Insurer delays and denials hamper patients seeking at-home breathing machines
Lou Gehrig’s disease took away Grace Armant’s ability to speak, but the 84-year-old still has plenty to say about her insurance. UnitedHealthcare has rejected several requests from her doctors for coverage of a machine Armant needs to breathe as she deals with the fatal illness. “They are no good,” Armant...
Ship with Gaza aid preparing to inaugurate sea route from Cyprus to war-ravaged strip
LARNACA, Cyprus — A ship bearing humanitarian aid was making preparations to leave Cyprus and head for Gaza, the European Commission president said Friday as international donors launched a sea corridor to supply the besieged territory that is facing widespread hunger after five months of war. The opening of the...
2 killed including a 16-year-old in Russian artillery strikes in Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian authorities said two people including a teenage boy were killed Saturday in Russian artillery attacks and Russia reported it had shot down a Ukrainian fighter jet and destroyed a wave of drones over several regions. The attacks came as Russia is gaining momentum on the battlefield...
Helicopter carrying National Guardsmen, Border Patrol agent crashes in Texas, killing 3
LA GRULLA, Texas — A helicopter flying over the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas crashed Friday, killing two National Guard soldiers and a Border Patrol agent, the military said. Another soldier on board was injured. The UH-72 Lakota helicopter was assigned to the federal government’s border security mission when it went...
Time to ‘spring forward’: daylight saving time begins
Get ready to reset your clocks and lose an hour of sleep — daylight saving time is upon us. Clocks will spring forward an hour at 2 a.m. Eastern time Sunday, meaning one less hour of sleep for most people across the U.S. The change also means one more hour...
Biden, in hot mic moment, shows growing frustration with Netanyahu over Gaza
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s growing frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to mount, with the Democrat captured on a hot mic saying he and the Israeli leader will need to have a “come to Jesus meeting.” The comments by Biden came as he spoke with Sen. Michael...
A simulated hotel front desk at Indiana University of Pennsylvania now includes a donor’s name
Donor names end up on all sorts of college and university real estate, from imposing classroom buildings, to lecture halls, to flower gardens and even benches. Indiana University of Pennsylvania has its share of those sorts of spots. It also has this: A hotel front desk simulation lab that —...
Congress passes 1st package of spending bills hours before shutdown deadline for key agencies
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Friday approved a $460 billion package of spending bills in time to meet a midnight deadline for avoiding a shutdown of many key federal agencies, a vote that gets lawmakers about halfway home in wrapping up their appropriations work for the 2024 budget year. The...
Program that allows 30,000 migrants from 4 countries into U.S. each month upheld by judge
HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas on Friday upheld a key piece of President Joe Biden’s immigration policy that allows a limited number of migrants from four countries to enter the U.S. on humanitarian grounds, dismissing a challenge from Republican-led states that said the program created an economic burden...
Pentagon study finds no sign of alien life in reported UFO sightings going back decades
WASHINGTON — A Pentagon study released Friday that examined reported sightings of UFOs over nearly the past century found no evidence of aliens or extraterrestrial intelligence, a conclusion consistent with past U.S. government efforts to assess the accuracy of claims that have captivated public attention for decades. The study from...
Third-party movement No Labels says it will field a 2024 presidential ticket
DES MOINES, Iowa — The third-party presidential movement No Labels decided Friday to field a presidential candidate in the 2024 election after months of weighing the launch of a so-called “unity ticket” and discussions with several prospects. Delegates voted in favor of moving forward during an online convention of 800...
Much of America asks: Where did winter go? Spring starts early as U.S. winter was warmest on record
Across much of America and especially in the normally chilly north, the country went through the winter months without, well, winter. In parka strongholds Burlington, Vermont, and Portland, Maine, the thermometer never plunged below zero. The state of Minnesota called the last three months “the lost winter,” warmer than its...
