Delta jet makes emergency landing as passengers, crew detain ‘unruly’ man
ATLANTA — A Delta Air Lines flight bound for Atlanta had to make an emergency landing Friday evening when an unruly passenger attacked two flight attendants and threatened to bring down the plane, authorities said. The incident occurred on Flight 1730, which took off from Los Angeles but had to...
Rapper Polo G is arrested in Miami after album release party
MIAMI — Rapper Polo G has been arrested on charges including battery on a police officer, resisting arrest with violence and criminal mischief. Jail records show the rapper, whose name is Taurus Bartlett, was booked into jail early Saturday on five charges and released on bond hours later. The Miami...
Virginia county plans to rename Lee Highway for abolitionist
ARLINGTON, Va. — A northern Virginia county near the nation’s capital is paving the way to rename a major highway that currently shares a name with Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The Arlington County Board said at its Saturday meeting that it plans to vote next month to rename Lee...
Winning auction bid to fly in space with Jeff Bezos: $28M
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — An auction for a ride into space next month alongside Jeff Bezos and his brother ended with a winning $28 million bid Saturday. The Amazon founder’s rocket company, Blue Origin, did not disclose the winner’s name following the live online auction. The identity will be revealed...
Afghan official: bombs hit 2 minivans in Kabul, 7 dead
KABUL, Afghanistan — Separate bombs hit two minivans in a mostly Shiite neighborhood in the Afghan capital Saturday, killing at least seven people and wounding six others, the Interior Ministry said. The attacks targeted minivans on the same road about 1.25 miles apart in a neighborhood in western Kabul, Interior...
Biden urges G-7 leaders to call out, compete with China
CARBIS BAY, England — Leaders of the world’s largest economies on Saturday unveiled an infrastructure plan for the developing world to compete with China’s efforts, but the democracies didn’t immediately agree on how to publicly call out Beijing, including for its forced labor practices. The proposal on labor practices is...
Iran nuclear talks aimed at reset, face major challenges
VIENNA — Talks between Iran and global powers restarted Saturday with the goal of trying to restore a landmark agreement to contain Iranian nuclear development that the Trump administration abandoned in 2018. Senior diplomats from China, Germany, France, Russia, and Britain planned to meet at a hotel in the Austrian...
GOP governors tie economy to relaxed approach to coronavirus
JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. — Republican governors running for reelection have begun trumpeting the party’s more hands-off approach to the coronavirus pandemic, trying to flip the script on an issue that helped Democrats win the White House and control of Capitol Hill in 2020. GOP governors, especially in populous, diverse Sun...
Shootout between Kashmir rebels, Indian police kills 4
SRINAGAR, India — A heated gunbattle between militants and Indian police broke out Saturday in the disputed region of Kashmir, killing at least two police and two civilians, officials said. Anti-India protests later erupted during the civilians’ funerals in Sopore, the northwestern town where the fighting took place, after local...
Moscow orders new restrictions as covid infections soar
MOSCOW — Moscow’s mayor on Saturday ordered a week off for some workplaces and imposed restrictions on many businesses to fight coronavirus infections that have more than doubled in the past week. The national coronavirus task force reported 6,701 new cases of infection in Moscow, compared with 2,936 on June...
Mike Pence, wife buy suburban Indianapolis home for $1.93M
CARMEL, Ind. — Former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife have purchased a $1.93 million suburban Indianapolis house that sits on a 5-acre spread and features seven bedrooms, a swimming pool and an indoor basketball court. Pence and his wife, Karen, took out a $1.54 million mortgage on the...
Police: Attacker wounds 13 in Austin shooting, escapes
AUSTIN, Texas — Someone opened fire in a busy entertainment district in downtown Austin early Saturday, wounding 13 people, including two critically, before getting away, authorities said. Investigators were looking into what sparked the shooting and weren’t able to get a detailed description of the shooter, but they believe it...
