Mexican government prodding its farmers to grow more food
MEXICO CITY — The corn has begun to sprout on the hillsides south of Mexico’s capital, though it’s unclear whether these shoots will have enough water to grow or whether the farmer will be able to afford the increasingly expensive fertilizer. What is known is that the government of President...
2 dead, 4 critically hurt when intoxicated driver crashes into golf cart, N.C. cops say
Two people — including a 5-year-old — were killed and four others were critically injured when an intoxicated driver collided with a golf cart near Statesville, N.C., according to the N.C. State Highway Patrol. Among the injured are three children, ages 2, 13 and 16, the highway patrol said in...
1/6 panel postpones hearing with ex-Justice Dept. officials
WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol has postponed a hearing that was to feature Trump-era Justice Department officials. The hearing had been set for Wednesday, but the committee on Tuesday morning said that it had been postponed. It did not give...
U.S. producer prices soar 10.8% in May as energy costs spike
WASHINGTON — U.S. producer prices surged 10.8% in May from a year earlier, underscoring the ongoing threat to the economy from inflation that shows no sign of slowing. Tuesday’s report from the Labor Department showed that the producer price index — which measures inflation before it reaches consumers — rose...
Russians control 80% of contested city in eastern Ukraine
LVIV, Ukraine — Sievierodonetsk, the main focus of the fighting in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, isn’t yet blocked off by Russian troops even though they control about 80% of the city and have destroyed all three bridges leading out of it, an official said Tuesday. “There is still an...
Biden to visit Israel and ‘pariah’ Saudi Arabia next month
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will make his first trip to the Middle East next month with visits to Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia, the White House announced Tuesday. The decision to pay a call on Saudi leaders during the July 13-16 trip comes after Biden as a...
Yellowstone floods wipe out roads, bridges, strand visitorsVideo
HELENA, Mont. — A torrent of rain combined with a rapidly melting snowpack caused a deluge of flooding that forced the evacuation of some parts of Yellowstone National Park, cutting off electricity and forcing park officials to close all entrances indefinitely, just as the summer tourist season was ramping up....
Former Philly elections official tells Jan. 6 panel that Trump tweet led to ‘graphic’ threatsVideo
Al Schmidt, the only Republican official in Philadelphia to oversee voting during the 2020 presidential election, on Monday told the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol that with a single tweet, then-President Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of death threats against him and his family...
Right-wing extremists amp up anti-LGBTQ rhetoric online
BOISE, Idaho — A few weeks before 31 members of a white supremacist group were arrested for allegedly planning to riot at a northern Idaho LGBTQ pride event, a fundamentalist Idaho pastor told his Boise congregation that gay, lesbian and transgender people should be executed by the government. Around the...
Pa. House Republicans initiate impeachment proceedings against Philadelphia DAVideo
Four House Republicans have initiated impeachment proceedings against Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, saying he has shown an “absolute and willful dereliction of duty” that has contributed to lives lost and property destroyed in the state’s largest city. They blame his refusal to hold criminals accountable for their crimes by...
Ohio governor signs bill allowing armed school employees
COLUMBUS — Ohio school districts could begin arming employees as soon as this fall under a bill signed into law Monday by GOP Gov. Mike DeWine. The law, as enacted, requires up to 24 hours of training before an employee can go armed, and up to eight hours of annual...
Autopsy: Teen died of blunt trauma in Florida ride death
ORLANDO, Fla. — A Missouri teenager died of blunt force trauma after falling from a 430-foot Florida drop-tower amusement park ride, according to an autopsy released Monday. The report by the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office also ruled that 14-year-old Tyre Sampson’s death in March was an accident. Sampson slipped...
Sen. Doug Mastriano adds Jenna Ellis to his Pennsylvania campaign team
Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial nominee and state Sen. Doug Mastriano announced the addition of a Trump-world star to his general election campaign team Monday. Jenna Ellis, who became a prominent member of the legal team that, both in and outside courtrooms, tried to put a legal veneer on former President Donald...
Legal but unregulated hemp derivative delta-8 thrives in Pa.’s thorny marijuana landscape
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 — Pennsylvania lawmakers and advocates for legal cannabis say uneven access to marijuana has pushed consumers toward a widely available...
Sanctions sought against FBI over Civil War gold dig videos
The FBI either lied to a federal judge about having video of its secretive 2018 dig for Civil War-era gold, or illegally destroyed the video to prevent a father-son team of treasure hunters from gaining access to it, an attorney for the duo asserted in new legal filings that allege...
Justices rule against detained immigrants seeking release
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has ruled against immigrants who are seeking their release from long periods of detention while they fight deportation orders. In two cases decided Monday, the court said that the immigrants, who fear persecution if sent back to their native countries, have no right under a...
Pa. State House GOP moves to bottle up 4 gun safety proposals
HARRISBURG — Republicans used a legislative bill-shuffling strategy Monday to voluntarily relinquish a Pennsylvania House committee’s control over four bills that address gun violence. The Judiciary Committee action led the speaker to have another panel take over the bills after Democrats tried to force consideration of the proposals. The vote,...
Search continues for missing men in Brazilian Amazon
The search for an Indigenous expert and a journalist who disappeared in a remote area of Brazil’s Amazon continued on Monday following the discovery of a backpack, laptop and other personal belongings submerged in a river. The items were taken by Federal Police officers by boat to Atalaia do Norte,...
North Korea plans crackdown as Kim pushes for internal unity
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his top deputies have pushed for a crackdown on officials who abuse their power and commit other “unsound and non-revolutionary acts,” state media reported Monday, as Kim seeks greater internal unity to overcome a covid-19 outbreak and economic difficulties. It wasn’t clear what...
Kevin Spacey to face London court on sexual offense charges
LONDON — Actor Kevin Spacey has been formally charged with sexual offenses against three men in Britain and is expected to appear in a court in London this week, British police said Monday. Spacey, 62, is accused of four counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person...
Iraqi held by U.S. at Guantanamo pleads guilty to war crimes
FORT MEADE, Md. — An Iraqi man who has been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center for more than 15 years pleaded guilty Monday to war crimes charges for his role in al-Qaida attacks against U.S. and allied forces along with civilians in Afghanistan. The pleas by the prisoner...
Union to vote on authorizing Atlantic City casino strike
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Atlantic City’s main casino workers union will vote Wednesday on whether to authorize a strike against the city’s casinos, with whom they have yet to reach new contract agreements. Local 54 of the Unite Here union says its members will decide whether union leadership can call...
UK reports 104 more cases of monkeypox, mostly in men
British health officials have detected another 104 cases of monkeypox in England in what has become the biggest outbreak beyond Africa of the normally rare disease. The U.K.’s Health Security Agency said Monday there were now 470 cases of monkeypox across the country, with the vast majority in gay or...
Bear market hits Wall Street as stocks, bonds, crypto dive
Wall Street tumbled into what’s called a bear market Monday after fears about a fragile economy and rising interest rates sent the S&P 500 more than 20% below its record set early this year. The index sank 3.9% in the first chance for investors to trade after getting the weekend...
Jan. 6 panel hears: Trump ‘detached from reality’ in defeat
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s closest campaign advisers, top government officials and even his family were dismantling his false claims of 2020 election fraud ahead of Jan. 6, but the defeated president seemed “detached from reality” and kept clinging to outlandish theories to stay in power, the committee investigating the Capitol...
