Trump ally Steve Bannon appears in court on contempt chargesVideo
WASHINGTON — Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon appeared before a judge on Monday to face criminal contempt charges for defying a subpoena from Congress’ Jan. 6 committee, then declared combatively outside court that he was “taking on the Biden regime” in fighting the charges. Bannon did not enter a plea...
Biden’s $1T infrastructure bill historic, not transformative
WASHINGTON — The $1 trillion infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signs into law represents a historic achievement at a time of deeply fractured politics. But the compromises needed to bridge the political divide suggest that the spending might not be as transformative as Biden has promised for the U.S....
Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy won’t seek reelection
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the longest-serving member of the Senate, said Monday he will not seek reelection in 2022 to the seat he has held for eight terms. Leahy, 81, said he and his wife, Marcelle, have concluded that “it is time to pass the...
Democrat Beto O’Rourke running for Texas governor in 2022
AUSTIN, Texas — Democrat Beto O’Rourke is running for governor of Texas, pursuing a blue breakthrough in America’s biggest red state after his star-making U.S. Senate campaign in 2018 put him closer than anyone else in decades. O’Rourke’s announcement Monday kicks off a third run for office in as many...
Poland arrests 3 in connection to antisemitic demonstration
WARSAW, Poland — Three people have been arrested in Poland in connection with an antisemitic demonstration last week where far-right participants shouted “Death to the Jews!,” the country’s interior minister said Monday. The demonstration took place last Thursday, on Poland’s Independence Day, in the central Polish city of Kalisz. Participants...
Baby elephant loses half its trunk to Indonesia poacher trap
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — A baby elephant in Indonesia’s Sumatra island has had half of her trunk amputated after being caught in what authorities said Monday was a trap set by poachers who prey on the endangered species. The 1-year-old female is among the last of the island’s 700 wild...
EU to add airlines to Belarus sanctions as tensions mount
BRUSSELS — The European Union on Monday ratcheted up pressure on Belarus by agreeing to slap sanctions on airlines accused of helping President Alexander Lukashenko to wage a “hybrid attack” against the bloc using migrants, as tensions mounted on the Polish border. Up to 4,000 migrants are stuck in makeshift...
Father, daughter survive plane crash in Pennsylvania woods
BEAR CREEK TOWNSHIP — Personal electronic devices helped lead rescuers to a father and daughter who survived a plane crash in Pennsylvania, authorities said. According to state police, the aircraft had taken off from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport on Sunday night when it went down in a wooded area of...
U.S. journalist jailed in Myanmar for nearly 6 months is freed
BANGKOK — American journalist Danny Fenster, who was recently sentenced to 11 years of hard labor after spending nearly six months in jail in military-ruled Myanmar, was freed and on his way home Monday, a former U.S. diplomat who helped negotiate the release said. Fenster, the managing editor of the...
9-year-old Dallas boy dies after Astroworld festival crush
HOUSTON — A 9-year-old Dallas boy has become the youngest person to die from injuries sustained during a crowd surge at the Astroworld music festival in Houston. Ezra Blount of Dallas died Sunday at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, family attorney Ben Crump said. Ezra was placed in a medically...
Mar-a-Lago-trespasser deported to China 2 years later
PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Chinese businesswoman convicted of trespassing at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and lying to Secret Service agents was deported over the weekend, federal authorities said, more than two years after serving her sentence. Yujing Zhang was turned over to immigration officials in December 2019 after...
Woman arrested for punching Southwest Airlines worker
DALLAS — A woman has been arrested after punching a Southwest Airlines employee in the head during boarding for a flight out of a Dallas airport, police said. Arielle Jean Jackson, 32, was arrested Saturday afternoon at Love Field, Dallas police said. Police said Jackson has been charged with aggravated...
Austria orders lockdown for unvaccinated in drastic covid step
Austria is putting unvaccinated people under lockdown starting Monday, the most drastic move by a Western European country to slow the latest wave of the coronavirus. European cases reached almost 2 million last week, the most in a single week in the region since the pandemic started. The Netherlands and...
