been named police chief on the Massachusetts island on which the 1975 movie was partially filmed. Jonathan Searle was offered the job of police chief in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard...
More than 16 tons of medication collected in Pa. during DEA Take Back Day
More than 16 tons of prescription medication were collected in Pennsylvania last month during the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. At 251 collection sites in the state, 32,848 pounds of unwanted, unused or expired medication was dropped off, according to agency statistics released Monday from the...
‘Never have I been so ashamed’: Russian envoy criticizes war
DAVOS, Switzerland — A veteran Russian diplomat to the U.N. Office at Geneva says he handed in his resignation before sending out a scathing letter to foreign colleagues inveighing against the “aggressive war unleashed” by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. Boris Bondarev, 41, confirmed his resignation in a letter...
Vietnam memorial replica to visit Erie Memorial Day weekend
ERIE — The Wall That Heals, a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., will arrive in Erie this Wednesday and remain there throughout Memorial Day weekend. The wall have a motorcycle escort from Conneaut, Ohio, which will leave at 1 p.m. Arrival of the escort...
Pool noodle fight over the name Josh again attracts hundreds
LINCOLN, Neb. — A couple hundred people grabbed their pool noodles and headed to a Nebraska park again this weekend to battle over the right to the name Josh. The event started as an online joke when Josh Swain from Tucson, Arizona, sent out a tweet challenging anyone who shared...
Former Pa. AG Kathleen Kane sent to treatment after probation violation
NORRISTOWN — Pennsylvania’s former top law enforcement officer, who served jail time for leaking secret investigative files and lying about it, admitted Monday that she violated her probation when she was arrested for drunken driving in March. Kathleen Kane, the first woman and first Democrat to be elected attorney general...
Russian sentenced to life in Ukraine’s 1st war crimes trial
KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian court sentenced a 21-year-old Russian soldier to life in prison Monday for killing a Ukrainian civilian, sealing the first guilty conviction for war crimes since Moscow’s invasion three months ago. Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin pleaded guilty to shooting a Ukrainian civilian in the head in a...