The maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is 30 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine, the DOJ says. Read moreMonroe County man accused of producing images of child pornography

The Luzerne County Board of Elections on Friday filed a brief arguing County Manager Romilda Crocamo does not have authority to override its decision to employ ballot drop boxes in next month's election, echoing a statement Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle A. Henry made a day earlier. Read moreElection board argues Crocamo lacks authority to deny drop boxes

Some Scranton School District board members claim a campaign contribution from the owner of a bus company that works with the district is a conflict of interest. Read moreScranton bus flap sparks conflict of interest debate

Paul Cotter had a goal and an assist in his Devils debut as New Jersey beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 in the NHL regular-season opener played in the Czech Republic capital. The teams’ series of two games on Friday and Saturday is part of the NHL global series. Two more international games will be played in Tampere, Finland, on Nov. 1-2 when defending Stanley Cup champion Florida faces the Dallas Stars. The game began Friday with players and spectators observing 13 seconds of silence to honor Johnny Gaudreau. The Columbus Blue Jackets forward was killed along with his brother Matthew on Aug. 29 while bicycling in New Jersey. Read moreDevils beat Sabres 4-1 in NHL regular-season opener in Prague

An international yoga business founder whose chain of yoga studios promoted themselves as “Yoga to the People” has pleaded guilty to a tax charge in a New York federal court. Gregory Gumucio apologized Friday as he admitted not paying over $2.5 million in taxes from 2012 to 2020. Judge John P. Cronan set sentencing for Jan. 16. A plea agreement Gumucio reached with prosecutors calls for him to receive a sentence of about five years in prison, the maximum amount of time he could face after pleading guilty to a single count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. Read moreYoga business founder pleads guilty to tax charge in New York City

Oil prices climbed this week as unrest in the Middle East escalated. Iran launched missiles at Israel and the Israelis threatened retaliation, raising the possibility of a disruption on the flow of oil from the region. A jump in oil prices automatically spurs fear of a spike in gasoline prices, but experts see reasons that may not happen. The long-term expectation among market watchers is for oil prices to move lower, not higher. That’s because the balance between supply and demand has tilted toward supply, a dynamic that typically weighs on oil prices. Read moreWhat's next for oil and gas prices as Middle East tensions heat up?

After 1,080 days as president, Joe Biden on Friday decided to pop in and take questions in the White House briefing room for the first time. He strode in with a grin after a strong monthly jobs report and the temporary settlement of a strike by ports workers. The president has been less available than his recent predecessors to questions from the White House press corps. That made his surprise appearance welcome to the gathered reporters who waited as his press secretary’s  daily briefing was moved up 15 minutes, then delayed for more than 50 minutes. Biden proceeded to answer questions about the 2024 presidential election, the latest jobs numbers and the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Read moreBiden talks election, economy and Middle East in surprise news briefing

Coldplay’s 10th studio album, Charlie Puth starring as himself in Roku's mockumentary series “The Charlie Puth Show” and EA Sports' NHL 25 are some of this week’s new streaming entertainment releases. Sarah Paulson plays a mother in fear of a sinister presence in “Hold Your Breath" and NBC’s hit series “Found” starring Shanola Hampton returns. Plus, a new adaptation of Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot” lands on Max, the American Music Awards are celebrating their 50th anniversary, and Finneas steps away from his principal collaborator and sister Billie Eilish for his sophomore solo album. Read moreWhat to stream: Coldplay, an unhinged Charlie Puth, 'Salem’s Lot,' Sarah Paulson and NHL 25

After making up privately, former President Donald Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp used the aftermath of Hurricane Helene to put their detente on public display with a month to go before Election Day. Trump is the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. Kemp is a popular second-term governor. They appeared together Friday afternoon outside Augusta, Georgia, to tout recovery efforts after Helene made landfall in Florida and wrought widespread damage as it moved inland through Georgia and other states. The appearance was the latest turn in their contentious relationship that traces back to Kemp refusing to help Trump overturn Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. Read moreDonald Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp use hurricane recovery to make first appearance together

