News category, Page 411

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration will help 50 countries identify and respond to infectious diseases, with the goal of preventing pandemics like the covid-19 outbreak that suddenly halted normal life around the globe in 2020. U.S. government officials will work with the countries to develop better testing, surveillance, communication...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A fire raged through one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings on Tuesday, causing the collapse of the iconic spire from the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange as passersby rushed to help emergency services save priceless paintings and other valuables. Danish Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said it was “touching” to...

Penn State is looking into the construction of a 1,500-bed student housing project that would be located a short walk from the Lasch Football Building, raising the question of whether the proposed project would primarily cater to football players and other student-athletes. According to a source with knowledge of the...

SYDNEY— Australian police say a knife attack in Sydney that wounded a bishop and a priest during a church service as horrified worshippers watched online and in person was an act of terrorism. Police arrested a 16-year-old boy Tuesday after the stabbing at Christ the Good Shepherd Church that injured...

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday unveiled a complicated proposal for passing wartime aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, leaving its path to passage deeply uncertain as he rejected pressure to simply approve a package sent over by the Senate. The Republican speaker huddled with fellow GOP lawmakers...

DENVER — A couple who owned a Colorado funeral home where authorities last year discovered 190 decaying bodies were indicted on federal charges that they misspent nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds on vacations, cosmetic surgery, jewelry and other personal expenses, according to court documents unsealed Monday. The indictment reaffirms...

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office potentially violated state laws on purchasing, state property and government records when it purchased a $19,000 lectern for the Republican governor that’s prompted nationwide attention, an audit requested by lawmakers said Monday. Legislative auditors referred the findings in the long-awaited audit...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is allowing Idaho to enforce its ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth while lawsuits over the law proceed, reversing lower courts. The justices’ order Monday allows the state to put in a place a 2023 law that subjects physicians to up to 10 years...

OKLAHOMA CITY — Two Kansas women who vanished as they tried to pick up children for a birthday party two weeks ago were killed over a custody dispute involving a group of anti-government Oklahomans calling themselves “God’s Misfits,” authorities said Monday. Their vehicle was found March 30 along a rural...

PHILADELPHIA — Days after a shooting at an Eid al-fitr celebration near the Philadelphia Masjid, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced a new prosecution unit targeting people who repeatedly break gun possession laws in the city. The Prolific Gun Offenders unit, Krasner said at a news conference on Monday morning,...

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey has nearly double the available cash of Republican challenger Dave McCormick, who has put nearly $2 million of his own money into this year’s campaign. Federal campaign finance reports for the first quarter of the year show that Casey raised $5.67 million, including $4.35 million...

A plan to reintroduce a native species of weasel into the Pennsylvania wild is on hold indefinitely as the majority of the state Game Commission’s board of commissioners again asked for more time. Commissioner Dennis Fredericks said he was satisfied with the American marten reintroduction plan but sought the postponement...

More than $1 billion in unclaimed tax refunds is set to expire in a few weeks, and a good chunk is up for grabs for Pennsylvanians. Roughly 940,000 people across the U.S. are eligible for unclaimed refunds for the 2020 tax year with a median return of $932, the Internal...

NEW YORK — Americans increased their spending pace in March at a better-than-expected pace the previous month, , underscoring how shoppers remain resilient despite inflationary pressures and other economic challenges. Retail sales rose 0.7% last month after being up a revised 0.9% in February, according to the Commerce Department’s report...

LIVERPOOL, N.Y. — A police officer and a sheriff’s deputy in upstate New York were shot and killed Sunday night in an exchange of gunfire with a suspect, who also was killed, police said. The shooting took place shortly after 8 p.m. in Liverpool, about 6 miles north of Syracuse....

SYDNEY — Horrified worshipers watched online and in person as a bishop was stabbed at the altar during a church service in Sydney on Sunday evening, and three others were stabbed as people rushed to help. Police said there were no life-threatening wounds, and a man was arrested. Hundreds of...

BALTIMORE — The massive container ship that caused the deadly collapse of a Baltimore bridge experienced apparent electrical issues before it left port but set out anyway, someone with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Monday, hours after the FBI said it was investigating whether any laws...

NEW YORK — If you’re feeling — YAWN — sleepy or tired while you read this and wish you could get some more shut-eye, you’re not alone. A majority of Americans say they would feel better if they could have more sleep, according to a new poll. But in the...

Alexa Kutch, like many teachers, has made a habit of buying things for her classroom — from posters to decorate the walls to lamps for softer lighting and other items to spruce up her space. She said it helps create an environment conducive to learning, particularly since her classroom has...

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has reached an agreement to provide up to $6.4 billion in direct funding for Samsung Electronics to develop a computer chip manufacturing and research cluster in Texas. The funding announced Monday by the Commerce Department is part of a total investment in the cluster that,...

DENVER — Colorado’s Democratic-controlled House on Sunday passed a bill that would ban the sale and transfer of semiautomatic firearms, a major step for the legislation after roughly the same bill was swiftly killed by Democrats last year. The bill, which passed on a 35-27 vote, is now on its...

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday he will try to advance wartime aid for Israel this week as he attempts the difficult task of winning House approval for a national security package that also includes funding for Ukraine and allies in Asia. Johnson, R-La., is already under immense...