Pennsylvania court will decide whether skill game terminals are gambling machines
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court will decide whether the cash-paying electronic game terminals that have become commonplace in convenience stores, bars and elsewhere are unlicensed gambling machines and, as a result, must be shut down. The state Supreme Court said this week that it will consider an appeal by the...
Jill Biden returning to Pittsburgh to campaign for abortion rights
First lady Jill Biden is returning to Pittsburgh on Sunday in an effort to remind voters that the Biden administration is seeking to protect their abortion rights. Biden will visit Pittsburgh on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down Roe v. Wade,...
New York moves to limit ‘addictive’ social media feeds for kids
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday signed a bill that would allow parents to block their children from getting social media posts suggested by a platform’s algorithm, a move to limit feeds critics argue are addictive. Under the legislation, feeds on apps like TikTok and Instagram would be limited...
Online Zyn nicotine pouch sales suspended
The online sales of Zyn nicotine patches have been suspended nationwide this week, Reuters reported. Zyn is an oral pouch that contains nicotine powder and flavorings like mint, coffee and citrus, according to the Associated Press, and they have been the fastest-growing product in the tobacco industry. Users stick them...
Roller coaster strikes, critically injures man in restricted area of Ohio’s Kings IslandVideo
CINCINNATI — A man who apparently entered a restricted area to retrieve his lost keys at a theme park in Ohio was critically injured when he was struck by a steel roller coaster, police and park officials said. The 38-year-old man appeared to have entered a fenced area Wednesday night...
Ukrainian soldier-musicians bring goodwill concerts to PittsburghVideo
A literal band of brothers will be performing next week in the Pittsburgh area. The performers are members of the Ukrainian armed forces and its nonprofit Cultural Forces organization that has hosted more than 4,500 concerts on the front lines since Russia invaded in February 2022. “One guy is an...
Millions are sweating it out as a heat wave nears its peak from Midwest to Maine
SQUAM LAKE, N.H. — As New England baked in a heat wave Thursday, guests at one campground were keeping their food and beer cold with blocks of ice harvested months earlier from a frozen lake. And while some relief is expected in the eastern Great Lakes region and New England...
Maryland cargo ship crew members can go home under agreement allowing questioning amid bridge collapse probes
BALTIMORE — Crew members on the cargo ship Dali can head home as soon as Thursday under an agreement that allows lawyers to question them amid ongoing investigations into what led to the deadly collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. That would mark the first time any of the...
Supreme Court upholds conviction of woman who challenged expert testimony in a drug case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of a California woman who said she did not know about a stash of methamphetamine hidden inside her car. In a ruling that crossed the court’s ideological lines, the 6-3 majority opinion dismissed arguments that an expert witness for the...
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fails to qualify for CNN’s debate. It’ll be a showdown between Biden and Trump
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has failed to qualify for next week’s debate in Atlanta, according to host network CNN, falling shy of benchmarks both for state ballot qualification and necessary polling. The missed markers mean that the June 27 showdown will be solely between...
Will a Florida storm take your name in 2024? Check the list
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season has only just begun, and we already have Alberto. The tropical storm formed in the Gulf of Mexico. The next name on the list? Beryl. The National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration revealed the official list of potential hurricane names, along with its predictions for the...
The fight for abortion rights gets an unlikely messenger in swing state Pennsylvania: Sen. Bob Casey
HARRISBURG — Abortion rights, suddenly a potent political force in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to leave such matters to the states, have found an unlikely champion in swing state Pennsylvania. Sen. Bob Casey, who will appear on the November ballot beneath President Joe Biden as the...
So long plastic air pillows: Amazon shifting to recycled paper filling for packages in North America
Amazon is shifting from the plastic air pillows used for packaging in North America to recycled paper because it’s more environmentally sound, and it says paper just works better. The company said Thursday that it’s already replaced 95% of the plastic air pillows with paper filler in North America and...
