February 26, 2021 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Saudi Arabia’s crown prince likely approved the killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. That’s according to a newly declassified U.S. intelligence report released Friday. The finding could escalate pressure on the Biden administration to hold the kingdom accountable for a murder that drew widespread outrage in the U.S. and abroad. The central conclusion of the report was widely expected given that intelligence officials were said to have reached it soon after the brutal October 2018 murder of Khashoggi, a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s authoritarian consolidation of power. Still, the public blaming amounted to an extraordinary rebuke of the ambitious 35-year-old crown prince.
February 26, 2021 4:16 am
BAGHDAD (AP) – An Iraqi militia official says a U.S. airstrike in Syria has killed one militiaman and wounded a number of others with a powerful Iranian-backed Iraqi group. The official told The Associated Press that the strikes against facilities belong to the Kataeb Hezbollah militia, or Hezbollah Brigades, struck a site on the Syrian side of the border with Iraq. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak of the attack. The Pentagon said the strikes were retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a U.S. service member and other coalition troops.
February 26, 2021 4:10 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania are maintaining it was a mistake for Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration to order COVID patients to be readmitted to nursing homes from hospitals, although it’s not clear the policy led to an outbreak or death. Despite a high number of nursing home deaths in Pennsylvania, no investigation has pointed to the policy. Nursing home trade associations say they’re not aware it led to death or an outbreak. Rep. Natalie Mihalek during Thursday’s Appropriations Committee hearing urged acting Health Secretary Alison Beam to say the department’s order was a mistake. Beam responded that the state wanted to ensure hospitals weren’t overrun and clarify confusing federal guidance.
February 26, 2021 2:43 am
A regulatory agency that’s responsible for the water supply of more than 13 million people in four states has voted to permanently ban natural gas drilling and fracking in the watershed. The Delaware River Basin Commission first imposed a moratorium on gas development more than a decade ago. The agency says fracking poses too great of a risk to the water supply. Republican state lawmakers in Pennsylvania as well as a landowners group have filed lawsuits challenging the commission’s right to regulate gas development. The Delaware and its tributaries supply drinking water to Philadelphia and half the population of New York City.
February 25, 2021 4:26 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Mr. Potato Head is no longer a mister. Hasbro, the company that makes the potato-shaped plastic toy, is giving the spud a gender-neutral new name: Potato Head. The change will appear on boxes this year. Toy makers have been updating their classic brands to appeal to kids today. Barbie has shed its blonde image and now comes in multiple skin tones and body shapes. Thomas the Tank Engine added more girl characters. And American Girl is now selling a boy doll. Hasbro said Mr. Potato Head, which has been around for about 70 years, needed a modern makeover.
February 25, 2021 9:26 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week but remained high by historical standards. Applications for benefits declined 111,000 from the previous week to a seasonally adjusted 730,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It is the lowest figure since late November. Before the virus erupted in the United States last March, weekly applications for unemployment benefits had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession of 2008-2009.
February 25, 2021 4:26 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Best Buy said Thursday that it laid off 5,000 full-time store workers earlier this month, even as the company’s sales soared during the pandemic as homebound people bought laptops, TVs and other gadgets. The company said it cut the jobs because more shoppers are choosing to buy online instead of coming inside its stores. Best Buy said it will replace the 5,000 full-time employees with 2,000 part-time workers. Best Buy’s workforce has shrunk in the last year after having to furlough workers when it closed stores during the pandemic. It currently has more than 100,000 workers, down by 21,000, or 17%, from the year before.
February 25, 2021 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Days after marking a solemn milestone in the pandemic, President Joe Biden is celebrating the pace of his efforts to end it. On Thursday, Biden marked the administration of the 50 millionth dose of COVID-19 vaccine since his swearing-in. It came days after the nation reached the devastating milestone of 500,000 coronavirus deaths and ahead of a meeting with the nation’s governors on plans to speed the distribution even further. Says Biden: “The more people get vaccinated, the faster we’re going to beat this pandemic.” He also noted that his administration is on course to exceed his promise of delivering 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office.
February 25, 2021 4:21 am
A large real-world test of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine confirms that it’s very effective at preventing serious illness or death, even after one dose. The results come from a mass vaccination campaign in Israel. They give strong reassurance that the benefits seen in smaller tests persisted when the vaccine was used in a general population. The vaccine was 92% effective at preventing severe disease after two shots and 62% after one. Its estimated effectiveness for preventing death was 72% two to three weeks after the first shot. The New England Journal of Medicine published results Wednesday.
February 25, 2021 4:19 am
NEW YORK (AP) – After weeks of going dormant, shares of GameStop have suddenly shot higher again, jumping 75% in the last hour of trading Wednesday and another 60% Thursday. It’s reminiscent of the shocking 1,625% surge for GameStop in January, when bands of smaller-pocketed and novice investors helped trigger a supernova for the stock of the struggling video game retailer. Last month’s surge underscored questions about whether the broad market is in a bubble. No clear reason seems to be behind this most recent move, leaving market observers to grasp at what little news is out there.
