Microsoft: Russia behind 58% of detected state-backed hacks
Russia accounted for most state-sponsored hacking detected by Microsoft over the past year, with a 58% share, mostly targeting government agencies and think tanks in the United States, followed by Ukraine, Britain and European NATO members, the company said. The devastating effectiveness of the long-undetected SolarWinds hack — it mainly...
Oklahoma schools leader switches parties to run for governor
OKLAHOMA CITY — State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, who has clashed repeatedly with Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and his appointees over the state’s response to covid-19 in schools, said Thursday she will switch parties and run as a Democrat against him next year. A longtime Republican first elected in 2014, Hofmeister...
Senate dodges debt disaster, votes to extend borrowing
WASHINGTON — The Senate dodged a U.S. debt disaster Thursday night, voting to extend the government’s borrowing authority into December and temporarily avert an unprecedented federal default that experts warned would devastate the economy and harm millions of Americans. The vote of 50-48 in support of the bill to raise...
State TV says Iranian speedboats intercepted U.S. Navy vessel
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s state TV reported Thursday that speedboats belonging to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard have intercepted a U.S. vessel in the Persian Gulf. A U.S. Navy spokesman said he was not aware of any such encounter at sea over the past days. The region remains on edge...
Pfizer’s request to OK shots for kids a relief for parentsVideo
Parents tired of worrying about classroom outbreaks and sick of telling their elementary school-age children no to sleepovers and family gatherings felt a wave of relief Thursday when Pfizer asked the U.S. government to authorize its covid-19 vaccine for youngsters ages 5 to 11. If regulators give the go-ahead, reduced-dose...
Strong earthquake in southwest Pakistan kills at least 23
QUETTA, Pakistan — A powerful earthquake collapsed at least one coal mine and dozens of mud houses in southwest Pakistan early Thursday, killing at least 23 people as the death toll continued to creep higher. At least another 200 people were injured, an official said. The death tally was expected...
Thai riverside restaurant finds silver lining in floods
NONTHABURI, Thailand (AP) — A flood-hit riverside restaurant in Thailand has become an unlikely dining hotspot after fun-loving foodies began flocking to its water-logged deck to eat amid the lapping tide. Now, instead of empty chairs and vacant tables, the Chaopraya Antique Café is as full as ever, offering an...
Maryland man accused in death of his pharmacist brother for ‘killing people’ with covid vaccine, court records show
BALTIMORE — A Cumberland man allegedly killed his brother and sister-in-law in their Ellicott City home last week because his brother, a pharmacist, administered covid-19 vaccines, according to charging documents filed Wednesday in a Howard County court. Jeffrey Burnham told his mother he had to confront his older brother, Brian...
Judge orders Texas to suspend new law banning most abortions
AUSTIN — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Texas to suspend the most restrictive abortion law in the United States, which since September has banned most abortions in the nation’s second-most populous state. The order by U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman is the first legal blow to the Texas law...
Biden plans $1 billion push to boost rapid covid-19 testingVideo
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will announce a $1 billion purchase of rapid at-home covid-19 tests on Wednesday, an additional investment geared at expanding the availability of such products in the coming months, a White House official said. Along with the authorization of another at-home test product on Monday, the...
Woman burned rescuing her dog from Yellowstone hot spring
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — A woman from Washington state suffered burns from her shoulders to her feet when she tried to rescue her dog from a Yellowstone National Park hot spring. Park rangers and firefighters cared for the 20-year-old woman before she was taken to the burn unit at...
Vape products contain potentially harmful chemicals, researchers say
Vaping exposes users to around 2,000 chemicals, including potentially harmful industrial compounds, according to a study of four popular brands by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Most of the chemicals found were unidentified, but of those that were, six were cause for concern, according to the study published in Chemical...
