May 1, 2021 10:34 am
JERUSALEM (AP) – Clerics and faithful from Eastern Orthodox churches are marking the annual Holy Fire ceremony inside Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulcher church. Hundreds packed in Saturday to the church revered as the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, with only a few wearing masks and no distancing. Entry has been restricted to those fully vaccinated. Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III led the event. The scene at the church was a stark contrast to last year’s, when only a handful of religious leaders held the centuries-old ceremony in a near-empty setting enforced by the coronavirus pandemic. Israel has significantly lifted most of restrictions, including mask-wearing in public, after a world-leading vaccination drive.
May 1, 2021 10:31 am
VIENNA (AP) – High-ranking diplomats from China, Germany, France, Russia and Britain have resumed talks focused on bringing the United States back into their landmark nuclear deal with Iran. The U.S. will not have a representative at the table when the diplomats meet in Vienna on Saturday because former President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the country out of the deal in 2018. Trump also restored and augmented sanctions to try to force Iran into renegotiating the pact with more concessions. U.S. President Joe Biden wants to rejoin the 2015 agreement, and a U.S. delegation in Vienna is taking part in indirect talks with Iran. Diplomats from the other world powers are acting as go-betweens.
May 1, 2021 10:26 am
NEW DELHI (AP) – India has opened vaccinations to all adults in hopes of taming a monstrous spike in COVID-19 infections. The move on Saturday launches a huge inoculation effort that is sure to tax the limits of the federal government, the country’s vaccine factories and the patience of its 1.4 billion people. The world’s largest maker of vaccines is still short of critical supplies – the result of lagging manufacturing and raw material shortages. Those factors delayed the rollout in several states. Only a fraction of India’s population will likely to be able to afford the prices charged by private hospitals for the shot. That means states and the federal government will be saddled with immunizing 900 million Indian adults.
May 1, 2021 2:53 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The Republican and Democratic floor leaders of the Pennsylvania House and Senate can’t agree who should be the tie-breaking fifth member of the panel that will redraw the state’s legislative district lines. The announcement Friday means the chairperson of the Legislative Reapportionment Commission will be selected by the state Supreme Court. The high court currently has a 5-2 Democratic majority. The justices now have a month to pick a chairperson. The 253-member General Assembly currently has significant Republican majorities in both chambers.
April 30, 2021 12:41 pm
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) – Anne Douglas, the widow of Kirk Douglas and stepmother of Michael Douglas, has died in California. She was 102. A spokeswoman says Douglas died Thursday at her home in Beverly Hills. No cause of death was given. Kirk Douglas, the Hollywood legend who starred in “Spartacus,” “Lust for Life” and dozens of other films, died last year at 103. He married Anne Buydens in 1954 after they met in Paris while he was filming “Act of Love” and she was doing publicity. In 2017 the couple published “Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood.”
April 30, 2021 4:27 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. will restrict travel from India starting May 4, citing a devastating rise in COVID-19 cases in the country and the emergence of potentially dangerous variants of the coronavirus. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that President Joe Biden’s administration made the determination on the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With 386,452 new cases, India now has reported more than 18.7 million since the pandemic began, second only to the United States. The U.S. action comes days after Biden spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the growing health crisis and pledged to send assistance.
April 30, 2021 4:25 am
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida Republicans passed a series of sweeping voter restrictions Thursday targeting mailed ballots, drop boxes and other popular election methods. The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign it. The legislation would only make ballot drop boxes available when early voting sites are open. Those drop boxes would have to be supervised by elections officials. Republicans say the legislation is needed to guard against fraud, after former President Donald Trump made unfounded claims that the presidential election was stolen from him. Democrats say the move is a partisan attempt to keep some voters from the ballot box.
April 30, 2021 4:24 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Rudy Giuliani sought to discredit the federal investigation into his dealings in Ukraine a day after agents raided his home and office. Giuliani said the 6 a.m. search was unnecessary because he offered for two years to provide federal prosecutors his electronic devices and to “talk it over with them.” The federal probe is examining Giuliani’s ties to Ukraine and whether he violated a federal law that governs lobbying on behalf of foreign countries or entities. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined comment.
April 30, 2021 4:22 am
JERUSALEM (AP) – An Israeli rescue service says nearly 40 people have been killed in a stampede at a popular religious festival in northern Israel. The disaster occurred at celebrations for Lag BaOmer, a holiday when tens of thousands of people gather to honor a 2nd century rabbi buried at Israel’s Mount Meron. The holiday is popular primarily with ultra-Orthodox Jews. Eli Beer, director of the Hatzalah ambulance service, said the event was overcrowded. “Close to 40 people died as a result of this tragedy,” he told Army Radio. Israel’s main rescue service, Magen David Adom, says 150 people were hospitalized, and various media say the death toll has climbed to 44. The cause of the stampede was not immediately clear. But witnesses described a terrifying site, with people crushed in a small area.
April 30, 2021 4:20 am
ROBINSON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – Two men were arrested in Robinson Township in connection with an undercover investigation into online child exploitation and human trafficking. According to Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office, John Carter, 58, and Simon Whaby, 55, were arrested and charged in connection with the investigation. Investigators said on April 22, Carter was arrested for trying to “solicit sexual services from an agent posting as a minor boy.” The next day, Whaby was arrested for trying to do the same thing. “When any individual is involved in or benefits from selling a minor for sex, that is considered human trafficking under state and federal laws,” a news release from Shapiro’s office said. Both Carter and Whaby are scheduled to appear in court on May 11. (Photo; Office Of Attorney General)
