News category, Page 931

PIERRE, S.D. — A Republican-controlled South Dakota House committee declined Wednesday to consider a proposal from Gov. Kristi Noem aimed at banning nearly all abortions, stifling a top item on the governor’s agenda. The Republican governor loudly trumpeted her proposal this year, which would have mimicked the private enforcement of...

This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court took control of the high-stakes selection...

WASHINGTON — The FBI has confirmed purchasing NSO Group’s powerful spyware tool Pegasus, whose chronic abuse to surveil journalists, dissidents and human rights activists has long been established. It suggested its motivation was to “stay abreast of emerging technologies and tradecraft.” The agency added in a statement Wednesday that it...

WASHINGTON — Justice Neil Gorsuch is speaking this weekend to the conservative legal group that boosted his Supreme Court candidacy, in a session at a Florida resort that is closed to news coverage. Gorsuch is billed as the banquet speaker Friday at the Florida chapter of the Federalist Society’s annual...

WASHINGTON — The Army said Wednesday it will immediately begin discharging soldiers who have refused to get the mandatory covid-19 vaccine, putting more than 3,300 service members at risk of being thrown out soon. The Army’s announcement makes it the final military service to lay out its discharge policy for...

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s governor and his Democratic allies in the Legislature on Wednesday laid out a proposal to spend federal pandemic relief money on workers, environmental and climate change programs as well as a one-time property tax subsidy for lower-income homeowners and renters. The plan was announced less than a...

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Democratic-majority Supreme Court wrested control Wednesday of choosing new district lines for the state’s shrinking congressional delegation, a process that deadlocked the governor and Legislature. The five Democratic justices issued an order directing a lower judge to give them a report by Monday that recommends a new...

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 — This month, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf will deliver his eighth and final budget address to a joint session of...

CHICAGO — A major winter storm with millions of Americans in its path brought a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow to the middle section of the United States on Wednesday as airlines canceled hundreds of flights, governors urged residents to stay off roads and schools closed campuses. The...

WASHINGTON — Drivers, beware: Speed cameras could be on their way to a location near you thanks to President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law. Under new federal guidance issued Wednesday, states can now tap billions of federal highway dollars for roadway safety programs such as automated traffic enforcement. They are being...

WASHINGTON — A retired Army lieutenant colonel who was a pivotal witness in the first impeachment case against Donald Trump has sued the oldest son of the former president and other Trump allies, accusing them of participating in an “intentional, concerted campaign of unlawful intimidation and retaliation” over his decision...

ISLAMABAD — The Taliban on Wednesday said they have reopened public universities for women students in six of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, a move marking a major concession to international demands by the country’s new rulers. Since they swept into power in mid-August, the international community has watched to see whether...

A bolt of lightning that stretched nearly 500 miles across three U.S. states is the new world record holder for longest flash. The single flash extended 477.2 miles across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi in April 2020, the World Meteorological Organization said Monday. That beat the old record set in 2018...

BRUSSELS — President Joe Biden is sending about 2,000 U.S.-based troops to Poland and Germany and shifting roughly 1,000 soldiers from Germany to Romania as demonstrations of American commitments to NATO allies amid fears of a possible Russian military invasion of Ukraine, the Pentagon said Wednesday. In announcing the moves,...

President Joe Biden is committing to reduce the cancer death rate by 50% — a new goal for the “moonshot” initiative against the disease that was announced in 2016 when he was vice president. Biden has set a 25-year timeline for achieving that goal, part of his broader effort to...

MIAMI — Peacocks could be on the outs in some South Florida neighborhoods after the Miami-Dade commission agreed to loosen a law protecting the birds. While the 20-year-old law still protects peacocks from harm, commissioners agreed Tuesday to allow cities to opt out if they present appropriate plans to humanely...

Looks like it will be six more weeks of winter, as Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow Wednesday morning. Pennsylvania’s most famous groundhog made his appearance at sunrise to throngs of fans gathered at Gobbler’s Knob — the largest ever, according to the Inner Circle of Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. Legend has...

ANKARA, Turkey — The bodies of 12 migrants who froze to death were found near Turkey’s border with Greece, the Turkish interior minister said Wednesday, accusing Greek border guards of pushing them back over the frontier. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said tweeted that the 12 were among 22 migrants who...

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s relentless, false claims about the 2020 presidential election have sparked fresh urgency in Congress — and in both parties — for changing the Electoral Count Act to ensure no one can undo a future presidential election. Lawmakers are working furiously to update the 135-year-old law that...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Tonga will enter a lockdown Wednesday evening after finding coronavirus infections in two port workers helping distribute aid arriving in the Pacific nation after a volcanic eruption and tsunami. The urgent announcement by Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni appeared to confirm fears that accepting the aid following...

HARRISBURG — A report commissioned by the board of Pennsylvania’s largest public pension system shows a consultant took responsibility for an errant calculation about the fund’s investment performance. The discovery of the mistaken calculation forced the $72 billion Public School Employees’ Retirement System to take a second vote last year...

LOS ANGELES — A former lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was arrested Tuesday after police say he emailed an 800-page document and posted videos threatening violence against the school had previously sent messages saying he would “hunt” and kill a professor, court documents show. Matthew Harris,...

NEW YORK — A teenage fast-food cashier shot to death in Manhattan. A woman pushed to her death in front of a subway train in Times Square. An 11-month-old girl wounded by a stray bullet in the Bronx. Two police officers killed in Harlem. A string of headline-making violence in...