Family criticizes investigation into disappearance of Florida teen who was later found dead
ORLANDO, Fla. — The family of Miya Marcano accused the Orange County Sheriff’s Office of failing to initially take her disappearance seriously in a statement released Wednesday along with new video from an encounter with her suspected killer in the hours after she went missing. After Marcano, 19, missed a...
Ban on negotiating Medicare drug prices under pressure
WASHINGTON — Donna Weiner looks at Medicare’s prescription drug program from two different points of view. As a participant, she wants to pay less for her medicines, which cost her about $6,000 a year. As a retired accountant who spent 50 years handling the books for companies, she sees a...
Los Angeles approves one of strictest U.S. vaccination mandates
Los Angeles leaders on Wednesday approved one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates — a sweeping measure that would require the shots for everyone entering bars, restaurants, nail salons, gyms or even a Lakers game. The City Council voted 11-2 in favor of the ordinance that will require proof of...
Student taken into custody hours after Texas school shootingVideo
ARLINGTON, Texas — An 18-year-old student opened fire during a fight at his Dallas-area high school on Wednesday, injuring four people and then fleeing before being taken into custody hours later, authorities said. Timothy George Simpkins was taken into custody without incident, the Arlington Police Department tweeted. He was booked...
McConnell offers Democrats short-term debt fix amid standoff
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday told Democrats he would allow an emergency debt limit extension into December, edging back from a perilous standoff by offering a potential path to avoid a federal default. A procedural vote on legislation that would suspend the debt limit for two...
Can $1 trillion coin fix debt limit? Quirky law says maybe
WASHINGTON — Some politicians think they’ve found a silver bullet for the impasse over the debt limit, except the bullet is made of platinum: Mint a $1 trillion coin, token of all tokens, and use it to flood the treasury with cash and drive Republicans crazy. Even its serious proponents...
Troubled student loan forgiveness program gets an overhaul
The Biden administration is temporarily relaxing the rules for a student loan forgiveness program that has been criticized for its notoriously complex requirements — a change that could offer debt relief to thousands of teachers, social workers, military members and other public servants. The Education Department said Wednesday it will...
Man charged with killing hospital co-worker, wounding Philadelphia policeVideo
PHILADELPHIA — A man faced murder and other charges Tuesday in the shooting death of a colleague at the Philadelphia hospital where they both worked and the subsequent wounding of two officers in an exchange of gunfire near a school. Stacey Hayes, 55, was charged with murder, attempted criminal homicide,...
FBI raids offices of New York City police sergeants union
NEW YORK — Federal agents raided the offices Tuesday of a New York City police union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, and the Long Island home of its bombastic leader, who has clashed with city officials over his incendiary tweets and hard-line tactics. FBI spokesperson Martin Feely said agents were “carrying...
California pipeline may have been hooked by ship’s anchorVideo
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — The pipeline that leaked tens of thousands of gallons of oil into the water off Southern California was split open and apparently dragged more than 100 feet along the ocean floor, possibly by a ship’s anchor, officials said Tuesday. The segment of the pipe that was...
New Hampshire governor seeks removal of panel chair over false covid claims
CONCORD, N.H. — Gov. Chris Sununu is calling for the removal of a state representative, a fellow Republican, from his position as head of the legislative fiscal committee, saying the lawmaker is continuing to spread covid-19 misinformation. Last month, Rep. Ken Weyler, of Kingston, told state Health Commissioner Lori Shibinette...
Covid spike pushes Alaska’s health care system to brink
TANACROSS, Alaska — One Alaska Native village knew what to do to keep out covid-19. They put up a gate on the only road into town and guarded it round the clock. It was the same idea used a century ago in some isolated Indigenous villages to protect people from...
Lawyers urge California bar to probe key adviser’s role in Trump bid to overturn 2020 electionVideo
WASHINGTON — A group of prominent lawyers, including former governors and judges, urged the California bar to launch an investigation into John C. Eastman’s role in advising President Trump on how he could overturn his election defeat, including by having his vice president refuse to count the electoral votes in...
