Fetterman, Casey slam federal judge’s ruling against abortion medication
Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Bob Casey did not mince words when responding to Friday’s ruling by a federal judge in Texas halting the approval of an abortion medication. “This ruling by a hard-right Trump appointed judge is simply bull(expletive),” Fetterman said in a statement released Saturday morning....
Pope at Easter: Pray for Ukrainian, Russian people, refugees
VATICAN CITY — In an Easter message highlighting hope, Pope Francis on Sunday invoked prayers for both the Ukrainian and Russian people, praised nations which welcome refugees and called on Israelis and Palestinians wracked by the latest surge in deadly violence to forge a “climate of trust.” Francis, along with...
Pitt Chancellor-elect Joan Gabel faces array of challenges as she prepares to take helm
Once Joan Gabel arrives in July from the University of Minnesota, the success of her tenure as University of Pittsburgh chancellor might hinge on the same unforgiving metrics that were used to judge her male predecessors. Fundraising will be key among them. Even with its $5.5 billion endowment, a thriving...
Cyclist Ethan Boyes dies after being struck in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO — Award-winning cyclist Ethan Boyes died after being struck by a car at a national park in San Francisco, the U.S. Park Police said Saturday. The athlete was hit while riding his bike Tuesday afternoon around Presidio, a historic park south of the Golden Gate Bridge, authorities said....
Competing abortion pill rulings sow broad alarm, confusion
Emma Hernandez is defiant even if she fears what may come in the latest stage of the nation’s fight over abortion: a widening prohibition to safe and legal ways to end unwanted pregnancies, including access to abortion pills. Competing rulings by two federal judges over the availability of the abortion...
Police: 6 people wounded in shooting on South Carolina beach
ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. — Gunfire erupted on a South Carolina beach during a “senior skip day” event involving numerous teenagers Friday, wounding six people and prompting charges against two for unlawful possession of guns, police in South Carolina said. The shots broke out around 5:20 p.m. on Isle of...
Justice Thomas says he didn’t have to disclose luxury trips
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Friday he was not required to disclose the many trips he and his wife took that were paid for by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow. Describing Crow and his wife, Kathy, as “among our dearest friends,” Thomas said in a statement that he...
Utah man who killed family vented his anger in suicide note
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man who fatally shot his wife, her mother and the couple’s five kids after he was investigated for child abuse left a suicide note saying he “would rather rot in hell” than continue enduring what he called controlling behavior by his wife, investigators wrote...
Access to abortion pill in limbo after competing rulings
AUSTIN, Texas — Access to the most commonly used method of abortion in the U.S. plunged into uncertainty Friday following conflicting court rulings over the legality of the abortion medication mifepristone that has been widely available for more than 20 years. For now, the drug the Food and Drug Administration...
Biden sports plan angers transgender advocates, opponents
A Biden administration proposal to forbid outright bans on transgender athletes sparked outrage from conservative leaders while also angering trans rights activists who note schools could still prevent some athletes from participating on teams that align with their gender identity. The proposed rule, which still faces a lengthy approval process,...
Study says warming may push more hurricanes toward U.S. coasts
Changes in air patterns as the world warms will likely push more and nastier hurricanes up against the United States’ east and Gulf coasts, especially in Florida, a new study said. While other studies have projected how human-caused climate change will probably alter the frequency, strength and moisture of tropical...
Russia hits illegally annexed Ukraine areas from ground, air
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces used ground- and air-fired missiles, rocket launchers and weaponized drones to bombard the provinces of Ukraine it has illegally annexed but doesn’t fully control, causing casualties, building damage and power outages Friday. The Ukrainian military said Russian forces launched 18 airstrikes, five missile strikes and...
Shapiro’s proposed Pa. State Police fund saves road dollars but raises accountability concerns
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 — In his first budget proposal as governor, Democrat Josh Shapiro aims to resolve a longstanding fiscal conundrum: funding the...
Report: Russia formally charges Wall Street Journal reporter
MOSCOW — Jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been charged with espionage in Russia and has entered his official denial, Russian state news agency Tass reported Friday. Tass said a law enforcement source informed the news agency that Russia’s Federal Security Service officially charged the American journalist with...
What’s next for Tennessee’s expelled lawmakers?
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Republicans have expelled two Democratic lawmakers from the state Legislature for their role in a protest calling for more gun control. Here’s a look at what could happen next: What happened? Republicans voted Thursday to expel two Black lawmakers who last week approached the front of...
20 hurt when inmate sets fire at N.Y.’s Rikers Island jail
NEW YORK — A fire set by an inmate at New York City’s troubled Rikers Island injured 20 people on a day that lawmakers visited the jail complex, authorities said. Fifteen staff members and five inmates were injured in the fire that started about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, the city Correction...
With snakes emerging as temperatures rise, Pa. has 3 venomous species to be aware of
Don’t look now but the sun is shining a little more, and the temperatures are starting to warm up. It’s a beautiful thing after slogging through another Pennsylvania winter, but humans aren’t the only creatures ready to get out and about in the nice weather. The rising temperatures mean snakes...
GM Cruise recalls 300 robotaxis after crash involving bus
DETROIT — General Motors’ Cruise autonomous vehicle unit has recalled 300 robotaxis to update software after one of them rear-ended a municipal bus in San Francisco. Cruise says in government documents posted Friday that the robotaxi inaccurately predicted how the bus would move as it pulled out of a bus...
Suspect shoots 2 hostages after wounding California officer
ROSEVILLE, Calif. — A man fleeing police in Northern California took two hostages at a public park on Thursday, killing one of them and wounding a California Highway Patrol officer before surrendering, authorities said. The events played out in Roseville, a city of about 150,000 northeast of Sacramento, in the...
China sanctions Reagan library, others over Tsai’s U.S. trip
TAIPEI, Taiwan — China is imposing sanctions against the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and other U.S.- and Asian-based organizations in retaliation for the closely watched meeting this week between the U.S. House Speaker and Taiwan’s president. The Reagan library in Simi Valley, Calif., was the site of the rare high-level,...
Biden review of chaotic Afghan withdrawal blames Trump
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday laid the blame on his predecessor, President Donald Trump, for the deadly and chaotic 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan that brought about some of the darkest moments of Biden’s presidency. The White House publicly released a 12-page summary of the...
Israel hits Gaza as Netanyahu vows to extract ‘heavy price’Video
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military struck targets in the Gaza Strip while Palestinian militants fired barrages of rockets rockets into southern Israel early Friday, with the region edging closer toward war following two days of unrest at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site and a rare rocket attack from neighboring Lebanon....
EPA proposal takes on health risks near chemical plants
In what could prove a significant move for communities facing air pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed on Thursday that chemical plants nationwide measure certain hazardous compounds that cross beyond their property lines and reduce them when they are too high. The proposed rules would reduce cancer risk and other...
Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina warned by Stormy Daniels’ attorney of ‘ethical breach’
Donald Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina may have a conflict of interest because Stormy Daniels shared “confidences” with him about her sexual encounter with the former president, a lawyer for the adult-film star said. Daniels is at the center of a hush-money case against Trump, who pleaded not guilty to 34...
House Republicans subpoena former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz in Trump case
WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Thursday subpoenaed one of the former Manhattan prosecutors who had been leading a criminal investigation into Donald Trump before quitting last year in a clash over the direction of the probe. Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, ordered Mark Pomerantz to testify...
