Senate OKs overhaul of baby formula rules in aid program
WASHINGTON — The Senate approved a bill Thursday aimed at easing the baby formula shortage for families participating in a government assistance program that accounts for about half of all formula purchased in the United States. The House passed the bill the day before, so it now goes to President...
Jan. 6 panel asks GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk to testify about Capitol tour
WASHINGTON — The congressional committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection is asking a House Republican for more information about a tour of the building the panel says he led the day before the deadly attack. The committee’s letter to Georgia Rep. Barry Loudermilk on Thursday is the latest attempt by...
Blowback as George Bush gaffes Iraq war, not Ukraine, ‘unjustified’Video
Former President George W. Bush is facing criticism after mistakenly describing the invasion of Iraq — which he led as commander in chief — as “brutal” and “wholly unjustified,” before correcting himself to say he meant to refer to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “The result is an absence of checks...
Despite high vaccination rates among Pa. prisoners, some covid restrictions remain in place
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 — More than two years after the first coronavirus cases were reported in Pennsylvania state prisons, some of the mitigation...
Oklahoma approves the nation’s most restrictive abortion ban
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s Legislature gave final approval Thursday to another Texas-style anti-abortion bill that providers say will be the most restrictive in the nation once the governor signs it. The bill is part of an aggressive push in Republican-led states across the country to scale back abortion rights. It...
Congress OKs latest $40B to help Ukraine repulse Russians
WASHINGTON — The Senate overwhelmingly approved a $40 billion infusion of military and economic aid for Ukraine and its allies on Thursday as both parties rallied behind America’s latest, and quite possibly not last, financial salvo against Russia’s invasion. The 86-11 vote gave final congressional approval to the package, three...
Biden forest plan stirs dispute over what counts as ‘old’
BILLINGS, Mont. — President Joe Biden’s order to protect the nation’s oldest forests against climate change, wildfires and other problems devastating vast woodlands is raising a simple yet vexing question: When does a forest grow old? Millions of acres are potentially on the line — federal land that could eventually...
New Twitter policy aims to pierce fog of war misinformation
pSAN FRANCISCO — Twitter is stepping up its fight against misinformation with a new policy cracking down on posts that spread potentially dangerous false stories. The change is part of a broader effort to promote accurate information during times of conflict or crisis. Starting Thursday, the platform will no longer...
New Twitter policy aims to pierce fog of war misinformation
SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter is stepping up its fight against misinformation with a new policy cracking down on posts that spread potentially dangerous false stories. The change is part of a broader effort to promote accurate information during times of conflict or crisis. Starting Thursday, the platform will no longer...
Mysterious hepatitis cases in kids keep climbing as scientists search for a cause
MIAMI — No unusual cases of severe hepatitis among children have been confirmed in Florida despite a global rise in cases and an ongoing investigation into what’s causing the outbreak, which has affected more than 500 kids worldwide, including more than 150 in the United States. Doctors and public health...
Abortion-friendly states prep for more patients if Roe falls
JACKSON, Miss. — Leaders of a Tennessee abortion clinic calculated driving distances and studied passenger rail routes as they scanned the map for another place to offer services if the Supreme Court lets states restrict or eliminate abortion rights. They chose Carbondale in Illinois — a state that has easy...
Home sales tumble again as mortgage rates surge
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed for the third consecutive month in April as mortgage rates surged, driving up borrowing costs for would-be buyers as home prices soared to new highs. Existing home sales fell 2.4% last month from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million,...
Germany’s Schroeder loses office amid anger over Russia ties
BERLIN — German lawmakers agreed Thursday to strip former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of his office and staff after he maintained and defended his long-standing ties with Russia and its energy sector despite the invasion of Ukraine. Sven Kindler, a financial policy spokesman for the Greens, one of the governing parties,...
Ukrainian troops surrendering at Mariupol registered as POWs
KYIV, Ukraine — Hundreds more Ukrainian fighters who made their stand inside Mariupol’s bombed-out steel plant surrendered, bringing the total to over 1,700, Russia said Thursday, amid international fears about the fate of the prisoners in Moscow’s hands. The Red Cross worked to register the soldiers as prisoners of war...
Fed nominee Michael Barr calls inflation ‘far too high’
WASHINGTON — Michael Barr, President Joe Biden’s pick to be the Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator, pledged Thursday to help reduce high inflation and provide “clear rules” to govern financial innovation. “I would be strongly committed to bringing down inflation to the Federal Reserve’s target” of 2%, Barr said in...
FDA head: Baby formula factory could reopen by next week
WASHINGTON — The head of the Food and Drug Administration told lawmakers Thursday that a shuttered baby formula factory could be up and running as soon as next week, though he sidestepped questions about whether his agency should have intervened earlier at the plant at the center of the national...
Turkey’s leader says ‘no’ to Sweden and Finland’s NATO bid
ISTANBUL — Turkey will oppose Sweden and Finland joining NATO, the country’s president flatly stated in a video released Thursday, as Turkish officials emphasized Ankara’s security concerns. “We have told our relevant friends we would say ‘no’ to Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO, and we will continue on our...
McDonald’s finds a buyer for Russian restaurants
McDonald’s has begun the sale of its restaurants in Russia 30 years after the burger chain became a powerful symbol of easing of Cold War tensions between the United States and Soviet Union. The Chicago burger giant said its existing licensee Alexander Govor, who operates 25 restaurants in Siberia, has...
Germany: 1 person wounded, 1 detained in school attack
BERLIN — German police said they detained a suspect following an attack at a high school in the northern city of Bremerhaven on Thursday morning in which a school employee was wounded. Police said the incident happened at the Lloyd high school in the center of the city, which is...
U.S. case of monkeypox reported in Massachusetts man
NEW YORK — Massachusetts on Wednesday reported a rare case of monkeypox in a man who recently traveled to Canada, and health officials are looking into whether it is connected to small outbreaks in Europe. Monkeypox is typically limited to Africa, and rare cases in the United States and elsewhere...
President Biden invokes Defense Production Act for formula shortage
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday invoked the Defense Production Act to speed production of infant formula and authorized flights to import supply from overseas, as he faces mounting political pressure over a domestic shortage caused by the safety-related closure of the country’s largest formula manufacturing plant. The Defense...
Teen dies, sister rescued in New Jersey beach sand collapseVideo
TOMS RIVER, N.J. — An 18-year-old male died while playing with his sister at a New Jersey beach when a large hole they were digging in the sand collapsed, police said. His sister was also trapped but was rescued and treated at the scene, the Toms River Police Department said...
DHS warns abortion ruling could increase extremist violence
WASHINGTON — The leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion striking down the constitutional right to abortion has unleashed a wave of threats against officials and others and increased the likelihood of extremist violence, an internal government report says. Violence could come from either side of the abortion issue or...
Stocks fall sharply as Target’s woes renew inflation fears
NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 1,100 points and the S&P 500 had its biggest drop in nearly two years Wednesday, as big earnings misses by Target and other major retailers stoked investors’ fears that surging inflation could cut deeply into corporate profits. The broad...
What to know about Pennsylvania’s election recount rules
Pennsylvania election law requires an automatic recount if the difference between the top two candidates for a statewide office is 0.5% of the vote or less. Such a recount has been triggered five times since the law was enacted in 2004 — most recently in the Commonwealth Court race in...
