California governor rejects parole for Sirhan Sirhan, convicted assassin of Robert F. Kennedy
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday refused to parole the man convicted of gunning down Robert F. Kennedy in Los Angeles, a brazen assassination of a presidential candidate that scarred the nation and altered the course of American politics during the turbulent 1960s. A two-person state parole panel recommended in...
Twitter, Meta among tech giants subpoenaed by Jan. 6 panel
WASHINGTON — Months after requesting documents from more than a dozen social platforms, the House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection has issued subpoenas targeting Twitter, Meta, Reddit and YouTube after lawmakers said the companies’ initial responses were inadequate. The committee chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, demanded records Thursday from the companies...
RNC threatens to boycott commission’s presidential debatesVideo
WASHINGTON — The Republican National Committee said Thursday it is planning a rules change that would force presidential candidates seeking the party’s nomination to sign a pledge saying they will not participate in any debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. If ultimately enacted and enforced, the move would...
U.S. vows ‘decisive’ response if Russia pursues threatened deployments to Cuba, Venezuela
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration responded Thursday to threats from Russian officials that Moscow could begin military deployments in Cuba and Venezuela if tensions continue to rise with the United States, vowing a “decisive” response if it sees any evidence that the threat is real. Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei...
Philadelphia-area hospitals are overwhelmed, but not only by covid-19 patients
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia-area hospitals are jammed with patients, but not always because they are truly sick enough to be there. Staff shortages at nursing homes and home care companies, difficulty finding dialysis slots for covid-19 patients, and even a lack of space in city homeless shelters are forcing hospitals to...
Supreme Court blocks vaccine-or-test rule for U.S. businesses
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses be vaccinated against covid-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job. At the same time, the court is allowing the administration to proceed with a vaccine mandate...
Oath Keepers head charged with Jan. 6 seditious conspiracyVideo
WASHINGTON — Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group, and 10 other members or associates have been charged with seditious conspiracy in the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, authorities said Thursday. Despite hundreds of charges already brought in the year since pro-Trump rioters...
Biden all but concedes defeat on voting, election billsVideo
WASHINGTON — All but acknowledging defeat, President Joe Biden said Thursday he’s “not sure” his elections and voting rights legislation can pass Congress this year. He spoke at the Capitol after a key fellow Democrat, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, dramatically announced her refusal to go along with changing Senate...
Iraqi officials: 4 rockets target U.S. Embassy in Baghdad
BAGHDAD — At least four rockets targeted the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone on Thursday, two Iraqi security officials said. The area is home to diplomatic missions and the seat of Iraq’s government, Three of the missiles struck within the perimeter of the American Embassy, the officials...
Biden to double free covid tests, add N95s, to fight omicron
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the government will double to 1 billion the rapid, at-home covid-19 tests to be distributed free to Americans, along with the most protective N95 masks, as he highlighted his efforts to “surge” resources to help the country weather the spike in coronavirus...
Iowa man arrested after hundreds of pigs die from neglect
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — An Iowa man has been arrested after hundreds of pigs died at his farm last month when they went without adequate food and were kept in conditions so cold that some of their ears froze off. Black Hawk County sheriff’s deputies arrested the 38-year-old man Monday...
Polish church says it’s wrong to ask if abuse victim is gay
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s Catholic bishops have strongly criticized a local diocese for asking a court to determine whether a man who was sexually abused as a child by a priest is gay, and whether the sexual contact may have consequently been pleasurable for him. The victim, Janusz Szymik, who...
Train derails in India’s West Bengal state; at least 5 dead
NEW DELHI — At least five people died and more than 45 were injured when a train derailed Thursday in India’s West Bengal state, officials said. Twelve coaches of the train went off the rails and three capsized. Images from the scene showed passengers stuck in twisted metal and debris...
GOP leader McCarthy says he won’t cooperate with 1/6 panel
WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is refusing a request by the House panel investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection to submit to an interview and turn over records pertaining to the deadly riot. The panel is seeking first-hand details from members of Congress on then-President Donald Trump’s actions on...
‘Don’t panic.’ How parents with kids too young to vaccinate can navigate omicron
As waves of the coronavirus battered the United States, parents of young kids could comfort themselves with the knowledge that covid-19 tends to have milder effects in children and that most — but not all — kids who get infected are fine. But even though it’s low-risk, many parents don’t...
Reports: Rep. Matt Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend testifying before grand jury in FloridaVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — An ex-girlfriend of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz appeared Wednesday at the federal courthouse in downtown Orlando, reportedly in order to testify before a grand jury that is weighing potential sex trafficking charges against him. Reports by CNN and NBC News indicated the grand jury has been meeting...
Ohio Justices toss GOP Statehouse maps, order fix in 10 days
COLUMBUS — The Ohio Supreme Court declared newly drawn legislative maps invalid on Wednesday and ordered the GOP-created boundaries to be fixed within 10 days. The court’s rejection of maps that would have retained Republican supermajorities in both chambers is a victory for Democratic and voting rights groups who had...
Jan. 6 panel requests interview from GOP leader Kevin McCarthyVideo
WASHINGTON — The House panel investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection requested an interview and records from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday, as it continues to seek first-hand details from members of Congress on former President Donald Trump’s actions on the day hundreds of his supporters brutally beat police,...
South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds pushes GOP to get ‘louder’ on false Trump claimsVideo
PIERRE, S.D. — U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota has been telling people for the last year that the 2020 election was fair, but this week he did something few other Republicans have dared — tell a national audience that. Now he wishes more Republicans would join him. Rounds,...
Food Podcast: Heat or eat? The impossible choice families are making in the Three Rivers regionVideo
In this episode of the Food Podcast presented by Clearview Federal Credit Union on the TribLIVE Podcast Network, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank addresses the impact cold weather is having on food insecurity. While the Food Bank hasn’t seen a large uptick in people needing food assistance, the Food Bank’s...
Pa. House approves proposed congressional map as court challenges loom
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House has advanced a new congressional map that...
Soaring covid-19 cases renew U.S. debate over mask mandates
Officials across the U.S. are again weighing how and whether to impose mask mandates as covid-19 infections soar and the American public grows ever wearier of pandemic-related restrictions. Much of the debate centers around the nation’s schools, some of which have closed due to infection-related staffing issues. In a variety...
Army ups bonuses for recruits to $50K, as covid takes toll
The U.S. Army, for the first time, is offering a maximum enlistment bonus of $50,000 to highly skilled recruits who join for six years, The Associated Press has learned, as the service struggles to lure soldiers into certain critical jobs amid the continuing pandemic. Maj. Gen. Kevin Vereen, head of...
Omicron wave prompts media to rethink which data to report
NEW YORK — For two years, coronavirus case counts and hospitalizations have been widely used barometers of the pandemic’s march across the world. But the omicron wave is making a mess of the usual statistics, forcing news organizations to rethink the way they report such figures. “It’s just a data...
Germany: 65 children freed from abusers as part of probe
BERLIN — Authorities in Germany say they have rescued 65 children from their abusers over the past two years as part of an investigating into a large-scale sexual abuse network. Police in Cologne said at a news conference Wednesday that the victims ranged from three months to 17 years. Investigators...
