AP-NORC poll: Most say restrict abortion after 1st trimester
NEW YORK — A solid majority of Americans believe most abortions should be legal in the first three months of a woman’s pregnancy, but most say the procedure should usually be illegal in the second and third trimesters, according to a new poll. The poll comes just weeks after the...
N.J. residents flock outside as vaccine earns free state parks
ISLAND BEACH STATE PARK, N.J. — As New Jersey residents prepare to head outdoors for the Fourth of July, the state’s parks are already seeing an explosion in popularity, with more than 100,000 people signing up for annual park passes as part of New Jersey’s covid-19 vaccine incentive. Democratic Gov....
Russia launches Mediterranean drills amid rift with Britain
MOSCOW — The Russian military on Friday launched sweeping maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea featuring warplanes capable of carrying hypersonic missiles, a show of force amid a surge in tensions following an incident with a British destroyer in the Black Sea. Moscow said one of its warships fired warning shots...
Police break up exorcism at Eastern Pa. Home Depot
Police in Lackawanna County broke up an exorcism in the lumber aisle of a home-improvement store Monday. Details are scarce on just what was going on inside the Home Depot on Commerce Drive in Dickson City Monday afternoon, but police were called around 3:26 p.m. to escort several people out...
Derek Chauvin gets 22 1/2 years in prison for George Floyd’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced Friday to 22 1/2 years in prison for the murder of George Floyd, whose dying gasps under Chauvin’s knee led to the biggest outcry against racial injustice in the U.S. in generations. The punishment — which came after Chauvin broke...
Death toll in South Florida condo collapse rises to 4; 159 still missing
SURFSIDE, Fla. — About 160 people were still unaccounted for Friday a day after an oceanside condominium building collapsed into a pile of rubble, and searchers combing through a twisted, shifting pile of concrete and metal feared the death toll of at least four could go much higher. With scores...
Mike Pence: Idea of overturning election results is ‘un-American’
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Former Vice President Mike Pence has defended his role in certifying the results of the 2020 election, saying he’s “proud” of what he did on Jan. 6 and declaring there’s “almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American...
On border tour, VP Kamala Harris cites ‘progress’ in ‘tough’ situation
EL PASO, Texas — Vice President Kamala Harris asserted Friday that the Biden administration had made progress tackling a migration spike that’s drawn fire from Republicans and made fellow Democrats uncomfortable. Her first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border as head of the Biden administration’s response is being closely watched on...
Judge appears skeptical over effort to dismiss Dominion lawsuit
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Thursday appeared skeptical of arguments to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems over baseless 2020 election claims made by Trump allies Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and the MyPillow Guy. The voting system company sued the trio for $1.3 billion each after...
Stalemate breaks on mixed drinks to go for Pennsylvania bars, restaurants
It looks as if Pennsylvania’s bars and restaurants are inching closer to regaining the authority to sell take-out margaritas, screwdrivers, fuzzy navels or any other of a number of mixed drinks. The state House voted 170-31 on Thursday to pass a stripped-down version of a bill that dropped broader liquor...
Report: More than 600 bodies found at Indigenous school in CanadaVideo
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Leaders of Indigenous groups in Canada said Thursday investigators have found more than 600 unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school for Indigenous children — a discovery that follows last month’s report of 215 bodies found at another school. The bodies were discovered...
Affidavit: FBI feared Pennsylvania would seize fabled gold
An FBI agent applied for a federal warrant in 2018 to seize a fabled cache of U.S. government gold he said was “stolen during the Civil War” and hidden in a Pennsylvania cave, saying the state might take the gold for itself if the feds asked for permission, according to...
Lawmakers OK letting Pa. students repeat year because of covid
HARRISBURG — Lawmakers made a final vote Thursday to approve a bill to let parents decide whether to have their children repeat a year of school, a measure designed to help children catch up after a year of schooling disrupted by the pandemic. The Senate voted 50-0 for the proposal,...
Pacific Northwest braces for record-breaking heat waveVideo
SPOKANE, Wash. — Record-high heat is forecast in the normally mild-weathered Pacific Northwest this weekend, raising concerns about wildfires and the health of people in a region where many people don’t have air conditioning. City officials in Seattle were opening libraries as cooling centers and crews were being sent to...
Explainer: What exactly is critical race theory?
RALEIGH, N.C. — Former President Donald Trump has railed against it. Republicans in the U.S. Senate introduced a resolution condemning any requirement for teachers to be trained in it. And several Republican-controlled states have invoked it in legislation restricting how race can be taught in public schools. The concept known...
‘We have deal’: Biden, bipartisan senators on infrastructure
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that “we have a deal,” signaling a bipartisan agreement on a $953 billion infrastructure plan that would achieve his top legislative priority and validate his efforts to reach across the political aisle. Biden made a surprise appearance in front of the cameras...
Biden administration extends eviction moratorium for a month
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has extended the nationwide ban on evictions for a month to help tenants who are unable to make rent payments during the coronavirus pandemic, but it said this is expected to be the last time it does so. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers...
U.S. plans to evacuate thousands of Afghans who helped U.S.
The Biden administration plans to evacuate tens of thousands of Afghan interpreters and others who worked with U.S. forces during the war while their applications for U.S. entry are processed, according to officials familiar with the matter. A senior administration official said planning has accelerated in recent days to relocate...
Boom in Native American oil complicates Biden climate push
NEW TOWN, N.D. — On oil well pads carved from the wheat fields around Lake Sakakawea, hundreds of pump jacks slowly bob to extract 100 million barrels of crude annually from a reservation shared by three Native American tribes. About half their 16,000 members live on the Fort Berthold Indian...
120,000-year-old fossils in Israel link to human family tree
WASHINGTON — Bones found in an Israeli quarry are from a branch of the human evolutionary tree and are 120,000 to 140,000 years old, scientists reported Thursday. A team of anthropologists spent years analyzing the fragments of a skull, lower jaw bone and tooth that were uncovered in Nesher Ramla...
Nearly all covid deaths in U.S. are now among unvaccinated
Nearly all covid-19 deaths in the U.S. now are in people who weren’t vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been and an indication that deaths per day — now down to under 300 — could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine. An Associated...
Pelosi creates panel to ‘seek the truth’ on Capitol attack
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made it official Thursday that she is creating a special committee to investigate the attack on the Capitol, saying it is “imperative that we seek the truth.” The new committee comes after Republican senators blocked legislation that would have set up a bipartisan commission...
New York court suspends Rudy Giuliani’s law license
NEW YORK — An appeals court suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law in New York Thursday because he made false statements while trying to get courts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the presidential race. An attorney disciplinary committee had asked the court to suspend Giuliani’s license on the grounds...
Soccer game kept woman away from Miami condo wing that collapsed
SURFSIDE, Fla. — A soccer game may have saved Patricia Avilez’s life. Avilez’s brother-in-law lives in a condo located in the wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building that collapsed in a town outside Miami early Thursday, killing at least one person. When the brother-in-law isn’t there, Avilez routinely stops...
‘A gaping hole of rubble:’ Thankful Miami condo collapse survivor recounts rescue
SURFSIDE, Fla. — Barry Cohen and his wife were sound asleep in their beachside condominium outside Miami when he heard what he thought was a crack of thunder early Thursday. They got up, opened the door leading to their hallway and faced a pile of rubble and billowing smoke. “I...
