Once key, U.S. newspaper editorial endorsements fade away
NEW YORK — Newspaper endorsements are fading away as prizes to be nabbed by political campaigns, the practice a victim of both the news industry’s troubles and the era’s bitter politics. Earlier this month, newspapers controlled by Alden Global Capital said they would no longer endorse candidates for president, governor...
Fetterman’s health takes center stage at debate with Oz
All eyes on Pennsylvania on Tuesday night seemed to focus on the U.S. Senate debate between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz. Most of the attention focused on Fetterman’s health. “The two candidates differed sharply on multiple issues during the debate, held in a Harrisburg television studio. But...
Afraid of needles? China rolling out oral covid-19 vaccine
BEIJING — The Chinese city of Shanghai started administering an inhalable covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday in what appears to be a world first. The vaccine, a mist that is sucked in through the mouth, is being offered for free as a booster dose for previously vaccinated people, according to an...
Ebola infects 6 schoolkids in Uganda as contagion fear grows
KAMPALA, Uganda — Six schoolchildren in Uganda’s capital have tested positive for Ebola, the health minister said Wednesday, marking a serious escalation of the outbreak declared just over a month ago. The children, who attend three different schools in Kampala, are among at least 15 people in the city confirmed...
Russia fires rockets at Ukraine, renews ‘dirty bomb’ claims
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia targeted more than 40 villages around Ukraine over the past day, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday, killing at least two people and sustaining the terror that forces people into air raid shelters each night. Russian forces launched five rockets, 30 air strikes and more than 100 multiple-launch...
‘Kill everyone’: Russian violence in Ukraine was strategic
ZDVYZHIVKA, Ukraine — Even by the standards of the important military officers who came and went in this tiny village, the man walking behind the Kamaz truck stood out. Soldiers providing security peered from behind fences, their guns bristling in every direction. Two Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters circled overhead, providing...
Kia recalls SUVs again for risk of engine fire
Kia is telling owners of nearly 72,000 older Sportage small SUVs in the U.S. to park them outdoors and away from structures after getting reports of more engine fires. It’s the second time that Sportages from the 2008 and 2009 model years have been recalled due to fire risks that...
Low-wage workers bear financial brunt of denied abortions
A Texas mother of a toddler, scraping by on her husband’s income, was desperate to return to work but struggling to afford child care. A young Florida warehouse worker had barely left behind a turbulent past of homelessness and abuse only to be mired in debt. When both women learned...
Supreme Court’s Alito says abortion opinion leak made justices ‘assassination’ targets
WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said the leak of his draft opinion eliminating the constitutional right to abortion made members of the majority “targets for assassination.” Speaking in Washington at the conservative Heritage Foundation, Alito gave no indication the court has determined who gave the opinion to...
Fetterman, Oz face off in chaotic debate
In the only debate of Pennsylvania’s Senate race, Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz battled in a chaotic event where the candidates lobbed countless attacks at each other in between answering questions from the moderators. Fetterman and Oz squared off for an hour Tuesday night on the WHTM-TV...
D.C. court sets expedited schedule for Trump defamation question in E. Jean Carroll case
WASHINGTON — An appellate court set an expedited schedule to consider whether Donald Trump was acting in his official duties as president in 2019 when he denied a claim by a woman that he sexually assaulted her in a department store dressing room decades ago. The District of Columbia Court...
Penn State the latest university to grapple with controversial speech
After violent protests erupted Monday night on Penn State’s main campus, the university became the latest to allow a controversial event and bet wrongly that civil discourse would trump unrest. The situation at Penn State unraveled quickly before a scheduled appearance by Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, with police —...
Retiring Senate leader Jake Corman urges colleagues to ‘keep the faith’ in farewell remarks
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, known for wearing his heart on his sleeve, fought back tears as he delivered his farewell speech Tuesday on the Senate floor. He urged his fellow senators to respect the institution they serve and to remember when they walk into the...
Amid covid, heart attack deaths jump sharply among young adults
As the number of covid-19 infection surged during the pandemic, deaths from heart attacks rose sharply as well, with adults ages 25-44 experiencing the most significant increases, according to new research from scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. “The dramatic rise in heart attacks during the pandemic has...
Justices to sort out if mail-in ballot envelopes need dates
HARRISBURG — Senior Pennsylvania elections officials argued in a new court filing Tuesday that handwritten dates on the envelopes that many state voters use to mail in ballots should not be deemed mandatory, in part because of a half-century-old legislative ruling deemphasizing their importance. The filing, made under a compressed...
Ash Carter, defense chief who opened combat to women, dies at 68
WASHINGTON — Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who opened combat jobs to women and ended a ban on transgender people serving in the military, has died at age 68. Carter died Monday evening after suffering a heart attack in Boston, his family said in a statement Tuesday. Known as a...
Progressives retract Ukraine letter to Biden after uproar
WASHINGTON — A group of progressive Democrats in Congress said Tuesday it had retracted a letter to the White House urging President Joe Biden to engage in direct diplomatic talks with Russia after it triggered an uproar among Democrats and raised questions about the strength of the party’s support for...
As Election Day approaches, Wolf and Pa. lawmakers look to push through massive tax incentives for natural gas
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 — Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and top state lawmakers are hurriedly negotiating a massive economic development package that would encourage...
Police: 6 who died in Wisconsin apartment fire had been shot
HARTLAND, Wis. — The six people found dead after an apartment fire in a southern Wisconsin village last week had been shot in an apparent case of murder-suicide, according to police. The bodies of a couple and their four children were found early Friday after firefighters were called to their...
American consumer confidence takes a hit in October
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer confidence waned this month as concerns about inflation took hold after receding somewhat in recent months. The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 102.5 in October, from 107.8 in September. Consumers had grown more confident in the two previous months as...
Russian court rejects appeal of jailed U.S. basketball star Griner
MOSCOW — A Russian court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner of her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession, a step that could move her closer to a possible high-stakes prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington. The eight-time all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury...
Biden to get updated covid booster shot, promote vaccine
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden was scheduled to get his updated covid-19 booster shot on Tuesday and urge the public to get theirs to ensure a healthy holiday season. Biden was to appear at the White House with the doctors who are leading administration efforts against the spread of the...
Ukraine nuclear agency thickens plot over alleged dirty bomb
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator said Tuesday that Russian forces were performing secret work at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, activity that could shed light on Russia’s claims that Kyiv’s forces are preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made an unsubstantiated allegation...
Adidas ends partnership with Ye over antisemitic remarks
LONDON — Adidas ended a partnership that helped make the artist formerly known as Kanye West a billionaire and lent the German sportswear an edgy appeal, but ultimately couldn’t survive a mounting outcry over the rapper’s offensive and antisemitic remarks. The split will leave Adidas searching for another transcendent celebrity...
No Powerball winner — jackpot climbs to $700M
With no one matching all six numbers in Monday night’s Powerball drawing, the jackpot has climbed to $700 million. That would make it the fifth largest Powerball pot of all time and the eighth-largest lottery jackpot ever. Before Monday’s drawing, the jackpot had grown to $625 million, but no one...
