Supreme Court will hear arguments on Biden vaccine requirements
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court says it will hold a special session in just over two weeks to hear arguments on the Biden administration’s vaccine or testing requirement for large employers and a separate vaccine requirement for healthcare workers, an announcement that comes amid rising coronavirus cases. The high court...
Omicron less likely to put you in the hospital, studies contend
Two new British studies provide some early hints that the omicron variant of the coronavirus may be milder than the delta version. Scientists stress that even if the findings of these early studies hold up, any reductions in severity need to be weighed against the fact omicron spreads much faster...
9 days after tornado, cat found in rubble of building
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Nine days after a tornado demolished his three-story office building in downtown Mayfield, Ky., Sonny “Hoot” Gibson was standing in the rubble when he thought he heard a faint meow. It instantly gave him hope that his office cat, Madix, who hadn’t been seen since before the...
U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon carjacked in Philadelphia park, uninjured
PHILADELPHIA — U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon was carjacked in a south Philadelphia park, according to her office, which says she was uninjured. Communications Director Lauren Cox said Scanlon had attended a meeting in FDR Park and was carjacked at gunpoint in the park at about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday. Cox...
Gov. Wolf vetoes GOP bill to post school course materials online
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a bill on Wednesday that would have required school districts to post information about textbooks, course material and state academic standards online. The Democratic governor said the legislation “politicizes what is being taught in our schools” and that state regulations already require public...
Gov. Mike DeWine signs measure legalizing sports gambling in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday signed legislation to legalize sports gambling in Ohio. Ohio lawmakers approved legislation earlier this month that will allow people to place sports bets online, at casinos, racinos, and at stand-alone betting kiosks in bars, restaurants and professional sports facilities. People will be...
Jan. 6 committee seeks interview with GOP Rep. Jim Jordan
WASHINGTON — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection requested an interview and information from Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio on Wednesday, the second time this week the committee publicly sought to interview a sitting member of Congress. In a letter to Jordan, Mississippi Rep. Bennie...
White House: Biden negative for covid after close contact
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has tested negative for covid-19, the White House said Wednesday. “This morning, President Biden received a PCR test and the test result was negative,” the White House press office said in a statement emailed to reporters, referring to a sensitive test used to detect the...
Pause on student loan payments is extended through May 1
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday extended a student loan moratorium that has allowed millions of Americans to put off debt payments during the pandemic. Under the action, payments on federal student loans will remain paused through May 1. Interest rates will remain at 0% during that period, and...
Pfizer pill becomes 1st U.S.-authorized home covid treatment
WASHINGTON — U.S. health regulators on Wednesday authorized the first pill against covid-19, a Pfizer drug that Americans will be able to take at home to head off the worst effects of the virus. The long-awaited milestone comes as U.S. cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all rising and health officials...
U.S. Treasury creates pathway to send aid to Afghanistan
The Treasury Department on Wednesday announced it was issuing special licenses to ensure that some international aid could flow to Afghanistan, which faces a crisis as its economy collapsed following the Taliban takeover in August. The licenses will enable the U.S. government, international organizations such as the United Nations and...
Biden and Dems scramble to salvage social, climate package
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, along with progressive and moderate Democrats, appears determined to return to the negotiating table with Sen. Joe Manchin, the holdout Democrat who effectively tanked the party’s signature $2 trillion domestic policy initiative. In the days since the West Virginia lawmaker gave a thumbs down on...
Yuengling accuses Bud Light of trampling on trademark
A trademark tiff between America’s oldest beer maker and America’s best-selling beer brand appears to be over before it really began. Last week, D.G. Yuengling & Son, the nearly 200-year-old Pennsylvania-based brewer, demanded that its much larger rival, Anheuser-Busch, stop using a tagline for its forthcoming Bud Light Next zero-carb...
Pennsylvania elections chief warns lawmakers about deadlines
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s top statewide elections official warned legislative leaders that delays in drawing new General Assembly district lines may require them to push back next year’s spring primary election. Acting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid told the floor leaders Tuesday for both parties in the two chambers on the...
Madagascar’s police chief swims to safety after copter crash
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Madagascar’s police minister and an air force mechanic succeeded in swimming for 12 hours to safety after their helicopter crashed in the Indian Ocean. Gen. Serge Gellé, 57, the Secretary of State for the Gendarmerie, was discovered in the water by a fisherman in a canoe who...
Gov. Brian Kemp backs Juneteenth as Georgia state holiday
ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp is supporting a plan to add Juneteenth as a mandatory 13th holiday for Georgia state employees. Georgia law now mandates the observance of the 10 federal holidays set in 1984, when Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first observed. But a new federal law signed...
Tequila byproduct spill fouls Mexican reservoir, kills fish
AYOTLAN, Mexico — When Jesús Solís noticed the waters of the reservoir where he had spent his entire life beginning to darken and a rotten odor taking hold, he was overcome with fear. Within weeks those initial concerns were confirmed as tens of thousands of dead fish floated to the...
Russian FM: Security talks with U.S., NATO to start next month
MOSCOW — Russian and U.S. negotiators will sit down for talks early next year to discuss Moscow’s demand for Western guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine, Russia’s top diplomat said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia in January will also start separate talks with NATO to discuss the...
Japanese space tourist says he would love longer flight
MOSCOW — A Japanese space tourist said Wednesday that he felt his 12-day mission to the International Space Station was too short and he would love to stay a week more. Fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa, his producer Yozo Hirano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin blasted off to the station in...
U.S. opens probe into Tesla letting drivers play video games
ATHENS, Ohio — The U.S. has opened a formal investigation into a report that Tesla vehicles allow people to play video games on a center touch screen while they are driving. The probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers about 580,000 electric cars and SUVs from model years...
Philadelphia police officer, resident shot, 2 others hurt in crash
PHILADELPHIA — A police officer was in stable condition Wednesday and two other officers were hurt in a crash after a shooting that left a resident injured and the suspect with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. The officer had responded to a report of an armed robbery on Tuesday...
Secret Service: Nearly $100B stolen in pandemic relief funds
Nearly $100 billion at minimum has been stolen from covid-19 relief programs set up to help businesses and people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, the U.S. Secret Service said Tuesday. The estimate is based on Secret Service cases and data from the Labor Department and the Small...
Brawl breaks out inside Miami airport; 2 chargedVideo
MIAMI — Two travelers are facing charges following a brawl with police at Miami International Airport, authorities said. Mayfrer Serranopaca, 30, of Kissimmee, Fla., and Alberto Yanez Suarez, 32, of Odessa, Texas, were arrested in Concourse H after Monday evening’s fight, according to Miami-Dade police reports. They were each charged...
Harvard professor Charles Lieber found guilty of hiding ties to China
BOSTON — A Harvard University professor charged with hiding his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment program was found guilty on all counts Tuesday. Charles Lieber, 62, the former chair of Harvard’s department of chemistry and chemical biology, had pleaded not guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns, two...
Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry denies Jan. 6 panel’s request for interview
WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania on Tuesday rebuffed a request for him to sit down for an interview and turn over documents to the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection, joining other allies of former President Donald Trump in trying to stonewall the committee....
