Biden wants spending to boost economy, but GOP to block vote
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Monday that his infrastructure and families agenda must be passed to sustain the economic momentum of his first six months in office, aiming to set the tone for a crucial week of congressional negotiations on the two bills. But a Wednesday deadline set by...
CDC raises covid-19 warning for U.K. to highest level, urges Americans to avoid travelVideo
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday raised its coronavirus warning for the United Kingdom to Level 4, the highest on the agency’s scale, and urged Americans not to go there even if fully vaccinated. The advisory comes as the U.K. faces an alarming surge in new...
Utah man falls to death hiking Provo Canyon with 9-year-old boy
SPANISH FORK, Utah — A Utah man hiking with the young son of his fiancee fell to his death near Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon, leaving the 9-year-old boy to climb down the mountain by himself, authorities said. The boy’s mother called for help, saying she could see her...
Watchdog: Wilbur Ross misled on reason for citizenship question
President Donald Trump’s commerce secretary misled Congress about why he sought to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, according to an investigation from the Office of Inspector General, but President Joe Biden’s Justice Department has decided not to prosecute. The watchdog agency’s probe showed that Wilbur Ross misrepresented...
Judge: Indiana University can require covid-19 vaccinations
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana University can require its roughly 90,000 students and 40,000 employees to get vaccinated for covid-19 under a federal judge’s ruling that might be the first of its kind regarding college immunization mandates. In a ruling dated Sunday, U.S. District Judge Damon Leichty in South Bend rejected a...
Pennsylvania smashes record for gambling revenue in a year
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania smashed its record for gambling revenue, state regulators said Monday, reporting nearly $3.9 billion in the last fiscal year as every category of wagering showed growth in one of the nation’s largest casino and gambling states. The rebound comes after pandemic-related shutdowns helped knock casino revenue down...
Arkansas coronavirus hospitalizations go up by 106 over weekend
LITTLE ROCK — The number of people hospitalized because of the coronavirus jumped by 106 over the weekend in Arkansas, which is leading the nation in new virus cases per capita. The Department of Health said Monday that the state’s virus hospitalizations increased to 787. Of those, 291 patients are...
Fauci says U.S. is ‘pleading’ with people to get vaccinations as delta spreadsVideo
Top U.S. infectious-disease expert Anthony Fauci said the delta variant of the coronavirus is causing a significant increase in infections and the Biden administration is “practically pleading” with people to get vaccinated. Delta is much more capable of spreading from person to person than earlier variants, Fauci said in an...
New chief selected for Capitol Police after 1/6 insurrection
WASHINGTON — A police official who has run large departments in Maryland and Virginia has been selected as chief of the U.S. Capitol Police in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection, in which pro-Trump rioters stormed the building in a violent rage, disrupting the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential...
German officials defend their actions on devastating floodsVideo
BERLIN — German officials defended their actions ahead of last week’s severe floods that caught many towns by surprise and killed 196 people in Western Europe, but they conceded that more lessons can be learned from the disaster. As floodwaters receded Monday, authorities continued searching for more victims and intensified...
Canada to let in vaccinated U.S. citizens on Aug. 9
TORONTO — Canada announced Monday it will begin letting fully vaccinated U.S. citizens into Canada on Aug. 9, and those from the rest of the world on Sept. 7. Officials said the 14-day quarantine requirement will be waived as of Aug. 9 for eligible travelers who are currently residing in...
FBI releases trove of records on gangster ‘Whitey’ Bulger
The FBI has released hundreds of pages of records from notorious Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger’s file. The Boston Herald reports the 300 pages of heavily redacted records show the agency was aware that Bulger was involved in loan-sharking, horse-fixing and other crimes before recruiting him as an informant. The...
Iraqi officials: Roadside bomb kills 30 in Baghdad market
BAGHDAD — A roadside bomb attack targeted a Baghdad suburb Monday, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens of others at a crowded market, Iraqi medical officials said. The attack took place in the Wahailat market in Sadr City, Iraq’s military said in a statement. Two medical officials said...
Official: Haiti’s interim prime minister to step down
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s designated Prime Minister Ariel Henry will replace the country’s interim prime minister to honor the wishes of the country’s slain president, an official told The Associated Press on Monday. It wasn’t immediately clear how quickly interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who has been leading Haiti with...
U.K. opts not to vaccinate most under-18s against covid
LONDON — The British government decided Monday not to inoculate most children and teenagers against covid-19 until more data on the available vaccines becomes available. Children as young as 12 with severe neuro-disabilities, Down Syndrome, immunosuppression and multiple or severe learning disabilities, as well as those who are household contacts...
Biden hosts Jordan’s king amid tough choices in Mideast
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is set to host King Abdullah II of Jordan during one of the most difficult moments of the Jordanian leader’s 22-year rule and at a pivotal time in the Middle East for Biden. Abdullah arrives Monday afternoon at the White House. Last week a Jordanian...
Garland formally prohibits seizure of reporters’ records
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday formally prohibited federal prosecutors from seizing the records of journalists in leak investigations, with limited exceptions, reversing years of department policy. The new policy largely codifies the commitment Garland made in June, when he said the Justice Department would abandon the practice...
Russia reports successful test launch of hypersonic missile
MOSCOW — The Russian military reported another successful test launch of a new hypersonic cruise missile on Monday. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the Zircon missile was launched from the Admiral Groshkov frigate in the White Sea. The ministry said the missile flew at a speed seven times the speed of...
Commission meeting to review Massachusetts’ controversial state seal, flag
BOSTON — A state commission tasked with reviewing and suggesting changes to Massachusetts’ seal and motto, which includes a controversial depiction of a Native American man, is meeting for the first time. The 19-member Special Commission Relative to the Seal and Motto of the Commonwealth was set to gather virtually...
Capitol rioter who breached Senate sentenced to 8 monthsVideo
CHICAGO — A Florida man who breached the U.S. Senate chamber carrying a Trump campaign flag was sentenced Monday to eight months behind bars, the first resolution for a felony case in the Capitol insurrection. Paul Allard Hodgkins apologized and said he was ashamed of his actions on Jan 6....
Biden transfers 1st Guantanamo detainee to home country
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Monday transferred a Guantanamo Bay detainee to his home country for the first time, a policy shift from the Trump presidency that sent a Moroccan man back home years after he was recommended for discharge. The prisoner, Abdullatif Nasser, who’s in his mid-50s, was...
Firefighters rescue Ohio dog trapped between concrete walls
CINCINNATI — A dog in Ohio who had been missing for five days is back home after it was found trapped between two concrete walls in a nearby home’s garage and freed by firefighters using a saw and a sledgehammer. The homeowner called the Cincinnati Fire Department on Sunday after...
Microsoft Exchange email hack was caused by China, U.S. says
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Monday blamed China for a hack of Microsoft Exchange email server software that compromised tens of thousands of computers around the world earlier this year. The administration and allied nations also disclosed a broad range of other cyberthreats from Beijing, including ransomware attacks from...
Pa. requested $340 million in emergency contracts in 2020 with little oversight
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 — Lawmakers this week will probe whether state agencies had too much leeway in securing emergency contracts during the pandemic,...
Investigation: Journalists, activists among firm’s spyware targets
BOSTON — An investigation by a global media consortium based on leaked targeting data provides further evidence that military-grade malware from Israel-based NSO Group, the world’s most infamous hacker-for-hire outfit, is being used to spy on journalists, human rights activists and political dissidents. From a list of more than 50,000...
