Panel OKs bid to demolish Wright brothers’ 1st bike shop in Dayton
DAYTON, Ohio — The Dayton Board of Zoning Appeals has approved the city’s request to demolish a 129-year-old historic building that once was the site of the Wright brothers’ first bike shop. The city wants to tear down the site because the building has deteriorated to a point where it...
Afghan prime minister defends Taliban’s rule amid crisis
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s Taliban prime minister defended the group’s rule in a public address Saturday, saying it was not to blame for a worsening economic crisis and is working to repair the corruption of the ousted government. He also dismissed international pressure for the formation of a more inclusive...
News crew guard dies after being shot in attempted robbery
OAKLAND, Calif. — A security guard has died after he was shot while he protected a San Francisco Bay Area television news crew covering a smash-and-grab theft, part of a rash of organized retail crime in the region. “We are devastated by the loss of security guard and our friend,...
Russia jails 5 people over coal mine disaster that killed 51
MOSCOW — A Russian court on Saturday ordered five people to remain in pre-trial detention for two months pending an investigation into a devastating blast in a coal mine in Siberia that resulted in dozens of deaths. Russian authorities reported 51 deaths after a methane explosion rocked the Listvyazhnaya mine...
Anti-government protesters block bridges, roads in Serbia
BELGRADE, Serbia — Skirmishes on Saturday erupted in Serbia between police and anti-government demonstrators who blocked roads and bridges in the Balkan country in protest against new laws they say favor interests of foreign investors devastating the environment. Hundreds of people on Saturday appeared simultaneously in the capital Belgrade, the...
Britain tightens covid rules as world on alert over omicron
LONDON — The U.K. tightened up rules Saturday on mask-wearing and on testing of international arrivals after finding two cases of the new potentially more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus as governments around the world sought to shore up their defenses. Amid fears that the recently identified new variant...
Chris Christie aims to shape future for GOP and for himself
NEW YORK — Chris Christie is everywhere. The former New Jersey governor and onetime Republican presidential candidate denounced “conspiracy theorists” during a September appearance at the Ronald Reagan Library in California. He followed up with a speech this month to influential Republicans in Las Vegas, warning that the party will...
Ukraine leader alleges Russia-backed coup planned next week
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday claimed that his country’s intelligence service has uncovered plans for a Russia-backed coup d’etat in the country set for next week that allegedly involves one of Ukraine’s richest oligarchs. Both the oligarch and the Russian government rejected the allegations. In Nantucket,...
Ghislaine Maxwell’s brother says U.S. prosecutors seeking to ‘break’ her
The brother of a British socialite charged with helping Jeffrey Epstein exploit underage girls says her prosecution is “the most over-hyped trial of the century,” designed to break a woman targeted by authorities desperate to blame someone for the late financier’s crimes. Ghislaine Maxwell continues to have the backing of...
New variant hits sports just as they were nearing normality
Golf, cricket and rugby became the first major sports to be affected by the new covid-19 variant on Friday, prompting fears of renewed travel restrictions and disrupted events just as they were returning to normal nearly two years into the pandemic. European golfers withdrew midway through the season-opening DP World...
Pennsylvania’s child care and staffing crisis, by the numbers
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 — As a roughly $2 trillion social spending plan moves through Congress, transformational change could be on the horizon for...
Boy fatally wounded in target shooting incident in Berks County
A 10-year-old boy was shot and killed on Thanksgiving Day while he was with someone who was target shooting in southeastern Pennsylvania, authorities said. The shooting occurred around 1:30 p.m. near the child’s home in Hereford, Berks County District Attorney John Adams said Friday. The boy was taken to a...
Celebrated snowboarder Marko Grilc dies in Austria after hitting head on snow-covered rock
Slovenian snowboarder Marko Grilc died Tuesday in a tragic accident in the Austrian ski resort of Solden, authorities said. He was 38. Police in the western Austrian state of Tyrol released a press release late on Tuesday saying that a “38-year-old Slovene” had “suffered fatal head injuries” after a snowboarding...
