Ukraine crisis talks move to Moscow and Washington
MOSCOW — International efforts to defuse the standoff over Ukraine intensified Monday, with French President Emmanuel Macron holding talks in Moscow and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington to coordinate policies as fears of a Russian invasion mounted. The buildup of an estimated 100,000 Russian troops near Ukraine has fueled...
Bicyclist falls to her death from rising Florida drawbridge
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A bicyclist fell to her death when a drawbridge connecting Palm Beach to the Florida mainland began rising before she could reach the other side. A bystander tried to pull her to safety but lost his grip, officials said. The woman was walking her bicycle...
Cyclone kills 20 in Madagascar but quickly weakens on land
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Cyclone Batsirai is blamed for the deaths of 20 people in Madagascar and for making more than 55,000 people homeless victims after slamming into the island’s eastern coast, officials said Monday. The tropical storm weakened quickly as it moved southwest across the island, missing the capital Antananarivo...
Iraqi lawmakers fail to elect new president amid boycott
BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmakers failed to elect a new head of state Monday, as key factions foiled the attempt by boycotting the parliament session. A two-thirds quorum of the legislature’s 329 members is required for an electoral session. Monday’s vote could not be held as lawmakers, many of them allied...
Taylor Greene faces GOP challengers in changing Ga. district
HIRAM, Ga. — In her pitch to voters, Jennifer Strahan introduces herself as a mother, a Christian and a conservative. She usually skips over the fellow Republican she hopes to topple later this spring: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. That’s because virtually everyone in this northwest Georgia congressional district already has...
White House: Top scientist resigns over treatment of staff
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s top science adviser Dr. Eric Lander resigned Monday, hours after the White House confirmed that an internal investigation found credible evidence that he mistreated his staff. An internal review last year, prompted by a workplace complaint, found evidence that Lander, the director of the Office...
Accused Pa. bootleggers with ‘legendary’ moonshine recipe busted by state police
A couple’s alleged 30-year bootlegging business in Centre County has been busted by Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement officers after a year-long undercover investigation. As WJAC-TV in Johnstown reports, the couple, identified as Glenn and Barbara McCleester of Port Matilda, allegedly told undercover liquor control enforcement investigators...
Biden task force releasing report to strengthen labor unions
A Biden administration task force on organized labor is issuing a set of recommendations that could make it easier for federal workers and contractors to unionize. The report submitted to President Joe Biden included 70 distinct policy proposals, according to a release by the White House. Biden created the task...
Frontier bids $2.9 billion for rival budget airline Spirit
Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines are proposing to combine in a $2.9 billion deal that would create a larger discount airline to compete against the nation’s dominant carriers and, they say, promote lower fares. Both are ultra-low-cost carriers that tempt travelers with rock-bottom prices for no-frills service but often generate...
Pa. bans sales of Ravenna grass and 2 species of buckthorn trees
While spring gardening might not be foremost on residents’ minds during a snowstorm, the state announced Friday it will ban plant sales of certain pampas grasses and two varieties of buckthorn. The state Department of Agriculture added three species to the state list of noxious weeds, which are non-native invasive...
Shirley Cuban, mother of Mavericks owner and Mt. Lebanon native Mark Cuban, dies
DALLAS — Shirley Cuban, the mother of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, has died, her son Brian Cuban said. She was 84. Cuban died Friday in the suburban Pittsburgh home where she and her husband, Norton, raised sons Mark, Brian and Jeff, The Dallas Morning News reported. Brian Cuban said...
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s campaign criticized for Twitter spat with teenager
RICHMOND — Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s campaign sparked controversy for lashing out at a high school student on Twitter, revealing the 17-year-old’s name and photo after they shared a news story about part of the governor’s mansion where slaves once lived. The student, Ethan Lynne, retweeted a Richmond public...