Trump attorneys post $92M bond to support jury award to E. Jean Carroll in defamation suit
NEW YORK — Donald Trump has secured a $91.6 million bond sufficient to cover the money he owes to writer E. Jean Carroll in a defamation lawsuit while he appeals the jury’s verdict, the former president’s lawyer told a court on Friday. Attorney Alina Habba filed papers with the New...
Alabama clinic resumes IVF treatments under new law shielding providers from liability
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — At least one clinic in Alabama has resumed in vitro fertilization treatments after the governor signed a bill into law shielding providers from potential legal liability raised by a court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children. Alabama Fertility Specialists performed several embryo transfers Thursday, news outlets...
Protesters hurl firebombs as Greek lawmakers prepare to vote for private universities
ATHENS, Greece — Protesters hurled gasoline bombs and firecrackers at police outside Greece’s parliament Friday after thousands attended a demonstration against government plans to introduce privately run universities. Police charged the violent demonstrators and fired tear gas to disperse the crowds. Several people were hurt and received first aid from...
U.S. employers add a surprisingly strong 275,000 jobs in sign of continued economic strength
WASHINGTON — America’s employers delivered another healthy month of hiring in February, adding a surprising 275,000 jobs and again showcasing the U.S. economy’s resilience in the face of high interest rates. Last month’s job growth marked an increase from a revised gain of 229,000 jobs in January. At the same...
Katie Britt calls Biden a ‘diminished leader’ in GOP response to the State of the Union
WASHINGTON — Sitting at her kitchen table in Alabama, Sen. Katie Britt called President Joe Biden a “dithering and diminished leader” and warned of a bleak American future under his presidency in the Republican rebuttal to his State of the Union address Thursday evening. The first-term Alabama Republican, the youngest...
Former U.S. Rep. George Santos, expelled from Congress, says he is running again
WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Rep. George Santos, who was expelled from Congress in December and faces federal charges of defrauding donors to his 2022 campaign, has announced he is running for the House again. Santos, a Republican who is just the sixth member to be ousted by fellow House members,...
Former British leader Theresa May says she’ll quit Parliament before an election this year
LONDON — Former British Prime Minister Theresa May announced Friday that she will quit as a lawmaker when an election is called this year, ending a 27-year parliamentary career that included three years as the nation’s leader during a period roiled by Brexit. May told her local newspaper, the Maidenhead...
How do animals react during a total solar eclipse? Scientists plan to find out in April
WASHINGTON — When a total solar eclipse transforms day into night, will tortoises start acting romantic? Will giraffes gallop? Will apes sing odd notes? Researchers will be standing by to observe how animals’ routines at the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas are disrupted when skies dim on April 8. They...
How springing forward to daylight saving time could affect your health — and how to prepare
WASHINGTON — Most of America “springs forward” Sunday for daylight saving time and losing that hour of sleep can do more than leave you tired and cranky the next day. It also could harm your health. Darker mornings and more evening light together knock your body clock out of whack...
Blackthorne Estates plans to build new golf facility, open course in spring
Golfers can return to the course at Penn Township’s Blackthorne Estates community this spring. After being closed to the public in 2023, the course will reopen this season and a new golf facility will be built, according to an agreement reached this week between Blackthorne Investors and the township. The...
Speed-monitoring cameras are making Pa. highway work zones safer, officials say
The strategic placement of speed-monitoring cameras along Pennsylvania highways helped to reduce speeding and crashes in work zones over the course of a five-year pilot program by PennDOT and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Now, officials are rebooting speed enforcement with the cameras on a permanent basis with a goal of...
Transcript of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address
WASHINGTON — A transcript of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 7, 2024, as prepared for delivery and provided by the White House: Good evening. Mr. Speaker. Madam Vice President. Members of Congress. My Fellow Americans. In January 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt came to this chamber...
Senate passes bill to compensate Americans exposed to radiation by the government
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed legislation Thursday that would compensate Americans exposed to radiation by the government by renewing a law initially passed more than three decades ago. The bill by Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., would expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include more...
