Pakistan says nearly 25,000 Afghans waiting for visas to U.S. won’t be deported as part of clampdown
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s prime minister on Wednesday sought to reassure thousands of Afghans waiting in Pakistan for resettlement in the United States that they won’t be deported as part of his government’s widely criticized crackdown on undocumented migrants in the country. Islamabad has launched a crackdown on illegal migration, saying...
Russia seeks 8-year prison term for an artist and musician who protested the war in Ukraine
TALLINN, Estonia — Russian authorities on Wednesday demanded an eight-year prison term for an artist and musician who was jailed after speaking out against Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Sasha Skochilenko was arrested in her native St. Petersburg in April 2022, on charges of spreading false information about the military after...
Ivanka Trump’s testimony: She worked on dad’s deals, not financial documents key to civil fraud case
NEW YORK — Ivanka Trump didn’t want to testify. But on the the stand Wednesday in her father’s civil fraud trial, she took the opportunity to contend the family business has “overdelivered,” even as she kept her distance from financial documents that New York state says were fraudulent. Former President...
Putin calls for closer Russia-China cooperation on military satellites and prospective weapons
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin told a senior Chinese military official Wednesday that Moscow and Beijing should expand their cooperation on military satellites and other prospective defense technologies— a statement that signaled increasingly close defense links between the allies. Putin spoke in televised remarks at the start of his...
Citigroup discriminated against Armenian Americans, federal regulator says; bank fined $25.9M
NEW YORK — Citigroup intentionally discriminated against Armenian Americans when they applied for credit cards, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday, as the bank argued internally that Armenians were more likely to commit fraud and referred to applicants as “bad guys” or affiliated with organized crime. The CFPB found...
Croatia withdraws some bottled drinks and urges people to drink tap water after several fall ill
ZAGREB, Croatia — Authorities in Croatia recommended Wednesday that people drink only tap water as they investigated reports of several people sickened or suffering throat injuries allegedly after consuming bottled beverages. Health authorities ordered the “suspected” products pulled from shops and restaurants, without specifying which products. However, photos on social...
It was a night of firsts amid local, national election results
History was made around the U.S. — and in Western Pennsylvania — on Tuesday as several newly elected candidates earned firsts for their respective offices. In Allegheny County, Democrat Sara Innamorato became the first woman to win the county executive seat after she defeated Republican Joe Rockey. On the other...
Ohio votes to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use, becoming 24th state to do so
COLUMBUS — Ohio voters approved a proposal legalizing recreational marijuana on Tuesday, defying Republican legislative leaders who had failed to pass the proposed law. Passage of Issue 2 makes Ohio the 24th state to allow adult cannabis use for non-medical purposes. The new law will allow adults 21 and over...
Ohio voters enshrine abortion access in constitution in latest statewide win for reproductive rights
COLUMBUS — Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment on Tuesday that ensures access to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care, the latest victory for abortion rights supporters since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. Ohio became the seventh state where voters decided to protect...
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear reelected to 2nd term in Kentucky, overcoming state’s GOP dominance
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear won reelection to a second term Tuesday, notching another significant statewide victory in an increasingly red state that could serve as a model for other Democrats on how to thrive politically heading into next year’s defining presidential election. Beshear, 45, rode his stewardship...
Democrat Cherelle Parker is elected as Philadelphia’s 100th mayor, 1st woman to hold the office
Cherelle Parker, a Democrat who has held office at the state and local level after first becoming involved in politics as a teenager, was elected Tuesday as Philadelphia’s 100th mayor, becoming the first woman to hold the post. Parker, 51, emerged from a crowded field of Democrats in the May...
2023 Western Pennsylvania election results roundup: Innamorato and Zappala win, local races
Voters in Western Pennsylvania headed out to the polls Tuesday to decide races from Westmoreland County commissioners to the Allegheny County executive and district attorney. Results for Allegheny and Westmoreland county races are posted here. Here’s what we know about the results Tuesday night: Statewide Pennsylvania Supreme Court • Democrat...
