Witness: Taliban hang dead body in Afghan city’s main square
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban hanged a dead body from a crane in the main square of Herat city in western Afghanistan, a witness said Saturday, in a gruesome display that signaled a return to some of the Taliban’s methods of the past. Wazir Ahmad Seddiqi, who runs a pharmacy...
U.S., Pakistan face each other again on Afghanistan threats
WASHINGTON — The Taliban’s takeover of Kabul has deepened the mutual distrust between the U.S. and Pakistan, putative allies who have tangled over Afghanistan. But both sides still need each other. As the Biden administration looks for new ways to stop terrorist threats in Afghanistan, it probably will look again...
Biden risks losing support from Democrats amid D.C. gridlock
NEW YORK — President Joe Biden is losing support among critical groups in his political base as some of his core campaign promises falter, raising concerns among Democrats that the voters who put him in office may feel less enthusiastic about returning to the polls in next year’s midterm elections....
Covid-19 vaccine boosters could mean billions for drugmakers
Billions more in profits are at stake for some vaccine makers as the U.S. moves toward dispensing covid-19 booster shots to shore up Americans’ protection against the virus. How much the manufacturers stand to gain depends on how big the rollout proves to be. The Biden administration last month announced...
Kim’s sister: North Korea willing to talk if Seoul shows respect
SEOUL, South Korea — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Saturday that her country will take steps to repair ties with South Korea, and may even discuss another summit between their leaders, if the South drops what she described as hostility and double standards. The...
Rudy Giuliani not welcome at Fox News, report says
NEW YORK — It’s no coincidence that Fox News viewers haven’t been keeping up with the Giulianis in recent months, a new report claims. Rudy Giuliani, an ex lawyer for former President Donald Trump, has not appeared on the highly viewed cable channel for three months, according to Politico, which...
11 indicted in fraternity pledge’s alcohol poisoning death
RICHMOND, Va. — Eight Virginia Commonwealth University students have been charged with hazing in a fraternity pledge’s death from alcohol poisoning after a party earlier this year, officials said Friday. The eight men arrested Friday range in age from 19 to 22, police said. All are charged with unlawful hazing...
Colorado girl killed on theme park ride was not strapped in, report says
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A Colorado Springs 6-year-old girl on a mine shaft ride wasn’t strapped in before she was thrown and plummeted 110 feet, and operators ignored a system to warn them of the danger, state investigators said in a report. Wongel Estifanos, who died at Glenwood Caverns Adventure...
Unemployment refunds going out to those Pa. overcharged 5 years after issue discovered
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 — Five years after discovering it had overcharged thousands of Pennsylvanians millions of dollars in interest, the state Department of...
GOP review finds no proof Arizona election stolen from Trump
PHOENIX — A Republican-backed review of the 2020 presidential election in Arizona’s largest county ended Friday without producing proof to support former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election. After six months of searching for evidence of fraud, the firm hired by Republican lawmakers issued a report that...
What you need to know about Pfizer booster shots and eligibility for them
Millions of Americans are now eligible to receive a Pfizer booster shot to help increase their protection against the worst effects of the coronavirus. A look at the nuts and bolts of this new phase of the vaccination campaign: Who should get the Pfizer booster? People who got two Pfizer...
New head of Time’s Up pledges openness after Cuomo scandal
Almost four years ago, a group of high-profile Hollywood women — producers, agents, movie stars — formed Time’s Up, an ambitious initiative to fight sexual harassment in their own industry and beyond, as the #MeToo reckoning was taking hold. “It’s very hard for us to speak righteously about the rest...
Florida seeks death penalty for ex-Marine in family’s deaths
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a 33-year-old former Marine accused of massacring a Florida family under the delusion that they were child sex traffickers. In a news release sent Friday, the state attorney’s office said the killings of a Lakeland man, his girlfriend, their baby and the child’s...
Trump Organization faces deadline to comply with N.Y. attorney general subpoenas
NEW YORK — The Trump Organization faces an imminent court deadline to comply with subpoenas issued by New York Attorney General Letitia James nearly two years ago, a newly unsealed order reveals. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron wrote that President Donald Trump’s company must provide a report on Sept....
PG&E charged in California wildfire last year that killed 4
REDDING, Calif. — Pacific Gas and Electric was charged Friday with manslaughter and other crimes after its equipment sparked a Northern California wildfire last year that killed four people and destroyed hundreds of homes, prosecutors said. It is the latest action against the nation’s largest utility, which pleaded guilty last...
House votes to protect abortion rights amid state challenges
The House passed legislation Friday that would guarantee a woman’s right to an abortion, an effort by Democrats to circumvent a new Texas law that has placed that access under threat. The bill’s 218-211 approval is mostly symbolic, as Republican opposition will doom it in the Senate. Still, Democrats say...
CDC: Studies show masks lessen school outbreaks
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention data from the new K-12 school year bolster the agency’s recommendation for masks in schools and in-person classes. One study in two Arizona counties found coronavirus outbreaks were almost four times more common at public schools without mask mandates on the first day...
Biden hosts Indo-Pacific leaders as China concerns grow
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday is meeting with leaders of an Indo-Pacific alliance known as “the Quad” as he wraps up a difficult week of diplomacy in which he faced criticism from both allies and adversaries. The White House meeting with leaders from India, Japan and Australia gives...
Officials: All migrants are gone from Texas border camp
DEL RIO, Texas — No migrants remained Friday at the Texas border encampment where almost 15,000 people — most of them Haitians — had converged just days earlier seeking asylum, local and federal officials said. It’s a dramatic change from last Saturday, when the number peaked as migrants driven by...
N.Y. hospitals fear staff shortage as vaccine deadline looms
NEW YORK — Hospitals and nursing homes in New York are bracing for the possibility that a statewide covid-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers could lead to staff shortages when it takes effect Monday. Doctors and nurses — and also support staff, like food service workers and cleaners —...
U.S. special envoy to Haiti resigns over migrant expulsions
The Biden administration’s special envoy to Haiti resigned in protest of “inhumane” large-scale expulsions of Haitian migrants to their homeland as it is wracked by civil strife and natural disaster, U.S. officials said Thursday. Daniel Foote was appointed to the position only in July, following the assassination of Haiti’s President...
CDC director expands group eligible for covid-19 booster shot
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday endorsed booster shots for millions of older or otherwise vulnerable Americans, opening a major new phase in the U.S vaccination drive against covid-19. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on a series of recommendations from a panel of advisers late...
Vatican Museums, Uffizi team up to confirm a Raphael is real
VATICAN CITY — Two of the world’s most important art museums, the Vatican Museums and the Uffizi Galleries, joined forces for the first time on Friday to inaugurate a small exhibit of rarely seen works by two Renaissance masters that confirmed a painting long suspected of being by Raphael was...
Alaska reports a daily record 1,330 coronavirus infections
Alaska’s unprecedented covid-19 crisis escalated Thursday with the state reporting seven new deaths, a record 1,330 new cases and a near-record 209 hospitalizations. It’s the third time in two weeks that the daily record has been broken: The previous highs were recorded Wednesday, with 1,251 cases, and Sept. 15, with...
South Korea reports biggest daily virus jump
South Korea has reported its biggest daily jump in coronavirus since the start of the pandemic as people returned from the country’s biggest holiday of the year. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said more than 1,750 of the 2,434 new cases reported Friday were from the greater capital...
