Judge blocks Trump rule to limit health studies in EPA regs
A federal judge has blocked a last-minute rule issued by the Trump administration to limit what evidence the Environmental Protection Agency may consider as it regulates pollutants to protect public health. Former EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the Jan. 6 rule was aimed at ending what he and other Republicans...
Army: Sick soldiers drank compound found in antifreeze
FORT BLISS, Texas — An investigation into what sickened 11 soldiers who ingested an unauthorized substance shows they drank an industrial compound found in antifreeze believing it was alcohol following a 10-day field training exercise at Fort Bliss in Texas, U.S. Army officials said Friday. Lt. Col. Allie Payne, public...
Moscow court puts opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s allies under house arrest
A Moscow court on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe. Navalny’s supporters called for rallies on Sunday to demand his release. Tens...
Police: Newly found blood sample solves 1988 homicide in Michigan
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Police said they solved the murder of a Battle Creek woman more than 30 years later, after a newly discovered blood sample connected a man to the fatal stabbing. But no charges will be filed because Roger Plato was killed in 1988, three days before Gayle...
Checked by reality, some QAnon supporters seek a way out
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Ceally Smith spent a year down the rabbit hole of QAnon, devoting more and more time to researching and discussing the conspiracy theory online. Eventually it consumed her, and she wanted out. She broke up with the boyfriend who recruited her into the movement, took six months...
Fauci sees covid vaccination for kids by late spring or the summer
WASHINGTON — The government’s top infectious disease expert said Friday he hopes to see children being vaccinated starting in the next few months. It’s a needed step to securing widespread immunity to the coronavirus. “Hopefully by the time we get to the late spring and early summer we will have...
Covid cases in Pennsylvania surge with 9,643 newly reported, the most in 3 weeks
Pennsylvania on Friday reported 9,643 additional cases of coronavirus, the most in nearly three weeks. Many of the newly reported cases were attributed to Berks, Lancaster and Montgomery counties, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state notes that today’s cases include backlogged antigen testing data from urgent care...
Constitutional ban on medical and recreational pot advances in Idaho
BOISE, Idaho — A proposed constitutional amendment that would prevent the legalization of marijuana in Idaho moved forward Friday as lawmakers in the conservative state try to halt the increasing acceptance of the drug nationwide. The Senate State Affairs Committee voted to send the joint resolution that bans all psychoactive...
Putin signs extension of last Russia-U.S. nuclear arms treaty
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a bill extending the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the United States a week before the pact was due to expire. Both houses of the Russian parliament voted unanimously Wednesday to extend the New START treaty for five years....
Canada to quarantine travelers, suspend flights south
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced stricter restrictions on travelers in response to new, likely more contagious variants of the novel coronavirus — including making it mandatory for travelers to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense when they arrive in Canada and suspending airline service to Mexico...
U.S. extends temporary residency for thousands from Syria
WASHINGTON — The United States extended the temporary legal residency status Friday for nearly 7,000 people from Syria because of the country’s civil war. Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske said Friday that temporary protected status would be extended for 18 months. It was set to expire on...
Hungary 1st in EU to approve Chinese covid-19 vaccine
Hungary’s medicine and food safety regulator on Friday approved China’s Sinopharm covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, making it the first country in the European Union to do so. The decision followed a government decree Thursday that streamlined Hungary’s vaccine approval procedure. Any vaccine that has been administered to at least...
Biden moves quickly to show union workers that Democrats care
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, the most avowedly pro-labor chief executive in decades, has wasted no time in courting unions, a critical Democratic Party constituency that has often felt neglected and taken advantage of in recent years. Just hours after his inauguration, Biden took the unprecedented step of firing the...
AstraZeneca covid vaccine authorized for all adults by European Union
BERLIN — Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population. The European Medicines Agency licensed the vaccine to be used in people 18 and over, though concerns had been raised...
Remdesivir, given to half of hospitalized covid-19 patients in U.S., is big win for Gilead — boosted by taxpayers
It was the end of April — just as the U.S. confirmed its millionth covid-19 case and 50,000 deaths — when White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci announced “highly significant” news about a drug called remdesivir. That was surprising because the antiviral drug, owned by Gilead Sciences and developed with...
South Africa OKs limited use of parasite drug as covid treatment
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa is allowing the limited use of a medicine to treat covid-19 even though regulators acknowledge there’s not enough evidence that it works or is safe for this purpose. The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority this week announced the drug ivermectin could be used in exceptional...
Will double-masking better protect you from covid?
When it comes to face masks, are two better than one? Some health experts — including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert — have recently suggested wearing two face masks for extra protection during the covid-19 pandemic. “It just makes common sense that it likely would be more...
Johnson & Johnson’s 1-dose shot prevents covid-19, but less than some others
Johnson & Johnson’s long-awaited vaccine appears to protect against covid-19 with just one shot — not as strong as some two-shot rivals but still potentially helpful for a world in dire need of more doses. J&J said Friday that in the U.S. and seven other countries, the single-shot vaccine was...
Moscow court mulls house arrest for Navalny’s allies
A Moscow court on Friday considered a request to put several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest as authorities work to stymie more protests over the anti-corruption investigator’s jailing. Navalny’s supporters are calling for rallies on Sunday to demand his freedom. Tens of thousands of people...
WHO team to begin face-to-face meetings with China expertsVideo
WUHAN, China — World Health Organization experts are to begin face-to-face meetings with their Chinese counterparts Friday in the central city of Wuhan at the start of the team’s long-awaited fact-finding mission into the origins of the coronavirus. Those meetings should be followed by the first field visits in and...
Lawsuit: Subway’s tuna is not actually tuna, but a ‘mixture of various concoctions’
Sorry, Charlie. Two Bay Area customers allege there’s something fishy with Subway’s tuna sandwiches. Karen Dhanowa and Nilima Amin of California’s Alameda County recently filed a lawsuit accusing the restaurant franchise of misrepresenting its tuna sandwich. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges...
Oregon health workers stuck in snow give other drivers vaccineVideo
GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Oregon health workers who got stuck in a snowstorm on their way back from a covid-19 vaccination event went car to car injecting stranded drivers before several of the doses expired. Josephine County Public Health said on Facebook that the “impromptu vaccine clinic” took place after...
Novavax covid-19 vaccine works, but less so against variants
Novavax Inc. said Thursday that its covid-19 vaccine appears 89% effective based on early findings from a British study and that it also seems to work — though not as well — against new mutated versions of the virus circulating in that country and South Africa. The announcement comes amid...
Gun-toting West Virginia man with 20 rounds of ammo arrested near the Capitol building
A West Virginia senior citizen with a gun and a list of congressional members in his car was arrested as he marched alone down a Washington street near the U.S. Capitol, authorities said Thursday. Dennis Westover, 71, of South Charleston, told police he was convinced of election fraud in the...
GOP’s Rep. Jim Jordan won’t seek Rob Portman’s U.S. Senate seat
CINCINNATI — Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a fiery Donald Trump supporter, won’t run to succeed Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, who announced this week he isn’t going to seek a third term in 2022. “Mr. Jordan believes at this time he is better suited to represent Ohioans in the House...
