Ohio GOP lawmakers push sexual orientation discussion ban
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio educators would be banned from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, under newly introduced Republican legislation that mirrors a recently passed Florida law dubbed “Don’t say gay” by critics. The Ohio legislation also requires that teaching about sexual orientation or...
Student shot at Erie high school; person of interest fled
ERIE — One student was injured when multiple shots were fired Tuesday morning in a high school in northwestern Pennsylvania, and a person of interest in the shooting left the school after the gunfire, officials said. Erie’s Public Schools said the shooting happened inside the Erie High School building shortly...
In fiery speech, Zelenskyy implores U.N. Security Council to hold Russia to accountVideo
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an impassioned address to the United Nations Security Council, on Tuesday likened Russian atrocities in his homeland to Nazi war crimes, calling for Nuremberg-style tribunals to hold Moscow accountable. “They shot and killed women outside their houses — they killed entire families,...
300 killed by Mali’s army and foreigners, says rights group
DAKAR, Senegal — Mali’s army and foreign soldiers suspected to be Russian recently killed an estimated 300 men — some of them suspected Islamic extremist fighters but most civilians — in Moura in central Mali, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. It is the worst single atrocity reported in Mali’s 10-year...
European Union proposes Russian coal ban in new sanctions
BRUSSELS — The European Union’s executive branch proposed Tuesday a ban on coal imports from Russia in what would be the first EU sanctions targeting the country’s lucrative energy industry over its war in Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU needed to increase the pressure...
Obama, back at White House with Biden, celebrates his signature health care law’s anniversary
WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama will return to the White House Tuesday for the first time since leaving office to celebrate the 12th anniversary of his landmark health care law, which President Joe Biden is planning to bolster with two new actions. Biden will sign an executive order to...
Stacey Abrams reaches millionaire status before 2nd campaign
ATLANTA — When Democrat Stacey Abrams first ran for Georgia governor in 2018, her lackluster personal finances and a hefty bill from the IRS gave Republicans fodder to question how she could manage a state budget when she struggled with her own debts. As she launches a second bid this...
With divisive cases coming, Barrett says ‘Read the opinion’
LOS ANGELES — Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett said Monday that judges are not deciding cases to impose a “policy result,” but are making their best effort to determine what the law and the Constitution require. In a nation splintered by partisanship and wracked by incivility, Barrett in remarks...
Amazon’s first U.S. union overcomes hurdles, faces new ones
NEW YORK — When a scrappy group of former and current warehouse workers on Staten Island, New York went head-to-head with Amazon in a union election, many compared it to a David and Goliath battle. David won. And the stunning upset on Friday brought sudden exposure to the organizers and...
New Twitter biggie Musk may have thoughts on edit button
Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla CEO and power Twitter user who is now Twitter’s largest shareholder and newly appointed board member, may have thoughts on a long-standing request from users: Should there be an edit button? On Monday evening, Musk launched a Twitter poll about whether they want an edit...
Lawmakers fail to override key element of Gov. Wolf’s climate plan
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature failed Monday in a last-ditch effort to block the centerpiece of Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to fight climate change, a regulation requiring fossil fuel-fired power plants to pay a price for every ton of carbon dioxide they emit. A 32-17 vote in the state Senate...
Democratic, GOP Senate bargainers reach $10B covid agreement
WASHINGTON — Senate bargainers reached agreement Monday on a slimmed-down $10 billion package for countering covid-19 with treatments, vaccines and other steps, the top Democratic and Republican negotiators said, but ended up dropping all funding to help nations abroad combat the pandemic. The compromise drew quick support from President Joe...
Wild foal made an orphan after tourists took it from its mom, North Carolina national park says
A newborn wild horse on one of North Carolina’s barrier islands had to be permanently taken from its mother after well-meaning tourists ferried it off the Shackleford Banks, according to Cape Lookout National Seashore. The incident happened March 26, and the people involved have been cited for removing a wild...
Arrest made in connection with Sacramento mass shootingVideo
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento police announced an arrest Monday connected to the shooting that killed six people and wounded a dozen others in the heart of California’s capital as at least two shooters fired more than 100 rounds and people ran for their lives. Police said they booked Dandrae Martin,...
Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney back Ketanji Brown Jackson, all but assure confirmationVideo
WASHINGTON — Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney announced Monday night they will vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic elevation to the Supreme Court, giving President Joe Biden’s nominee a burst of bipartisan support and all but assuring she’ll become the first Black female justice. The senators...
Medicare enrollees to get free covid-19 tests at drug stores
WASHINGTON — Amid worries that the latest coronavirus variant could spark another rise in cases, Medicare announced Monday that millions of enrollees will finally have access to free over-the-counter covid-19 tests at drug stores. More than 59 million people with Medicare’s “Part B” outpatient coverage will be able to get...
Russia faces global outrage over bodies in Ukraine’s streets
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story contains images that might be disturbing to some readers. BUCHA, Ukraine — Moscow faced a new wave of revulsion and accusations of war crimes Monday after the Russian pullout from the outskirts of Kyiv revealed streets strewn with corpses of what appeared to be civilians, some...
Biden: Putin should face war crimes trial for Bucha killingsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday called for a war crimes trial against Russia President Vladimir Putin and said he’d seek more sanctions after reported atrocities in Ukraine. “You saw what happened in Bucha,” Biden said. He added that Putin “is a war criminal.” Biden’s comments to reporters came...
Senate panel moves toward vote on Jackson court nomination
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee took up debate on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination for Supreme Court justice on Monday as Democrats aimed to confirm her by the end of the week as the first Black woman on the court. The committee could deadlock on Monday’s vote, 11-11, meaning Democrats...
Wins for pro-Putin leaders buttress autocracies in Europe
BUDAPEST, Hungary — After two nationalist European strongmen won overwhelming victories in elections Sunday, one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate both was not from a neighboring country or a regional ally. It was Russian President Vladimir Putin. The parliamentary elections in Hungary and Serbia both brought landslide wins...
WHO says 99% of world’s population breathes poor-quality air
GENEVA — The U.N. health agency says nearly everybody in the world breathes air that doesn’t meet its standards for air quality, calling for more action to reduce fossil-fuel use, which generates pollutants that cause respiratory and blood-flow problems and lead to millions of preventable deaths each year. The World...
Russia faces global outrage over bodies in Ukraine’s streets
BUCHA, Ukraine — Moscow faced global revulsion and accusations of war crimes Monday after the Russian pullout from the outskirts of Kyiv revealed streets, buildings and yards strewn with corpses of what appeared to be civilians, many of them evidently killed at close range. The grisly images of battered or...
Lamb, Kenyatta face off — minus Fetterman — in debate of Democratic Senate hopefuls
Democratic Senate candidates from both ends of Pennsylvania accused the front-runner, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, of flip-flopping on energy issues in the first televised debate in one of the nation’s most-watched campaigns of the year. Fetterman, who is far ahead in the polls, didn’t participate in the debate. Representative Conor...
U.S. seizes yacht owned by oligarch with close ties to Putin
PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain — The U.S. government seized a mega yacht in Spain owned by an oligarch with close ties to the Russian president on Monday, the first in the government’s sanctions enforcement initiative to “seize and freeze” giant boats and other pricey assets of Russian elites. Spain’s Civil...
California police search for shooters who killed 6, hurt 12
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The usual crowds filled the streets as bars and nightclubs were closing in California’s capital city of Sacramento when the sound of rapid-fire gunshots sent people running in terror. In a matter of seconds, the latest U.S. mass shooting had left six people dead and 12 wounded....
