Report: Justice Thomas’ wife ‘Ginni’ urged overturning 2020 electionVideo
WASHINGTON — Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, sent weeks of text messages imploring White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to act to overturn the 2020 presidential election — furthering then-President Donald Trump’s lies that the free and fair vote was marred by nonexistent fraud, according...
Business coalition poll says Pennsylvanians support maintaining natural gas as energy source
Energy policy has become a big issue in this year’s political races, as gas prices have risen significantly and questions have arisen about how America produces oil and gas. Pennsylvania is the second-largest producer of natural gas in the country, and a new poll from the business coalition Pittsburgh Works...
Trump sues Hillary Clinton, DNC over ‘Russia hoax’
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Former President Donald Trump is taking Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee to court over what he has called “the Russia hoax,” allegations that his successful 2016 campaign for the presidency was aided by collusion with Russia. In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Florida, Trump...
Arizona GOP votes to restrict transgender sports, surgeries
PHOENIX — The Arizona Legislature passed bills Thursday to prohibit gender reassignment surgery for minors and ban transgender athletes from playing on girls sports teams, joining a growing list of Republican-controlled states attempting to restrict transgender rights as they gain more visibility in culture and society. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey...
What makes a political map fair? Here’s what we learned during Pa.’s recent redistricting cycle
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 — What makes a political map fair? It’s a question the...
Biden promises new Ukraine aid, warns Russia on chemical weapons
BRUSSELS — President Joe Biden and Western allies pledged new sanctions and humanitarian aid on Thursday in response to Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine, but their offers fell short of the more robust military assistance that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded for in a pair of live-video appearances. Biden also announced...
Herschel Walker, Dr. Oz removed from Biden’s sports councilVideo
HARRISBURG — The White House has removed Dr. Mehmet Oz — best known as daytime TV’s host of “The Dr. Oz Show” — and former football star Herschel Walker from the President’s Council on Sports, Nutrition and Fitness as both men run for U.S. Senate. Oz and Walker — both...
Motorists flock to Chicago area gas stations for free fuel
CHICAGO — Long lines of cars stretched for blocks near Chicago-area gas stations Thursday, signaling that a businessman who has made repeated runs for local and national office was footing the bill for motorists to top off their tanks for a second time. Willie Wilson was giving gas away to...
Ukraine says Moscow is forcibly taking civilians to Russia
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine accused Moscow on Friday of forcibly taking thousands of civilians from the shattered port city of Mariupol to Russia so that they can be used as “hostages” to pressure Kyiv to give up. A month into the invasion, meanwhile, the two sides traded heavy blows in...
Texas loses high court case over prayer during executions
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with a Texas death row inmate seeking to have his pastor be allowed to pray out loud and touch him during his execution. The high court’s decision won’t keep John Henry Ramirez from being executed. But the justices in an 8-1 decision...
New rules aim to decide U.S. asylum cases in months, not years
The Biden administration on Thursday unveiled new procedures to handle asylum claims at the U.S. southern border, hoping to decide cases in months instead of years. The rules empower asylum officers to grant or deny claims, an authority that has been limited to immigration judges for people arriving at the...
NATO helps Ukraine prepare for chemical attack
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military alliance is stepping up its defenses against chemical and nuclear weapons as concern mounts that Russia might use such weapons in Ukraine. Stoltenberg says that NATO leaders agreed at their summit Thursday to send equipment to Ukraine to help protect it against a...
Ketanji Brown Jackson on track for confirmation, but GOP votes in doubt
WASHINGTON — After more than 30 hours of hearings, the Senate is on track to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. But Democrats seem unlikely to confirm her with a robust bipartisan vote, dashing President Joe Biden’s hopes for a grand reset after...
U.S. to welcome up to 100,000 from Ukraine
WASHINGTON — A U.S. official says the United States will welcome up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine as 3.5 million flee Russia’s invasion. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement later Thursday. The White House has been saying for weeks that the U.S. would accept...
Americans applying for jobless aid is lowest since 1969
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to its lowest level in 52 years as the U.S. job market continues to show strength in the midst of rising costs and ongoing virus pandemic. Jobless claims fell by 28,000 to 187,000 for the week ending...
U.S. states seek to ease inflation burden with direct payments
PORTLAND, Maine — With inflation raging and state coffers flush with cash, governors and lawmakers across the U.S. are considering a relatively simple solution to help ease the pain people are feeling at the gas pump and grocery store — sending money. At least a dozen states have proposed giving...
Rich countries getting new covid vaccine before poorer ones
NEW DELHI — The company behind a covid-19 vaccine touted as a key tool for the developing world has sent tens of millions of doses to wealthy nations but provided none yet to the U.N.-backed effort to supply poorer countries, a sign that inequity persists in the global response to...
North Korea says it test-fired biggest ICBM, U.S. adds sanctionsVideo
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Friday it test-fired its biggest-yet intercontinental ballistic missile under the orders of leader Kim Jong Un, who vowed to expand the North’s “nuclear war deterrent” while preparing for a “long-standing confrontation” with the United States. The report by North Korean state media came...
Americans want Biden to be tougher on Russia: AP-NORC poll
WASHINGTON — As President Joe Biden meets with key allies in Brussels to coordinate a stronger response to Russia’s monthlong assault on Ukraine, a new poll shows Americans have yet to rally around his leadership. Concern about Russia has swelled and support for a major U.S. role in the conflict...
Ukrainian president to press Biden, NATO for more support
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy called on people worldwide to gather in public Thursday to show support for his embattled country as U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders met for talks focused on pressuring Russia to end the invasion that is entering its second month. “Come...
Biden seeks new sanctions, help for Ukrainians in EuropeVideo
BRUSSELS — As war rages on in Ukraine, President Joe Biden will huddle with key allies in Brussels and Warsaw this week to talk through plans for imposing punishing new sanctions on Russia and dealing with an extraordinary humanitarian crisis, while developing a consensus on how they would respond if...
Suit filed over threat to ban Native Americans from South Dakota hotel
RAPID CITY, S.D. — Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Wednesday outside a federal courthouse in a South Dakota city to cheer the filing of a federal lawsuit over a hotel owner’s pledge to ban Native Americans from the property. The protesters held a rally and prayer meeting in a Rapid City...
Ex-prosecutor: Trump ‘guilty of numerous felony violations’
NEW YORK — A prosecutor who had been leading a criminal investigation into Donald Trump before quitting last month said in his resignation letter that he believes the former president is “guilty of numerous felony violations” and he disagreed with the Manhattan district attorney’s decision not to seek an indictment....
Deer are leaping to their deaths in northwest Pennsylvania
It’s raining deer in a small northwestern Pennsylvania town, and residents say that’s disgusting and dangerous. Approximately 25 whitetail deer have leaped to their deaths from the U.S. 219 bypass that runs through the town of Johnsonburg, Elk County, in recent years, according to a recent report by WJAC-TV of...
Bail denied for Montgomery County woman in crash that killed Pa. state troopers, man
PHILADELPHIA — A judge has denied bail to a woman charged with third-degree murder in an early morning crash on a Philadelphia interstate that claimed the lives of two Pennsylvania troopers and a civilian. Jayana Tanae Webb, 21, of Eagleville was ordered held pending an April 5 hearing on charges...