NATO chief warns Russia of ‘costs’ if it moves on Ukraine
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Russia Friday that any attempt to invade Ukraine would have costs, as concern mounts about a Russian military buildup near its former Soviet neighbor’s borders. Ukraine says Moscow kept about 90,000 troops near their common border following massive war games in western Russia earlier this...
GOP field in Pennsylvania’s Senate race heads for reshuffle
HARRISBURG — The Republican field of candidates aiming to capture Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat in next year’s election is churning anew, with the candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump out and intriguing new candidates possibly in. Out is Sean Parnell — a favorite of Donald Trump Jr. —...
New Russian module docks with International Space Station
A Russian cargo craft carrying a new docking module successfully hooked up with the International Space Station Friday after a two-day space journey. The new spherical module, named Prichal (Pier), docked with the orbiting outpost at 6:19 p.m. Moscow time (1519 GMT). It has six docking ports and will allow...
Biden sets out oil, gas leasing reform, stops short of ban
The Biden administration on Friday recommended an overhaul of the nation’s oil and gas leasing program to focus on areas that are most suitable for energy development and raise costs for energy companies to drill on public lands and water. The long-awaited report by the Interior Department stops short of...
Hundreds of FedEx packages are found in Alabama woods
An Alabama sheriff is trying to figure out how hundreds of FedEx packages ended up dumped in the woods. An estimated 300 to 400 packages of various sizes were found in a ravine near the small town of Hayden on Wednesday, the Blount County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement....
U.S. lawmakers visit Taiwan; China conducts military patrols
Five U.S. lawmakers met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday in a surprise one-day visit intended to reaffirm America’s “rock-solid” support for the self-governing island that is claimed by China. The visit came as tensions between Taiwan and China have risen to their highest level in decades. Taiwan has...
World races to contain omicron variant — the new covid threat
Nearly two years into the covid-19 pandemic, the world raced Friday to contain a new coronavirus variant potentially more dangerous than the one that has fueled relentless waves of infection on nearly every continent. A World Health Organization panel named the variant “omicron” and classified it as a highly transmissible...
Egypt unveils renovated ‘Avenue of the Sphinxes’ in Luxor
Egyptian authorities were unveiling Thursday a renovated ancient promenade in the city of Luxor dating back 3,000 years, the latest government project undertaken to highlight the country’s archaeological treasures. Egypt has struggled to revive its tourism industry, battered by years of political turmoil following the 2011 popular uprising that toppled...
FDA: Merck covid pill effective, experts will review safety
Federal health regulators say an experimental covid-19 pill from Merck is effective against the virus, but they will seek input from outside experts on risks of birth defects and other potential problems during pregnancy. The Food and Drug Administration posted its analysis of the pill ahead of a public meeting...
Acquitted and in demand, Kyle Rittenhouse ponders what’s next
KENOSHA, Wis. — When he was acquitted of murder in shootings during unrest in Wisconsin, Kyle Rittenhouse went from staring at possible life behind bars to red-hot star of the right: an exclusive interview with Tucker Carlson and a visit with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago capped by a photo of...
Afghan girl from famous National Geographic cover portrait evacuated to Italy
ROME — National Geographic magazine’s famed green-eyed “Afghan Girl” has arrived in Italy as part of the West’s evacuation of Afghans following the Taliban takeover of the country, the Italian government said Thursday. The office of Premier Mario Draghi said Italy organized the evacuation of Sharbat Gulla after she asked...
Survivor found in coal mine accident in Russia’s Siberia, with death toll at 51
MOSCOW — Rescuers have found a survivor in a Siberian coal mine where dozens of miners are presumed dead after a devastating methane explosion, a top local official announced Friday. Sergei Tsivilyov, governor of the Kemerovo region where the mine is located, said on the messaging app Telegram that the...
