California governor boosts efforts to combat smash-and-grabs
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Stung by recent headline-grabbing smash-and-grab robberies, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday said he will seek more than $300 million in state funding over three years to boost law enforcement efforts to combat retail theft. “The issue of crime and violence is top of mind all throughout...
Pfizer study tests extra covid vaccine dose for kids under 5
Pfizer said Friday it was changing plans and testing three doses of its covid-19 vaccine in babies and preschoolers instead of the usual two. The addition of an extra dose came after a preliminary analysis found 2- to 4-year-olds didn’t have as strong an immune response as expected to special...
Amazon driver texts reveal chaos as Illinois tornado bore down
The messages between an Amazon delivery driver and her boss began about 80 minutes before a tornado struck one of the company’s warehouses in Edwardsville, Ill., on Dec. 10, killing six workers. The dramatic exchange cast in sharp relief the chaos that can ensue when disaster hits and disagreements erupt...
Typhoon leaves 12 dead, traps people on roofs in Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — A powerful typhoon that battered the central Philippines left at least 12 people dead in massive floods that trapped residents on roofs and damaged buildings including a hotel and an airport, officials said. Typhoon Rai slightly weakened after slamming ashore Thursday on the country’s southeastern coast but...
Denmark seeks to close public venues to curb coronavirus
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark’s prime minister said Friday that his government is moving to close theaters, cinemas, concert halls, amusement parks, museums and art galleries as part of new restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the proposed measures also would require stores smaller...
‘Doomsday glacier’: Giant Antarctica ice mass could collapse within 3 to 5 years
The rapid deterioration of Thwaites Glacier, the widest glacier on Earth, and one of Antarctica’s largest could result in the ice shelf’s total collapse within a few years, contributing to rising sea levels, researchers have warned. According to a report by Live Science, the warning came during a virtual press...
Covid-19 fears dash hopes for the holiday season — again
Lines again stretch around blocks at some covid-19 testing sites. Refrigerated mobile morgues are on order, and parts of Europe are re-tightening borders amid a winter spike in coronavirus infections. This year’s holiday season was supposed to be a do-over for last year’s subdued celebrations. Instead it’s turning into a...
Suspected arson in downtown Osaka building leaves 24 dead
OSAKA, Japan — A fire that spread from a fourth-floor mental clinic in an eight-story building in downtown Osaka in western Japan on Friday left 24 dead in what police were investigating as a possible case of arson and murder. Police were searching for a man in his 50s to...
Officials: 22 die in Istanbul from bootleg alcohol poisoning
ANKARA, Turkey — At least 22 people have died in Istanbul and 16 others have been hospitalized and are in serious condition after drinking bootleg alcohol, the local governor’s office said Friday, as authorities intensified a crackdown on counterfeit drinks across Turkey ahead of New Year’s celebrations. Eleven of the...
Senate parliamentarian deals Democrats blow on immigration
WASHINGTON — Democrats must drop an effort to let millions of immigrants remain temporarily in the United States from their expansive social and environment bill, the Senate parliamentarian decided Thursday, dealing the latest blow to a longtime priority of the party, migrant advocates and progressives. The opinion by Elizabeth MacDonough,...
Dominion defamation suit against Fox News can move forward
NEW YORK — Fox News probably had enough information after the 2020 presidential election to know a conspiracy theory claiming Dominion Voting Systems Inc. rigged the contest was false, a judge said in denying the network’s request to dismiss a defamation lawsuit. Delaware state court Judge Eric M. Davis on...
Judge rejects Purdue Pharma’s sweeping opioid settlement
A federal judge rejected OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement of thousands of lawsuits over the opioid epidemic Thursday because of a provision that would protect members of the Sackler family from facing litigation of their own. U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in New York found that federal bankruptcy law...
Biden, Democrats punt reconciliation and voting rights bills to 2022Video
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders reluctantly acknowledged Thursday that the Senate would soon recess for the year without passing their sprawling $2.2 trillion social safety net and climate spending bill or voting rights legislation. But Senate Democrats vowed not to go home until they reached a bipartisan...
House subpoenas Mark Meadows contact who pushed false fraud claim
WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection is subpoenaing James P. “Phil” Waldron, a onetime contact of former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows who the panel says pushed false claims about fraud in the 2020 presidential election. The Democratic chairman of the committee, Mississippi...
Michigan teen charged after shooting brother; mistook him for deer
SOLON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A teenager who told investigators that he mistook his brother for a deer when he shot him has been charged with a gun crime, authorities in western Michigan said Thursday. The 17-year-old faces a charge of careless discharge of a firearm causing injury, the Kent County...
Florida sees biggest jump in covid cases since September, with 6,381 addedVideo
MIAMI — Florida on Thursday reported 117 more deaths and 6,381 additional covid-19 cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Miami Herald calculations of CDC data. This is the largest jump of newly reported cases since September. The CDC backlogs cases and deaths for Florida on...
Pennsylvania redistricting: New proposed maps for state House, Senate districts released
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — A panel of Pennsylvania’s most powerful lawmakers released new proposed...
EPA details push to tighten rules for lead in drinking water
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration took steps Thursday aimed at reducing lead in drinking water, announcing plans to release $2.9 billion in infrastructure bill funds next year for lead pipe removal and impose stricter rules to limit exposure to the health hazard. Vice President Kamala Harris made the case for...
U.S. regulators lift in-person restrictions on abortion pill
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday permanently loosened a key restriction on abortion pills, eliminating a long-standing requirement that the medication be picked up in person. Millions of American women will now be able to get a prescription via an online consultation and receive the pills through...
5 children die in bouncy castle accident in AustraliaVideo
SYDNEY — Five children died and four others were in critical condition on Thursday as a result of falling from a bouncy castle that was lifted 33 feet into the air by a gust of wind at a school on Australia’s island state of Tasmania. The school was holding a...
How brothers in arms plotted theft, sale of U.S. Army weaponry
Packed with rifles and explosives, the SUV hurtled down a Florida interstate beneath bright blue autumn skies, passing other motorists with little notice. It was November 2018, and the driver, Tyler Sumlin, was uncomfortable. Clammy. The husky, bearded former U.S. Army soldier was getting a cold, and understandably tense: He...
With omicron in ‘full force,’ New York City to hand out masks, tests
NEW YORK — Alarmed by a rapid rise in covid-19 cases and the increasing prevalence of the omicron variant, New York City officials will distribute one million masks and 500,000 home tests, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday. The mass distributions are part of a broader plan to counter the...
CDC panel recommends Pfizer, Moderna vaccines over J&J shotVideo
Most Americans should be given the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines instead of the Johnson & Johnson shot that can cause rare but serious blood clots, U.S. health advisers recommended Thursday. The strange clotting problem has caused nine confirmed deaths after J&J vaccinations — while the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines don’t...
Panel gives state House, Senate district maps preliminary OK
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted Thursday in favor of new preliminary district maps over sharp objections from the House’s Republican leader, as a large increase in the state’s minority population helped shape big changes. The maps also reflect general population changes over the past decade, which have...
Army vet, 3-year-old among the dead in widespread twisters
Details about the fathers and mothers, children, friends and siblings who died during a tornado outbreak that ripped through the Midwest and South are still coming into focus nearly a week after the onslaught. At least 89 people have been confirmed dead across multiple states after more than 40 tornadoes...
