Sweltering streets: Hundreds of homeless die in extreme heat
PHOENIX — Hundreds of blue, green and grey tents are pitched under the sun’s searing rays in downtown Phoenix, a jumble of flimsy canvas and plastic along dusty sidewalks. Here, in the hottest big city in America, thousands of homeless people swelter as the summer’s triple digit temperatures arrive. The...
Yellowstone Park aims for quick reopening after floods
GARDINER, Mont. — Most of Yellowstone National Park should reopen within the next two weeks — much faster than originally expected after record floods pounded the region last week and knocked out major roads, federal officials said. Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said the world-renowned park will be able to accommodate...
Israel coalition agrees to dissolve, hold new elections
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office announced Monday that his weakened coalition will be disbanded and the country will head to new elections. Bennett has struggled to keep his unruly coalition of eight parties together since it took office one year ago, and defections have left the crumbling...
Biden says decision on gas tax holiday may come this week
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden said Monday that he will decide by the end of the week whether he would support a federal gasoline tax holiday, possibly saving U.S. consumers as much as 18.4 cents a gallon. “Yes, I’m considering it,” Biden told reporters after taking a...
Taliban release several British citizens held in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD — The Taliban have released several British citizens who were detained in Afghanistan after an agreement was reached between the two countries, Taliban and U.K. officials said Monday. The detainees were released Sunday following a series of meetings between Afghan and British officials, said Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the...
Cambodian catches world’s largest recorded freshwater fish
BANGKOK — The world’s largest recorded freshwater fish, a giant stingray, has been caught in the Mekong River in Cambodia, according to scientists from the Southeast Asian nation and the United States. The stingray, captured on June 13, measured almost 13 feet from snout to tail and weighed slightly under...
The bipartisan push to cut corporate taxes in Pennsylvania, explained
HARRISBURG — Amid budget negotiations, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and legislative Republicans are weighing a major tax cut on Pennsylvania corporations. The state levies a 9.99% tax on corporate net income, the second-highest rate in the country. Cutting that tax has become a rare area of bipartisan agreement between the...
The bipartisan push to cut corporate taxes in Pennsylvania, explained
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 — Amid budget negotiations, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and legislative Republicans are weighing a major tax cut on Pennsylvania corporations....
Japan court says ban on same-sex marriage constitutional
TOKYO — A Japanese court ruled Monday that the country’s ban on same-sex marriage does not violate the constitution, and rejected demands for compensation by three couples who said their right to free union and equality has been violated. The Osaka District Court ruling is the second decision on the...
U.K. set for national railway strike as last-ditch talks fail
LONDON — Britain is facing its biggest rail strikes for decades after last-minute talks between a union and train companies failed to reach a settlement over pay and job security. Up to 40,000 cleaners, signalers, maintenance workers and station staff are due to walk out for three days this week,...
‘It’s just hell there’: Russia still pounds eastern Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia’s military was grinding down Ukraine’s defenses on Monday, with combat in eastern areas entering a “decisive” phase, as the war’s consequences for food and fuel supplies increasingly weighed on minds around the globe. In Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, which in recent weeks has become the focal...
Teen killed, officer, 2 adults shot at unpermitted D.C. event
WASHINGTON — A 15-year-old boy was shot to death and three adults, including a police officer, were wounded after a musical event lacking a permit erupted into chaos on a District of Columbia street Sunday night, police said. The wounded police officer and the other adults were recovering at hospitals,...
6,000 bees removed from inside wall of Omaha couple’s home
OMAHA, Neb. — About 6,000 bees were recently removed from inside the walls of an Omaha couple’s 100-year-old home. Thomas and Marylu Gouttierre told the Omaha World-Herald they have been planting bee-friendly flowers outside their midtown home, but they never expected the bees to move in. The bees likely infiltrated...
2 men charged in fatal fireworks explosion that killed 4 near St. Louis
BLACK JACK, Mo. — Two men were charged with murder in a house explosion near St. Louis that authorities say killed four people who were assembling fireworks in a garage. St. Louis County prosecutors say 37-year-old Terrell Cooks and 43-year-old Seneca Mahan made fireworks and directed younger people on how...
Yellen: Recession not inevitable, gas tax holiday weighed
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that she expects the U.S. economy to slow in the months ahead, but that a recession is not inevitable. Yellen offered a dose of optimism even as economists grow increasingly worried about a recession fueled by skyrocketing inflation and the...
Political commentator and columnist Mark Shields dies at 85
CHEVY CHASE, Md. — Columnist and political commentator Mark Shields, who shared his insight into American politics and wit on “PBS NewsHour” for decades, died Saturday. He was 85. Shields died at his Chevy Chase, Maryland, home, from kidney failure, “PBS NewsHour” spokesman Nick Massella said. Shields was a regular...
Justices seem poised to hear elections case pressed by GOP
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seems poised to take on a new elections case being pressed by Republicans that could increase the power of state lawmakers over races for Congress and the presidency, as well as redistricting, and cut state courts out of the equation. The issue has arisen repeatedly...
Independent booksellers grew in number, diversity in 2021
NEW YORK — Laura Romani, a Chicago-area resident with a background in education and library science, had been thinking of a new career. “I was at home a couple of years ago reflecting on all the experience I gained and how I wanted to contribute to the Latino community, while...
For families deeply divided, a summer of hot buttons begins
NEW YORK — Kristia Leyendecker has navigated a range of opposing views from her two siblings and other loved ones since 2016, when Donald Trump’s election put a sharp, painful point on their political divisions as she drifted from the Republican Party of today and they didn’t. Then came the...
Trans kids’ treatment can start younger, new guidelines sayVideo
A leading transgender health association has lowered its recommended minimum age for starting gender transition treatment, including sex hormones and surgeries. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health said hormones could be started at age 14, two years earlier than the group’s previous advice, and some surgeries done at age...
Yellowstone National Park to reopen partially after floods
BILLINGS, Mont. — Yellowstone National Park will partially reopen at 8 a.m. Wednesday, after catastrophic flooding destroyed bridges and roads and drove out thousands of tourists. The Park Service announced Saturday that visitors will once again be allowed on the park’s southern loop under a temporary license plate system designed...
Pa. health department ready to give covid vaccines to young children
The Pennsylvania Department of Health said Saturday that providers across the state are prepared to begin providing covid vaccines for young children starting early next week. The announcement comes shortly after the approval of two vaccines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and emergency use authorization from the...
Biden’s optimism collides with mounting political challenges
WASHINGTON — Democrats are going to hold onto the House after November’s midterm elections. They will pick up as many as four seats in the Senate, expanding their majority and overcoming internal dissent that has helped stifle their agenda. As the challenges confronting President Joe Biden intensify, his predictions of...
CDC advisers recommend covid-19 shots for children under 5
NEW YORK — U.S. health advisers on Saturday recommended covid-19 vaccines for infants, toddlers and preschoolers — the last group without the shots. The advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unanimously decided that coronavirus vaccines should be made available to children as young as 6 months, offering...
Biden takes spill while getting off bike after beach ride
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — President Joe Biden fell when he tried to get off his bike at the end of a ride Saturday at Cape Henlopen State Park near his beach home in Delaware, but said he wasn’t hurt. “I’m good,” he told reporters after U.S. Secret Service Agents quickly...
