U.N. weather agency: Greenhouse gases reach new record in 2021Video
GENEVA — The three main greenhouse gases hit record high levels in the atmosphere last year, the U.N. weather agency said Wednesday, calling it an “ominous” sign as war in Ukraine, rising costs of food and fuel, and other worries have elbowed in on longtime concerns about global warming in...
Judge considers stopping Arizona ballot drop box watchersVideo
PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona said he hopes to decide by Friday whether to order members of a group to stop monitoring outdoor ballot drop boxes in the state’s largest county in an effort that has sparked allegations of voter intimidation. The groups Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans...
Man gets death for killing Texas agency’s 1st Sikh deputy
HOUSTON — A man was sentenced to death Wednesday for the fatal 2019 shooting of a law enforcement officer who was the first Sikh deputy in his Texas agency. A Harris County jury deliberated for about 35 minutes before returning the death sentence for Robert Solis, 50, after convicting him...
Arizona GOP leader wins temporary halt to House Jan. 6 subpoena for phone records
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan is temporarily blocking the turnover of phone records belonging to the leader of the Arizona Republican Party to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Kagan’s order Wednesday evening paused anything from happening while an emergency appeal...
How redistricting could alter control of the Legislature — and other changes to watch on Election Day
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 — It’s showtime for Pennsylvania’s brand-new legislative districts. The revamped state House and Senate lines were approved by a commission...
GOP lawmakers introduce resolution to impeach Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner
Pennsylvania House Republican lawmakers announced on Wednesday their intention to file articles of impeachment against Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who they say has “tipped the scales of justice in favor of criminals.” The announcement came two days after a Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order issued a second...
Herschel Walker faces abortion allegation from 2nd accuserVideo
LOS ANGELES — A woman came forward Wednesday to accuse Herschel Walker, the anti-abortion Republican running for U.S. Senate in Georgia, of encouraging and paying for her 1993 abortion — an accusation that came just weeks after a former girlfriend said he did the same for her in 2009. Walker’s...
South Carolina judge: Mark Meadows must testify before Georgia grand juryVideo
PICKENS, S.C. — A South Carolina judge ruled Wednesday that former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows must testify before the Fulton County special grand jury investigating attempts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election. Following a 45-minute hearing in this small city in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains,...
Sheriff: Autopsy will determine if dogs killed Amazon driver
EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. — Investigators are trying to determine if two dogs caused the death of an Amazon driver whose body was found in the yard of a home in rural northwest Missouri. Ray County Sheriff Scott Childers said deputies went to a home Monday evening in Excelsior Springs after...
Takeaways from Pa.’s highly anticipated U.S. Senate debate between Oz, Fetterman
Tuesday night’s U.S. Senate debate between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz figures to be remembered mostly for how one candidate spoke instead of what either candidate said. The hourlong debate at the WHTM-TV studio in Harrisburg covered key issues such as inflation, fracking, minimum wage, abortion, international...
Man convicted of killing 6 with SUV in Wisconsin Christmas parade
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin man was convicted Wednesday of killing six people and injuring dozens of others when he drove his SUV through a Christmas parade, wrapping up a trial in which he defended himself with bizarre legal theories and erratic outbursts. It took the jury a little over...
Superstorm Sandy legacy: Recovery far from equal on New York shore
NEW YORK — Even before Superstorm Sandy’s floodwaters surged over New York City’s Rockaway Peninsula, there was an air of decay in Edgemere, a far-flung seaside neighborhood long pockmarked with boarded-up homes and vacant lots with waist-high weeds. When the water receded, even more of Edgemere’s homes lay in ruin....
French iconic painter of black Pierre Soulages dead at 102
PARIS — French painter Pierre Soulages, an icon of post-World War II European abstract art famed for his use of black, has died, according to the Soulages Museum in his hometown of Rodez. He was 102. Soulages became highly influential for his reflections of black, which he called “noir-lumiere,” or...
Gunmen attack major Shiite holy site in Iran, killing 15
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Gunmen attacked a major Shiite holy site in Iran on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens. The attack came as protesters elsewhere in Iran marked a symbolic 40 days since a woman’s death in custody ignited the biggest anti-government movement in over...
3 men convicted of supporting plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer
Three men accused of supporting a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor were convicted of all charges Wednesday, a triumph for state prosecutors after months of mixed results in the main case in federal court. Joe Morrison, his father-in-law Pete Musico, and Paul Bellar were found guilty of providing “material support”...
Once key, U.S. newspaper editorial endorsements fade away
NEW YORK — Newspaper endorsements are fading away as prizes to be nabbed by political campaigns, the practice a victim of both the news industry’s troubles and the era’s bitter politics. Earlier this month, newspapers controlled by Alden Global Capital said they would no longer endorse candidates for president, governor...
Fetterman’s health takes center stage at debate with Oz
All eyes on Pennsylvania on Tuesday night seemed to focus on the U.S. Senate debate between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz. Most of the attention focused on Fetterman’s health. “The two candidates differed sharply on multiple issues during the debate, held in a Harrisburg television studio. But...
Afraid of needles? China rolling out oral covid-19 vaccine
BEIJING — The Chinese city of Shanghai started administering an inhalable covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday in what appears to be a world first. The vaccine, a mist that is sucked in through the mouth, is being offered for free as a booster dose for previously vaccinated people, according to an...
Ebola infects 6 schoolkids in Uganda as contagion fear grows
KAMPALA, Uganda — Six schoolchildren in Uganda’s capital have tested positive for Ebola, the health minister said Wednesday, marking a serious escalation of the outbreak declared just over a month ago. The children, who attend three different schools in Kampala, are among at least 15 people in the city confirmed...
Russia fires rockets at Ukraine, renews ‘dirty bomb’ claims
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia targeted more than 40 villages around Ukraine over the past day, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday, killing at least two people and sustaining the terror that forces people into air raid shelters each night. Russian forces launched five rockets, 30 air strikes and more than 100 multiple-launch...
‘Kill everyone’: Russian violence in Ukraine was strategic
ZDVYZHIVKA, Ukraine — Even by the standards of the important military officers who came and went in this tiny village, the man walking behind the Kamaz truck stood out. Soldiers providing security peered from behind fences, their guns bristling in every direction. Two Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters circled overhead, providing...
Kia recalls SUVs again for risk of engine fire
Kia is telling owners of nearly 72,000 older Sportage small SUVs in the U.S. to park them outdoors and away from structures after getting reports of more engine fires. It’s the second time that Sportages from the 2008 and 2009 model years have been recalled due to fire risks that...
Low-wage workers bear financial brunt of denied abortions
A Texas mother of a toddler, scraping by on her husband’s income, was desperate to return to work but struggling to afford child care. A young Florida warehouse worker had barely left behind a turbulent past of homelessness and abuse only to be mired in debt. When both women learned...
Supreme Court’s Alito says abortion opinion leak made justices ‘assassination’ targets
WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said the leak of his draft opinion eliminating the constitutional right to abortion made members of the majority “targets for assassination.” Speaking in Washington at the conservative Heritage Foundation, Alito gave no indication the court has determined who gave the opinion to...
Fetterman, Oz face off in chaotic debate
In the only debate of Pennsylvania’s Senate race, Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz battled in a chaotic event where the candidates lobbed countless attacks at each other in between answering questions from the moderators. Fetterman and Oz squared off for an hour Tuesday night on the WHTM-TV...
