Explosions rock Crimea in suspected Ukrainian attack
Explosions and fires ripped through an ammunition depot in Russian-occupied Crimea on Tuesday in the second suspected Ukrainian attack on the peninsula in just over a week, forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 people. Russia blamed the blasts in the village of Mayskoye on an “act of sabotage,” without...
Over-the-counter hearing aids expected this fall in U.S.
Millions of Americans will be able to buy hearing aids without a prescription later this fall, under a long-awaited rule finalized Tuesday. The regulation creates a new class of hearing aids that don’t require a medical exam, a prescription and other specialty evaluations, the Food and Drug Administration said. That’s...
Shopping at Wegner’s? Fetterman picks on Oz’s choice of words, groceries in latest salvo
U.S. candidate John Fetterman’s campaign reached back a few months to find a video that it used to make fun of Republican rival Dr. Mehmet Oz. The video, published in April, shows Oz walking through a store’s vegetable section to help his wife build “a crudité,” according to Huffington Post,...
Penn State spent half a million dollars on police overtime at football games in 2021
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. Penn State University paid $572,119 for officers from five Centre County police departments to work overtime at football games last year,...
Germany: 1 dead, 9 injured after test car veers into traffic
BERLIN — A test car with autonomous steering capability veered into oncoming traffic in Germany, killing one person and seriously injuring nine others, police said Tuesday. A spokesman for police in the southwestern town of Reutlingen said the electric BMW iX with five people on board, including a young child,...
Putin blasts U.S. ‘hegemony,’ predicts end to ‘unipolar’ world
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of trying to encourage extended hostilities in Ukraine as part of what he described Tuesday as Washington’s alleged efforts to maintain its global hegemony. Addressing a security conference attended by military officials from Africa, Asia and Latin America, Putin reaffirmed...
Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg expected to plead guilty in N.Y. tax case
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s longtime finance chief is expected to plead guilty as soon as Thursday in a tax evasion case that is the only criminal prosecution to arise from a long-running investigation into the former president’s company, three people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Trump...
Abortion foes tap credit cards to get partial Kansas recount
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas plans to do a partial hand recount that won’t change the outcome of this month’s decisive vote in favor of abortion rights after abortion opponents charged almost $120,000 to credit cards Monday to cover the cost. The Kansas secretary of state’s office said the recount will...
Alligator kills South Carolina woman in 2nd deadly attack of summer
BLUFFTON, S.C. — A woman in South Carolina was killed by an alligator Monday — the second such attack this year, authorities said. The woman’s body was discovered at the edge of the water near a pond in a gated community in the town of Bluffton by a resident, who...
House Republicans ramp up pressure over Afghanistan exitVideo
WASHINGTON — One year after the United States’ chaotic exit from Afghanistan last August, Republican lawmakers are putting renewed pressure on the Biden administration to answer questions about the withdrawal. In a new report from the House Foreign Affairs Committee minority, Republicans allege that President Joe Biden misled the American...
British regulator 1st to OK Moderna’s updated covid booster
LONDON — British drug regulators have become the first in the world to authorize an updated version of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine that includes protection against the omicron variant, which the government said would be offered to people aged 50 and over starting in the fall. In a statement Monday, the...
Vladimir Putin vows to expand arms trade with Russia’s alliesVideo
MOSCOW— Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday vowed to expand military cooperation with the country’s allies, noting that Moscow is ready to offer them its most advanced weapons. Speaking at the opening of an annual arms show outside Moscow that caters to foreign customers, Putin said Russia’s arms exports play...
Feds oppose unsealing affidavit for Mar-a-Lago warrant
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Monday rebuffed efforts to make public the affidavit supporting the search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s estate in Florida, saying the investigation “implicates highly classified material” and the document contains sensitive information about witnesses. The government’s opposition came in response to court filings...
West Virginia governor: Voters shouldn’t decide abortion access issue
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice scoffed Monday at a suggestion by Democratic lawmakers to let voters decide whether abortion should continue to be allowed in the state. The Republican governor said the state’s abortion law falls under the scrutiny of the Legislature and the attorney general. During...
Expanded IRS free-file system one step closer in Democrats’ bill
WASHINGTON — The flagship climate change and health care bill passed by Democrats and soon to be signed by President Joe Biden will bring U.S. taxpayers one step closer to a government-operated electronic free-file tax return system. It’s something lawmakers and advocates have been seeking for years. For many Americans,...
Smokies to require parking passes beginning next March
GATLINBURG, Tenn. — Beginning next March, visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park will need to purchase a parking pass to use the facilities. Park Superintendent Cassius Cash said in an interview the fee is needed to keep up with maintenance and staffing demands at the country’s most visited national...
Giuliani targeted in criminal probe of 2020 electionVideo
ATLANTA — Rudy Giuliani is a target of the criminal investigation into possible illegal attempts by then-President Donald Trump and others to interfere in the 2020 general election in Georgia, prosecutors informed attorneys for the former New York mayor on Monday. The revelation that Giuliani, an outspoken Trump defender, could...
Dog, missing 2 months, found alive inside Missouri cave
Jeff Bohnert had all but given up on seeing his poodle-hound mix again after she went missing in early June. Two months later, he got a text from a neighbor: People exploring a nearby cave found a dog. Could it be Abby? Bohnert doubted it, but still curious, he went...
Former Minneapolis cops say they rejected plea deal in George Floyd killing
MINNEAPOLIS — Two former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s killing told a judge Monday that they have rejected plea deals that would have resulted in three-year sentences, setting the stage for trial in October. Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng are charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree...
Starbucks asks labor board to halt union votes temporarily
Starbucks is asking the National Labor Relations Board to temporarily suspend all union elections at its U.S. stores after a career employee with the labor board told the company of alleged improper coordination between regional NLRB officials and the union. In a letter sent Monday to the NLRB, Starbucks said...
So-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law confuses some Florida schools
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Some Florida schools have moved library books and debated changing textbooks in response to a law critics call “Don’t Say Gay” — and some teachers have worried that family pictures on their desks could get them in trouble. As students return from summer break, educators are cautiously...
Norway bridge collapses, drivers of 2 vehicles rescued
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A wooden bridge over a river in southern Norway collapsed early Monday, with a car plunging into the water and a truck getting stuck on a raised section. The drivers of both vehicles were rescued and doing well, police said. Police were alerted shortly after 7:30 a.m....
Iran denies involvement but justifies Salman Rushdie attack
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An Iranian official Monday denied Tehran was involved in the stabbing of author Salman Rushdie, though he sought to justify the attack in the Islamic Republic’s first public comments on the bloodshed. The remarks by Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, came three...
Judge: Sen. Graham must testify in Georgia election probe
ATLANTA — A federal judge on Monday said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham must testify before a special grand jury in Atlanta that is investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his allies broke any laws while trying to overturn his narrow 2020 general election loss in the state. Attorneys for...
Pa. man gets stuck in drain pipe while trying to hide from police: report
A man suspected of shoplifting a CVS store in Radnor Township, Delaware County, was rescued Sunday after he got stuck in a drain pipe while attempting to elude police, according to a story from WPVI. According to the report, around 4:30 p.m., officers from Radnor and Lower Merion township officers...
