Wholesale inflation in U.S. slowed further in December to 6.2%
WASHINGTON — Wholesale prices in the U.S. rose 6.2% in December from a year earlier, a sixth straight monthly slowdown and a hopeful sign that inflation pressures will continue to cool. The latest year-over-year figure was down from 7.3% in November and from a recent peak of 11.7% in March....
NATO warns of Russia’s long war in Ukraine, vows to be ready
BRUSSELS — Russia is preparing for an extended war so NATO must get ready “for the long haul” and support Ukraine for as long as it takes, the alliance’s deputy secretary general told top military chiefs from across Europe Wednesday. Speaking at the opening of the military chiefs’ meeting here,...
Freshwater fish significantly more contaminated with toxic forever chemicals than saltwater fish and shellfish, analysis shows
Eating just one freshwater fish a year can dramatically increase the amount of toxic forever chemicals coursing through a person’s blood, according to a new study that reflects more than a half-century of pollution contaminating the Great Lakes and rivers nationwide. The alarming finding is based on an analysis of...
Former Herschel Walker aide’s lawsuit says GOP activist Matt Schlapp groped him
A staffer who worked for Herschel Walker’s Republican Senate campaign filed a lawsuit against prominent conservative activist Matt Schlapp on Tuesday, accusing Schlapp of groping him during a car ride in Georgia before last year’s midterm election. Schlapp denies the allegation, and his lawyer says they are considering a countersuit....
Austin Davis inaugurated as Pa.’s first Black lieutenant governorVideo
Former state Rep. Austin Davis, D-McKeesport, was sworn in as Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor Tuesday, becoming the state’s first Black person to hold that position. Davis was inaugurated alongside Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, in Harrisburg. Davis is succeeding John Fetterman, who was recently sworn in as Pennsylvania’s newest U.S. Senator. “Today...
Feds won’t seek death penalty for El Paso Walmart shooter
Federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty for a man accused of fatally shooting nearly two dozen people in a racist attack at a West Texas Walmart in 2019. The U.S. Department of Justice disclosed the decision not to pursue capital punishment against Patrick Crusius in a one-sentence notice...
Pa. Resource Council asks amateur photographers to turn their ‘Lens On Litter’
Pennsylvania was home to a half-billion pieces of litter in 2020, and that was just along the roads, according to a survey commissioned by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection and PennDOT. That’s disheartening news to Pennsylvania Resource Council Executive Director Darren Spielman, especially since the council’s annual Gene Capaldi...
Husband of missing Massachusetts woman faces murder charge
COHASSET, Mass. — A Massachusetts man already facing a charge of misleading investigators in the search for his missing wife has now been charged with murder in her disappearance, a top prosecutor said Tuesday. Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a video statement that Brian Walshe, 47, who is...
Ex-GOP candidate charged in shootings at New Mexico lawmakers’ homesVideo
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A failed Republican candidate paid $500 to four men to shoot at the homes of Democratic lawmakers, but was so unsatisfied with the shooters’ work that he went along for the final drive-by, his gun jamming as bullets ripped into the bedroom of a sleeping 10-year-old girl,...
Despite midterm losses, Pa. Republicans appear unlikely to abandon combative agenda
HARRISBURG — Republicans inside and outside Pennsylvania government say that despite a disastrous midterm election, they don’t see signs that the party is shifting its electoral or governing strategies away from contentious social issues like restricting abortion. Some party insiders say that trend is a bad sign for GOP prospects....
Moving species emerges as last resort as climate warms
In a desperate effort to save a seabird species in Hawaii from rising ocean waters, scientists are moving chicks to a new island hundreds of miles away. Moving species to save them — once considered taboo — is quickly gaining traction as climate change upends habitats. Similar relocations are being...
Making pig livers humanlike in quest to ease organ shortage
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — The ghostly form floating in a large jar had been the robust reddish-brown of a healthy organ just hours before. Now it’s semitranslucent, white tubes like branches on a tree showing through. This is a pig liver that’s gradually being transformed to look and act like...
