Donald Trump questions Kathy Barnette’s electability in Pennsylvania Senate race
PHILADELPHIA — Former President Donald Trump jumped back into Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate primary, warning that the surging underdog Kathy Barnette “will never be able to win the General Election against the Radical Left Democrats.” Yet in the same statement, Trump, who has endorsed Mehmet Oz for Senate, said Barnette could...
Jan. 6 panel subpoenas Kevin McCarthy, 4 other GOP lawmakersVideo
WASHINGTON — A House panel issued subpoenas Thursday to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and four other GOP lawmakers in its probe into the violent Jan. 6 insurrection, an extraordinary step that has little precedent and is certain to further inflame partisan tensions over the 2021 attack. The panel is...
Reports show fatal crashes increased in Pennsylvania in 2021
Traffic crashes in the U.S. are increasing at a record pace, according to the latest data estimates from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. NHTSA estimates of the first nine months of 2021 project that more than 31,700 people died in vehicle crashes from January to September 2021. That’s an...
Spain debates if menstrual leave policy will help or hurt
MADRID — A government proposal that could make Spain the first country in Europe to allow workers to take menstrual leave has sparked debate over whether the policy would help or hinder women in the workplace. A leaked draft of new legislation that the Spanish Cabinet is expected to discuss...
Jake Corman drops out of Pa. governor’s race, backs Barletta as primary nears
HARRISBURG — Jake Corman, Pennsylvania’s ranking state senator and a Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor said Thursday that he was ending his campaign and endorsing rival Lou Barletta, a move that comes as GOP leaders warn that leading candidate Doug Mastriano is too far right to win in a general...
Georgia man challenges eligibility of 13,600 voters
CUMMING, Ga. — A Georgia man is challenging the eligibility of more than 13,000 registered voters in his county in the northern part of the state. Frank Schneider filed the challenge Tuesday with the Forsyth County Board of Voter Registration and Elections, which will consider it during their regularly scheduled...
Russia blasts east Ukraine, Mariupol
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces pounded areas in Ukraine’s east on Thursday, including the last pocket of resistance in besieged Mariupol. Even as the globe-shaking repercussions of the invasion spread, the conflict on the ground slogged on, with Ukraine’s military recapturing some towns and villages in the country’s northeast but...
EU plan aims to help get wheat from Ukraine to the world
BRUSSELS — The European Commission proposed helping Ukraine export its wheat and other grains by rail, road and river to get around a Russian blockade of Black Sea ports, which is preventing those critical supplies from reaching parts of the world at risk of food insecurity. The European Union’s executive...
Biden urges world to renew covid fight as U.S. nears 1M deaths
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden appealed to world leaders on Thursday for a renewed international commitment to attacking covid-19 as he led the U.S. in marking the approaching “tragic milestone” of 1 million deaths at home from the virus. He ordered flags lowered to half-staff and warned against “complacency” around...
Several feared dead after chemical plant blast in Slovenia
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — An explosion and fire at a chemical plant in southeast Slovenia has left at least four people missing and feared dead, officials said Thursday. Emergency officials said another two people were hospitalized in critical condition with severe burns after the blast, which was reported around 8.30 a.m....
Palestinians mourn slain Al Jazeera journalist, blame Israel
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Thousands gathered to mourn a slain Al Jazeera journalist in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday, as the head of the Palestinian Authority blamed Israel for her death and rejected Israeli calls for a joint investigation. Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American reporter who...
Mercedes recalls 292K vehicles to fix problem with brakes
DETROIT — Mercedes-Benz is recalling more than 292,000 vehicles in the U.S. to fix a problem that could cause the brakes to fail or perform poorly. The recall covers certain ML, GL and R-Class vehicles from the 2006 through 2012 model years. Mercedes says in documents posted Thursday by the...
Astronomers capture 1st image of Milky Way’s huge black hole
WASHINGTON — The world’s first image of the chaotic supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy doesn’t portray a voracious cosmic destroyer but what astronomers Thursday called a “gentle giant” on a near-starvation diet. Astronomers believe nearly all galaxies, including our own, have these giant black...
South African firm says it may close its covid vaccine plant
JOHANNESBURG — The first factory to produce covid-19 vaccines in Africa says it has not received enough orders and may stop production within weeks, in what a senior World Health Organization official described Thursday as a “failure” in efforts to achieve vaccine equity. South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare said that it...
No more murder charge for women in Louisiana abortion bill
NEW ORLEANS — The sponsor of a bill that would have subjected Louisiana women to murder charges for having abortions abruptly pulled the proposal from debate Thursday night after House members voted 65-26 to totally revamp the legislation, eliminating the criminal penalties. The controversial bill would have ventured farther against...
Finland moves toward joining NATO amid Russia threats
HELSINKI — Finland’s leaders Thursday came out in favor of applying to join NATO, and Sweden could do the same within days, in a historic realignment on the continent 2½ months after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine sent a shiver of fear through Moscow’s neighbors. The Kremlin reacted...
Public database significantly undercounts former drug labs in Pa.
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 — The only online federal database that allows people to see whether their home or property was contaminated with toxic...
Soldier killed in bear attack during training in Alaska, U.S. Army says
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson soldier was killed by a bear Tuesday while training in Anchorage, the U.S. Army Alaska said. The soldier was part of a small group training in an area west of the Anchorage Regional Landfill when the bear attacked, the Army said in a...
North Korea raises alarm after confirming 1st covid-19 case
North Korea announced its first coronavirus infection more than two years into the pandemic Thursday as leader Kim Jong Un called for raising covid-19 preventive measures to maximum levels. The Korean Central News Agency said tests from an unspecified number of people in the capital Pyongyang confirmed they were infected...
House panel sets hearing on baby formula shortage exacerbated by recall from Michigan plant
WASHINGTON — A U.S. House committee on Wednesday announced plans for a May 25 hearing on a national baby formula shortage fueled in part by a February recall by the manufacturer Abbot for products made at its Michigan plant. Those recalled products included powder formula sold under the labels Similac,...
Trump sells Washington hotel to Miami-based investor group
NEW YORK — The lease to the Washington, D.C., hotel run by Donald Trump’s family company while he was president, a symbol of his power to GOP politicians who gathered there and of corruption to his critics, has been sold by his family company to a Miami-based investor fund. The...
Pa. GOP gubernatorial candidate Jake Corman to drop out of race, source says
Pennsylvania’s Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman is expected to announce Thursday that he is dropping out of the governor’s race and will be endorsing Lou Barletta to be the Republican gubernatorial nominee, according to a source familiar with the campaign. Corman, whose rankings in the polls have been lagging...
Pilot down, passenger takes over with ‘no idea how to fly’
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A passenger with no flying experience radioed an urgent plea for help when the pilot of a small plane suddenly fell ill off Florida’s Atlantic coast, and was able to land the plane safely with the help of air traffic controllers. “I’ve got a serious...
Democrats’ effort to secure Roe v. Wade falls to filibusterVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate fell far short Wednesday in a rushed effort toward enshrining Roe v. Wade abortion access as federal law, blocked by a Republican filibuster in a blunt display of the nation’s partisan divide over the landmark court decision and the limits of legislative action. The almost party-line...
Lawyers in suit over Surfside collapse reveal staggering legal settlement: $997 million
MIAMI — In a surprise development, the class-action litigation over the collapse of Champlain Towers South has been settled, a federal judge was told Wednesday, with plaintiffs expected to receive just under $1 billion. The comprehensive settlement announced in Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman’s courtroom effectively closes the litigation...
