2 pythons weighing 100 pounds collapse ceiling in Australia
An Australian returned home and was surprised to discover that his kitchen ceiling had collapsed under the weight of two large pythons apparently fighting over a mate. David Tait entered his home in Laceys Creek in Queensland state on Monday and found a large chunk of his ceiling lying on...
Russia passes 1 million covid-19 cases as epidemic simmers
Russia became the fourth country to pass 1 million confirmed cases of covid-19, joining the U.S., India and Brazil, on the day schools across the country reopened for the new academic year. The Russian government’s virus response center reported 4,729 new coronavirus infections Tuesday, bringing the total to 1,000,048. The...
L.A. Sheriff’s Dept: Deputies kill Black man who dropped a gun
LOS ANGELES — Two deputies fatally shot a black man who scuffled with them after they tried to stop him for riding a bicycle in an unlawful manner, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said. A crowd gathered and marched to the sheriff’s station after the Monday afternoon shooting, demanding justice....
Sheriffs slam governor’s plan to curb Portland violenceVideo
PORTLAND, Ore. — A plan by the governor of Oregon to use sheriff’s deputies from surrounding counties to help patrol Portland following the deadly shooting of a right-wing Trump supporter was sharply criticized by law enforcement officials who said it wouldn’t end the “cycle of violence” in the city that’s...
University of South Carolina officials suspend groups, students over covid-19 rules
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina has suspended six sororities or fraternities, as well 15 students, for violating covid-19 safety rules, the school announced Monday. The announcement came as the number of confirmed cases on campus passed the 500 mark. It also came as some student complained of...
Nation’s eyes on Kenosha ahead of Trump’s visit after Jacob Blake shootingVideo
KENOSHA, Wis. — Still in mourning from three shootings last week that left a Black man paralyzed at the hands of police and two white men dead from the bullets of a teenage vigilante, Kenosha was bracing for more unrest Tuesday as President Donald Trump lands in an embattled city...
Appeals court tosses suit to compel Don McGahn to answer House questions on Mueller probe
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court in Washington for a second time threw out a House Judiciary Committee lawsuit seeking to force former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify about episodes on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. A three-judge panel of the U.S Court of Appeals for...
Steve Bannon, co-defendant in border wall scam case, fumes over being called ‘fraudster’
NEW YORK — The founder of the We Build the Wall charity is outraged by the feds’ description of him as a “fraudster” who used charitable donations for a “lavish lifestyle.” An attorney for Brian Kolfage said Monday that the comments, contained in a press release announcing the indictment of...
Buffalo protester pushed by police out of hospital, looking ahead
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A 75-year-old protester who had been hospitalized with a severe head injury as a result of being shoved by police and falling backward plans to press on with his grassroots activism. “My life is headed in a new direction,” Martin Gugino said in an interview with USA...
St. Louis couple Mark and Patricia McCloskey, charged after waving guns, appear in courtVideo
ST. LOUIS — The attorney for a white St. Louis couple charged for waving guns during a racial injustice protest outside their home said Monday that they’re anxious to prove “with absolute certainty” that they did not commit a crime. One week after Mark and Patricia McCloskey spoke on video...
Philadelphia says homeless encampments must clear by Sept. 9
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia officials on Monday set a Sept. 9 deadline for people to leave a homeless encampment on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and a smaller encampment outside the headquarters of the city’s housing agency. Mayor Jim Kenney said officials have negotiated with organizers and others in the encampments for...
Liberty University announces investigation into Jerry Falwell Jr.’s tenure
RICHMOND, Va. — Liberty University is opening an independent investigation into Jerry Falwell Jr.’s tenure as president, a wide-ranging inquiry that will include financial, real estate and legal matters, the evangelical school’s board announced Monday. In a statement, the board said it had retained an outside firm to investigate “all...
