Alaska allows hospitals to ration care amid covid spike
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska on Saturday activated emergency crisis protocols that allow 20 medical facilities to ration care if needed as the state recorded the nation’s worst covid-19 diagnosis rates in recent days, straining the state’s limited health care system. The declaration covers three facilities that had already announced...
No winner: Biggest Powerball jackpot in months grows larger
DES MOINES, Iowa — The biggest lottery prize in months grew larger after no ticket matched all five numbers and the Powerball drawn on Saturday night. The estimated jackpot for the next drawing on Monday is $670 million. Saturday night’s numbers were 28, 38, 42, 47 and 52. The Powerball...
Why Democrats’ climate goals may test their Latino appeal
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — At a recent house party near the U.S.-Mexico border, the conversation with Democratic congressional candidate Rochelle Garza flowed from schools and taxes to immigration and efforts to convert an old railway line into a hiking trail. One thing that didn’t come up that Friday night over Corona...
Women’s March targets Supreme Court, with abortion on line
WASHINGTON — The first Women’s March of the Biden administration headed straight for the steps of the Supreme Court on Saturday, part of nationwide protests that drew thousands to Washington to demand continued access to abortion in a year when conservative lawmakers and judges have put it in jeopardy. Demonstrators...
United Kingdom extends truck driver visa program as fuel crisis persists
LONDON — The British government has extended an emergency visa program for truck drivers as fuel shortages showed few signs of abating Saturday, particularly in London and the southeast of England. In an announcement late Friday, the Conservative government said temporary visas for nearly 5,000 foreign truck drivers it hopes...
‘Everybody is frustrated,’ Biden says as his agenda stalls
WASHINGTON — President Biden on Saturday acknowledged frustrations as Democrats strain to rescue a scaled-back version of his $3.5 trillion government-overhaul plan and salvage a related public works bill after frantic negotiations failed to produce a deal. “Everybody’s frustrated, it’s part of being in government, being frustrated,” Biden told reporters...
European-Japanese space mission gets 1st glimpse of Mercury
BERLIN — A joint European-Japanese spacecraft got its first glimpse of Mercury as it swung by the solar system’s innermost planet while on a mission to deliver two probes into orbit in 2025. The BepiColombo mission made the first of six flybys of Mercury at 7:34 p.m. Friday, using the...
3 valets struck, killed by vehicle eluding Houston police
HOUSTON — A driver fleeing from police in Houston struck and killed three valets before crashing in a ditch, authorities said. A patrol sergeant saw the driver doing doughnuts, or driving in circles and leaving tire tracks on the pavement, in a parking lot Friday night and tried to stop...
Alex Jones loses lawsuits over Sandy Hook ‘hoax’ conspiracy
A Texas judge has found Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones liable for damages in three defamation lawsuits brought by the parents of two children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre over his claims that the shooting was a hoax. Judge Maya Guerra Gamble in Austin, home...
Pharmacies face 1st trial over role in opioid crisis
CLEVELAND — So many prescription painkillers were dispensed in Lake County, Ohio, between 2012 and 2016 that the amount equaled 265 pills for every resident. Just to the south, the flood of prescription opioids during the same period equated to 400 pills for every resident of Trumbull County. Attorneys say...
Police report says Pa. governor candidate was sideswiped in fatal crash
HARRISBURG — A candidate for governor driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike was sideswiped by a motorcyclist in a July nighttime crash that left the motorcyclist dead and the candidate traveling another 5 miles with the motorcycle lodged on his car, according to a new police report. The Pennsylvania State Police...
Powerball jackpot is biggest lottery prize in over 8 months
DES MOINES, Iowa — The biggest lottery prize in more than eight months will be up for grabs in Saturday night’s Powerball drawing. The Powerball jackpot has slowly climbed to an estimated $635 million thanks to 39 consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner, a record streak for the game...