CDC says 95% of Pa. adults have gotten at least 1 covid vaccine dose. That’s wrong.
PHILADELPHIA — The CDC’s color-coded vaccination map showed Pennsylvania had hit an impressive milestone this week: 95% of adults had gotten at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine. Hours later, Gov. Tom Wolf touted the figure at a news conference. The staggering number would put Pennsylvania ahead of every...
Trump’s Washington hotel to be sold, renamed Waldorf Astoria
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s family-run company reached a deal to sell the rights to its Washington, D.C., hotel for $375 million, after which the property will be branded as Waldorf Astoria, according to people familiar with the matter. A Miami-based investment firm, CGI Merchant Group, is in contract to acquire...
Anthony Fauci says he won’t step down until covid is in ‘rearview mirror’
He’s not going anywhere. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert who’s provided reassurance to many Americans during the pandemic, says he won’t quit until the country gets past covid-19. “I’m the head of an institute that actually played the major role in the development of the vaccines...
U.K.’s Boris Johnson: Climate deal sounds ‘death knell’ for coal
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the U.N. climate summit as a “game-changing agreement” that sounded the “death knell for coal power” on Sunday — although he added that his delight at the progress on fighting climate change was “tinged with disappointment.” Johnson said it was “beyond question”...
Group to again lobby Harrisburg lawmakers for ‘People’s Maps’ over traditional Pa. politics
A citizens group that solicited public input to create “People’s Maps” to guide officials in drawing new legislative districts for the Pennsylvania General Assembly will make a final pitch on Monday. Carol Kuniholm, executive director of Fair Maps Pennsylvania, will make her pitch for the House and Senate maps, created...
Pennsylvania will fully ban sale of Japanese barberry by fall 2023
State agriculture officials have had it with Japanese barberry. After considering it previously in 2018, Pennsylvania officials have added the invasive shrub to their list of noxious weeds, and merchants will not be permitted to sell it by the fall of 2023. The shrub is popular with landscapers. Unfortunately, it...
Nations strike climate deal with coal compromise
GLASGOW, Scotland — Almost 200 nations accepted a contentious climate compromise Saturday aimed at keeping a key global warming target alive, but it contained a last-minute change that watered down crucial language about coal. Several countries, including small island states, said they were deeply disappointed by the change promoted by...
Ecuador battle between prison gangs leaves at least 68 dead
A prolonged gun battle between rival gangs inside Ecuador’s largest prison early Saturday left at least 68 inmates dead in the latest violence to hit the Litoral Penitentiary, which recently saw the country’s worst prison bloodbath. The fighting lasted for almost eight hours in the lockup in the coastal city...
Pittsburgh doctor on pandemic: ‘We will be living with this virus, there is no covid zero’
Pittsburgh-based Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert and critical care and emergency medicine physician, wrote in a opinion piece this week that it is impossible “to eliminate or eradicate covid-19.” “This is not possible with an efficiently spreading respiratory virus that has an animal reservoir and can spread from...
Alzheimer’s drug cited as Medicare premium jumps by $21.60
Medicare’s “Part B” outpatient premium will jump by $21.60 a month in 2022, one of the largest increases ever. Officials said Friday a new Alzheimer’s drug is responsible for about half of that. The increase guarantees that health care will gobble up a big chunk of the recently announced Social...
Sister: Hawaii girl was inside dog cage and not breathing
A biological sister of a 6-year-old Hawaii girl reported missing by their adoptive parents told police the parents forced her to keep it a secret that Isabella Kalua was not breathing inside a dog cage in the bathroom, with duct tape on her mouth and nose. The new details were...
Nursing homes can now lift most covid restrictions on visits
The government on Friday directed nursing homes to open their doors wide to visitors, easing many remaining pandemic restrictions while urging residents, families and facility staff to keep their guard up against outbreaks. The new guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services instructs nursing homes to allow visits...