Supreme Court upholds a tax on foreign income over a business-backed challenge
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a tax on foreign income over a challenge backed by business and anti-regulatory interests, declining their invitation to weigh in on a broader, never-enacted tax on wealth. The justices left in place a provision of a 2017 tax law that is expected...
Russia obliterates Ukraine’s front-line towns faster with hacked bombs and expanded air base network
KHARKIV, Ukraine — The first shock wave shattered aisles stacked almost to the ceiling with home improvement products. The next Russian bomb streaked down like a comet seconds later, unleashing flames that left the megastore an ashen shell. A third bomb failed to detonate when it landed behind the Epicenter...
Illegally brewed liquor kills at least 34 with dozens hospitalized in southern India
NEW DELHI — At least 34 people have died and dozens hospitalized after drinking illegally brewed liquor in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, local media reported on Thursday. The state’s chief minister M K Stalin said the 34 died after consuming liquor that was tainted with methanol, according...
U.S. jobless claims fall to 238,000 from 10-month high, remain low by historical standards
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits slipped last week as the U.S. labor market remained resilient. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims fell by 5,000 to 238,000 from a 10-month high of 243,000 the week before. The four-week average of claims, which evens out...
Police credit New Yorkers for suspect’s arrest in the rape of a 13-year-old girlVideo
NEW YORK — Residents of a New York City neighborhood were praised for their role in the arrest of an Ecuadorian accused of raping a 13-year-old girl, a crime that the city’s police commissioner said “shocked our entire city.” Christian Geovanny Inga-Landi, 25, was arrested early Tuesday outside a deli...
Vermont lawmaker apologizes for repeatedly pouring water in her colleague’s bagVideo
MONTPELIER, Vt. — A Republican state lawmaker from Vermont has apologized for repeatedly pouring water into a Democratic colleague’s bag, after he caught her doing it on video. State Rep. Mary Morrissey publicly apologized to state Rep. Jim Carroll, colleagues and the citizens of Vermont from the House floor on...
Health system wants ex-Penn State football doctor’s $5M verdict overturned
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and a physician are asking for the court to modify or vacate the jury’s decision that granted a former Penn State football team doctor a $5.25 million verdict. In a 44-page motion filed in Dauphin County Court, the hospital and Dr. Kevin Black...
Tropical Storm Alberto weakens over northeast Mexico after heavy rains killed 3Video
MEXICO CITY — Tropical Storm Alberto, the season’s first named storm, weakened Thursday as it moved inland over northeast Mexico after bringing heavy rains to parts of the parched region and leaving at least three dead. The storm was weakening rapidly over land and was downgraded to a tropical depression...
Climate protesters arrested over spraying orange paint on Stonehenge monumentVideo
LONDON — Two climate protesters who sprayed orange paint on the ancient Stonehenge monument in southern England were arrested Wednesday after two bystanders appeared to intervene and stop them. The latest act by Just Stop Oil was quickly condemned by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as a “disgraceful act of vandalism.”...
Explosions at a military ammunition depot in Chad’s capital kill 9, injure 46
N’DJAMENA, Chad — Nine people were killed and more than 40 injured when a fire set off explosions at a military ammunition depot in Chad’s capital, an official said Wednesday. Government spokesperson Abderaman Koulamallah said 46 people were being treated for various injuries after the explosions jolted residents from their...
North Korea says deal between Putin and Kim requires immediate military assistance in event of war
A new agreement between Russia and North Korea reached by their leaders requires the countries to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance in the event of war, North Korean state media said. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency on Thursday reported the language of the comprehensive...
Hezbollah says Israeli strikes kill 3 fighters as U.S. envoy tries to calm tensions
Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed three Hezbollah fighters on Wednesday, the militant group said, as a U.S. envoy tasked with avoiding a devastating regional war returned to Israel after meeting officials in Lebanon. Lebanese state media reported multiple Israeli strikes along the border and in an area north of...
