Explainer: How did Russia-Ukraine war trigger a food crisis?
LONDON — Russian hostilities in Ukraine are preventing grain from leaving the “breadbasket of the world” and making food more expensive across the globe, threatening to worsen shortages, hunger and political instability in developing countries. Together, Russia and Ukraine export nearly a third of the world’s wheat and barley, more...
Yellowstone flooding rebuild could take years, cost billions
Created in 1872 as the United States was recovering from the Civil War, Yellowstone was the first of the national parks that came to be referred to as America’s best idea. Now, the home to gushing geysers, thundering waterfalls and some of the country’s most plentiful and diverse wildlife is...
18 dead in India, Bangladesh floods; millions without homes
DHAKA, Bangladesh — At least 18 people have died as massive floods ravaged northeastern India and Bangladesh, leaving millions of homes underwater and severing transport links, authorities said Saturday. In India’s Assam state, at least nine people were killed in the floods and 2 million saw their homes submerged, according...
In Ukraine, funeral for activist killed and mourned in war
KYIV, Ukraine — Poppies, the blood-red flowers that cover the battlefields of Europe’s two world wars, were lain in mourning Saturday on the coffin of yet another dead soldier, this one killed in yet another European war, in Ukraine. The hundreds of mourners for Roman Ratushnyi, 24, included friends who...
1 firefighter dead after Philadelphia building collapse
PHILADELPHIA — One firefighter has died after being trapped in a building that caught fire in Philadelphia and then collapsed early Saturday, fire officials said. The fallen firefighter was not immediately identified, but Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said he was a 27-year department veteran. “It’s going to be a...
Western Pa. counties, municipalities to see bump in money from fees on natural gas production
Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, along with municipalities in the counties, will receive about $3.1 million from impact fees the state collected last year on Marcellus Shale gas well production, a considerable increase over the year before, according to data released Friday. Allegheny County and its municipalities will receive nearly $1.9...
Watergate 50th meets Jan. 6. Common thread: Thirst for power
WASHINGTON — The wreckage of Watergate and Jan. 6 are a half-century apart yet rooted in the same ancient thirst for power at any cost. Two presidents, wily and profane, tried an end run around democracy. Mysteries from both affairs endure as the House inquiry into the Jan. 6, 2021,...
Report: Smoking bans no longer a threat to casino revenue
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — For decades, it was accepted wisdom in the casino industry that eliminating smoking would automatically lead to revenue declines and customer losses. But a new report examining how the coronavirus pandemic has changed gamblers’ habits says that may no longer be the case. The report issued...
Fayette County man killed by police on West Virginia interstate
WESTON, W.Va. — A gunman who was fatally shot by police on an interstate highway in northern West Virginia after he wounded a sheriff’s deputy has been identified as a Pennsylvania man, state police said. Matthew Brevosky, 38, of Grindstone, Fayette County, was killed by law enforcement Thursday on Interstate...
AP photos: A week of ruins and ruined lives in Ukraine
There is life amid the ruins in Ukraine, but there are so many ruins, and life is so fraught. In the course of the last week, Associated Press photographers captured images of a man peering upward through the hole in a roof of a hospital damaged during shelling in Donetsk;...
Texas committee still trying to question Uvalde police
UVALDE, Texas — Police in Uvalde still haven’t committed to speaking to a Texas House committee investigating the May 24 massacre at an elementary school and the law enforcement response that day, the lawmaker leading the probe said Friday. Republican state Rep. Dustin Burrows said his committee was in conversations...
Ex-Trump aide Navarro pleads not guilty to contempt charges
WASHINGTON — Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro pleaded not guilty Friday to contempt of Congress charges after refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Navarro, 72, appeared in federal court in Washington to be arraigned on the two-count indictment....
Louisiana asks Supreme Court to delay mostly Black district
Louisiana’s secretary of state and attorney general asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to put a hold on a federal judge’s order for the state to create a second majority Black congressional district by Monday. Judge Shelly Dick’s ruling “throws the election process into chaos, and creates confusion statewide,”...
Trump weighs another run as GOP rivals eye own campaigns
NASHVILLE — As religious conservatives gathered this week at a sprawling resort near the Grand Ole Opry House, Nikki Haley pressed the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” crowd to look to the future. “It’s up to us to deliver a new birth of patriotism,” said Haley, the former...
Ukraine introduces visa regime for Russians amid war
KYIV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian cabinet approved a resolution on Friday to bar Russian citizens from entering Ukraine without a visa. The move is likely to be viewed as symbolic given that the borders between Russian and Ukraine have remained shut since Moscow invaded its neighbor on Feb 24 and...
Towns near Yellowstone fear impact of lost tourism seasonVideo
RED LODGE, Mont. — A gnawing uncertainty hung over the Yellowstone National Park gateway town of Gardiner this week following unprecedented flooding that shut down one of America’s most beloved natural attractions and swept away roads, bridges and homes. Gardiner itself escaped the flooding but briefly became home to hundreds...
Iowa Supreme Court: Abortion rights not protected by state constitution, clearing way for ban on procedure
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for lawmakers to severely limit or even ban abortion in the state, reversing a decision by the court just four years ago that guaranteed the right to the procedure under the Iowa Constitution. The court, now composed...
FDA authorizes 1st covid shots for infants, preschoolers
U.S. regulators on Friday authorized the first covid-19 shots for infants and preschoolers, paving the way for vaccinations to begin next week. The Food and Drug Administration’s action follows its advisory panel’s unanimous recommendation for the shots from Moderna and Pfizer. That means U.S. kids under 5 — roughly 18...
Building collapse kills 6 in Egyptian capital of Cairo
CAIRO — A building collapse early on Friday in the Egyptian capital of Cairo killed six people, authorities said, as rescuers at the scene searched through the rubble. It was not immediately known what caused the collapse. The city’s deputy governor, Ibrahim Abdel-Hadi, said in a statement released by the...
U.K. government orders Julian Assange’s extradition to U.S.; appeal planned
LONDON — The British government on Friday ordered the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States to face spying charges, a milestone — but not the end — of a decade-long legal saga sparked by his website’s publication of classified U.S. documents. WikiLeaks said it would challenge...
Larry Nassar loses last appeal in sexual assault scandal
DETROIT — The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday rejected a final appeal from sports doctor Larry Nassar, who was sentenced to decades in prison for sexually assaulting gymnasts, including Olympic medalists. Attorneys for Nassar said he was treated unfairly in 2018 and deserved a new hearing, based on vengeful remarks...
Hurricane Blas heads out to sea off southern Mexico
MEXICO CITY — Hurricane Blas was heading out to sea off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast Friday, but a tropical depression has also formed off Central America. The depression is forecast to become a tropical storm while moving closer to El Salvador and Guatemala, before veering away from land over the...
Mastriano proposal would allow school employees to be armed; Pa. teachers union pushes back
A Pennsylvania lawmaker wants to allow K-12 school employees to carry firearms in classrooms in an effort to prevent mass shootings like the one in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 students and two teachers. The proposal by Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin County, would let employees with a concealed carry permit...
Police: 3rd victim in Alabama church shooting dies
VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. — The third victim of a church shooting in Alabama has died, police said Friday. The 84-year-old woman died at a hospital a day after a gunman opened fire with a handgun Thursday at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills, the police...
5 former fraternity members sentenced in hazing death
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Three former fraternity members were sentenced Thursday to jail terms for their roles in the hazing death of a Bowling Green State University student, while two others were ordered to serve house arrest. Jarrett Prizel, 19, of Olean, New York, Daylen Dunson, 22, of Cleveland, and...