Mexico displays pre-Hispanic artifacts recovered from abroad
MEXICO CITY — Two Mexican museums have opened a massive show this week of 1,525 pre-Hispanic and historical artifacts, more than half of which were recovered from abroad. Mexico has long had a problem with collectors or traffickers taking artifacts out of the country, even though that has been illegal...
Deadline passes in GOP’s Pennsylvania election ‘investigation’ subpoena
HARRISBURG — The deadline passed Friday for Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration to comply with a subpoena from a Republican-controlled state Senate committee pursuing what the GOP calls a “forensic investigation” of last year’s presidential election, as a state court sorted through three legal challenges. Wolf’s administration and Senate Republicans remained...
U.S. hits 700,000 covid deaths just as cases begin to fall
MINNEAPOLIS — The United States reached its latest heartbreaking pandemic milestone Friday, eclipsing 700,000 deaths from covid-19 just as the surge from the delta variant is starting to slow down. It took 3 ½ months for the U.S. to go from 600,000 to 700,000 deaths, driven by the variant’s rampant...
Pat Robertson steps down as host of long-running ‘700 Club’
NORFOLK, Va. — Pat Robertson, who turned a tiny Virginia television station into a global religious broadcasting network, is stepping down after a half-century running the “700 Club” on daily TV, the Christian Broadcasting Network announced on Friday. Robertson, 91, said in a statement that he hosted the network’s flagship...
Biden, Democrats back at it, scaling back $3.5T plan
WASHINGTON — Democrats were back at it Friday, doggedly determined to rescue a scaled-back version of President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion government overhaul and salvage a related public works bill after a long night of frantic negotiations that resulted in no deal. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was gathering the party’s...
U.S. tries to make nice with France after Australia sub snub
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit France next week as the Biden administration tries to smooth over hurt feelings and potentially more lasting damage caused by its exclusion of America’s oldest ally from a new Indo-Pacific security initiative, the State Department said Friday. The department said Blinken...
Turkish man reported missing joins search party seeking him
ANKARA, Turkey — In a scene worthy of a comedy sketch, a Turkish man joined a search party for a missing person not realizing the individual being pursued was him. Beyhan Mutlu, 51, went drinking with a friend in a forest in the town of Inegol, northwest Turkey, late Tuesday....
Justice Brett Kavanaugh tests positive for covid, has no symptoms
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court says Justice Brett Kavanaugh has tested positive for covid-19. The high court said in a press release Friday that Kavanaugh has no symptoms and has been fully vaccinated since January. Kavanaugh and all the other justices had a routine coronavirus test ahead of Friday’s ceremonial...
Dubai’s Expo opens, bringing 1st World Fair to the Mideast
After eight years of planning and billions of dollars in spending, the Middle East’s first ever World Fair opened on Friday in Dubai, with hopes the months-long extravaganza draws both visitors and global attention to this desert-turned-dreamscape. Named Expo 2020, the event was postponed by a year due to the...
N. Korea says it fired anti-aircraft missile, 4th recent test
North Korea said Friday it test-fired a new anti-aircraft missile, the fourth weapons launch in recent weeks that experts say is part of a strategy to win relief from sanctions and other concessions. South Korea, Japan and the United States typically publicly confirm North Korean ballistic missile launches, which are...
Despite setback, Democrats try to save Biden $3.5T plan
Despite a long night of frantic negotiations, Democrats were unable to reach an immediate deal to salvage President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion government overhaul, forcing leaders to call off promised votes on a related public works bill. Action is to resume Friday. Speaker Nancy Pelosi had pushed the House into...
Nation’s most restrictive abortion law back in Texas court
AUSTIN, Texas — A federal judge on Friday will consider whether Texas can leave in place the most restrictive abortion law in the U.S., which since September has banned most abortions and sent women racing to get care beyond the borders of the nation’s second-most populous state. A lawsuit filed...
Merck says experimental pill cuts covid hospitalizations, deaths by half
WASHINGTON — Drugmaker Merck said Friday that its experimental covid-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus and that it would soon ask health officials in the U.S. and around the world to authorize its use. If cleared, the drug would be the...
