News category, Page 661

BOISE, Idaho — Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed into law a bill allowing firing squads to execute death row inmates when lethal injection drugs are unavailable, making Idaho the fifth U.S. state to allow the execution method. The new law, which takes effect in July, will give the...

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Saturday updated a 2019 church law aimed at holding senior churchmen accountable for covering up sexual abuse cases, expanding it to cover lay Catholic leaders and reaffirming that vulnerable adults and not just children can be victims of abuse when they are unable to...

TEMPE, Ariz. — Recent moves by President Joe Biden to pressure TikTok over its Chinese ownership and approve oil drilling in an untapped area of Alaska are testing the loyalty of young voters, a group that’s largely been in his corner. Youth turnout surged in the three elections since Donald...

WEST READING, Pa. — An explosion at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania on Friday killed three people and left five people missing, authorities said. One person was pulled alive from the rubble overnight. Rescue crews using dogs and imaging equipment continued to search through the rubble Saturday — hours after...

ROLLING FORK, Miss. — Powerful tornadoes tore through parts of the Deep South on Friday night, killing at least 23 people in Mississippi, obliterating dozens of buildings and leaving an especially devastating mark on a rural town whose mayor declared, “My city is gone.” The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said...

DENVER — Colorado teachers flooded into the state Capitol Friday to press for better protections for students and school staff after a 17-year-old Denver student shot two administrators, fled to the mountains and killed himself. Roughly 1,500 teachers and their supporters called for improved school security, more mental health support...

WASHINGTON — When an Iranian drone struck a U.S. base in northeastern Syria, killing a contractor and wounding several U.S. troops, it was just the latest in a growing number of attacks on American forces in Syria. But its lethality was rare. In most recent cases, no U.S. forces have...

NEW YORK— A powdery substance was found Friday with a threatening letter in a mailroom at the offices of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the latest security scare as the prosecutor weighs a potential historic indictment of former President Donald Trump, authorities said. New York City police and environmental protection...

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — When Emily Kinkead asked Lisa Bennington for advice on running for elected office, the former Pennsylvania state lawmaker gave...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — An overheated rocket engine nozzle caused last year’s Blue Origin launch failure that has grounded flights for six months, the company said Friday. Jeff Bezos’ rocket company Blue Origin said it expects to resume its quick trips to space from West Texas sometime later this year....

NEW YORK — After nearly two years and at least $1.4 million spent, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Friday released an external review of its overseas operations that gave short shrift to recent corruption scandals and offered a series of recommendations that critics dismissed as overly vague. Much of...

PHOENIX — Years ago, skateboarding was branded as a hobby for rebels or stoners in city streets, schoolyards and back alleys. Those days are long gone. Skateboarding, which has Native Hawaiian roots connected to surfing, no longer is on the fringes. It became an Olympic sport in 2020. There are...

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Friday narrowly passed legislation to press a midterm campaign promise to give parents greater say in what’s taught in public schools even as critics complained the “parents’ rights” bill would fuel a far-right movement that’s resulted in book bans, restrictions aimed at transgender students and...

PARIS — Ongoing unrest across France and calls for a new round of demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension plan persuaded officials to postpone a planned state visit next week by Britain’s King Charles III. Charles had been scheduled to arrive in France on Sunday to celebrate France and Britain’s...

KYIV, Ukraine — Long-range Russian bombardment killed at least 10 civilians and wounded 20 others in several parts of Ukraine on Friday, officials in Kyiv said, as a Kremlin official boasted that its forces were prepared to repel an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive this spring. Five people died in Kostiantynivka, in...

WASHINGTON — A lawyer for Donald Trump was back in court Friday after being ordered to answer questions before a grand jury investigating the possible mishandling of classified documents at the former president’s Florida estate. M. Evan Corcoran entered federal court in the District of Columbia early Friday morning, one...

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky’s Democratic governor issued an election-year veto Friday of a Republican bill aimed at regulating the lives of transgender youths that includes banning access to gender-affirming health care and restricting the bathrooms they can use. The bill also bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in...

SAN DIEGO — As drought dried up rivers that carry California’s newly hatched Chinook salmon to the ocean, state officials in recent years resorted to loading up the fish by the millions onto trucks and barges to take them to the Pacific. The surreal and desperate scramble boosted the survival...

PARK CITY, Utah — Gwyneth Paltrow is expected to testify Friday in a trial over a 2016 ski collision at a Utah ski resort, where a man claims that the movie star’s recklessness on the slope caused broken ribs, brain damage and lasting physical injuries. Paltrow and Terry Sanderson, the...

DETROIT — Hyundai and Kia are telling the owners of more than 571,000 SUVs and minivans in the U.S. to park them outdoors because the tow hitch harnesses can catch fire while they are parked or being driven. The affiliated Korean automakers are recalling the vehicles and warning people to...

HONG KONG — Hong Kong firefighters were battling a blaze Friday at a warehouse that forced 3,400 people to evacuate, including students, police said. Thick smoke was seen pouring out from the building where the fire broke out around 2 p.m. at the warehouse on Fat Tseung Street in Cheung...

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea claimed Friday to have tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone designed to generate a gigantic “radioactive tsunami” that would destroy naval strike groups and ports. Analysts were skeptical that the device presents a major new threat, but the test underlines the North’s commitment to raising...

MONTICELLO, Minn. — Water containing a radioactive material has leaked for a second time from a nuclear plant near Minneapolis and the plant will be shut down, but there is no danger to the public, the plant’s owner said Thursday. A leak of what was believed to be hundreds of...

BEIRUT — A strike Thursday by a suspected Iranian-made drone killed a U.S. contractor and wounded five American troops and another contractor in northeast Syria, the Pentagon said. American forces said they retaliated soon after with “precision airstrikes” in Syria targeting facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard,...

NEW ORLEANS — President Joe Biden’s order that federal employees get vaccinated against covid-19 was blocked Thursday by a federal appeals court. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected arguments that Biden, as the nation’s chief executive, has the same authority as the CEO of a...