Navy identifies SEAL trainee who died after ‘Hell Week’
SAN DIEGO — A Navy SEAL candidate who died just hours after completing the grueling Hell Week test was identified Sunday as a 24-year-old sailor who joined the military last year. Seaman Kyle Mullen died at a San Diego area hospital on Friday after he and another SEAL trainee reported...
Crossing lines, Joe Manchin endorses Lisa Murkowski’s Senate campaignVideo
WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday endorsed Republican colleague Lisa Murkowski for reelection, crossing party lines to back the incumbent from Alaska who faces a primary challenger supported by former President Donald Trump. The conservative West Virginia lawmaker said he has teamed well with Murkowski in the 50-50...
18 rescued after being stranded on ice floe in Lake Erie
PORT CLINTON, Ohio — Coast Guard authorities say 18 people were rescued from an ice floe that broke away in Lake Erie over the weekend. Officials said a helicopter from Air Station Detroit noticed a group of people on the floe near Ohio’s Catawba Island at about 1 p.m. Sunday...
Top Biden aide says Ukraine invasion could come ‘any day’
WILMINGTON, Del. — White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that Russia could invade Ukraine “any day,” launching a conflict that would come at an “enormous human cost.” The senior adviser to President Joe Biden offered another stark warning the day after U.S. officials confirmed that Russia has...
Ottawa declares state of emergency over covid-19 protestsVideo
TORONTO — The mayor of Canada’s capital declared a state of emergency Sunday and a former U.S. ambassador to Canada said groups in the United States must stop interfering in the domestic affairs of America’s neighbor as protesters opposed to covid-19 restrictions continued to paralyze Ottawa’s downtown. Mayor Jim Watson...
What to watch for in Gov. Wolf’s budget proposal
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf will pitch his eighth and last budget proposal to lawmakers Tuesday, as the Democrat pushes Republicans to spend more federal pandemic relief aid now and Wolf looks to cement his public school legacy by securing a big boost in state aid. The state’s bank accounts...
AP investigation: Women’s prison fostered culture of abuse
WASHINGTON — Inside one of the only federal women’s prisons in the United States, inmates say they have been subjected to rampant sexual abuse by correctional officers and even the warden, and were often threatened or punished when they tried to speak up. Prisoners and workers at the federal correctional...
Black worker at Confederate site raises race complaint
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama welcomes visitors at the “First White House of the Confederacy,” a historic home next to the state Capitol where Confederate President Jefferson Davis lived with his family in the early months of the Civil War. The museum managed by the state’s Department of Finance says it...
Off-duty NYPD officer shot in Manhattan; 7th shot this year
NEW YORK — An off-duty New York City police officer was shot in the left foot Saturday as he was leaving a vigil at a Manhattan community center, police said. It was the seventh time an NYPD officer has been shot this year. The shooting happened around 4:30 p.m. near...
Officials: Russia at 70% of Ukraine military buildup
WASHINGTON — Russia has assembled at least 70 percent of the military firepower it likely intends to have in place by mid-month to give President Vladimir Putin the option of launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials say. The officials, who discussed internal assessments of the Russian buildup on...
Morocco’s king says boy, 5, trapped in deep well has died
IGHRAN, Morocco — A 5-year-old boy who was trapped for four days in a deep well in Morocco has died, the royal palace said Saturday. Moroccan King Mohammed VI expressed his condolences to the boy’s parents in a statement released by the palace. The boy, Rayan, was pulled out Saturday...
Waffle House shooter receives life in prison without parole
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A man who shot and killed four people at a Nashville Waffle House in 2018 received a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on Saturday. Jurors handed down the penalty for 33-year-old Travis Reinking after hearing about two hours of testimony from family members...
Amir Locke, killed by Minneapolis cop, wanted music career
Before he was fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer, Amir Locke had been making plans. The 22-year-old Black man had filed paperwork to start a music business, his mother said, and had already designed a logo. Next week, he planned to move to Dallas, where he would be closer...
