‘Huge’ explosion rocks St. Vincent as volcano keeps erupting
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent — La Soufriere volcano fired an enormous amount of ash and hot gas early Monday in the biggest explosive eruption yet since volcanic activity began on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent late last week, with officials worried about the lives of those who have refused...
Investigation finds Syria likely behind 2018 chlorine attack
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — An investigation by the global chemical weapons watchdog found “reasonable grounds to believe” that a Syrian air force military helicopter dropped a chlorine cylinder on a Syrian town in 2018, sickening 12 people, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Monday. It is the...
Tokyo adopts tougher virus rules, starts vaccinating elders
TOKYO — Tokyo adopted tougher measures against the coronavirus Monday as Japanese authorities struggle to curb the spread of a more contagious variant ahead of the Olympics in a country where less than 1% of people have been vaccinated. Japan started its vaccination drive with medical workers and expanded that...
Iran blames Israel for sabotage at Natanz nuclear site
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran blamed Israel on Monday for a sabotage attack on its underground Natanz nuclear facility that damaged centrifuges it uses to enrich uranium, warning that it would avenge the assault. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicion fell immediately on it as...
Russia: Feminist activist on trial on pornography charges
MOSCOW — A Russian court on Monday opened the trial of a feminist activist and artist charged with disseminating pornography after she shared artwork depicting female anatomy online — a case in line with the Kremlin’s conservative stance promoting “traditional family values” that has been widely seen as controversial and...
Police: Minnesota officer meant to draw Taser, not handgun in Daunte Wright deathVideo
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — The police officer who fatally shot a Black man during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb apparently intended to fire a Taser, not a handgun, as the man struggled with police, the city’s police chief said Monday, as police clashed with protesters for the second...
Brazil’s covid outlook darkens amid vaccine supply snags
RIO DE JANEIRO — April is shaping up to be Brazil’s darkest month yet in the pandemic, with hospitals struggling with a crush of patients, deaths on track for record highs and few signs of a reprieve from a troubled vaccination program in Latin America’s largest nation. The Health Ministry...
Top official admits Chinese vaccines have low effectiveness
BEIJING — In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines, the country’s top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to get a boost. Chinese vaccines “don’t have very high protection rates,” said the director of the China Centers...
Police declare unlawful assembly as tensions increase among rival demonstrators at Huntington Beach rallyVideo
LOS ANGELES — Huntington Beach police declared an unlawful assembly Sunday afternoon around the city’s famous pier as tensions increased among protesters who clashed with Donald Trump supporters and others displaying allegiance to white supremacist groups. Several hundred people gathered in the plaza area at the base of the pier...
Iran calls Natanz atomic site blackout ‘nuclear terrorism’Video
Iran on Sunday described a blackout at its underground Natanz atomic facility an act of “nuclear terrorism,” raising regional tensions as world powers and Tehran continue to negotiate over its tattered nuclear deal. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, suspicion fell immediately on Israel, where its media nearly...
Blinken warns China on Taiwan encroachment, Russia on UkraineVideo
Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned China against encroaching on Taiwan, and blamed secrecy by the government in Beijing for helping to hasten the spread of covid-19. In an interview with NBC News, Blinken voiced concern about tension fomented by Chinese “aggressive actions” in the Taiwan Strait and said the...
Trump goes after Pence, McConnell in speech to party donorsVideo
PALM BEACH, Fla. — It was supposed to be a unifying weekend for a Republican Party at war with itself over former President Donald Trump’s divisive leadership. But Trump himself shattered two days of relative peace in his closing remarks to the GOP’s top donors when he insulted the party’s...
Nevada GOP censures elections official who defended results
LAS VEGAS — Nevada’s Republican Party voted to censure the secretary of state, accusing her of failing to fully investigate allegations of fraud in the 2020 election. She says there was no widespread fraud and that her own party is attacking her for refusing to “put my thumb on the...
Black Army officer sues Virginia police after being held at gunpoint, pepper sprayed during traffic stopVideo
An Army second lieutenant was driving his brand new car with his dog in the back seat when the night took a violent turn. Moments later, the Black and Latino driver would be pepper-sprayed, threatened and thrown to the ground in a caught-on-video traffic stop that has sparked outrage across...
Pa. Game Commission approves 2-week deer season, bans rifles from turkey hunts
HARRIBURG — The Pennsylvania Game Commission has approved concurrent hunting for antlered and antlerless deer through the duration of the 2021-22 firearms deer season. LNP newspaper reports that commission members acknowledged at their spring meeting Saturday that much of the feedback received since the two-week deer season was proposed in...
Son says Philip’s death has left ‘huge void’ in queen’s life
LONDON — The death of Prince Philip has left a “huge void” in Queen Elizabeth II’s life, their son Prince Andrew said Sunday, as well-wishers continued to leave floral tributes outside the gates of royal residences in memory of the monarch’s husband. Andrew, the third of the couple’s four children,...
4 girls, 12 and 14 years old, accused of setting house fire in Cambria County
FERNDALE, Pa. — Four teenage girls ranging in age from 12 to 14 have been arrested on juvenile court charges of setting a fire that destroyed an unoccupied western Pennsylvania house earlier this month, sending a police officer and a firefighter to the hospital, authorities said. Police in the suburban...
Business faces tricky path navigating post-Trump politics
WASHINGTON — For more than a half-century, the voice emerging from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s monolithic, Beaux Arts-styled building near the White House was predictable: It was the embodiment of American business and, more specifically, a shared set of interests with the Republican Party. The party’s bond with corporate...
Biden sees ‘win’ for U.S. in electric vehicle battery deal
WASHINGTON — Two big South Korean electric vehicle battery makers have settled a long-running trade dispute that will allow one of them to move ahead with plans to manufacture batteries in Georgia, a person briefed on the matter said. President Joe Biden called it “a win for American workers and...
Bouquet-bearing public honors Prince Philip, ignoring covid warning
LONDON — British authorities have implored people to stay away from royal palaces as they mourn the death of Prince Philip in this time of covid-19, but they keep coming. Not just to honor him, but to support Queen Elizabeth II, who lost her husband of 73 years. The mix...
Ash-covered St. Vincent awaits more volcanic explosions
Ash rained down across the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent on Saturday and a strong sulfur smell enveloped communities a day after a powerful explosion at La Soufriere volcano uprooted the lives of thousands of people who evacuated their homes under government orders. Lush green Caribbean villages were transformed...
Lawmakers seek long-term limit on governors’ emergency power
As governors loosen long-lasting coronavirus restrictions, state lawmakers across the U.S. are taking actions to significantly limit the power they could wield in future emergencies. The legislative measures are aimed not simply at undoing mask mandates and capacity limits that have been common during the pandemic. Many proposals seek to...
Pennsylvania’s covid hospitalizations continue upward trend
Pennsylvania on Saturday reported 4,882 additional cases of covid-19. That makes for a seven day average of 4,318. The state’s seven-day case average has now been above 4,000 for 12 consecutive days. Prior to that, the average remained below 4,000 since Feb. 4, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department...
Pa. lawmaker wants to compel Wolf administration to release details of wasted covid vaccine doses
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan 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 — A state lawmaker wants to compel the Wolf administration to make public details on wasted covid-19 vaccine doses, information...
ADL: Fox should fire Tucker Carlson for white-supremacist rhetoric
The Anti-Defamation League has called for Fox News to fire prime-time opinion host Tucker Carlson because he defended a white-supremacist theory that says whites are being “replaced” by people of color. In a letter to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott on Friday, the head of the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, said...
