World covid report: Bangkok nightspots may close as virus precaution
BANGKOK — Thai health officials are considering the closure of entertainment venues in Bangkok after an outbreak of coronavirus cases in nightspots in and around the capital, and another at a prison in the south. Apisamai Srirangsan, a spokesperson for the Center for covid-19 Situation Administration, said 194 new coronavirus...
Retired Norwin teacher loved traveling, going to Olympics
Retired Norwin High School teacher Leslie “Les” M. Harvath had a lifelong love for the game of baseball, from playing on a Little League championship team to starring for the Norwin Knights and Duquesne Dukes that led to a tryout with the Pittsburgh Pirates and then imparting his knowledge of...
Indonesia landslides, floods kill 55 people; dozens missing
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Multiple disasters caused by torrential rains in eastern Indonesia have killed at least 55 people and displaced thousands, the country’s disaster relief agency said Monday. More than 40 other people were missing. Mud tumbled down from surrounding hills onto dozens of homes in Lamenele village shortly after...
U.S. shuts once-secret Guantanamo prison unit, moves prisoners
WASHINGTON — A once-secret unit within the Guantanamo Bay detention center that had fallen into disrepair has been closed and the prisoners moved to another facility on the American base in Cuba, the U.S. military said Sunday. The prisoners at Camp 7 were transferred to a facility adjacent to where...
Epidemiologist warns of covid-19 variant’s effect on kidsVideo
One of the covid-19 variants can infect children more easily, posing a new risk to kids, a nationally respected epidemiologist warned on Sunday. The variant called B.1.1.7, first detected in the U.K., represents “a brand-new ballgame” in the fight against covid-19, Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious...
U.K. eyes testing covid-19 passports at mass gatherings
LONDON — Britain is planning to test a series of measures including “coronavirus status certifications” over the coming weeks to see if they can allow people to safely return to mass gatherings at sports arenas, nightclubs and concerts. People attending a range of events this month and in May, including...
Capitol attack raises questions of security vs. public accessVideo
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are trying to balance openness with safety after Friday’s attack within steps of the Capitol, a challenge for Congress, nearly three months after a mob stormed the seat of American democracy, to “make it as secure as it needs to be but as free as we could...
‘It gives us some peace:’ Family reacts to arrest in Pa. mother’s death during road-rage incidentVideo
Manheim mother of six Julie Eberly was laid to rest Friday, the same day her family got the news they were hoping for — an arrest in the road-rage shooting that caused Eberly’s death. “I know this won’t really change anything nor bring Julie back, but it gives us some...
Florida works to avoid ‘catastrophic’ reservoir collapseVideo
PALMETTO, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that crews are working to prevent the collapse of a large wastewater pond in the Tampa Bay area while evacuating the area to avoid a “catastrophic flood.” Manatee County officials say the latest models show that a breach at the old...
Singing hymns through masks, Christians mark pandemic Easter
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Christianity’s most joyous feast day was celebrated worldwide with the faithful far apart in pews and singing choruses of “Hallelujah” through face coverings on a second Easter Sunday marked by pandemic precautions. From vast Roman Catholic cathedrals to Protestant churches, worshippers followed national or local regulations...
In Easter speech, pope calls wars in pandemic ‘scandalous’
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis in his traditional Easter Sunday address denounced as “scandalous” how armed conflicts continue to rage even as the coronavirus pandemic has triggered severe social and economic suffering and swollen the ranks of the poor. Francis tempered his “Urbi et Orbi″ address (Latin for “To the...
Amid outcry, states push mental health training for police
The officer who Cassandra Quinto-Collins says kneeled on her son’s neck for over four minutes assured her it was standard protocol for sedating a person experiencing a mental breakdown. “I was there watching it the whole time,” Quinto-Collins told The Associated Press. “I just trusted that they knew what they...
