Senate backs Finland, Sweden for NATO 95-1, rebuking RussiaVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators delivered overwhelming bipartisan approval to NATO membership for Finland and Sweden Wednesday, calling expansion of the Western defensive bloc a “slam-dunk” for U.S. national security and a day of reckoning for Russian President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine. Wednesday’s 95-1 vote — for the...
Pennsylvania aims to fight robocalls by joining task force that would sue scammers
Tired of annoying robocalls? Pennsylvania is joining a new task force that aims to help reduce the number that you receive. State attorney general Josh Shapiro announced this week that Pennsylvania has joined an Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force. The task force, made up of 50 attorneys general, aims to investigate...
Judge: West Virginia Medicaid must cover transgender care
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s Medicaid program must provide coverage for gender-confirming care for transgender residents, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Chuck Chambers in Huntington made the ruling Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by LGBTQ interest group Lambda Legal over treatments for gender dysphoria. Chambers said the Medicaid...
Trump ally Navarro sued for alleged unofficial email account
NEW YORK — The Justice Department filed suit Wednesday against Peter Navarro, claiming the former adviser to Donald Trump used an unofficial email account while working in the White House and wrongfully retained presidential records. The lawsuit in federal court in Washington claims Navarro used at least one “non-official” email...
Paul Pelosi pleads not guilty to DUI misdemeanor charges
SAN FRANCISCO — The husband of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pleaded not guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor driving under the influence charges related to a May crash in Northern California wine country. Paul Pelosi, 82, did not appear in person at Napa County Superior Court Wednesday. His attorney, Amanda Bevins,...
EPA: Chemical in medical-device cleanser poses cancer risk
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is warning residents who live near medical sterilizing plants in 13 states and Puerto Rico about potential health risks from emissions of ethylene oxide, a chemical widely used in their operations. Laredo, Texas; Ardmore, Okla.; and Lakewood, Colo., are among the communities facing the...
Indiana Rep. Walorski, 2 staffers killed in head-on crashVideo
WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski was killed Wednesday in a car crash in her northern Indiana district along with two members of her congressional staff and another person, police said. The crash happened about 12:30 p.m. when a car crossed the center line on state highway and collided...
Pig organs revived hour after death in scientific advance
Scientists successfully revived vital organs from deceased pigs with a technology that shows promise for organ transplantation and further blurs the line between life and death. The research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, challenges the assumption that tissue death is swift and irreversible, as the scientists were able to...
Long days grind on search teams in flood-ravaged AppalachiaVideo
HINDMAN, Ky. — For days, a search-and-rescue team led by Phillip Dix has combed debris-clogged creekbanks looking for survivors in flood-ravaged eastern Kentucky. His crew is used to the stifling heat and humidity but is laboring under the grind of 12-hour days spent pulling people from danger. The scope of...
Record amount of seaweed is choking shores in the Caribbean
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Near-record amounts of seaweed are smothering Caribbean coasts from Puerto Rico to Barbados, killing fish and other wildlife, choking tourism and releasing stinky, noxious gases. More than 24 million tons of sargassum blanketed the Atlantic in June, shattering the all-time record, set in 2018, by...
Covid cases drop 9% globally last week, deaths stable
LONDON — New coronavirus cases fell 9% globally last week while deaths remained stable, according to the latest weekly assessment of the pandemic released Wednesday by the World Health Organization. The U.N. health agency said there were 6.5 million cases reported last week with more than 14,000 deaths. WHO said...
UN chief criticizes ‘grotesque greed’ of oil companies
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations chief sharply criticized the “grotesque greed” of oil and gas companies on Wednesday for making record profits from the energy crisis on the back of the world’s poorest people, “while destroying our only home.” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was “immoral” that the largest...
Chicago-area July 4 parade attack suspect pleads not guilty
WAUKEGAN, Ill. — The man accused of killing seven people and wounding dozens more in a shooting at an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, a week after prosecutors announced he faces 117 felony counts in the attack. Robert E. Crimo III appeared for a...
Alex Jones concedes Sandy Hook attack was ‘100% real’Video
AUSTIN, Texas — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones testified Wednesday that he now understands it was irresponsible of him to declare the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre a hoax and that he now believes it was “100% real.” Speaking a day after the parents of a 6-year-old boy who was killed...
Dolly Parton among Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy winners
NEW YORK — Country superstar Dolly Parton, who made a big donation to help fund coronavirus vaccine research in 2020, is among this year’s Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy recipients. Also being honored are Dallas entrepreneur Lyda Hill, Kenyan industrialist Manu Chandaria, and Lynn and Stacy Schusterman, from the Oklahoma investment...
Pelosi says U.S. will not abandon Taiwan as China protests
TAIPEI, Taiwan — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taiwan after a visit that heightened tensions with China, saying Wednesday that she and other members of Congress in her delegation showed they will not abandon their commitment to the self-governing island. Pelosi, the first U.S. speaker to visit the island...
Los Angeles OKs sweeping ban on homeless camps near schools
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to ban homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and daycare centers during a meeting that was disrupted by protesters who said it criminalizes homelessness. The council voted 11-3 to vastly broaden an existing ban on sitting, sleeping or camping...
Spain is latest nation with reports of nightclub needle jabs
MADRID — Police in Spain are investigating about 50 reported cases of women getting pricked with medical needles while at nightclubs or parties, a trend that previously came to the attention of authorities in other European countries. So far, Spanish police have not confirmed any cases of sexual assault or...
Primary night takeaways: Abortion backlash in Kansas, Greitens’ collapse
WASHINGTON — In one of the biggest days of this year’s primary campaign season, voters rejected a measure that would have made it easier to restrict abortion rights in red-state Kansas and repudiated a scandal-tarred former governor seeking a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri. Meanwhile, a Republican congressman who voted...
Former special education teacher from West Virginia gets 10 years in abuse caseVideo
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A former special education teacher in West Virginia was sentenced to the maximum 10 years in prison Tuesday for abusing several students. Nancy Boggs was sentenced in Kanawha County Circuit Court stemming from incidents last September at Holz Elementary School in Charleston, news outlets reported. “You turned...
Kansas voters protect abortion rights, block path to ban
TOPEKA — Kansas voters on Tuesday protected the right to get an abortion in their state, rejecting a measure that would have allowed their Republican-controlled Legislature to tighten abortion restrictions or ban it outright. The referendum in the conservative state was the first test of U.S. voter sentiment about abortion...
Hessian remains unearthed at Revolutionary War battle site near PhiladelphiaVideo
NATIONAL PARK, N.J. — Researchers believe they have uncovered in a mass grave in New Jersey the remains of as many as 12 Hessian soldiers who fought during the Revolutionary War, officials announced Tuesday. The remains, found at the site of Fort Mercer and the 1777 Battle of Red Bank,...
Senate approves bill to aid veterans exposed to toxic burn pitsVideo
WASHINGTON — A bill enhancing health care and disability benefits for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits won final approval in the Senate on Tuesday, ending a brief stalemate over the measure that had infuriated advocates and inspired some to camp outside the Capitol. The bill now goes...
U.S. sues Idaho over abortion law, cites medical treatmentVideo
BOISE — The Justice Department on Tuesday filed a lawsuit that challenges Idaho’s restrictive abortion law, arguing that it conflicts with a federal law requiring doctors to provide pregnant women medically necessary treatment that could include abortion. The federal government brought the lawsuit seeking to invalidate the state’s “criminal prohibition...
Pa. Supreme Court upholds no-excuse mail voting ahead of midterms
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 — The state Supreme Court has upheld Pennsylvania’s mail ballot law, preserving for the time being a popular voting method...
