Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including when Dr. Mehmet Oz announced his run for an open U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania last November, part of his appeal to voters was that he, like former President Donald Trump, came to them straight from their TV screens; U.S. Attorney John Lausch announced Friday morning that telecommunications giant AT&T Illinois had agreed to pay a $23 million fine to the state over its now-admitted scheme to influence former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan between 2010 and 2017; A season of protests has returned to France and put President Emmanuel Macron’s weakened government on the back foot as it tries to quell stubborn refinery worker strikes now broadening into other sectors and more.

National

Dr. Oz is closing the gap in the PA Senate race, but can he win?

When Dr. Mehmet Oz announced his run for an open U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania last November, part of his appeal to voters was that he, like former President Donald Trump, came to them straight from their TV screens.

This combination image shows U.S. Senate candidates John Fetterman and Dr. Mehmet Oz. (Fetterman: Julian Routh/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP, Oz: Ariana Shchuka/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

Social media takes center stage at Oath Keepers trial

One of the right-wing extremists charged with plotting the insurrection last year has hinged his defense on the idea that he was only in the nation’s capital to attend a rally with his wife.

A man wearing an Oath Keepers shirt stands outside the Kenosha County Courthouse in Wisconsin on Nov. 19, 2021. (Paul Sancya/AP)

Regional

Hawaii judge halts ban on short-term rentals

With just 10 days to spare, U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson ruled Thursday in favor of short-term rental property owners, stopping the Oct. 23 enactment of an ordinance enacted to shield Honolulu’s residents from the effect of short-term rentals on the state’s rising housing costs.

Sunrise in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Kelsey Jukam/Courthouse News)

How to survive a catastrophic hurricane in a Florida trailer park

Robert Kanehl, 81 years old and weighing 127 pounds wet, ambles around his trailer lot, pointing to the aluminum siding from blown roofs strewn across the lawn, picking up the smaller pieces and leaning the debris against his home. Kanehl has lived in this single-wide mobile home for more than a decade, just a roof over his head, that now has no door, no windows, no running water and no electricity, which in the subtropic heat and humidity is turning his jeans black and his white undershirt gray. “It was the most fun I’ve had in years!” Kanehl says, cracking a beer.

"I'm still here," said Robert Kanehl, 81, after Hurricane Ian barreled through his trailer park. (Alex Pickett/Courthouse News Service)

AT&T to pay $23M to settle racketeering charges in Illinois

U.S. Attorney John Lausch announced Friday morning that telecommunications giant AT&T Illinois had agreed to pay a $23 million fine to the state over its now-admitted scheme to influence former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan between 2010 and 2017.

International

Oil worker strikes leave France running on empty, test weakened Macron

A season of protests has returned to France and put President Emmanuel Macron’s weakened government on the back foot as it tries to quell stubborn refinery worker strikes now broadening into other sectors.

People push their car in a line of vehicles waiting to reach a station on Oct. 14, 2022, in Nanterre, outside Paris. Strikes in the French refineries of TotalEnergies group were still going on Friday, heavily disrupting fuel supplies as hard-left CGT union rejected a deal over pay rise that has been found between the energy giant and two other more moderate unions. (Michel Euler/AP)

Putin: ‘Our goal is not to destroy all of Ukraine’

Appearing confident and relaxed, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a news conference on Friday where he said he did not regret ordering an invasion of his neighbor and that Russia does not intend to “destroy all of Ukraine.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands during their meeting on sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit, in Astana, Kazakhstan on Oct. 13, 2022. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Poisoned city brings case against Peru over human rights violations to the Inter-American Court

Residents of the Andean city of La Oroya told the Inter-American Court of Human Rights this week of how decades of toxic contamination by a mining company have led to life-changing health implications and environmental damage.

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