Fact check: Biden’s shaky claims on jobs, gasoline
WASHINGTON — Boasting that government policies can make a difference in improving the economy, President Joe Biden went too far Thursday in taking credit for job growth since taking office. He also made a dubious suggestion that wrongdoing is behind higher gasoline prices — something that his administration will seek...
White House warns that debt limit showdown could hurt states
The White House is warning state and local governments about severe cuts to disaster relief, Medicaid, infrastructure grants. school money and other programs if Congress fails to raise the U.S. debt limit. A fact sheet for state and local officials that was obtained by The Associated Press is an attempt...
Milley: Calls to China were ‘perfectly’ within scope of job
ATHENS, Greece — The top U.S. military officer said Friday that calls he made to his Chinese counterpart in the final stormy months of Donald Trump’s presidency were “perfectly within the duties and responsibilities” of his job. In his first public comments on the conversations, Gen. Mark Milley such said...
Taliban orders male students, teachers to school
ISTANBUL - The Taliban’s education ministry says all male students grades six to 12 and male teachers should resume classes starting Saturday. The statement Friday published on Facebook did not include girls of that age, and the lack of guidance highlighted ongoing concerns that the Taliban might impose restrictions on...
Idled Thai taxis go green with mini-gardens on car roofs
Taxi fleets in Thailand are giving new meaning to the term “rooftop garden,” as they utilize the roofs of cabs idled by the coronavirus crisis to serve as small vegetable plots. Workers from two taxi cooperatives assembled the miniature gardens this week using black plastic garbage bags stretched across bamboo...
House Republican who voted to impeach Trump won’t run again
AKRON, Ohio — The first of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol announced Thursday night he will not seek reelection next year. U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio would have faced Max Miller...
Fox News’ vaccine criticism focuses attention on its own policy
NEW YORK — A steady criticism of covid vaccine mandates by figures on Fox News has drawn attention to its own company’s stringent rules on the topic — even from President Joe Biden. The president was denounced as an “authoritarian” and “divider-in-chief” on Fox last week after announcing new efforts...
Clarence Thomas criticizes judges for veering into politics
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Thursday criticized some in the judiciary for veering into the role of legislators and politicians, saying it is not the role of judges to make policy or to base decisions on their personal feelings or religious beliefs. Speaking at the...
Police: Man killed in brawl outside Philly cheesesteak spot
PHILADELPHIA — A man was killed Thursday after he was beaten with a trash can lid and pummeled during a brawl outside a famous Philadelphia cheesesteak restaurant, police said. The violence at Pat’s King of Steaks may involve spectators who earlier attended a soccer game, police said. The Philadelphia Union...
Texas teen posts images of slain family, then kills self
ARANSAS PASS, Texas — A South Texas teen who said he killed his family and posted graphic images of their bodies on social media killed himself after officers found him at his home, authorities said Thursday. The Aransas Pass police and San Patricio County sheriff’s office say they started investigating...
Study: Childhood obesity in U.S. accelerated during pandemic
NEW YORK — A new study ties the covid-19 pandemic to an “alarming” increase in obesity in U.S. children and teenagers. Childhood obesity has been increasing for decades, but the new work suggests an acceleration last year — especially in those who already were obese when the pandemic started. The...
California wildfires threaten famous giant sequoia trees
THREE RIVERS, Calif. — Firefighters wrapped the base of the world’s largest tree in a fire-resistant blanket as they tried to save a famous grove of gigantic old-growth sequoias from wildfires burning Thursday in California’s rugged Sierra Nevada. The colossal General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park’s Giant Forest, some...
Can kids be harmed wearing masks to protect against covid?
Can kids be harmed wearing masks to protect against covid? No, there is no scientific evidence showing masks cause harm to kids’ health despite baseless claims suggesting otherwise. The claims are circulating on social media and elsewhere just as virus outbreaks are hitting many reopened U.S. schools — particularly those...
Police: Man killed in brawl outside Philly cheesesteak spot
PHILADELPHIA — A New York man was killed Thursday after he was beaten with a trash can lid and pummeled during a brawl outside a famous Philadelphia cheesesteak restaurant, police said. The violence at Pat’s King of Steaks may involve spectators who earlier attended a soccer game, police said. The...
Democrats push for changes to California recall efforts
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom handily defeated a recall election that could have removed him from office, but his Democratic allies in the Legislature already are seeking changes that could make it harder to mount such a challenge in the future. Those changes could include raising the standard...
Chauvin pleads not guilty to violating teen’s civil rights
MINNEAPOLIS — The former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd pleaded not guilty Thursday to violating the civil rights of a teenager in a separate case that involved a restraint similar to the one used on Floyd. Derek Chauvin was convicted earlier this year...
As covid-19 vaccine mandates rise, religious exemptions grow
An estimated 2,600 Los Angeles Police Department employees are citing religious objections to try to get out of the required covid-19 vaccination. In Washington state, thousands of state workers are seeking similar exemptions. And in Arkansas, a hospital has been swamped with so many such requests from employees that it...
Search on for Florida woman missing from cross-country trip
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Florida woman who vanished while on a nomadic cross-country trip in a converted camper van with her boyfriend is the subject of a nationwide search while authorities labeled him Wednesday as a person of interest in her disappearance. Investigators say Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, 22, was...
Police: Lawyer Murdaugh arranged own death but shot grazed
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A prominent South Carolina lawyer who found the bodies of his wife and son three months ago tried to arrange his own death earlier this month so his son would get a $10 million life insurance payment, but the planned fatal shot only grazed his head, state...
SpaceX launches 4 amateurs on private Earth-circling trip
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX’s first private flight blasted off Wednesday night with two contest winners, a health care worker and their rich sponsor, the most ambitious leap yet in space tourism. It was the first time a rocket streaked toward orbit with an all-amateur crew — no professional astronauts....
Nursing home industry leaders clash with advocates for workers, patient care
Nursing home leaders and advocates for patients and care workers clashed Wednesday, with one side asking state officials to put the brakes on plans to increase staffing levels at Pennsylvania’s 700 skilled care nursing homes and the other saying reforms can’t come soon enough. Industry representatives told lawmakers at a...
Search at Grand Canyon turns up remains of another person
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Crews searching for a missing man at Grand Canyon National Park made an unexpected discovery this summer. They found the remains of another person, believed to be Scott Walsh, who was last seen stepping off a shuttle bus at the park’s South Rim in 2015. The clothing...
Texas abortion law strains clinics: ‘Exactly what we feared’
AUSTIN, Texas — One Texas woman traveled nearly 1,000 miles to Colorado for an abortion. Others are driving four hours to New Mexico. And in Houston, clinics that typically perform more than 100 abortions in a week are are down to a few a day. Two weeks after the nation’s...
2 Maine senators, both vaccinated, test positive for covid
PORTLAND, Maine — Two of the top ranking Democratic members of the Maine Senate have tested positive for covid-19 despite being fully vaccinated. Maine Senate President Troy Jackson tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the highest-ranking official in state government to contract the virus. Senate Major Leader Eloise Vitelli also said...
Baby girl born to widow of Marine killed in Kabul bombing
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The widow of a U.S. Marine killed in a bombing in Afghanistan in August has given birth to a baby girl. Levi Rylee Rose McCollum was born early Monday at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, Calif., according to a Facebook post by the baby’s grandmother, Jill...
