4 journalists accused of working for Kremlin foe Navalny are convicted of extremism
MOSCOW — A Russian court on Tuesday convicted four journalists of extremism for working for an anti-corruption group founded by the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny and sentenced them to 5½ years in prison each. Antonina Favorskaya, Kostantin Gabov, Sergey Karelin and Artyom Kriger were found guilty of involvement with...
Another U.S. aircraft carrier in Mideast waters ahead of second round of Iran-U.S. nuclear talks
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A second U.S. aircraft carrier is operating in Mideast waters ahead of the next round of talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, satellite photos analyzed Tuesday by The Associated Press showed. The operation of the USS Carl Vinson...
Ranchers cautiously optimistic Trump’s tariffs will boost demand for cattle
OMAHA, Neb. — Rancher Brett Kenzy hopes President Donald Trump’s tariffs will make imported beef expensive enough that Americans will turn to cattle raised at home for all their hamburgers and steaks. That might raise prices enough to give Kenzy and others the incentive they need to expand their herds...
Kim Kardashian will testify in a trial over a 2016 robbery that targeted her in Paris
PARIS — Kim Kardashian will testify in person at an upcoming trial over a 2016 heist in Paris in which armed robbers allegedly tied her up and locked her in a bathroom while they stole millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry, her lawyer said Tuesday. Ten suspects accused of armed...
Israeli airstrike hits hospital entrance in Gaza, killing medic and wounding 9
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike hit the northern gate of a field hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing a medic and wounding nine other people, a spokesman for the hospital said. The strike hit the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in the Muwasi area, where hundreds of...
As dementia rates increase, experts warn hospital emergency rooms are underprepared
AURORA, Ill. — At her mother’s home in Illinois, Tracy Balhan flips through photos of her dad, Bill Speer. In one picture, he’s smiling in front of a bucket of sweating beers and wearing a blue T-shirt that reads, “Pops. The man. The myth. The legend.” Balhan’s father died last...
Buffalo teacher placed on leave after mistakingly giving students THC gummies
A New York teacher has been placed on administrative leave after giving her students edible THC gummies that she mistook for Sour Patch kids. The incident happened at William J. Grabiarz School of Excellence in Buffalo, N.Y., according to WKBW. The edibles were packaged to look like regular candy, police...
Man accused of trying to kill Gov. Shapiro lost his home, tried suicide, was melting down
There was a time in Cody Balmer’s life where, from the outside, you might say things were on an even keel. He was a married homeowner, working full-time as an auto mechanic at a well-regarded shop, and a fixture at his kid’s youth sports events. “Always seemed like a hardworking...
Xi makes a case for free trade, presenting China as a source of ‘stability and certainty’
BANGKOK — China’s Xi is making the case for free trade as he tours Southeast Asia this week, presenting China as a source of “stability and certainty.” On Monday, he was welcomed to Hanoi with pomp and ceremony by Vietnam’s President Luong Cuong. He arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital,...
Iranian supreme leader expresses endorsement of talks with U.S.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s supreme leader said Tuesday that the first round of talks with the United States went “well,” in his first public comment on the negotiations, state television reported. The comments by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while couched, represented his endorsement of the talks so...
Japan’s chief trade negotiator to visit Washington for tariff talks this week
TOKYO — Japan’s chief trade negotiator will visit the United States this week for talks aimed at convincing U.S. President Donald Trump to remove tariff measures against the East Asian country, officials said Tuesday. Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa will be in Washington from Wednesday to Friday for talks with...
Officials work to uncover the motive for fire set at Pa. governor’s residence
HARRISBURG — Investigators worked Tuesday to uncover the motive behind an arson fire over the weekend at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion, the latest act of political violence in the U.S. They dug into Cody Balmer’s background after, authorities say, he scaled an iron security fence in the middle of...
South Korea to boost support of semiconductor industry in the face of Trump’s tariffs
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said Tuesday it will expand its financial support package for its crucial semiconductor industry to about $23 billion in part of efforts to address uncertainties posed by the Trump administration’s tariff hikes. The package represents roughly a 26% increase from the nearly $18 billion...
