Maine’s blueberry crop faces climate change peril
Maine’s beloved wild blueberry fields are home to one of the most important fruit crops in New England, and scientists have found they are warming at a faster rate than the rest of the state. The warming of the blueberry fields could imperil the berries and the farmers who tend...
Cruise ships restart in Venice, bring environmental protests
VENICE, Italy — The first cruise ship since the pandemic wended its way Saturday through the heart of Venice, escorted by triumphant water-spouting tugboats and elated port workers as it traveled down the Giudecca Canal but also protested by hundreds on land and a small armada of wooden boats waving...
Turkey’s leader vows to cure Marmara of ‘sea snot’ flare-ups
Turkey’s president promised Saturday to rescue the Marmara Sea from an outbreak of “sea snot” that is alarming marine biologists and environmentalists. A huge mass of marine mucilage, a thick, slimy substance made up of compounds released by marine organisms, has bloomed in Turkey’s Marmara, as well as in the...
Judge overturns California’s 32-year ban on assault weapons
A federal judge has overturned California’s three-decade-old ban on assault weapons, calling it a “failed experiment” that violates people’s constitutional right to bear arms. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego ruled on Friday that the state’s definition of illegal military-style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly...
G-7 back steps to deter tax dodging by multinational firms
The Group of Seven wealthy democracies agreed Saturday to support a global minimum corporate tax of at least 15% to deter multinational companies from avoiding taxes by stashing profits in low-rate countries. G-7 finance ministers meeting in London also endorsed proposals to make the world’s biggest companies - including U.S.-based...
Justice Dept. says it’ll no longer seize reporters’ records
The Justice Department said Saturday that it no longer will secretly obtain reporters’ records during leak investigations, a policy shift that abandons a practice decried by news organizations and press freedom groups. The reversal follows a pledge last month by President Joe Biden, who had said it was “simply, simply...
FBI subpoenas info on readers of news story on slain agents
The FBI issued a subpoena demanding U.S. newspaper giant Gannett provide agents with information to track down readers of a USA Today story about a suspect in a child pornography case who fatally shot two FBI agents in February. The subpoena, served on the company in April, came to light...
Bill would force Pa. to post online how lawmakers spend millions in tax dollars each year
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded expenses incurred by state lawmakers each year would be required to be posted online...
Cincinnati Public Schools agrees to pay $3M in bullied child’s suicide
The parents of an 8-year-old boy who killed himself after being bullied repeatedly at an Ohio school have reached a tentative $3 million settlement with his school district. The agreement announced Friday will go to the school board for Cincinnati Public Schools on Monday for approval in the Gabriel Taye...
American Legion official in Ohio resigns over censored Memorial Day speech
The head of an American Legion post in Ohio stepped down Friday amid criticism following the decision of Memorial Day ceremony organizers to turn off a retired U.S. Army officer’s microphone while he was speaking about how freed Black slaves honored fallen soldiers just after the Civil War. American Legion...
Christian college near Philly ends program citing gender, sex guidelines
A small Christian university outside Philadelphia shuttered its highly regarded social work program partly because school officials say the accrediting agency was attempting to impose sexuality and gender values that don’t align with the university’s religious mission. According to those officials, the decision by the Cairn University Board of Trustees...
FDA approves obesity drug that helped people cut weight 15%
Regulators on Friday said a new version of a popular diabetes medicine could be sold as a weight-loss drug in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy, a higher-dose version of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug semaglutide. In company-funded studies, participants taking Wegovy had average weight loss of 15%,...
Fisher-Price recalls baby soothers after 4 infant deaths
Fisher-Price says it is recalling a model of its baby soothers after the deaths of four infants who were placed on their backs unrestrained in the devices and later found on their stomachs. In a joint statement with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Fisher-Price said Friday it is recalling its...
3,000 eggs abandoned after drone scares birds in California
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Some 3,000 elegant tern eggs were abandoned at a Southern California nesting island after a drone crashed and scared off the birds, a newspaper reported Friday. Two drones were flown illegally over the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach in May and one of them...
2 deputies fired at man killed in Minneapolis arrest attempt
Crowds vandalized buildings and stole from businesses in Minneapolis’ Uptown neighborhood after law enforcement officers on a U.S. Marshals Service task force fatally shot a man they were trying to arrest for illegally possessing a gun, authorities said Friday. Authorities did not immediately release the name of the man killed...
Senate GOP rejects Biden infrastructure plan, prep new offer
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Friday panned President Joe Biden’s latest infrastructure proposal and are expected to make a new offer as talks grind toward next week’s deadline for progress on a bipartisan deal. Speaking after the release of a modest May jobs report, Biden made the case for his...
Minnesota man charged in 1972 murder of 15-year-old Illinois girl: ‘This brutal crime haunted our community many, many, many years’
NAPERVILLE, Ill. — A former Naperville man has been charged with first-degree murder in the 1972 stabbing death of 15-year-old Julie Ann Hanson, linked to the case through DNA evidence and genealogy, Naperville police Chief Robert Marshall and Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said Friday. Barry Lee Whelpley, 76,...
Experts see strides on AIDS, but covid-19 halted progress
NEW YORK — Some researchers believe covid-19 has derailed the fight against HIV, siphoning away health workers and other resources and setting back a U.S. campaign to decimate the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Saturday marks the 40th anniversary of the first report that brought AIDS to the attention of the...
Belarus opposition slams dissident TV confessions as coerced
WARSAW, Poland — The Belarusian opposition said Friday a dissident journalist was coerced to appear in a video on state TV in which he wept and praised the country’s authoritarian ruler, a broadcast sharply criticized by Western officials. In the 90-minute video broadcast Thursday night, Raman Pratasevich repented for his...
Judge: U.S. can’t delay challenge to public land coal sales
BILLINGS, Mont. — A U.S. judge has rejected the Biden administration’s attempt to delay a lawsuit from several states and environmentalists who are seeking to end lease sales for coal mining on federal lands. The coal leasing program was temporarily shut down under President Barack Obama because of concerns about...
Facebook suspends Trump accounts for 2 years
Facebook said it is suspending former President Donald Trump’s accounts for two years following its finding that he stoked violence ahead of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. “At the end of this period, we will look to experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has receded. We will...
U.S. intel report on UFOs: No evidence of aliens, but …
WASHINGTON — Whatever or whoever they are, they’re still out there. U.S. intelligence is after them, but its upcoming report will not deliver the full and final truth about UFOs. The tantalizing prospect of top government intel finally weighing in — after decades of conspiracy theories, TV shows, movies and...
Bargain hunters pounce as Trump condo prices hit decade lows
NEW YORK — The building has stunning Manhattan skyline views, its spa offers deep-tissue massages, and the fancy restaurant off the lobby serves up prime steaks. Best of all, many apartments at the Trump World Tower are selling at a deep discount — assuming the buyer doesn’t mind the name...
After 2-year battle, House panel interviewing Trump counsel
WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee is questioning former White House counsel Don McGahn behind closed doors on Friday, two years after House Democrats originally sought his testimony as part of investigations into former President Donald Trump. The long-awaited interview is the result of an agreement reached last month in...
Students suspended after schoolyard clash over Pride flags
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A schoolyard clash over gay Pride flags got some students suspended and others expelled from their Florida middle school. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s office is investigating, and a congressman got involved. It happened last Friday at Seminole Middle School, where some students displayed Pride flags at...
