Utah GOP Sen. Mitt Romney won’t seek reelection in 2024, marking end to decadeslong political career
Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney said Wednesday that he will not run for reelection, opting to exit the political stage after a two-decade career in public service that included the 2012 Republican GOP nomination for president and a term as Massachusetts governor. The 76-year-old made the announcement in a video...
Pa. lawmakers look to thwart ‘grinch bots’ from price gouging concert tickets
HARRISBURG — Buying tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour proved a fiasco for the pop star’s legion of fans, largely blamed on computer software leveraged by scalpers to circumvent purchasing limits, snatch up tickets at face value and resell them online at an enormous markup. Tickets originally priced from $49...
Trump waives right to speedy trial as Georgia prosecutor seeks to try him with 18 others next month
ATLANTA — Former President Donald Trump is waiving his right to seek a speedy trial in the Georgia case in which he and 18 others are accused of participating in an illegal scheme to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election. Trump’s filing is part of the legal maneuvering...
iPhone 12 sales banned in France; agency says it emits too much radiation
PARIS — French regulators ordered Apple to stop selling the iPhone 12, saying it emits electromagnetic radiation levels that are above European Union standards for exposure. The company disputed the findings and said the device complies with regulations. The French government agency that manages wireless communications frequencies issued the order...
Biden brushes off House impeachment inquiry, says Republicans want to shut down the government
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden late Wednesday brushed off the House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry, saying the way he sees it, they launched the investigation against him because they want to shut down the federal government. Biden, speaking at a Democratic fundraiser in Virginia, said that instead of being concerned about...
Extortion trial against Joran van der Sloot, suspect in Natalee Holloway disappearance, is delayed
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A federal judge agreed to delay Joran van der Sloot’s trial on extortion charges until later this year in order to give his defense more time to prepare. Van der Sloot, the chief suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, is charged with trying...
Fishing vessel in Greenland will try to free cruise ship that ran aground with 206 people
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A fishing vessel owned by Greenland’s government will attempt to use a high tide to pull free a Bahamas-flagged luxury cruise ship carrying 206 people that ran aground in the world’s northernmost national park, authorities said. Capt. Flemming Madsen of the Danish Joint Arctic Command told the...
Auto workers strike would test Biden’s assertion he’s the ‘most pro-union president in US history’
LANSING, Mich. — The prospect of an auto workers strike could test Joe Biden’s treasured assertion that he’s the most pro-union president in U.S. history. The United Auto Workers is threatening to strike against the nation’s big three automakers, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, if tentative contact agreements aren’t reached...
Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante captured after 2 weeks on the run
POTTSTOWN — A murderer who brazenly escaped from a Pennsylvania jail was captured Wednesday in the woods by a team of tactical officers, bringing an end to an intense search that terrified residents as the fugitive broke into homes for food, changed his appearance, and stole a van and rifle...
Searchers race to recover bodies in Libya as death toll from flooding hits 5,100
DERNA, Libya — Search teams combed streets, wrecked buildings and even the sea Wednesday to look for bodies in a coastal Libyan city where the collapse of two dams unleashed a massive flash flood that killed at least 5,100 people. The Mediterranean city of Derna has struggled to get help...
Autoworkers strike would test Biden’s ‘most pro-union president in U.S. history’ assertion
LANSING, Mich. — The prospect of an auto workers strike could test Joe Biden ‘s treasured assertion that he’s the most pro-union president in U.S. history. The United Auto Workers is threatening to strike against the nation’s big three automakers, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, if tentative contact agreements aren’t...
Georgia election case prosecutors cite fairness in urging 1 trial for Trump and 18 other defendants
ATLANTA — Prosecutors who have accused former President Donald Trump and 18 others of participating in an illegal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia maintain that all the defendants should be tried together, citing efficiency and fairness. The case was brought under the state’s anti-racketeering...
