Ukrainians plead for Mariupol rescue; Russian advance crawls
KHARKIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces fought village by village Saturday to hold back a Russian advance through the country’s east, while the United Nations worked to broker a civilian evacuation from the last Ukrainian stronghold in the bombed-out ruins of the port city of Mariupol. An estimated 100,000 civilians remain...
Biden roasts Trump, GOP, himself at correspondents’ dinner
WASHINGTON — The White House press corps’ annual gala returned Saturday night along with the roasting of Washington, the journalists who cover it and the man at the helm: President Joe Biden. The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, sidelined by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, featured Biden as the...
Runners, spectators return to city streets for 2022 Pittsburgh MarathonVideo
Marathon mania was unleashed in Pittsburgh this weekend. The full 26.2-mile race and 13.1-mile half-marathon kicked off about 7 a.m. Sunday under cloudy skies that turned to rainy, soggy conditions about an hour into the race. But that didn’t dampen the spirit of runners. Many said they were thrilled the...
Biden order to boost mining may not have quick payoff
WASHINGTON — President Biden is turning to a Cold War-era law to boost production of lithium and other minerals used to power electric vehicles, but experts say the move by itself is unlikely to ensure the robust domestic mining Biden seeks as he promotes cleaner energy sources. Biden’s action, part...
Democrats hone populist appeal with proposed stock trading ban
WASHINGTON — When Rep. Abigail Spanberger first introduced a bill banning stock trading by members of Congress and their families, the Virginia Democrat managed to get only eight co-sponsors. So far this session, 62 — or about one out of every seven House members — have signed on. It’s a...
Why independents can’t vote for candidates this May, and the push to change that
HARRISBURG — When Diana Dakey registered to vote in Pennsylvania, she chose to tick the box that would leave her without a political party. “I did not feel that I could label myself as a Republican or a Democrat,” said Dakey, an independent voter from Lackawanna County. “I can’t bring...
Russia will quit International Space Station over sanctions
The head of Russia’s space program said Moscow will pull out of the International Space Station, state media reported, a move it has blamed on sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine. “The decision has been taken already, we’re not obliged to talk about it publicly,” Tass and RIA Novosti...
Why independents can’t vote for candidates this May, and the push to change that
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 Diana Dakey registered to vote in Pennsylvania, she chose to tick the box that would leave her without...
Alabama prison official missing after escorting inmate
FLORENCE, Ala. — A prison official from Alabama is missing after escorting an inmate to a courthouse for a hearing. The Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post Saturday that Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White disappeared while escorting an inmate being held on capital murder charges. The...
Suspected tornado rips through Kansas, causes severe damage
WICHITA, Kan. — A suspected tornado that barreled through parts of Kansas damaged multiple buildings, injured several people and left more than 6,500 people without power, officials said Saturday. Officials said the suspected twister moved though parts of southeast Wichita and Andover on Friday evening. Andover Fire Chief Chad Russell...
GOP election-deniers elevate races for secretary of state
ATLANTA — Add one more group of contests to the white-hot races for Congress and governor that will dominate this year’s midterm elections: secretaries of state. Former President Donald Trump’s attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election and his subsequent endorsements of candidates for state election offices who...
Ukrainians plead for Mariupol rescue; Russian advance crawls
KHARKIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces fought village by village Saturday to hold back a Russian advance through the country’s east, while the United Nations worked to broker a civilian evacuation from the last defensive stronghold in the bombed-out ruins of the port city of Mariupol. An estimated 100,000 civilians remain...
Musk engages in Twitter spat after rebuttal from Ocasio-Cortez
WASHINGTON — Elon Musk engaged in a Twitter spat with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she rebuked billionaires and delivered an indirect rebuttal to the Tesla Inc. chief executive’s tweet saying that the Democratic Party “has been hijacked by extremists.” Musk, who has agreed to buy Twitter Inc. for $44 billion,...
Justice Dept. files challenge to Alabama transgender law
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday challenged an Alabama law making it a felony for doctors to treat transgender people under age 19 with puberty-blockers and hormones to help affirm their new gender identity. The Justice Department filed a motion seeking to intervene in an ongoing...
Russia makes last-minute bond payment to avoid default
NEW YORK — Russia staved off a default on its debt Friday by making a last-minute payment using its precious dollar reserves sitting outside the country, U.S. Treasury officials said. The amount of the payment was not disclosed, but earlier this month Russia’s finance ministry said it tried to make...
Prosecutor: L.A. funeral home director left remains to rot
LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles funeral home owner illegally left the remains of 11 people, including infants, in stages of decay and mummification and faces more than a decade in jail, prosecutors said Friday. City Attorney Mike Feuer, whose office can only file misdemeanor offenses, announced the charges Friday,...
Judge delays some New York primaries after court tosses maps
ALBANY, N.Y. — A New York judge ordered Friday that the state’s congressional and state Senate primaries be delayed until Aug. 23 to provide enough time to replace district maps that were ruled unconstitutional this week. State Judge Patrick McAllister moved the primaries back from their original date of June...
A complete guide to the May 17 primary
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. More than a few things have changed since Pennsylvanians last went to the polls. Your congressional and legislative districts might be...
Americans bring ‘souvenir’ artillery shell to Israel airport
A bomb scare set off scenes of panic at Israel’s airport after an American family showed up with an unexploded artillery shell they had found in the Golan Heights and intended to bring back as a souvenir. Videos circulating online showed passengers ducking for cover, running and screaming at the...
New York Times’ top editor may speak out more on journalism
The New York Times has a tradition of letting its work speak for itself, rather than publicly defending its journalism from criticism. Yet with democracy, truth, and the news business under attack, that’s a luxury The Times’ incoming executive editor, Joe Kahn, may not be able to afford. Kahn, a...
Former Pa. AG Kathleen Kane back in jail for alleged probation violation
A former Pennsylvania attorney general who served jail time for leaking grand jury material and lying about it was taken into custody Friday on an alleged probation violation, more than a month after she was charged with drunken driving, officials said. Kathleen Kane, 55, is behind bars at Montgomery County...
Ukraine cracks down on ‘traitors’ helping Russian troops
Viktor appeared nervous as masked Ukrainian security officers in full riot gear, camouflage and weapons pushed into his cluttered apartment in the northern city of Kharkiv. His hands trembled and he tried to cover his face. The middle-aged man came to the attention of Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, after...
1st case of human bird flu infection confirmed in Colorado
A Colorado prison inmate has tested positive for bird flu in the first recent confirmed case of a human infected with the disease that has resulted in the deaths of millions of chickens and turkeys, but federal officials say they still see little threat to the general public. The U.S....
102 marathons in 102 days: Amputee’s unofficial world record
As Forrest Gump in the Oscar-winning 1994 film of the same name, lead actor Tom Hanks abruptly trots to a halt after more than three years of nonstop running and tells his followers: “I’m pretty tired — I think I’ll go home now.” Jacky Hunt-Broersma can relate. On Thursday, the...
Tennis great Boris Becker gets 2 1/2 years in prison for bankruptcy offenses
Tennis great Boris Becker was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on Friday for illicitly transferring large amounts of money and hiding assets after he was declared bankrupt. The three-time Wimbledon champion was convicted earlier this month on four charges under the Insolvency Act and had faced a maximum...
