November 14, 2021 7:59 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday urged political and economic leaders to show courage and long-range vision, hours after U.N. led-climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, ended in compromise on how to combat global warming. Francis in remarks to the public in St. Peter’s Square said the “cry of the poor, united to the cry of the Earth, resounded in the last days at the United Nations COP26 summit on climate change.” “I encourage all those who have political and economic responsibilities to act immediately with courage and farsightedness,″ he said. “At the same time, I invite all persons of good will to carry out active citizenry to care for the common house,″ Francis said, referring to planet Earth. The pontiff didn’t comment on the outcome of the two weeks of U.N. talks.
November 14, 2021 7:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary who holds the purse strings to much of President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure package, was holding forth with reporters on its impact — the promise of more electric cars, intercity train routes, bigger airports — when a pointed question came. How would he go about building racial equity into infrastructure? The 39-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate laid out his argument that highway design can reflect racism, noting that at least $1 billion in the bill will help reconnect cities and neighborhoods that had been racially segregated or divided by road projects. “I’m still surprised that some people were surprised when I pointed to the fact that if a highway was built for the purpose of dividing a white and a Black neighborhood … that obviously reflects racism,” he said. Racial equity is an issue where Democratic priorities and Buttigieg’s future align. One of his greatest shortcomings as a White House candidate was his inability to win over Black voters. How he navigates that heading into the 2022 midterms will probably shape the fortunes of Biden’s agenda and the Democratic Party, if not his own prospects. Republicans seeking to exploit the issue pounced on Buttigieg’s words.
November 14, 2021 7:55 am
NEW DELHI (AP) — Sky obscured by thick, gray smog. Monuments and high-rise buildings swallowed by a blanket of haze. People struggling to breathe. In the Indian capital, it is that time of the year again. The city’s air quality index fell into the “very poor” category on Sunday, according to SAFAR, India’s main environmental monitoring agency, and in many areas levels of the deadly particulate matter reached around six times the global safety threshold. NASA satellite imagery also showed most of India’s northern plains covered by thick haze. Among the many Indian cities gasping for breath, New Delhi tops the list every year. The crisis deepens particularly in the winter when the burning of crop residues in neighboring states coincides with cooler temperatures that trap deadly smoke. That smoke travels to New Delhi, leading to a surge in pollution in the city of more than 20 million people and exacerbating what is already a public health crisis. The New Delhi government on Saturday ordered the closing of schools for a week and construction sites for four days beginning Monday. Government offices were also told to shift to work from home for a week to reduce the number of vehicles on the road.
November 14, 2021 4:27 am
BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (WPXI) — There are dozens of ducks and chickens roaming free at Kindred Spirits Rescue Ranch. The animals are doing fine according to officials, but that was not the case when the 50 chickens and nine ducks were first found. Three animals reportedly died after being caked with feces. Those animals came from a home on 13th Avenue in Beaver Falls. They all lived inside with Leah Fontanez, whose attorney says her neighbors called the cops on her and her animals. According to the criminal complaint, the chickens and ducks were defecating in their food. There were nine dogs and puppies without water and clean areas. Then there was a bearded dragon living under the same conditions. The Humane Society charged Fontanez with 139 animal cruelty and neglect charges including felonies for the dead chickens.
November 13, 2021 4:38 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Medicare’s “Part B” outpatient premium will jump by $21.60 a month in 2022, one of the largest increases ever. Officials said Friday a new Alzheimer’s drug is responsible for about half of that. The increase guarantees that health care costs will gobble up a big chunk of the recently announced Social Security cost-of-living allowance, a boost that had worked out to $92 a month for the average retired worker. The announcement on premiums comes as Congress is considering Democratic legislation that would curb what Medicare pays for medications. The new Part B premium will be $170.10 a month.
November 13, 2021 4:36 am
MEXICO CITY (AP) – Dozens of Mexican farmers armed with rifles and shotguns have gathered in a pocket of mountain forest in southern Mexico to angrily reject a Supreme Court ruling on a decades-old land dispute. The conflict is centered on the Chimalapas, an area of tropical and pine forest that is threatened by logging and cattle ranching. For years, settlers have claimed the area belongs to Chiapas state. But this week the Supreme Court ruled that about 400,000 acres (160,000 hectares) belong to the neighboring state of Oaxaca. Farmers in the area are demanding to remain part of Chiapas and say they will resist plans to redraw boundary lines.
November 13, 2021 4:35 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House says President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping will hold their much-anticipated virtual summit on Monday evening. The leaders are looking to dial back tensions after a rough start to the U.S.-China relationship since Biden took office earlier this year. The White House is setting low expectations for the video call between the leaders. Biden is expected to stress that the two nations need to set guardrails in areas of deepening tension in the increasingly complicated U.S.-China relationship. White House officials said that no major announcements are expected to come from the meeting.
November 13, 2021 4:34 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – For one day at least, everyone with power over Britney Spears was in agreement. She needed to be freed. A Los Angeles judge on Friday released the pop star from the conservatorship that has had power over her life and money for nearly 14 years. Attorneys, parents, court appointees and Spears herself had spent the past few months having dramatic arguments over the legal restrictions. It ended with little drama and no conditions. Her attorney and court conservator say there are safety nets in place that will allow her a smooth transition as she regains control of her life.
November 13, 2021 4:33 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats’ $1.85 trillion package of social and climate initiatives seems afflicted by a maddening parade of hurdles. Looming ahead is the Congressional Budget Office, which could cause problems that would be messy but probably surmountable. That office is Congress’ nonpartisan fiscal scorekeeper, and it’s working on a 10-year cost estimate of the bill and its programs. Moderates will be looking closely at how close the measure comes to paying for itself with savings, like President Joe Biden and Democrats claim it does. Leaders hope the House will approve the measure next week and send it to the Senate.
November 13, 2021 4:31 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal court has declined to lift its stay on the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more workers. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had granted an emergency stay last Saturday of the requirement by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration that those workers be vaccinated by Jan. 4 or face mask requirements and weekly tests. Lawyers for the Justice and Labor departments filed a response Monday. It said stopping the mandate from taking effect will only prolong the COVID-19 pandemic and “cost dozens or even hundreds of lives per day.” The appeals court rejected that argument Friday.
