Greece tells UN that Turkey is challenging its sovereignty
ATHENS, Greece — Greece has told the head of the United Nations that Turkey is directly challenging its sovereignty over islands in the eastern Aegean Sea, and pursuing a hostile and “revisionist” policy that is destabilizing the region. The four-page letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, dated May 25 and signed...
Lawsuit: 13-year-old’s hands up when shot by Chicago police
CHICAGO — A 13-year-old boy shot in the back by a Chicago police officer was unarmed and had his arms raised to surrender when he was hit by the bullet, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday, saying the incident illustrates deeply flawed implementation of department policy on the pursuit of...
Doctors, hospitals in crisis-hit Lebanon go on 2-day strike
BEIRUT — Dozens of doctors, nurses and medical personnel rallied Thursday outside the Central Bank in the Lebanese capital of Beirut after declaring a two-day general strike to protest rapidly deteriorating economic conditions. The strike was declared by two medical professionals’ unions — The Syndicates of Doctors in Beirut and...
Police: Video captures man shooting 4 walking to Philadelphia prom party
PHILADELPHIA — Four people were shot Wednesday night as they walked to a prom party in the Mantua neighborhood, according to Philadelphia police. WPVI-TV reports that just after 7 p.m. surveillance video captured a gunman who was reportedly on a bike when he fired the gunshots. The suspect is described...
Davos ends with Germany pushing global work on climate, war
DAVOS, Switzerland — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed hopes Friday for global cooperation on climate change, hunger and war, while dozens of climate activists demonstrated in the Swiss town of Davos as a meeting of global elites ended with many words but little concrete action to solve the world’s most...
Russians shell dozens of Ukrainian towns in fierce battle for the Donbas
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — Russia shelled more than 40 towns and villages in the Donbas region, Ukrainian officials said Thursday, as Moscow intensified attacks in Ukraine’s industrial heartland and attempted to encircle key eastern cities. Now in its fourth month, Russia’s war on its neighbor has increasingly zeroed in on efforts...
Fewer Americans apply for jobless benefits last week
WASHINGTON — Fewer Americans applied for jobless aid last week with the number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits already near five-decade lows. Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 8,000 to 210,000 for the week ending May 21, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time applications are generally representative of the number...
Powerful earthquake shakes southern Peru
LIMA, Peru — A magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook a remote region of southern Peru on Thursday, sending frightened people running into the streets in nearby Bolivia, though there were no immediate reports of damage or injury. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 7:02 a.m. quake was centered 8 miles west-northwest...
Hearts ‘forever broken’: Here are the victims of the Texas school shooting
UVALDE, Texas — At least 21 people — including 19 children — were killed by a gunman during Tuesday’s massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Among them were a 10-year-old girl who had just made the honor roll and a fourth-grade teacher who had worked for the school...
U.S. making covid antiviral drug more available at test sites
WASHINGTON — The White House on Thursday announced more steps to make the antiviral treatment Paxlovid more accessible across the U.S. as it projects covid-19 infections will continue to spread over the summer travel season. The nation’s first federally backed test-to-treat site is opening Thursday in Rhode Island, providing patients...
States divided on gun controls, even as mass shootings rise
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee was quick to react to this week’s carnage at a Texas elementary school, sending a tweet listing the gun control measures the Democratic-controlled state has taken. He finished with: “Your turn Congress.” But gun control measures are likely going nowhere in Congress, and...
Abrams-Kemp slugfest promises to be pricey, long and ugly
ATLANTA — Georgia voters didn’t get much of a break from election talk on the day after the Tuesday primary in which Republican Gov. Brian Kemp demolished GOP challenger David Perdue and Democrat Stacey Abrams finally clinched a nomination waiting for her after no other members of her party jumped...
Medical marijuana card companies push access in Pa., while doctors are silenced
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 — When Pennsylvania lawmakers legalized medical cannabis in 2016, they struck an unusual deal: Physicians can approve patients for the...
Ohio’s high court rejects latest GOP-drawn Statehouse maps
COLUMBUS — A frustrated Ohio Supreme Court rejected Republican-drawn Statehouse maps for a fifth time Wednesday, extending the string of GOP defeats in a redistricting process that has ground the state’s legislative primaries to a halt. Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor was clearly angered by the Republican-dominated Ohio Redistricting Commission’s decision...
Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic site
CASPER, Wyo. — An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was damaged in a fire early Wednesday that police believe was deliberately set — possibly by someone seen running away from the building carrying what appeared to be a gas can and a bag. The blaze...
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice being treated for possible Lyme disease
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Wednesday he is bring treated for possible Lyme disease after becoming ill following two events he attended in the northern part of the state. The Republican governor postponed his regularly scheduled covid-19 briefings this week and said he has tested negative...
‘How to Murder Your Husband’ author found guilty of murder
PORTLAND, Ore. — A jury in Portland has convicted a self-published romance novelist — who once wrote an essay titled “How to Murder Your Husband” — of fatally shooting her husband four years ago. The jury of seven women and five men found Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, guilty of second-degree...
Pennsylvania House votes against taking up gun bill after Texas killings
HARRISBURG — An effort by Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania to ban owning, selling or making high-capacity, semi-automatic firearms went nowhere Wednesday as state House Republicans again displayed their firm opposition to gun restriction proposals. The state House of Representatives voted 111-87 against the effort by Democratic Rep. Danielle Friel Otten...
Trump vows to speak at NRA convention days after Texas school shooting
Former President Donald Trump vowed to speak at the National Rifle Association convention this weekend even after an 18-year-old gunman killed 21 people, including 19 children, at a Texas elementary school. Denouncing “politicians and partisanship,” Trump said he would appear as scheduled on Friday at the pro-gun group’s annual confab...
Will Congress act on guns after Sandy Hook, Buffalo, Uvalde?Video
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer swiftly set in motion a pair of background-check bills for gun buyers Wednesday in response to the school massacre in Texas. But the Democrat acknowledged Congress’ unyielding rejection of previous legislation to curb the national epidemic of gun violence. Schumer implored his Republican...
Reality TV’s Josh Duggar gets 12 years in child porn case
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Former reality TV star Josh Duggar was sentenced Wednesday to about 12 1/2 years in prison after he was convicted of receiving and possessing child pornography. Prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks to give the maximum term of 20 years to Duggar, whose large family...
Beto O’Rourke disrupts Texas governor’s news conference on shootingVideo
UVALDE, Texas — Surrounded by fellow Republicans on a high school stage, Gov. Greg Abbott was wrapping up his opening remarks about the killing of school children and teachers in Uvalde, Texas, when Beto O’Rourke strode forward from his seat in the audience. “Gov. Abbott, I have something to say,”...
From Columbine to Robb, 169 dead in U.S. mass school shootings
Mass shooters have killed hundreds of people throughout U.S. history in realms like stores, theaters and workplaces, but it is in schools and colleges where the carnage reverberates perhaps most keenly — places filled with children of tender ages, older students aspiring to new heights and the teachers planting the...
Oz, McCormick race heads into recount in Pa. Senate primary
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s top election official said Wednesday that the margin between the top two candidates in last week’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate is tight enough to trigger a statewide recount, dragging the outcome into June as the candidates fight in court. The state’s acting secretary of state, Leigh...
2 years after Floyd murder, racial trauma permeates US
Black Men Heal co-founder Zakia Williams was deeply moved as she watched a young Black man become emotional while speaking about the mental health toll the past few years have taken on him. “He said ‘I just want to play basketball without fear of getting shot, I just want to...
