Illegal border crossings surge to highest of Biden’s term
WASHINGTON — A surge in Cuban and Nicaraguan arrivals at the U.S. border with Mexico in December led to the highest number of illegal border crossings recorded during any month of Joe Biden’s presidency, authorities said Friday. The extraordinary influx came shortly before Biden introduced measures on Jan. 5 to...
Elon Musk takes witness stand to defend Tesla buyout tweets
SAN FRANCISCO— Elon Musk took the witness stand Friday to defend a 2018 tweet claiming he had lined up the financing to take Tesla private in a deal that never came close to happening. The tweet resulted in a $40 million settlement with securities regulators. It also led to a...
Supreme Court: Justices interviewed as part of leak probe
WASHINGTON — Eight months, 126 formal interviews and a 23-page report later, the Supreme Court said it has failed to discover who leaked a draft of the court’s opinion overturning abortion rights. The report released by the court Thursday is the apparent culmination of an investigation ordered by Chief Justice...
Point Park University president steps down
Point Park University President Donald Green is stepping down after 18 months on the job. The 58-year-old notified the university’s board of trustees that his decision “is for private, personal and family reasons,” officials said in a statement Friday. Green’s resignation was effective immediately. Green follows at least three other...
Unemployment rate in Pennsylvania hits record low of 3.9%, but Duquesne prof says that comes with a caveat
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate fell to a record low in December, dropping below 4% for the first time since record-keeping began, according to figures released Friday. Payrolls and the workforce grew but remain below pre-pandemic
record levels. The rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.9% from November’s rate, the state...
Confidential document reveals key human role in ShotSpotter gunshot technology
CHICAGO — In more than 140 cities across the United States, including Pittsburgh, ShotSpotter’s artificial intelligence algorithm and intricate network of microphones evaluate hundreds of thousands of sounds a year to determine if they are gunfire, generating data now being used in criminal cases nationwide. But a confidential ShotSpotter document...
Ex-convict who abused college women gets 60 years in prison
NEW YORK — An ex-convict who obtained millions of dollars by subjecting his daughter’s ex-college roommates to forced labor and prostitution was sentenced Friday to 60 years in prison by a judge who labeled him an “evil genius” who used sadism and psychological torture to control every aspect of his...
More bodies found in Tibet avalanche; death toll rises to 28
BEIJING — More bodies were found Friday following an avalanche that buried vehicles outside a highway tunnel in Tibet, raising the death toll to 28, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported. Images from the scene at the exit of the tunnel connecting the city of Nyingchi in Tibet’s southwest with an...
What older Americans need to know about taking Paxlovid
A new coronavirus variant is circulating, the most transmissible one yet. Hospitalizations of infected patients are rising. And older adults represent nearly 90% of U.S. deaths from covid-19 in recent months, the largest portion since the start of the pandemic. What does that mean for people 65 and older catching...
First Native American woman in space steps out on spacewalk
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The first Native American woman in space ventured out on a spacewalk Friday to prep the International Space Station for more solar panels. NASA astronaut Nicole Mann emerged alongside Japan’s Koichi Wakata, lugging an equipment bag. Their job was to install support struts and brackets for...
March for Life eyes Congress for post-Roe abortion limits
WASHINGTON — A half century after Roe v. Wade, March for Life supporters on Friday celebrated the dismantling of that constitutional right to abortion and the return of “abortion policymaking to the people.” President Joe Biden pledged to do all in his power to restore that right. The first March...
Google axes 12,000 jobs, layoffs spread across tech sector
LONDON — Google is laying off 12,000 workers, or about 6% of its workforce, becoming the latest tech company to trim staff as the economic boom that the industry rode during the COVID-19 pandemic ebbs. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who also leads its parent company Alphabet, informed staff Friday at...
Scientists say pollution not cause of U.K. mass crab deaths
LONDON — British scientists said Friday they don’t think pollution killed thousands of crabs that washed up on beaches in northeast England, though they are unsure what did cause the unusual die-off. The crustaceans were found dead or dying along more than 44 miles of coastline in late 2021, with...
Police: Heroic actions kept Indiana Walmart shooter from doing more harm
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Police in Indiana said Friday that heroic actions by a Walmart employee and law enforcement officers kept a gunman who shot and injured one female employee from doing more harm. The woman was the only person injured late Thursday when 25-year-old Ronald Ray Mosley II walked into...
Russia claims progress in eastern Ukraine; Kyiv craves tanks
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia claimed Friday to have captured a village in its intense, monthslong push toward the eastern Ukraine city of Bakhmut, as military analysts cautioned that tanks that may be sent by Kyiv’s Western allies wouldn’t be a magic wand in the almost 11-month war. Russian Defense Ministry...
Trump, lawyer hit with $1 million sanctions in Clinton case
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump and one of his top lawyers were ordered by a judge to pay a total of almost $1 million in sanctions to Hillary Clinton, her 2016 campaign and more than a dozen political operatives who he accused of running a vast conspiracy to...
Settlement sets up education fund in Pa. school abuse case
PHILADELPHIA — A $3 million settlement will establish a fund for former students as part of a lawsuit alleging abuse and deprivation of education at a now-shuttered Pennsylvania juvenile justice facility. Former Glen Mills Schools students could receive both cash payments for those who experienced or witnessed abuse and funds...
House GOP rewards hard-liners, George Santos with committee seatsVideo
WASHINGTON — The most far-right House Republicans, early opponents of Speaker Kevin McCarthy and even embattled new Rep. George Santos all are in line for coveted committee assignments. Some are set to serve on the high-profile oversight committee investigating President Joe Biden’s administration. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and...
$2.5 billion aid sends Strykers, but no tanks, to Ukraine
WASHINGTON — The United States will send 90 Stryker combat vehicles and an additional 59 Bradley fighting vehicles to Ukraine, in addition to hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition, the Pentagon announced on Thursday. It is the latest aid package timed to help Ukraine push back against Russia’s entrenched...
Arkansas panel advances bill to restrict drag performances
LITTLE ROCK — Drag performances would be classified as adult-oriented businesses under an bill in Arkansas that a legislative panel endorsed Thursday. It’s the latest in a growing number of Republican-backed proposals nationwide to restrict or ban the shows. The state Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee advanced the...
Florida blocks high school African American studies class
TALLAHASSEE — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has blocked a new Advanced Placement course on African American studies from being taught in high schools, saying it violates state law and is historically inaccurate. The state education department rejected the program in a letter last week to the College Board, which...
Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro fills executive staff with loyal allies, political veterans
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 — Newly minted Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is stocking his executive staff of advisers, mediators, and policy experts with political...
Body of missing Limerick woman discovered in Royersford, Montco DA saysVideo
NORRISTOWN — The body of Jennifer Brown, a 43-year-old Limerick Township woman who had been missing since Jan. 3, was found partially buried late Wednesday afternoon at a location in Royersford, according to authorities. “Unfortunately, I have to announce that we have found Jennifer Brown who we have been looking...
Supreme Court says it hasn’t found abortion opinion leakerVideo
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Thursday it has not determined who leaked a draft of the court’s opinion overturning abortion rights, but that the investigation continues. Eight months after Politico published its explosive leak detailing the draft of Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade, the court...
Germany pressed on tanks for Ukraine; Kyiv airs frustration
BERLIN — Germany faced mounting pressure to supply battle tanks to Kyiv and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy aired frustration about not obtaining enough weaponry as Western allies conferred Thursday on how best to support Ukraine nearly 11 months into Russia’s invasion. Since the U.K. announced last week that it will...