1 student dead, another arrested after shooting at Louisiana high school
GREENSBURG, La. — A student is dead and another is in custody after a shooting Tuesday at a high school in Louisiana, authorities said. The St. Helena Parish Sheriff’s Office tells news outlets it happened around 3 p.m. at St. Helena College & Career Academy in Greensburg. At least two...
Child poverty in the U.S. jumped and income declined in 2022 as coronavirus pandemic benefits ended
Child poverty in the United States more than doubled and median household income declined last year when coronavirus pandemic-era government benefits expired and inflation kept rising, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. At the same time, the official poverty rate for Black Americans dropped to its...
Democratic Philadelphia state lawmaker joins race for Pennsylvania attorney general
HARRISBURG — Democratic state lawmaker Jared Solomon said Tuesday that he will run in next year’s election for Pennsylvania attorney general, an office that has played a big role in fighting drug trafficking, suing opioid makers and defending the battleground state’s 2020 presidential election. Solomon, who is from Philadelphia, is...
Study: Pennsylvania public schools underfunded by $6.2 billion
Pennsylvania needs to increase its investment in public schools by $6.2 billion to help students meet graduation rate goals and proficiency on state exams, according to a school finance expert. Penn State assistant professor Matthew Kelly told a panel of policymakers the figure was his conservative estimate of what was...
Deluzio, Fetterman renew calls for action on Railway Safety Act
Southwestern Pennsylvania lawmakers are renewing calls to bolster railway safety seven months after a train derailed near the Ohio border, causing chemicals to leak into waterways and sending a black plume of smoke into the air. U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, held a news conference last week in Beaver County’s...
5 former officers charged in death of Tyre Nichols are now also facing federal charges
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Five former Memphis police officers are now facing federal civil rights charges in the beating death of Tyre Nichols as they continue to fight second-degree murder charges in state courts arising from the killing. Tadarrius Bean, Desmond Mills, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin and Justin Smith were indicted...
10,000 missing, thousands feared dead as floods devastate eastern Libya
CAIRO — Emergency workers uncovered hundreds of bodies in the wreckage of Libya’s eastern city of Derna on Tuesday, and it was feared the toll could spiral with 10,000 people reported still missing after floodwaters smashed through dams and washed away entire neighborhoods of the city. The startling death and...
What’s ahead now that Republicans are opening an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he is launching an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, yielding to mounting pressure from former President Donald Trump and his allies in what’s shaping up as an election-year clash between Congress and the White House. In a statement Tuesday, McCarthy said the...
Pulitzer officials expand eligibility in arts categories; some non-U.S. citizens can now compete
The Pulitzer Prize Board has revised its longtime rules on eligibility for many of its arts awards and will now allow those not born in the U.S. and other non-citizens to compete. The board announced Tuesday that permanent residents and those who have made the U.S. their longtime primary home...
‘New normal’ and other annoying buzzwords sure to drive co-workers crazy
If you haven’t uttered them yourself, you’ve probably heard them spew from the mouths of co-workers or your boss. They are the most annoying business buzzwords for 2023. So what’s the most fingernail-on-blackboard phrase for workers? “New normal,” according to a survey conducted by Preply Business, a language learning platform...
Missouri clinic halts transgender care for minors in wake of new state law
ST. LOUIS — At least two Missouri health care centers stopped prescribing puberty blockers and hormones to minors for the purpose of gender transition, citing a new state law that the clinic says “creates unsustainable liability” for health care workers. Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital on...
The ‘science of reading’ swept reforms into classrooms nationwide. What about math?
For much of her teaching career, Carrie Stark relied on math games to engage her students, assuming they would pick up concepts like multiplication by seeing them in action. The kids had fun, but the lessons never stuck. A few years ago she shifted her approach, turning to more direct...
Connecticut couple rescues baby shark caught in a work glove
GLASTONBURY, Conn. — A Connecticut couple’s scuba diving trip in Rhode Island on Monday turned into a mission to rescue a baby shark. Deb and Steve Dauphinais, of Glastonbury, Conn., were diving on the sand flats off Jamestown, R.I., when Deb Dauphinais spotted the 16-inch juvenile shark with its head...
