News category, Page 476

AGAM, Indonesia — Indonesia’s Mount Marapi erupted again on Sunday, spewing smoke and ash high into the air, but no casualties were reported. The Marapi Volcano Observation Post in West Sumatra province recorded an eruption with an ash column about 4,265 feet high from its peak, followed by ash rain....

WASHINGTON — John Kerry, the U.S. special envoy on climate, is stepping down from the Biden administration in the coming weeks, according to two people familiar with his plans. Kerry, a longtime senator and secretary of state, was tapped shortly after Joe Biden’s November 2020 election to take on the...

DES MOINES, Iowa — Bruce Rastetter, a major Iowa Republican donor, predicted a resounding Iowa caucus victory for Donald Trump, saying the agriculturally-heavy state maintains nostalgia for the former president’s tenure in the White House. At a Des Moines roundtable hosted by Bloomberg News on Saturday morning, Rastetter said, after...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said the U.S. does not support independence for Taiwan after voters there defied China and returned the governing Democratic Progressive Party — which has sought to limit Beijing’s influence — to a third consecutive term. “We do not support independence,” Biden told reporters Saturday as...

Former President Donald Trump trained his sights on rival Vivek Ramaswamy, casting him as a threat to his Make America Great Again movement in what appeared to be a shift in strategy two days before the Iowa caucuses. “Vote for ‘TRUMP,’ don’t waste your vote! Vivek is not MAGA,” Trump...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The U.S. Homeland Security Department said Saturday that Texas denied federal agents access to a stretch of border when they were trying to rescue three migrants who drowned. The federal government’s account came hours after U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar said the Texas Military Department and Texas National...

BOSTON — A bill making its way through the Massachusetts legislature would block efforts to ban books from school and public libraries. Lawmakers of the Joint Committee on Education heard testimony from advocates and opponents of “An Act regarding free expression,” which would prevent the removal of books from school...

WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders are preparing a stopgap bill to keep the federal government running into March and avoid a partial shutdown next week. The temporary measure will run to March 1 for some federal agencies whose approved funds are set to run out Friday and extend the remainder of...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden can make an increasingly strong case that he’s helped fix inflation — if only he can get voters to believe him. Figures issued this past week reflected a historic level of progress on battling high prices, hinting that inflation could be near the Federal Reserve’s...

WASHINGTON — In a new twist to the fight over abortion access, congressional Republicans are trying to block a Biden administration spending rule they say will cut off millions of dollars to anti-abortion counseling centers. The rule would prohibit states from sending federal funds earmarked for needy Americans to so-called...

This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. BELLEFONTE — Pennsylvania’s poorest districts won’t receive $100 million in new money to help fill vacancies and reduce funding deficits after lawmakers diverted those dollars...

WASHINGTON — Two U.S. Navy SEALs are missing after conducting a nighttime boarding mission Thursday off the coast of Somalia, according to three U.S. officials. The SEALs were on an interdiction mission, climbing up a vessel when one got knocked off by high waves. Under their protocol, when one SEAL...

DES MOINES, Iowa — Most Iowans won’t be out Monday night. Never mind that it’s forecast to be well below zero, with wind chills as low as minus 40 degrees, and the roads may still be icy from a set of snowstorms that hammered the state this past week. It’s...

O’FALLON, Mo. — Icy winter weather blanketed the U.S. on Saturday as a wave of Arctic storms threatened to break low-temperature records in the heartland, spread cold and snow from coast to coast and cast a chill over everything from football playoffs to presidential campaigns. As the three-day Martin Luther...

Generations of Americans have held firm to a version of free speech that makes room for even the vilest of views. It’s girded by a belief that the good ideas rise above the bad, that no one should be punished for voicing an idea — except in rare cases where...

As communities nationwide prepare this weekend to celebrate the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday with events ranging from parades to prayer services, some will take a cue from the slain civil rights icon’s history of protest to demonstrate against the war in Gaza and draw attention to a looming...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration keeps pressing Israel to reengage with Palestinians as partners once fighting in Gaza is over and support their eventual independence. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keeps saying no. Even on actions to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians, the two allies are far apart. That...

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — More than 30 Palestinians, including young children, were killed in Israeli bombardments overnight into Saturday in the Gaza Strip, officials said, while a new U.S. strike against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen heightened fears that the Israel-Hamas war could escalate into a regional conflict. Fears of a...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an appeal from Starbucks in a dispute with the National Labor Relations Board over efforts by workers to unionize at a store in Memphis, Tenn. The case has been among the most closely watched in the more than 2-year-old effort...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military early Saturday struck another Houthi-controlled site in Yemen that it had determined was putting commercial vessels in the Red Sea at risk, two U.S. officials said, a day after the U.S. and Britain launched multiple airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels. Associated Press journalists in Sanaa, Yemen’s...

CAMBRIDGE, Vt. — A Vermont state trooper plunged into a frigid pond and pulled out an 8-year-old girl who had fallen through the ice while playing with siblings. The child survived and fully recovered after a brief hospital stay. The girl and her younger sister fell through the thin ice...

McALLEN, Texas — The Justice Department on Friday asked the Supreme Court to order Texas to stop blocking Border Patrol agents from a portion of the U.S.-Mexico border where large numbers of migrants have crossed in recent months, setting up another showdown between Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the Biden...

MINNEAPOLIS — MyPillow chief executive and prominent election denier Mike Lindell said Friday that Fox News has stopped running his company’s commercials, disputing the network’s assertion it is simply because he hasn’t paid his bills. Lindell went public by tweeting that Fox, which had been one of MyPillow’s biggest advertising...

The FBI is investigating a Spirit Airlines passenger who is accused of asking flight attendants to join the “mile high club” this week, the Department of Justice announced Friday. James Warren Finnister, 47, is facing criminal charges alleging he interfered with flight crew members, sexually harassing and assaulting flight attendants,...

The Greensburg Art Center will host its annual member artwork showcase and teach a Cafe Art class on a unique painting method. About 100 people are submitting about 200 pieces of art to the free showcase — including photography, pottery, sculptures and painting. The event will run from Jan. 20...