India is becoming the world’s new coronavirus epicenterVideo
India is fast becoming the world’s new virus epicenter, setting a record for the biggest single-day rise in cases as experts predict that it’ll soon pass Brazil — and ultimately the United States — as the worst outbreak globally. As many as 78,512 new cases were added Monday taking the...
Ohio couple, twin teenage children found dead in their home
SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio — A couple and their twin teenage children were found dead in their home after authorities were asked to conduct a welfare check at the residence in a Cleveland suburb, authorities said. Shaker Heights police went to the home around 2:20 p.m. Sunday and soon found Regina...
House to subpoena Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over mail delays
WASHINGTON — The House Oversight Committee intends to subpoena Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for documents on disruptions in mail delivery operations that are now central to questions over the agency’s ability to handle the onslaught of mail-in ballots expected for the November election. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the committee chair,...
‘Antifa hunter’ gets 3 years for online racist threats
A Florida man who called himself “the Antifa hunter” as he waged an online campaign to terrorize and harass those who opposed his white supremacist ideology was sentenced to more than three years in prison Monday. Daniel McMahon, 32, of Brandon, Fla., pleaded guilty in April to using social media...
Americans divided over armed civilians who flock to protestsVideo
BOISE, Idaho — The scenes have become commonplace in 2020: People gathered at state Capitols with semiautomatic long guns strapped across their chests. A couple near St. Louis emerging from their mansion brandishing firearms as Black Lives Matter demonstrators marched by the house. Men roaming the streets with rifles during...
John Oliver: Name sewage plant for me, I’ll give to charity
Comedian John Oliver upped the stakes in a tongue-in-cheek spat with a Connecticut city, offering to donate $55,000 to charity if officials follow through on a joke to name its sewage treatment plant after him. Mayor Mark Boughton said last week that Danbury was going to rename the facility the...
Highway ‘stop-and-frisk’: How Pennsylvania state troopers conduct illegal traffic searches
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan 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 weekly newsletter. This article is a collaboration with The Appeal. Around 10 a.m. on Nov. 6, 2013, a Pennsylvania state trooper pulled...
Appeals court keeps Michael Flynn case alive, won’t order dismissal
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court in Washington declined Monday to order the dismissal of the Michael Flynn prosecution, permitting a judge to scrutinize the Justice Department’s request to dismiss its case against President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser. The decision keeps the matter at least temporarily alive and...
India says China’s military made moves near disputed border
SRINAGAR, India — India said Monday its soldiers thwarted “provocative” movements by China’s military near a disputed border in the Ladakh region months into the rival nations’ deadliest standoff in decades. China’s military said it was taking “necessary actions in response,” without giving details. Local military commanders from the two...
Pennsylvania adds 521 new coronavirus cases, no new deaths
Pennsylvania saw more than 13% fewer cases of covid-19 in August than in July. On Monday, the state’s Department of Health announced 521 new covid-19 cases in Pennsylvania, bringing August’s total to 21,977 cases. In July, the state had 25,442 cases. The state processed fewer unique tests in August (441,348),...
Police: Most arrested during Kenosha protests not from city
KENOSHA, Wis. — Most of the people arrested in demonstrations against police brutality since the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha were not city residents, according to police. Of the 175 people arrested during protests in Kenosha since Blake was shot in the back Aug. 23, leaving the 29-year-old Black...
In aftermath of Hurricane Laura, residents worry about help
LAKE CHARLES, La. — In a matter of hours last week, Hurricane Laura tore through the tire shop Layla Winbush’s family started just under a year ago, reducing most of it to rubble and scattering hundreds of tires across the lot. The storm also damaged her home, which now reeks...
Attorney general sues Philadelphia company, alleges price-gouging on hand sanitizer
More than 5,000 Pennsylvania residents had reported price hikes in essential products during the covid-19 pandemic as of early June, and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro filed a lawsuit against a Philadelphia company accused of charging nearly $76 for a small bottle of hand sanitizer during the height of the...
