Biden in Poland to see U.S. troops, Ukraine refugees
RZESZOW, Poland — President Joe Biden will hear directly from U.S. troops stationed near Poland’s border with Ukraine on Friday and learn about the growing humanitarian response to the millions of Ukrainians who are fleeing to Poland to escape Russia’s assault on their homeland. Biden planned to meet with members...
Female ministers urge Taliban to rethink decision on girls
BERLIN — Female foreign ministers from 16 countries around the world said Friday they are “deeply disappointed” that Afghan girls are being denied access to secondary schools and called on the Taliban to reverse their decision. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers unexpectedly decided against reopening schools on Wednesday to girls above the...
Ukraine reports 300 died in Russian strike on theater
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian authorities said Friday that about 300 people died when a Russian airstrike last week blew up a theater in Mariupol where hundreds of civilians were sheltering — a catastrophic loss of civilian life that, if confirmed, is likely to further crank up pressure on Western nations...
Teen falls to death from Florida amusement park ride
ORLANDO, Fla. — A 14-year-old boy fell to his death late at night from a free-fall amusement park ride that is taller than the Statue of Liberty along a busy street in the heart of Orlando’s tourist district. Sheriff’s officials and emergency crews responded to a call late Thursday at...
Nebraska U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry found guilty in campaign probe
LOS ANGELES — U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska was convicted Thursday of charges that he lied to federal authorities about an illegal $30,000 contribution to his campaign from a foreign billionaire at a 2016 Los Angeles fundraiser. A federal jury in California found the nine-term Republican guilty of one...
Pennsylvania to raise tip threshold for tipped minimum wage
HARRISBURG — Tipped employees in Pennsylvania will soon have to make more than four times as much money in tips to be paid below the state’s minimum wage, under a new regulation that adjusts for 45 years of inflation. The unanimous vote this week by the five-member Independent Regulatory Review...
Democrats seek SEC action on foreign influence in elections
WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission should adopt regulations to identify foreign-owned companies that spend corporate funds to influence elections, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin and more than a dozen other House Democrats say in a letter they plan to send Thursday. The letter, shared first with CQ Roll Call,...
Report: Justice Thomas’ wife ‘Ginni’ urged overturning 2020 electionVideo
WASHINGTON — Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, sent weeks of text messages imploring White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to act to overturn the 2020 presidential election — furthering then-President Donald Trump’s lies that the free and fair vote was marred by nonexistent fraud, according...
Business coalition poll says Pennsylvanians support maintaining natural gas as energy source
Energy policy has become a big issue in this year’s political races, as gas prices have risen significantly and questions have arisen about how America produces oil and gas. Pennsylvania is the second-largest producer of natural gas in the country, and a new poll from the business coalition Pittsburgh Works...
Trump sues Hillary Clinton, DNC over ‘Russia hoax’
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Former President Donald Trump is taking Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee to court over what he has called “the Russia hoax,” allegations that his successful 2016 campaign for the presidency was aided by collusion with Russia. In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Florida, Trump...
Arizona GOP votes to restrict transgender sports, surgeries
PHOENIX — The Arizona Legislature passed bills Thursday to prohibit gender reassignment surgery for minors and ban transgender athletes from playing on girls sports teams, joining a growing list of Republican-controlled states attempting to restrict transgender rights as they gain more visibility in culture and society. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey...
What makes a political map fair? Here’s what we learned during Pa.’s recent redistricting cycle
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 — What makes a political map fair? It’s a question the...
Biden promises new Ukraine aid, warns Russia on chemical weapons
BRUSSELS — President Joe Biden and Western allies pledged new sanctions and humanitarian aid on Thursday in response to Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine, but their offers fell short of the more robust military assistance that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded for in a pair of live-video appearances. Biden also announced...
Herschel Walker, Dr. Oz removed from Biden’s sports councilVideo
HARRISBURG — The White House has removed Dr. Mehmet Oz — best known as daytime TV’s host of “The Dr. Oz Show” — and former football star Herschel Walker from the President’s Council on Sports, Nutrition and Fitness as both men run for U.S. Senate. Oz and Walker — both...
Motorists flock to Chicago area gas stations for free fuel
CHICAGO — Long lines of cars stretched for blocks near Chicago-area gas stations Thursday, signaling that a businessman who has made repeated runs for local and national office was footing the bill for motorists to top off their tanks for a second time. Willie Wilson was giving gas away to...
Ukraine says Moscow is forcibly taking civilians to Russia
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine accused Moscow on Friday of forcibly taking thousands of civilians from the shattered port city of Mariupol to Russia so that they can be used as “hostages” to pressure Kyiv to give up. A month into the invasion, meanwhile, the two sides traded heavy blows in...
Texas loses high court case over prayer during executions
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with a Texas death row inmate seeking to have his pastor be allowed to pray out loud and touch him during his execution. The high court’s decision won’t keep John Henry Ramirez from being executed. But the justices in an 8-1 decision...
New rules aim to decide U.S. asylum cases in months, not years
The Biden administration on Thursday unveiled new procedures to handle asylum claims at the U.S. southern border, hoping to decide cases in months instead of years. The rules empower asylum officers to grant or deny claims, an authority that has been limited to immigration judges for people arriving at the...
NATO helps Ukraine prepare for chemical attack
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military alliance is stepping up its defenses against chemical and nuclear weapons as concern mounts that Russia might use such weapons in Ukraine. Stoltenberg says that NATO leaders agreed at their summit Thursday to send equipment to Ukraine to help protect it against a...
Ketanji Brown Jackson on track for confirmation, but GOP votes in doubt
WASHINGTON — After more than 30 hours of hearings, the Senate is on track to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. But Democrats seem unlikely to confirm her with a robust bipartisan vote, dashing President Joe Biden’s hopes for a grand reset after...
U.S. to welcome up to 100,000 from Ukraine
WASHINGTON — A U.S. official says the United States will welcome up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine as 3.5 million flee Russia’s invasion. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement later Thursday. The White House has been saying for weeks that the U.S. would accept...
Americans applying for jobless aid is lowest since 1969
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to its lowest level in 52 years as the U.S. job market continues to show strength in the midst of rising costs and ongoing virus pandemic. Jobless claims fell by 28,000 to 187,000 for the week ending...
U.S. states seek to ease inflation burden with direct payments
PORTLAND, Maine — With inflation raging and state coffers flush with cash, governors and lawmakers across the U.S. are considering a relatively simple solution to help ease the pain people are feeling at the gas pump and grocery store — sending money. At least a dozen states have proposed giving...
Rich countries getting new covid vaccine before poorer ones
NEW DELHI — The company behind a covid-19 vaccine touted as a key tool for the developing world has sent tens of millions of doses to wealthy nations but provided none yet to the U.N.-backed effort to supply poorer countries, a sign that inequity persists in the global response to...
North Korea says it test-fired biggest ICBM, U.S. adds sanctionsVideo
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Friday it test-fired its biggest-yet intercontinental ballistic missile under the orders of leader Kim Jong Un, who vowed to expand the North’s “nuclear war deterrent” while preparing for a “long-standing confrontation” with the United States. The report by North Korean state media came...