Pa. cannabis legalization remains unlikely as neighboring states go for it
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. A version of this story originally appeared in our free weekly newsletter. New Jersey. New York. Virginia. One by one, Pennsylvania’s neighbors are moving to legalize recreational...
‘B’man’ continues to enjoy his honking ‘Beeple,’ but now also volunteers, raises money for charityVideo
After receiving countless beeps and honks from the motoring public, B’man is giving back. Sixteen-year-old Bill Carney, also known as B’man, is a fixture most evenings at what his family dubs his “corner office,” located at the corner of Freeport and Fox Chapel roads in the Fox Chapel Plaza parking...
Police: 3 dead, 4 hurt in North Carolina house party shooting
WILMINGTON, N.C. — At least seven people were shot and three were killed in a shooting at a house party early Saturday in North Carolina, a police chief said. The shooting happened inside a home in Wilmington around midnight, police Chief Donny Williams told WECT-TV. Information about the people who...
The final insult: Some dying of covid while awaiting vaccine
After months of hoping to receive a covid-19 immunization and then weeks of fighting the illness after one never came, Air Force veteran Diane Drewes was down to her last few breaths at a hospice center in Ohio when the phone rang. It was a health care worker, calling to...
Confederate symbols prove difficult to remove in many states
AUSTIN, Texas — Just past the gate at an entrance to the Texas Capitol, a large monument honoring the soldiers of the Confederacy looms, with towering statues and an inscription that reads, “Died for state rights guaranteed under the Constitution.” It is one of seven Confederate memorials on the Texas...
Chauvin’s trial leaves many Black viewers emotionally taxed
For some it’s too much to watch. Others just can’t turn away. The televised trial of Derek Chauvin, the former white police officer charged in the death of George Floyd, has provoked strong emotions among many Black men and women — all tinged with an underlying dread that it could...
Leak at wastewater pond prompts evacuations in Florida
BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Saturday after a significant leak at a storage pond of wastewater threatened to cause flooding and collapse a system with radioactive material. Officials in Florida were evacuating homes and a highway Saturday near the large reservoir in the...
Pressure mounts on corporations to denounce GOP voting bills
ATLANTA — Liberal activists are stepping up calls for corporate America to denounce Republican efforts to tighten state voting laws, and businesses accustomed to cozy political relationships now find themselves in the middle of a growing partisan fight over voting rights. Pressure is mounting on leading companies in Texas, Arizona...
Unique 4/3/21 date draws lines for Vegas wedding licenses
LAS VEGAS — Soon-to-be newlyweds lined up out the door of the marriage license office in Las Vegas on Friday, ahead of a unique date to tie the knot: 4/3/21. Nearly 700 couples obtained licenses for the Saturday date, said Jeff Klein, a spokesman for the Clark County Marriage Bureau,...
Taiwan prosecutors probe train crash that killed 51
HUALIEN COUNTY, Taiwan — Prosecutors in Taiwan said Saturday they questioned the owner of an unmanned truck that rolled onto a rail track and caused the country’s worst train disaster in decades that killed 51 people and injured 146, though no charges have been filed. The train was carrying 494...
Johnson & Johnson testing covid-19 vaccine in adolescents between 12 and 17 years old
Johnson & Johnson has expanded a clinical trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine to include adolescents 12 to 17 years old, the drugmaker announced Friday. The ongoing, placebo-controlled trial was initially designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the shots for people ages 18 and older. The company now...
Officer killed in attack outside Capitol an 18-year veteran
WASHINGTON — A U.S. Capitol Police officer who died Friday after a man rammed his car into him and another officer at a barricade was identified as an 18-year veteran of the force. William “Billy” Evans joined the department in 2003 and was a member of its first responders unit....
Video shows Oklahoma jailer being brutalized by inmates
The Oklahoma City Police Department released a video Friday showing inmates drag, beat and stab a jailer before police shot and killed one who was holding a homemade knife to the jailer’s neck. The graphic video also shows police and sheriff’s deputies enter the pod at the Oklahoma County Detention...