Biden warns that Trump administration ‘taking hatchet’ to Social Security
CHICAGO — Former President Joe Biden warned on Tuesday that President Donald Trump has “taken a hatchet” to Social Security, weighing in on a critical issue for millions of Americans as the 82-year-old Democrat briefly returned to the national stage. Biden, who has largely avoided speaking publicly since leaving the...
Jury begins in Harvey Weinstein’s retrial, a year after court overturned landmark #MeToo verdict
NEW YORK — The last time a New York City jury sat in judgment of Harvey Weinstein, the ex-movie studio boss was convicted of rape and sentenced to 23 years in prison. Five years later, that landmark #MeToo verdict is gone — wiped away on appeal — and Weinstein is...
Despite a court order, White House bars AP from Oval Office event
Despite a court order, a reporter and photographer from the Associated Press were barred from an Oval Office news conference Monday with President Donald Trump and his counterpart from El Salvador, Nayib Bukele. Last week’s federal court decision forbidding the Trump administration from punishing the AP for refusing to rename...
‘That was awesome!’ California’s earthquake early warning system let many know about temblor
Monday’s magnitude 5.2 temblor marked another success for California’s earthquake early warning system, with users in some areas saying they received alerts on their phones before they felt shaking. The alerts in some cases provided pivotal seconds of lead time — a heads-up that could be critical in the event...
Hempfield Area School Board considers shifting school start, dismissal times
Hempfield Area School District’s students might get home earlier next academic year. The school board will vote next week on whether to make an adjustment to the district’s arrival and dismissal schedule. The adjustment would place the high school and middle school students on the same schedule — shifting the...
White House proposes drastic cuts to State Department and funding for U.N., NATO and other groups
WASHINGTON — The White House’s Office of Management and Budget has proposed gutting the State Department’s budget by almost 50%, closing a number of overseas diplomatic missions, slashing the number of diplomatic staff, and eliminating funding for nearly all international organizations, including the United Nations, many of its agencies and...
Trump criticizes Iran for ‘tapping us along’ with second round of nuclear talks set for Saturday
ROME — President Donald Trump complained Monday about the pace of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran as the two countries start a new round of pivotal negotiations. “I think they’re tapping us along,” he said in the Oval Office during a meeting with El Salvador’s president. The...
Mario Vargas Llosa, Peruvian author and Nobel literature laureate, dies at 89
LIMA, Peru — Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel literature laureate and a giant of Latin American letters, died Sunday. He was 89. He was a prolific author and essayist with such celebrated novels as “The Time of the Hero” (La Ciudad y los Perros) and “Feast of the Goat,”...
Hungary passes constitutional amendment to ban LGBTQ+ public events, seen as a major blow to rights
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary’s parliament Monday passed an amendment to the constitution that allows the government to ban public events by LGBTQ+ communities, a decision that legal scholars and critics call another step toward authoritarianism by the populist government. The amendment, which required a two-thirds vote, passed along party lines...
Army to control land on Mexico border as part of base, migrants could be detained, officials say
WASHINGTON — A long sliver of federal land along the U.S.-Mexico border that President Donald Trump is turning over to the Department of Defense would be controlled by the Army as part of a base, which could allow troops to detain any trespassers, including migrants, U.S. officials told The Associated...
5.2-magnitude quake shakes Southern California, tumbling rocks onto roads and items off shelvesVideo
SAN DIEGO — A 5.2-magnitude earthquake shook Southern California on Monday morning, sending boulders tumbling onto rural roadways outside San Diego and rattling items off shelves and walls, but officials reported no injuries or major damage. The quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, struck at 10:08 a.m. local time,...
Search suspended for 5 missing from capsized boat involved in ‘failed suspected smuggling venture’
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The search has been suspended for five people missing after a boat capsized during a “failed suspected smuggling venture” off of Florida’s Atlantic Coast, the Coast Guard said Monday. On Sunday, Coast Guard crews rescued four people from the ocean some 29 miles off of...
