Justice Department reportedly opens probe into Hunter Biden-linked consulting firm
The U.S. Justice Department has reportedly launched an investigation into Blue Star Strategies, a consulting firm linked to President Joe Biden’s son, for potential illegal lobbying. Hunter Biden sat on the board of Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company that was one of Blue Star’s clients. According to Politico, the Delaware...
GOP fight over 2020 election audit brews in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — A key member of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives is flatly rejecting talk of any sort of audit of the 2020 presidential election, a day after three fellow Republican state lawmakers toured the Arizona Senate GOP’s audit. Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, who chairs the committee that handles election matters,...
Georgia school officials condemn some teaching about race
ATLANTA — Georgia’s education board on Thursday approved a resolution that says the U.S. and Georgia are not racist and students should not be taught that racism or slavery are anything but deviations from the country’s “authentic founding principles.” The measure — approved by an 11-2 vote — was introduced...
FBI investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over campaign donations
WASHINGTON — U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is under investigation by the FBI over campaign contributions made by his employees before he took the federal job last year, his spokesman said. DeJoy, a donor to former President Donald Trump, “has always been scrupulous in his adherence to the campaign contribution...
Is it covid or Lyme Disease? If you’re vaccinated and have a rash, it’s easier to diagnose
It’s tick season, and with it comes an increased risk of contracting Lyme disease or another tick-borne illness. Diagnosing the disease can be trickier this year amid the covid-19 pandemic, as some of the symptoms of the diseases are similar. “There’s a lot of overlap,” Dr. Amesh Adalja said of...
Crews remove barriers, memorials at George Floyd Square
MINNEAPOLIS — Crews have removed concrete barriers, artwork, flowers and other items from a Minneapolis intersection that became a sprawling memorial to George Floyd, whose death last year at the hands of police galvanized the racial justice movement. It took the city crews less than four hours Thursday morning to...
Biden announces international covid-19 vaccine sharing plan
WASHINGTON — The White House on Thursday unveiled President Joe Biden’s plans to share covid-19 vaccines with the world, including its intent to direct 75% of excess doses through the U.N.-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing program. The White House has previously stated its intent to share 80 million vaccine doses...
EU plans digital ID wallet for bloc’s post-pandemic life
LONDON — The European Union unveiled plans Thursday for a digital ID wallet that residents could use to access services across the 27-nation bloc, part of a post-pandemic recovery strategy that involves accelerating the shift to an online world. The European Digital Identity Wallet proposed by the EU’s executive commission...
Danish military to lease electric training planes as a trialVideo
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The Danish defense ministry said Thursday that it will lease two electric trainer airplanes as a test, adding that it is the first country in the world to do so. The single-engine, two-seater Pipistrel Velis Electro is an electric-powered Slovenian light aircraft intended primarily for training use....
Report: Inmate’s death at Ohio prison ruled a homicide
ORIENT, Ohio — The death of an inmate who died in his cell at an Ohio prison earlier this year has been ruled a homicide. Michael McDaniel, 55, died Feb. 6 after he became combative and injured two guards who had tried to remove him from his cell at the...
3 Pa. lawmakers visit Arizona GOP election audit
PHOENIX — Three Pennsylvania lawmakers were in Arizona on Wednesday to check out the state Senate GOP’s partisan audit of the 2020 election. They’re the latest Republicans to make a pilgrimage to Phoenix, ground zero in the “stop the steal” movement’s push to find support for conspiracy theories suggesting the...
‘Stand your ground’ defense rejected in iguana killing by Florida man
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A judge has rejected the “stand your ground” defense of a Florida man who said he beat an iguana to death only after it attacked him, biting him on the arm. PJ Nilaja Patterson, 43, must stand trial on a felony animal cruelty charge, Palm...
NASA chief announces 2 new Venus missions after agency’s $25 billion budget requestVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — New NASA Administrator Bill Nelson gave his first State of NASA address on Wednesday plotting out the agency’s plans to continue the Artemis program to return humans to the moon as well as new Earth-centric missions as part of the largest science budget ask ever for the...
State seeks 30 years for Derek Chauvin; defense wants time served
MINNEAPOLIS — Prosecutors are seeking a 30-year sentence for the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in George Floyd’s death, but a defense attorney is asking that Derek Chauvin be sentenced to probation and time already served, according to court documents filed Wednesday. Chauvin is scheduled to be sentenced...
Pair flees Florida juvenile home, engages in gunbattle with deputiesVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — A 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy fled from a Florida juvenile home and broke into a house, where they found a small arsenal — a shotgun, an AK-47 and plenty of ammunition. When confronted by sheriff’s deputies, the pair opened fire, sparking a gunbattle. The gunfire...
New York transit officials confirm cyberattack; say harm limited
NEW YORK — Hackers infiltrated computer systems for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York, setting off a scramble to counter a potentially crippling cyberattack against North America’s largest transit system, MTA officials confirmed on Wednesday. The officials said in a statement that that agency received an alert from the...
Netanyahu opponents reach coalition deal to oust Israeli PM
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents announced Wednesday that they have reached a deal to form a new governing coalition, paving the way for the ouster of the longtime Israeli leader. The dramatic announcement by opposition leader Yair Lapid and his main coalition partner, Naftali Bennett, came shortly before...
Ohio teen says coaches forced him to eat pork despite beliefs
CANTON, Ohio — An attorney for an Ohio high school football player who says coaches forced him to eat pork in violation of his religious beliefs for missing a voluntary workout has announced plans to sue the school district. Canton McKinley head football coach Marcus Wattley and seven assistant coaches...
Prosecutors drop case against New York man charged in Capitol riot
Federal prosecutors have dropped the criminal case against a New York man who was accused of participating in the riot at the U.S. Capitol, in what appears to be the first such move by the Justice Department in its sprawling Jan. 6 prosecution. The dismissal of the case against Christopher...
Study: California fire killed 10% of world’s redwood trees
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — At least a tenth of the world’s mature giant sequoias were destroyed by a single California wildfire that tore through the southern Sierra Nevada last year, according to a draft report prepared by scientists with the National Park Service. The Visalia Times-Delta newspaper obtained a...
Trump shuts down blog after less than a month
Former President Donald Trump is going to have to find a new way to reach his MAGA supporters. The exiled tweeter in chief scrapped his personal blog after less than a month amid poor readership numbers and his indefinite ban from social media. Once hosted on donaldjtrump.com, the “From the...
Biden pushes for U.S. voting rights law as restrictions mount
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden used the 100th anniversary of Tulsa’s race massacre to make a plea for sweeping legislation in Congress to protect the right to vote as Republican-led governments in Texas and other states pass new restrictions making it tougher to cast ballots. Biden, marking the centennial in...
U.S. soldiers mistakenly raid Bulgarian sunflower oil factory
The owner of a small sunflower oil factory in Bulgaria has accused U.S. soldiers of illegally storming his facility during a NATO military exercise last month. Marin Dimitrov told reporters Wednesday that he had filed a lawsuit against those responsible for the May 11 incident. Swift Response 2021 was a...
Iran’s largest warship catches fire, sinks in Gulf of Oman
The largest warship in the Iranian navy caught fire and later sank Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman under unclear circumstances, the latest calamity to strike one of the country’s vessels in recent years amid tensions with the West. The blaze began around 2:25 a.m. and firefighters tried to contain...
Motive unclear as Calif. firefighter kills colleague at station
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — A firefighter killed a coworker and wounded another at their small fire station before setting his own home ablaze and apparently killing himself in California’s second deadly workplace shooting in days. The gunman, a firefighter specialist and engineer, was off-duty when he apparently drove the 10...
