Women sue Texas over abortion ban, say it risked their lives
AUSTIN — Five women who said they were denied abortions even when pregnancy endangered their lives are suing Texas over its abortion ban, the latest legal fight against state restrictions since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. The lawsuit filed Monday in state court said the Texas...
U.S. judge strikes down Missouri gun law as unconstitutional
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Missouri law banning local police from enforcing federal gun laws is unconstitutional and void, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes ruled the 2021 law is preempted by the federal government under the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause. “At best, this statute causes...
In reversal, Biden administration weighs detaining migrant families
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is considering detaining migrant families who cross into the U.S. illegally as it prepares to end covid-19 restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to U.S. officials familiar with the plans. That would be a major reversal after officials in late 2021 stopped holding families in...
Speaker Joanna McClinton sets vote during May primary to fill House vacancy
HARRISBURG — A special election to fill a state House vacancy in a Republican-leaning district was scheduled on Tuesday to take place during the May primary. Democratic Speaker Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia announced that the vote to succeed former Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver will take place on May 16. Schlegel...
Boulder falls onto Jefferson Hills road, traffic detoured
State Route 837 in Jefferson Hills was closed down after a boulder fell into the roadway Tuesday, according to PennDOT officials. The road was shut to traffic between Route 51 in Jefferson Hills and St. Clair Avenue in Clairton. As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, the road was still listed as...
Tucker Carlson amplifies Jan. 6 lies with GOP-provided videoVideo
WASHINGTON — Handed some 41,000 hours of Jan. 6 security footage, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson has launched an impassioned new effort to explain away the deadly Capitol attack, linking the Republican Party ever more closely to pro-Trump conspiracy theories about the 2021 riot. The conservative commentator aired a first installment...
Safety agency opens probe of Norfolk Southern rail accidents
OMAHA, Neb. — Federal investigators are opening a wide-ranging investigation into one of the nation’s biggest railroads following a fiery derailment on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border last month and several other accidents involving Norfolk Southern, including the death of a train conductor Tuesday. The National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday...
Train, dump truck collide at Ohio crossing; conductor killed
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A train and a dump truck collided early Tuesday in Cleveland, killing the train conductor as he stood on the outside of a car, authorities said. The crash happened about 1:30 a.m. when the dump truck — which was carrying a full load of limestone — approached...
WeightWatchers gets into prescription weight loss business
WeightWatchers’ stock soared Tuesday after the company said it is getting into the prescription drug weight loss business with the acquisition of Sequence. Sequence is a telehealth provider that offers users access to drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity under the brand names including Ozempic, Wegovy and Trulicity. The...
Biden to host April state visit for South Korean leader Yoon
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will crank up the pomp and pageantry for South Korea’s president. The White House on Tuesday announced its second state visit, an April 26 affair for President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife, Kim Keon Hee. The occasion, which will include a splashy black-tie dinner...
Court considers if parents of Michigan school shooter can be charged
DETROIT — Prosecutors on Tuesday defended charges against the parents of a teenager who killed four students at a Michigan school in 2021, telling an appeals court that extreme drawings and the boy’s fascination with guns should have been a wake-up call on the day of the shootings. A three-judge...
Starbucks’ Schultz agrees to testify before Senate committee
Howard Schultz has agreed to appear before a U.S. Senate committee that is examining Starbucks’ actions amid an ongoing unionization campaign. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent and chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said Tuesday that Schultz has agreed to testify before the committee on...
Polish TV report: John Paul II knew of abuse as archbishop
WARSAW, Poland — St. John Paul II knew about sexual abuse of children by priests under his authority and sought to conceal it when he was an archbishop in his native Poland, a television news report has alleged. In a story that aired late Monday, Polish channel TVN24 named three...
Shapiro’s $44.4B budget pitch keeps Pa. spending relatively flat, preserves some pandemic benefits
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 — In his first budget proposal as Pennsylvania’s chief executive, Gov. Josh Shapiro is calling for $1 billion in new...
FDA: 2 more eyedrops brands recalled due to risks
WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials are alerting consumers about two more recalls of eyedrops due to contamination risks that could lead to vision problems and serious injury. The announcements follow a recall last month of eyedrops made in India that were linked to an outbreak of drug-resistant infections. One person...
Chinese minister warns China, U.S. on course for conflict
BEIJING — Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned Tuesday that Beijing and Washington are headed for “conflict and confrontation” if the U.S. doesn’t change course, striking a combative tone at a moment when relations between the rivals are at a historic low. In his first news conference since taking office...
Tribes bury Southern California’s famed mountain lion, P-22
LOS ANGELES — Tribal leaders, scientists and conservation advocates buried Southern California’s most famous mountain lion Saturday in the mountains where the big cat once roamed. After making his home in the urban Griffith Park — home of the Hollywood Sign — for the past decade, P-22 became a symbol...
U.S. sues to block JetBlue from buying Spirit Airlines
The Biden administration sued on Tuesday to block JetBlue Airways’ $3.8 billion purchase of Spirit Airlines, saying the deal would reduce competition and drive up air fares for consumers. The Justice Department said the tie-up would especially hurt cost-conscious travelers who depend on Spirit to find cheaper options than they...
DeSantis to argue U.S. should be like Florida ahead of 2024 bid
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis is poised to position himself on Tuesday as a champion of conservative causes during a State of the State address that will likely be as much about his national ambitions as it is an assessment of Florida’s response to the pandemic and a series...
Hope Hicks meets with NY prosecutors investigating Trump
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s former spokesperson Hope Hicks met Monday with Manhattan prosecutors who are investigating hush-money payments made to women on the ex-president’s behalf — the latest member of the Republican’s inner circle to be questioned in the renewed probe. Hicks and her lawyer, Robert Trout, spent several...
Woman arrested in gruesome killing of Hong Kong model
HONG KONG — A woman accused of assisting a suspect in the gruesome killing and dismemberment of model Abby Choi in Hong Kong has been arrested in mainland China and charged, Hong Kong police said Tuesday. The arrest of the 29-year-old woman brought the total number of people allegedly involved...
Oklahomans head to polls for one issue: legal marijuana
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma voters will decide Tuesday whether to make the state one of the most conservative to green light cannabis use for adults. State Question 820, the result of a signature gathering drive last year, is the only item on the statewide ballot. Other conservative states have legalized...
Bangladesh building explosion kills at least 14; scores hurt
DHAKA, Bangladesh — An explosion in a seven-story commercial building in Bangladesh’s capital on Tuesday killed at least 14 people and injured dozens, officials said. The explosion occurred in Gulistan, a busy commercial area of Dhaka, fire department official Rashed bin Khaled said by phone. The building contained several stores...
Massachusetts man accused of trying to open jet’s door, attacking crew
BOSTON — A Massachusetts man tried to open an airliner’s emergency door on a cross-country flight from Los Angeles to Boston and then tried to stab a flight attendant in the neck with a broken metal spoon, federal prosecutors alleged Monday. Francisco Severo Torres, 33, of Leominster, was tackled and...
Vatican, Greece ink deal for ‘donation’ of Parthenon marbles
ROME — The Vatican and Greece finalized a deal Tuesday for the return of three sculpture fragments from the Parthenon that have been in the collection of the Vatican Museums for two centuries, the latest case of a Western museum bowing to demands for restitution. The Vatican has termed the...
