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...
Judge: Trump must pay $110K, meet conditions to end contempt
NEW YORK — A New York judge said Wednesday he will lift Donald Trump’s contempt of court order if the former president meets conditions including paying $110,000 in fines he’s racked up for being slow to respond to a civil subpoena issued by the state’s attorney general. Judge Arthur Engoron...
Airbnb overhauls site searches with categories of rentals
SAN FRANCISCO — Airbnb said Wednesday it is overhauling the way that consumers search for rental listings, adding dozens of categories including “chef’s kitchens” and “historical homes” to its current listings, which are mostly searched by location. The company will also let people book split stays between homes and it...
Airbnb overhauls site searches with categories of rentals
SAN FRANCISCO — Airbnb said Wednesday it is overhauling the way that consumers search for rental listings, adding dozens of categories including “chef’s kitchens” and “historical homes” to its current listings, which are mostly searched by location. The company will also let people book split stays between homes and it...
Prisoner put to death in Arizona’s 1st execution since 2014
FLORENCE, Ariz. — An Arizona man convicted of killing a college student in 1978 was put to death Wednesday after a nearly eight-year hiatus in the state’s use of the death penalty brought on by an execution that critics say was botched — and the difficulty state officials faced in...
UN says $144 million needed to avert Yemen tanker disaster
The United Nations was seeking $144 million on Wednesday needed to fund the salvage operation of a decaying tanker full of oil moored off the coast of Yemen, a ship whose demise could cause an environmental disaster. The amount includes $80 million to transfer the more than 1 million barrels...
Elon Musk, an erratic visionary, revels in contradiction
As the uproar over Elon Musk’s $44 billion buyout of Twitter reaches a crescendo, another Musk drama, still chaotic four years after it began, has been back in court. Ironically, that spectacle started with a Musk tweet about doing an audacious deal. Then, with Wall Street awaiting his next move,...
U.S. overdose deaths hit record 107,000 last year, CDC says
NEW YORK — More than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, setting another tragic record in the nation’s escalating overdose epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Wednesday. The provisional 2021 total translates to roughly one U.S. overdose death every 5 minutes. It marked a 15%...
Al Jazeera reporter killed during Israeli raid in West Bank
JERUSALEM — Veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin early Wednesday. The broadcaster and a reporter who was wounded in the incident blamed Israeli forces. The Israel army initially raised the possibility...
Florida students win yearbook flap over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
SANFORD, Fla. — After an outcry from students and parents over yearbook censorship, a Florida school board overruled their superintendent’s plan to cover up a page showing students waving rainbow flags and a “love is love” sign during a walkout against the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. The superintendent...
Britain pledges to defend Sweden if it’s attacked
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Britain pledged to defend Sweden if the country came under attack, with Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Magdalena Andersson signing a security assurance deal outside Stockholm on Wednesday. Sweden and Finland are pondering whether to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Johnson is...
U.S. inflation slows in April, strain on households remains
WASHINGTON — Inflation slowed in April after seven months of relentless gains, a tentative sign that price increases may be peaking while still imposing a financial strain on American households. Consumer prices jumped 8.3% last month from 12 months earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That was below the 8.5%...