Greta Thunberg carried away by police at German mine protest
BERLIN — Police in western Germany carried Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and other protesters away Tuesday from the edge of an open coal pit mine where they demonstrated against the ongoing destruction of a village to make way for the mine’s expansion, German news agency dpa reported. Thunberg, 20,...
Wisconsin judge dismisses complaint against GOP fake elector
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin judge on Tuesday dismissed an open records complaint against a Republican member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission who served as a fake elector for former President Donald Trump. Allegations that the elections commission violated the state open records law by wrongly withholding documents will go...
China records 1st population fall in decades as births dropVideo
BEIJING — For the first time in decades, China has fewer people than it did at the start of last year, according to official figures released Tuesday. The world’s most populous country has worried for years about an aging citizenry’s effect on its economy and society, but its population was...
Russian strike toll: 45 dead civilians, including 6 children
KYIV, Ukraine — The death toll from the Ukraine war’s deadliest attack on civilians at one location since last spring reached 45 at an apartment building a Russian missile blasted in the southeastern city of Dnipro, officials said Tuesday. Those killed in the Saturday afternoon strike included six children, with...
Police: 8 people shot, 1 critical at Florida MLK Day eventVideo
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Police in Florida said eight people were shot during an Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, with one of the victims listed in critical condition. The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office confirmed all the victims in the Monday shooting in Fort Pierce were adults, WPBF-TV reported....
Elon Musk drama shifts from Twitter to tweets about Tesla
SAN FRANCISCO — While still grappling with the fallout from a company he did take private, beleaguered billionaire Elon Musk is now facing a trial over a company he didn’t. Long before Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in October, he had set his sights on Tesla, the electric automaker...
Shapiro takes oath of office to become 48th Pa. governor
HARRISBURG — Democrat Josh Shapiro took the oath of office Tuesday to become the 48th governor of Pennsylvania, placing his hand on a stack of three Jewish Bibles at Tuesday’s inaugural ceremony outside the state Capitol to cap his blowout win in November’s election. Shapiro, 49, takes over in the...
China announces first population decline in recent years
BEIJING — China has announced its first overall population decline in recent years amid an aging society and plunging birthrate. The National Bureau of Statistics reported the country had 850,000 fewer people at the end of 2022 than over the previous year. It counts only the population of mainland China...
Ex-GOP candidate arrested in shootings at New Mexico lawmakers’ homes
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A failed Republican candidate who authorities said was angry over his defeat and made baseless claims the election last November was “rigged” against him was arrested in connection with a series of drive-by shootings targeting the homes of Democratic lawmakers in New Mexico’s largest city. Solomon Pena,...
Pa. lawmakers once again propose moving up presidential primary
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania is a hugely important political battleground, but it hasn’t traditionally mattered much in presidential primaries. That’s because the state votes so late. It holds its presidential primary on the fourth Tuesday in April, long after many states have voted. Despite being one of the biggest swing states...
Body of man missing since Hurriane Ian found on sunken boat
FORT MYERS, Fla. — The remains of a man who was reported missing after Hurricane Ian hit Florida’s Gulf Coast last year have been recovered from a sunken sailboat, sheriff’s officials said. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday that the remains were identified as James “Denny” Hurst, 72, who...
Van Gogh painting with mysterious past is immune from seizure, Detroit Institute of Arts claims
DETROIT — The Detroit Institute of Arts cannot be forced to relinquish control of a multimillion-dollar painting by Vincent van Gogh at the center of a federal lawsuit because the artwork is protected by a federal law granting immunity to foreign artwork on display in the United States, the museum’s...
Wisconsin voting groups criticize GOP minority turnout email
MADISON, Wis. — Black and Hispanic voters in Wisconsin’s largest city say a Republican election commissioner publicly applauding GOP strategies he credits with depressing minority turnout are a public admission of a conservative strategy in place for years. “He’s proudly telling Hispanic and Latino voters, ‘I’m your enemy, and I’m...
