Felony charges are 1st in a fatal crash involving Autopilot
California prosecutors have filed two counts of vehicular manslaughter against the driver of a Tesla on Autopilot who ran a red light, slammed into another car and killed two people in 2019. The defendant appears to be the first person to be charged with a felony in the United States...
U.S. faces wave of omicron deaths in coming weeks, models say
The fast-moving omicron variant may cause less severe disease on average, but covid-19 deaths in the U.S. are climbing and modelers forecast 50,000 to 300,000 more Americans could die by the time the wave subsides in mid-March. The seven-day rolling average for daily new covid-19 deaths in the U.S. has...
White House soft-launches free covid test request website
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday quietly launched its website for Americans to request free at-home covid-19 tests, a day before the site was scheduled to officially launch. The website, covidtests.gov, now includes a link for Americans to order up four at-home tests per residential address, to be delivered...
Rome villa with Caravaggio ceiling fails to sell, to be reauctioned
A villa in Rome containing the only known ceiling painted by Caravaggio went on a court-ordered auction block Tuesday, thanks to an inheritance dispute pitting the heirs of one of Rome’s aristocratic families against their stepmother, a Texas-born princess. Princess Rita Jenrett Boncompagni Ludovisi, formerly known as Rita Carpenter, woke...
Opera singer accepts insanity plea in Mar-a-Lago breach
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Connecticut opera singer who drew fire from law enforcement when she sped through a checkpoint outside then-President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida two years ago was found not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday. Florida prosecutors and Circuit Judge Scott Suskauer accepted Hannah Roemhild’s...
Big voting bill faces defeat as 2 Democrats won’t stop filibusterVideo
WASHINGTON — Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights leaders say is vital for protecting democracy appeared headed for defeat as the Senate churned into debate Tuesday, a devastating setback enabled by President Joe Biden’s own party as two holdout senators refuse to support rule changes to overcome a Republican...
Despite huge volcano blast, Tonga avoids widespread disaster
The blast from the volcano could be heard in Alaska, and the waves crossed the ocean to cause an oil spill and two drownings in Peru. The startling satellite images resembled a massive nuclear explosion. And yet, despite sitting almost on top of the volcano that erupted so violently on...
Why airlines fear 5G will upend travel this week
AT&T will postpone new wireless service near some airports planned for this week after the nation’s largest airlines said the service would interfere with aircraft technology and cause massive flight disruptions. The company said Tuesday it would delay turning on new cell towers around runways at some airports — it...
Fun in the snow: Readers share photos of sledding, shoveling, snowball fights
Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania saw its first major snowfall of the season and the people across the region got out and enjoyed it. Check our gallery of images submitted from readers of people having winter fun. Did you capture a fun photo in the snow Sunday or Monday? We’d love...
Hong Kong to kill 2,000 animals after hamsters get covid
HONG KONG — Hong Kong authorities said Tuesday that they will kill about 2,000 small animals, including hamsters, after several tested positive for the coronavirus at a pet store where an employee was also infected. The city will also stop the sale of hamsters and the import of small mammals,...
Decaying fixer-upper on ‘best block’ in San Francisco sells for $2M
OAKLAND, Calif. — A decaying, 122-year-old Victorian marketed as “the worst house on the best block” of San Francisco has sold for nearly $2 million — an eye-catching price that the realtor said was the outcome of overbidding in an auction. A developer’s $1.97 million cash offer for the 2,158-square-foot...
Blinken to visit Ukraine as U.S.-Russia tensions escalateVideo
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Ukraine this week and meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as tensions between the U.S. and Russia escalate over a possible Russian invasion of its neighbor, the State Department said Tuesday. Blinken will be in Kyiv on a hastily arranged trip to...
Biden year 1 takeaways: Grand ambitions, humbling defeats
Joe Biden’s long arc in public life has always had one final ambition: to sit behind the Resolute Desk of the Oval Office. He achieved it — albeit, at 78, as the oldest person to assume the presidency. After the turbulence and chaos of his predecessor, Donald Trump, Biden was...
Suspended professor who made profanity-filled video threatens to sue if he’s not reinstated
DETROIT — A Michigan professor who was suspended after making a profanity-filled video for his students is threatening to file a lawsuit if Ferris State University doesn’t quickly lift the sanction. An attorney for Barry Mehler warned the school in a letter Tuesday, saying the history teacher is protected by...
Abortion clinics challenging Texas law dealt new setback
NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals court on Monday steered a decision about Texas’ strict abortion law to the state’s Republican-majority Supreme Court, dealing opponents another defeat and raising their concerns that the near-total ban on abortions will remain intact for the foreseeable future. The Texas law that bans abortion...
Winter storm whipping northeast U.S. with snow, thunderstormsVideo
NEW YORK — A dangerous winter storm brought significant snowfall, strong thunderstorms and blustery wind to the northeastern United States on a holiday Monday. The storm system dropped a foot or more of snow in parts of New York state, Ohio and Pennsylvania Sunday night through Monday morning after pummeling...
Trump backers sought ways into Michigan Capitol for electors meetingVideo
LANSING, Mich. — Supporters of former President Donald Trump privately discussed ways they could gain access to the Michigan Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, when the battleground state’s presidential electors met, according to four sources with knowledge of the planning. The conversations reveal some of Trump’s Michigan backers were considering...
Texas hostage-taker had ‘mental health issues,’ his brother saysVideo
DALLAS — The brother of the hostage-taker who held four people captive at a Colleyville synagogue over the weekend said the British national had “serious mental health issues” prior to traveling to the U.S. and allegedly getting a gun on the streets. Malik Faisal Akram, 44, of Blackburn, England, is...
North Korea fires short-range missiles in 4th launch this monthVideo
North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea Monday in its fourth weapons launch this month, South Korea’s military said, with the apparent goal of demonstrating its military might during paused diplomacy with the United States and pandemic border closures. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North...
Out of this world: 555.55-carat black diamond lands in Dubai
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Auction house Sotheby’s Dubai has unveiled a diamond that’s literally from out of this world. Sotheby’s calls the 555.55-carat black diamond — believed to have come from outer space — “The Enigma.” The rare gem was shown off on Monday to journalists as part of...
Official: Alec Baldwin surrenders phone for shooting probe
SANTA FE, N.M. — Alec Baldwin has surrendered his cellphone to authorities as part of the investigation into a fatal shooting on a New Mexico film set last fall, a law enforcement official said. Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Juan Rios said Baldwin’s phone was turned over Friday to...
Flights sent to assess Tonga damage after volcanic eruptionVideo
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand and Australia were able to send military surveillance flights to Tonga on Monday to assess the damage a huge undersea volcanic eruption left in the Pacific island nation. A towering ash cloud since Saturday’s eruption had prevented earlier flights. New Zealand hopes to send...
Pa. GOP answered Wolf vetoes with constitution changes in strategy that’s here to stay
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 — Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed more than 50 bills as he begins his final year in office, a number...
Western Pa. native, Pitt grad helped shine new light on betrayal of Anne Frank
AMSTERDAM — A cold case team that combed through evidence for five years in a bid to unravel one of World War II’s enduring mysteries has reached what it calls the “most likely scenario” of who betrayed Jewish teenage diarist Anne Frank and her family. Their answer, outlined in a...
On MLK Day, Janet Yellen says U.S. economy is unfair to Black people
ATLANTA — The U.S. economy “has never worked fairly for Black Americans — or, really, for any American of color,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a speech delivered Monday, one of many by national leaders acknowledging unmet needs for racial equality on Martin Luther King Day. Major events for...