2023 Allegheny and Westmoreland county election results
Results for Allegheny and Westmoreland county races are here....
Democrat Dan McCaffery wins open seat on Pennsylvania Supreme Court
HARRISBURG — Democrat Dan McCaffery won an open seat on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court in Tuesday’s general election, preserving a strong Democratic majority on a panel that has produced several critical election-related rulings in the presidential battleground state. The seven-member bench, which will be made up five Democrats and two Republicans,...
Syphilis cases in U.S. newborns skyrocketed in 2022. Health officials suggest more testing
NEW YORK — Alarmed by yet another jump in syphilis cases in newborns, U.S. health officials are calling for stepped-up prevention measures, including encouraging millions of women of childbearing age and their partners to get tested for the sexually transmitted disease. More than 3,700 babies were born with congenital syphilis...
Pennsylvania county promises accurate tally after clerical error appears to flip votes for judges
A voting machine company’s clerical error caused votes in an eastern Pennsylvania county to appear to be flipped on a ballot question that asked whether a pair of incumbent state appeals judges should be retained, officials said Tuesday. Voters were asked to decide whether Pennsylvania Superior Court Judges Jack Panella...
Judge: Lawsuit denouncing conditions at a West Virginia jail has been settled
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A lawsuit filed by inmates who described conditions at a southern West Virginia jail as inhumane has been settled, a federal judge said Tuesday, a week after a magistrate judge said some records in the suit had been intentionally destroyed. U.S. District Judge Frank Volk said in...
Virginia Democrats sweep legislative elections after campaigning on abortion rights
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Democrats who campaigned on protecting abortion rights swept Tuesday’s legislative elections, retaking full control of the General Assembly after two years of divided power. The outcome is a sharp loss for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who exerted a great deal of energy, money and political capital...
Millions of retired Americans aren’t coming back to work as predicted
More than three-and-a-half years after covid struck, the U.S. still has around 2 million more retirees than predicted, in one of the most striking and enduring changes to the nation’s labor force. The so-called Great Retirement induced by covid-19 is evident in the divergence between the actual number of retirees...
Man with gun arrested in park near U.S. Capitol
WASHINGTON — A man with a gun was arrested near the U.S. Capitol Tuesday afternoon, police said. The man was in a park outside Senate office buildings and across from Washington’s Union Station when he was arrested, the U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement posted to X, formerly known...
The Supreme Court seems likely to preserve a gun law that protects domestic violence victims
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seemed likely Tuesday to preserve a federal law that prohibits people under domestic violence restraining orders from having guns. In their first guns case since last year’s expansion of gun rights, the justices suggested that they will reverse a ruling from an appeals court in...
911 caller was involved in fight with Jewish pro-Israel demonstrator who died, sheriff saysVideo
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Southern California authorities investigating the death of a Jewish man following a fight with a pro-Palestinian demonstrator over the Israel-Hamas war haven’t determined whether a crime occurred and on Tuesday asked for the public’s help to unravel what happened. Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said deputies...
Nobel peace laureate Bialiatski has been put in solitary confinement in Belarus, his wife says
TALLINN, Estonia — Nobel Peace Prize laureate and activist Ales Bialiatski has been transferred to solitary confinement at his prison in Belarus, his wife said Tuesday. Natalia Pinchuk told The Associated Press that prison authorities have toughened conditions for the 61-year-old Bialiatski, who is serving a 10-year sentence, despite his...
At least 7 civilians killed, 20 wounded after minibus explodes in Afghan capital
ISLAMABAD — A minibus exploded in a mostly Shiite Muslim neighborhood in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, killing at least seven civilians and wounding 20 others, authorities said Tuesday. This is the second blast to have struck the area in as many weeks. Police spokesman, Khalid Zadran, said the explosion took place...
Drugs aren’t required to be tested in people who are obese. Here’s why that’s a problem
More than 40% of American adults are considered obese, yet the medications many take are rarely tested in bigger bodies. That’s because they are not required to be included in drug studies. And often, they’re explicitly excluded. “Clinical trials and dosing instructions don’t always ensure that drugs will be safe...
