Louisiana Senate agrees to ban discrimination on hairstyles
BATON ROUGE, La. — The Louisiana Senate unanimously voted to make it illegal for employers to discriminate against someone because of their hairstyle, a measure striking at tactics that have targeted Black people who wear their hair naturally. Senate Bill 61, by Sen. Troy Carter, a New Orleans Democrat recently...
EU regulators start review of China’s Sinovac vaccine
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The European Union’s drug regulator announced Tuesday that it has started a rolling review of China’s Sinovac coronavirus vaccine to assess its effectiveness and safety, a first step toward possible approval for use in the 27-nation bloc. The European Medicines Agency said Tuesday that its decision...
Mexico City metro overpass collapses onto road; 23 dead
MEXICO CITY — An elevated section of the Mexico City metro collapsed and sent a subway car plunging toward a busy boulevard late Monday, killing at least 23 people and injuring about 70, city officials said. Rescuers searched a car left dangling from the overpass for hours for anyone who...
FBI: Officers shoot armed man outside CIA headquarters
A man was shot Monday outside CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., after he “emerged from his vehicle with a weapon,” according to an FBI statement. The man attempted to drive into the campus without any access and was stopped by armed guards who operate the gates, according to reports. The...
Trial against opioid distributors begins in West VirginiaVideo
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A trial began Monday in a lawsuit filed in West Virginia accusing three drug distributors of fueling a local opioid epidemic with excessively large shipments of painkillers over several years. The city of Huntington and Cabell County filed the lawsuit against drug distributors AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal...
Ex-consumer watchdog Richard Cordray tapped to manage federal student aid
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A former federal consumer watchdog and Democratic nominee for Ohio governor has landed his next job. The Department of Education announced Monday that Richard Cordray has been selected as its chief operating officer of federal student aid. Cordray, 62, previously served as Ohio treasurer and attorney general...
Liz Cheney re-ignites fight with Trump over false election claimsVideo
WASHINGTON — Representative Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, accused Donald Trump of “poisoning” U.S. democracy with his false election claims, escalating the GOP’s internal conflict over the former president’s role in the party. She tweeted a response on Monday to a statement from Trump saying that...
FDA expected to OK Pfizer vaccine for teens within week
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine for young adults age 12 and older by next week, according to a federal official and a person familiar with the process, setting up shots for many before the beginning of the next school year....
Mitch McConnell says GOP open to $600 billion for infrastructureVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Monday that Republicans are willing to spend up to $600 billion on infrastructure, far less than President Joe Biden is seeking, even as he ruled out supporting a higher corporate tax rate to pay for it. Instead McConnell is endorsing...
Witness rescues girl from Maryland bay after 5-car crash on bridge
OCEAN CITY, Md. — A witness to a five-vehicle crash on a Maryland bridge jumped into a bay and rescued a 2-year-old girl who had been ejected into the water while still in her car seat, according to authorities. The girl was thrown from a pickup truck on the Route...
Ohio proposal would ban drivers from holding phones, devices
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Holding a cell phone or other electronic device while driving in Ohio would be illegal under legislation introduced Monday that takes aim at distracted driving by targeting not just texting but scrolling through social media and other hands-on phone uses. Having an electronic device in your hand...
Biden lifts Trump refugee cap after delay backlashVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday formally raised the nation’s cap on refugee admissions to 62,500 this year, weeks after facing bipartisan blowback for his delay in replacing the record-low ceiling set by former President Donald Trump. Refugee resettlement agencies have waited for Biden to quadruple the number of...
Groups say gunshot detection systems unreliable, seek review
CHICAGO — The gunshot detection system that set in motion the recent fatal police shooting of a 13-year-old boy in Chicago routinely reports gunshots where there are none, sending officers into predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods for “unnecessary and hostile” encounters, community groups argued in a court filing Monday. The...
West Virginia high school basketball player set to graduate fatally shot
BECKLEY, W. Va. — An 18-year-old high school basketball standout who was set to graduate this month has been killed in a shooting in southern West Virginia. Dewayne Marquette Richardson, Jr. was shot once in the chest Sunday night, news outlets reported, citing a statement from the Beckley Police Department....
Storms spawn twisters in Mississippi, kill 2 in GeorgiaVideo
YAZOO CITY, Miss. — Much of the South is facing the risk of more severe weather Tuesday, forecasters say, after tornadoes struck parts of the region Sunday night and Monday, causing heavy damage in some parts of Mississippi. Parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, as well as corners...
Pa. Supreme Court picks former Pitt chancellor to chair powerful redistricting commission
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 — A former University of Pittsburgh chancellor will chair the committee...
EPA rule to phase out greenhouse gases used in refrigerators, coolants
WASHINGTON — In the first Biden administration rule aimed at combating climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to phase down production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners. The proposed rule follows through on a law Congress passed in December...
Calls for justice at N.C. funeral of Andrew Brown Jr.
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — The Rev. Al Sharpton issued a powerful call for transparency and the release of body camera footage at the funeral Monday for Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man shot and killed by deputies in North Carolina, with the civil rights leader likening withholding the video to...
Top general drops opposition to change in sex assault policy
In a potentially significant shift in the debate over combating sexual assault in the military, the nation’s top general says he is dropping his opposition to a proposal to take decisions on sexual assault prosecution out of the hands of commanders. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of...
GOP: Wolf should fire vendor that mishandled virus data
Pennsylvania should immediately terminate the no-bid state contract of a company that performed covid-19 contact tracing and exposed the private medical information of tens of thousands of residents, Republican state lawmakers said Monday. GOP leaders also called for state and federal probes into the Atlanta-based contractor’s mishandling of the data,...
Philadelphia man gets life term in parking lot slaying of ex-girlfriend
NORRISTOWN — A Philadelphia man who prosecutors said stabbed and ran over his ex-girlfriend in the parking lot of her suburban workplace has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. Lawrence Crawley, 36, apologized Monday in Montgomery County Court before the mandatory sentence was imposed, The Philadelphia...
Restrictions easing in U.S. and Europe amid disaster in India
Air travel in the U.S. hit its highest mark since covid-19 took hold more than 13 months ago, while European Union officials are proposing to ease restrictions on visitors to the continent as the vaccine rollout sends new cases and deaths tumbling in more affluent countries. The improving picture in...
Sheriff: Wisconsin casino shooter was fired employee
MADISON, Wis. — A man who shot and killed two people and wounded a third at a northeastern Wisconsin tribal casino restaurant before police killed him had been fired from the eatery and banned from the property, authorities said Monday. Bruce Pofahl, 62, walked into the Duck Creek Kitchen and...
Florida governor signs law preempting local covid edicts
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis moved to suspend all remaining covid-19 restrictions imposed by communities across his state, signing into law on Monday freshly passed legislation giving him sweeping powers to invalidate local emergency measures put in place during the pandemic — including mask mandates, limitations on business...
N.Y. Times, Washington Post, NBC correct articles on Giuliani
NEW YORK — The Washington Post, The New York Times and NBC News all issued similar corrections to stories regarding Rudolph Giuliani, former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, and his dealings in Ukraine. The corrections, to stories that ran last Thursday or Friday, take back reports that the former New...
