South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds pushes GOP to get ‘louder’ on false Trump claimsVideo
PIERRE, S.D. — U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota has been telling people for the last year that the 2020 election was fair, but this week he did something few other Republicans have dared — tell a national audience that. Now he wishes more Republicans would join him. Rounds,...
Food Podcast: Heat or eat? The impossible choice families are making in the Three Rivers regionVideo
In this episode of the Food Podcast presented by Clearview Federal Credit Union on the TribLIVE Podcast Network, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank addresses the impact cold weather is having on food insecurity. While the Food Bank hasn’t seen a large uptick in people needing food assistance, the Food Bank’s...
Pa. House approves proposed congressional map as court challenges loom
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House has advanced a new congressional map that...
Soaring covid-19 cases renew U.S. debate over mask mandates
Officials across the U.S. are again weighing how and whether to impose mask mandates as covid-19 infections soar and the American public grows ever wearier of pandemic-related restrictions. Much of the debate centers around the nation’s schools, some of which have closed due to infection-related staffing issues. In a variety...
Army ups bonuses for recruits to $50K, as covid takes toll
The U.S. Army, for the first time, is offering a maximum enlistment bonus of $50,000 to highly skilled recruits who join for six years, The Associated Press has learned, as the service struggles to lure soldiers into certain critical jobs amid the continuing pandemic. Maj. Gen. Kevin Vereen, head of...
Omicron wave prompts media to rethink which data to report
NEW YORK — For two years, coronavirus case counts and hospitalizations have been widely used barometers of the pandemic’s march across the world. But the omicron wave is making a mess of the usual statistics, forcing news organizations to rethink the way they report such figures. “It’s just a data...
Germany: 65 children freed from abusers as part of probe
BERLIN — Authorities in Germany say they have rescued 65 children from their abusers over the past two years as part of an investigating into a large-scale sexual abuse network. Police in Cologne said at a news conference Wednesday that the victims ranged from three months to 17 years. Investigators...
U.S. hits North Korean officials with sanctions after missile test
The Biden administration on Wednesday slapped sanctions on five North Korean officials in its first response to Pyongyang’s latest ballistic missile test. The Treasury Department announced it was imposing penalties on the officials over their roles in obtaining equipment and technology for the North’s missile programs. In addition, the State...
Kids’ low covid-19 vaccination rates called a ‘gut punch’
Suspicion, misinformation, complacency and delays because of the holidays and bad weather have combined to produce alarmingly low covid-19 vaccination rates in U.S. children ages 5 to 11, authorities say. As of Tuesday, just over 17% were fully vaccinated, more than two months after shots for the age group became...
Giuffre’s Prince Andrew suit goes ahead despite Epstein deal
A judge gave the green light Wednesday to a lawsuit against Prince Andrew by an American woman who says he sexually abused her when she was 17. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan wrote in an opinion that Andrew’s lawyers failed to successfully challenge the constitutionality of the lawsuit Virginia...
Anti-vaccine protesters try to storm Bulgarian parliament
SOFIA, Bulgaria — Protesters opposing covid-19 restrictions in Bulgaria clashed Wednesday with police as they tried to storm the Parliament in the capital of Sofia. A heavy police presence prevented protesters from entering the building and some were detained. Several people, including police officers, were injured during the clashes. Eventually,...
Biden is sending more covid tests to schools to keep them open
The Biden administration is increasing federal support for covid-19 testing for schools in a bid to keep them open amid the omicron surge. The White House announced Wednesday that a dedicated stream of 5 million rapid tests and 5 million lab-based PCR tests will be made available to schools starting...
Car bomb hits outside Mogadishu airport in Somalia; 8 killed
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A car bomb exploded Wednesday outside the international airport in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, killing at least eight people and wounding nine others, a local doctor said. The al-Shabab extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was targeting “white officials” passing by. Dr. Abdulkadir Adam with...
NATO, Russia in high-level talks as Ukraine tensions simmer
BRUSSELS — Senior NATO and Russian officials were meeting Wednesday to try to bridge seemingly irreconcilable differences over the future of Ukraine, amid deep skepticism that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s security proposals for easing tensions are genuine. The talks come during a week of high-stakes diplomacy and a U.S.-led effort...
Edmunds: Shopping for a car this year will not be the same
2021 was an unusual year for the automotive industry. While customer demand for new cars rebounded from the economic uncertainty of 2020, automakers found themselves unable to meet that demand because of semiconductor chip shortages and supply chain problems. So what should car shoppers expect for 2022? Much of the...
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice tests positive for covid-19
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice tested positive for covid-19 on Tuesday, his office announced. Justice had a sudden onset of symptoms, then was administered a PCR test that was positive for the coronavirus. A test by a state laboratory confirmed the initial result and an additional test...
Man arrested for damaging American jet in Honduras released
A passenger arrested in Honduras for damaging the cockpit of an American Airlines jet during boarding was released by authorities hours later. The flight scheduled to depart for Miami on Tuesday afternoon was delayed for hours until a replacement plane could be arranged. The flight arrived in Florida early Wednesday,...
Christmas tree behind Philadelphia fire that killed 12, officials confirm
PHILADELPHIA — A Christmas tree fire caused the blaze that killed 12 relatives in a Philadelphia rowhome duplex, investigators confirmed Tuesday as they identified victims and announced preliminary findings, but stopped short of officially saying a 5-year-old boy playing with a lighter was behind it. Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel hesitated...
Medicare limits coverage of $28,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug
WASHINGTON — Medicare said Tuesday it will limit coverage of a $28,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug whose benefits have been widely questioned, a major development in the nation’s tug-of-war over the fair value of new medicines that offer tantalizing possibilities but come with prohibitive prices. The initial determination from the Centers for...
Planners of Jan. 6 Trump rally subpoenaed by House panel
WASHINGTON — The House panel investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection issued subpoenas on Tuesday to two Republican strategists and a Trump administration official regarding their involvement in the planning and preparation of one of the rallies that preceded the attack. Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, Democratic chairman of the panel, issued...
North Carolina deputy made frantic 911 call after shooting
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — An off-duty sheriff’s deputy had a frantic conversation with a 911 operator after fatally shooting a Black man last weekend in North Carolina, saying the pedestrian did “jump on my vehicle and broke my windshield,” according to an audio recording released Tuesday. Deputy Jeffrey Hash can then...
Omicron may be headed for a rapid drop in U.S. and BritainVideo
Scientists are seeing signals that covid-19′s alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the United States, at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically. The reason: The variant has proved so wildly contagious that it may already be running out...
Medical helicopter crashes near Delaware County church; all 4 aboard surviveVideo
UPPER DARBY — A pilot crash-landed a medical helicopter Tuesday without loss of life in a residential area of suburban Philadelphia, somehow avoiding a web of power lines and buildings as the aircraft fluttered, hit the street and slid into bushes outside a church, authorities and witnesses said. It was...
Police: Nurse in Italy caught faking shots, ditching vaccine
ROME — Police in Italy have arrested a nurse on charges that he faked giving coronavirus vaccinations to at least 45 people so they could get a health pass fraudulently, ditching vaccines in a bin and even putting bandages on his “patients” so no one would suspect the scam. Police...
Oklahoma death row inmates offer firing squad as alternative
OKLAHOMA CITY — Two men on Oklahoma’s death row — at the prodding of a federal judge — agreed to choose execution by firing squad as a way to delay their upcoming lethal injections, one of their attorneys told the judge. The two inmates, Donald Grant and Gilbert Postelle, want...