The Supreme Court has left in place two Biden administration environmental regulations aimed at reducing emissions of planet-warming methane and toxic mercury. The justices did not detail their reasoning in the orders, which came after a flurry of emergency applications to block the rules from industry groups and Republican-leaning states. There were no noted dissents. The challenges said the Environmental Protection Agency had overstepped its authority and the standards were unattainable. The EPA, on the other hand, said the regulations were squarely within its legal responsibilities. The legal fight is expected to continue in lower courts. Read moreSupreme Court leaves in place two Biden environmental regulations

President Joe Biden has offered some terse words for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he doesn't know whether the Israeli leader is holding up a peace deal in order to influence the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Biden went on to say that “no administration has helped Israel” more than his. He added that Netanyahu should “remember that.” Biden was responding to comments made by one of his allies, Sen. Chris Murphy, who said this week that he was concerned Netanyahu had little interest in a peace deal in part because of U.S. politics. Read moreBiden says he doesn't know whether Israel is holding up peace deal to influence 2024 US election

Nearly 700,000 homes and businesses in the Southeast are still without power more than a week after Hurricane Helene blew through the region. Most of the outages are in the Carolinas and Georgia. More than 220 people died in the storm, and crews are still trying to reach people who haven't been accounted for in some hard-to-reach places. Duke Energy said Friday that it hopes to have the lights back on for many of its customers in the Carolinas by the end of the weekend. But it warns that people living in places with catastrophic damage should be prepared to wait weeks or longer. The storm also caused severe damage to many city water systems. Read moreWhen will the power return? Weary Carolinas residents long for relief after Helene's fury

A former county sheriff has been selected to lead the Los Angeles Police Department, taking charge of the nation's third-largest police force. Mayor Karen Bass announced Friday the appointment of Jim McDonnell and said her choice was based on making Los Angeles safer. The news follows the surprise retirement of Chief Michel Moore, whose tenure was marked by greater scrutiny into excessive force and police killings of civilians in the nation’s second-largest city. A civilian board of Los Angeles police commissioners selected McDonnell out of three final candidates. He rose to second-in-command during his 29 years at the police department and also served as chief of the Long Beach Police Department. Read moreLos Angeles mayor picks ex-sheriff to be city's police chief

U.S. stocks rallied after a surprisingly strong U.S. jobs report raised optimism about the economy. The S&P 500 climbed 0.9% Friday to near its all-time high set on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 341 points to set its own record, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.2%. Banks, cruise-ship operators and other companies whose profits can benefit the most from a stronger economy led the way. Treasury yields soared in the bond market after the strong jobs data forced traders to abandon bets the Federal Reserve may cut its main interest rate by a larger than usual amount at its next meeting. Read moreStock market today: Dow rallies to a record after a blockbuster jobs report

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are trying to get the upper hand with working-class voters in the closing weeks of the presidential campaign. Harris visited a firehouse outside Detroit on Friday and was later heading to the union stronghold of Flint, Michigan. Organized labor has been a bedrock of Democratic support, but Harris has been unable to secure endorsements from some unions that backed Joe Biden four years ago. Trump is eager to make inroads with unions in the election and visited Michigan on Thursday. He's appearing in Georgia with Gov. Brian Kemp, and in North Carolina on Friday. Read moreIn Michigan, Harris works to solidify union support amid signs some of it could be slipping to Trump

Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the union stronghold of Flint, Michigan, on Friday as she battles with Donald Trump for working-class voters who could tip the scales in this year’s election. Her appearance in the battleground state comes the day after U.S. dockworkers suspended their strike in hopes of reaching a new contract, sparing the country a damaging episode of labor unrest that could have rattled the economy. Meanwhile, Trump is heading to Georgia to appear with Gov. Brian Kemp, the latest sign that he’s patched up his rocky relationship with the top Republican in a key battleground state. Read moreThe Latest: Harris to visit Michigan while Trump heads to Georgia

Time is running out for Kyle Busch to stretch his remarkable winning streak to 20 consecutive NASCAR seasons with at least one victory. There are only six races remaining on the year as Busch heads to Talladega Superspeedway, where he has won twice in his career. He is stuck in a career-worst 51-race losing streak headed into Sunday. Busch’s 19 consecutive years with at least one victory is a NASCAR record. Across all three of the national series, he has notched 231 wins. Read moreKyle Busch is in danger of snapping his NASCAR-record 19-year winning streak