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...
Egg-sized diamond fetches over $21M with fees at Geneva sale
GENEVA — Christie’s says “The Rock,” an egg-sized white diamond billed as the largest of its kind to go up for auction, sold Wednesday for more than 21.6 million Swiss francs ($21.75 million), including fees — though at the low end of the expected range. The 228-carat pear-shaped G-Color stone,...
The tiniest babies: Shifting the boundary of life earlier
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Michelle Butler was just over halfway through her pregnancy when her water broke and contractions wracked her body. She couldn’t escape a terrifying truth: Her twins were coming much too soon. Dr. Brian Sims entered the delivery room and gently explained that babies born so early likely...
Ukraine shuts off Russian pipeline amid talk of annexation
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — Ukraine shut down a pipeline Wednesday that carries Russian natural gas to homes and industries in Western Europe, while a Kremlin-installed official in a southern region seized by Russian troops said the area will ask Moscow to annex it. The immediate effect of the energy cutoff is...
‘Fiery’ Psaki ending tenure as top White House messenger
WASHINGTON — Jen Psaki had been White House press secretary less than two weeks when a reporter asked whether Twitter’s ban of Donald Trump had made President Joe Biden’s life easier. “We don’t spend a lot of time talking about or thinking about President Trump here,” she responded, then added...
It wasn’t murder: Judge frees innocent man after 30 years
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After serving 30 years of a life sentence in Tennessee for the fire that killed his girlfriend, a 65-year-old man has been declared innocent and released from prison. Claude Garrett was released Tuesday from Riverbend prison in Nashville after a judge vacated his murder conviction and a...
Judge says he’ll block Gov. Ron DeSantis’ redistricting plan
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A congressional map approved by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and drawn by his staff is unconstitutional because it breaks up a district where Black voters can choose their representatives, a state judge said Wednesday. Leon County Circuit Judge Layne Smith said he would issue a formal...
U.S. identifies Native American boarding schools, burial sites
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A first-of-its-kind federal study of Native American boarding schools that for over a century sought to assimilate Indigenous children into white society has identified more than 400 such schools that were supported by the U.S. government and more than 50 associated burial sites, a figure that could...
German airline apologizes for excluding Jewish passengers
BERLIN — German airline Lufthansa has apologized for refusing to let any members of a large group of Orthodox Jewish passengers onto a flight after some of them had refused to wear masks. In a statement late Tuesday, Lufthansa said that it “regrets the circumstances surrounding the decision to exclude...