Activists target top Republican in Pa. Senate as they push for gift ban
SpotlightPA 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. HARRISBURG — Using song and chant, a group of activists marched through the Capitol’s hallways Wednesday, even momentarily disrupting the Senate’s voting session, demanding that lawmakers pass legislation...
Personal data from Pa. contact tracing calls still online despite assurances it had been secured
SpotlightPA 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. HARRISBURG — Personal information collected during coronavirus contact tracing calls in Pennsylvania is still available online in a document accessible to anyone with a link, Spotlight PA has...
Judge orders rare hearing in New York for R. Kelly to decide on potential attorney conflicts
CHICAGO — A federal judge in New York has scheduled a rare hearing for indicted R&B superstar R. Kelly into whether the attorneys he has elected to defend him at his upcoming racketeering trial have conflicts of interest. U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly scheduled the hearing for Thursday after Kelly’s...
Oregon legislator is 1st-ever ousted after Statehouse breach
SALEM, Ore. — Republican lawmakers voted with majority Democrats in the Oregon House of Representatives to take the historic step of expelling a Republican member who let violent, far-right protesters into the state Capitol on Dec. 21. Legislators said on the House floor that this could be the most important...
YouTube suspends Sen. Johnson for covid ‘misinformation’
MILWAUKEE — Sen. Ron Johnson was suspended Friday from uploading videos to YouTube for one week, after the company said he violated its covid-19 “medical misinformation policies.” The Wisconsin Republican’s removal stems from statements he made during a June 3 Milwaukee Press Club event, which were posted to YouTube. He...
G-7 pledge to share, but jostle for ground in the sandbox
CARBIS BAY, England — Group of Seven leaders brought pledges to share vaccine doses and make a fairer global economy Friday to a seaside summit in England, where British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the coronavirus pandemic should not be allowed to leave a “lasting scar” on the world. The...
Erie Republican lawmaker eyes a run for Pa. governor — with a pitch that breaks from Trump
PHILADELPHIA — Republican state Sen. Dan Laughlin is moving toward a run for governor, presenting himself as a “center-right” conservative who can appeal to swing voters and avoid divisive cultural feuds — and drawing an implicit contrast with other Republicans trying to follow in the footsteps of former President Donald...
California governor signs orders to roll back virus rules
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It’s official: Most of California’s coronavirus rules governing public gatherings will disappear on Tuesday after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Friday afternoon that heralds the end of the pandemic’s hold on much of public life for the nation’s most populous state. Newsom’s action on Friday...
Justice Dept., Congress probing Trump seizures of Dems’ data
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s internal watchdog launched an investigation Friday after revelations that former President Donald Trump’s administration secretly seized phone data from at least two House Democrats as part of an aggressive leaks probe. Democrats called the seizures “harrowing” and an abuse of power. The announcement by Inspector...
Company drops plan for $2.3B methanol plant in Washington
SEATTLE — A company backed by the Chinese government on Friday ended its seven-year effort to build one of the world’s largest methanol plants along the Columbia River in southwestern Washington, following a series of regulatory setbacks and a long debate over its environmental footprint. Northwest Innovation Works proposed a...
Biden nominee’s link to 1989 logging sabotage blasted by GOP
BILLINGS, Mont. — President Joe Biden’s nominee to oversee federal lands in the U.S. West is facing Republican pressure to withdraw over her ties to environmental activists convicted of spiking trees to sabotage a national forest timber sale more than 30 years ago. U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, the ranking Republican...
Queen Elizabeth II hosts G-7 leaders, spouses
FALMOUTH, England — Queen Elizabeth II has hosted the Group of Seven leaders at an evening reception where Britain’s royals mingled with some of the world’s most powerful politicians. The event, which was closed to most media, saw royals, world leaders and their spouses enjoying drinks at Cornwall’s Eden Project,...
Oregon GOP legislator ousted over state Capitol breach
SALEM, Ore. — Republican lawmakers voted with majority Democrats in the Oregon House of Representatives to take the historic step of expelling a Republican member who let violent, far-right protesters into the state Capitol on Dec. 21. Legislators said on the House floor that this could be the most important...
