Ingested Articles

Democrats have renewed their efforts to muscle through the largest overhaul of U.S. elections in a generation. Their drive for new voting rights legislation is setting up a fight with Republicans that could bring partisan tensions to a boil in the evenly split Senate. Both parties agree the legislation could shape election outcomes for years to come. It would strike down hurdles to voting, require more disclosure from political donors, restrict partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts and bolster election security. Republicans are uniformly opposed to the bill, making its prospects for passage difficult. But some Democrats want to pass the bill by changing Senate rules.

Tim Peel’s career as an NHL referee is over. His voice was picked up by a TV microphone saying he wanted to call a penalty against the Nashville Predators during Tuesday's game against Detroit. The league says Peel will no longer call NHL games and the integrity of the game must be intact. The 54-year-old Peel had made plans to retire next month.  Peel could be heard saying the penalty wasn't much, but he wanted to call one against Nashville. The microphone was cut off as as Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson was called for tripping. Nashville won the game 2-0.

Maryland and its offensive juggernaut are rolling fast and easy into the Sweet 16, getting 19 points from Angel Reese and overwhelming Alabama 100-64. The second-seeded Terrapins came into the women’s NCAA Tournament with the nation’s highest-scoring offense and have yet to take their foot off the gas. The Terps are averaging 99 points in their two tournament wins after scoring 91.3 per game in the regular season. Maryland hit the 100-point mark for the seventh time this season. The Terps also played aggressive, suffocating defense against the seventh-seeded Crimson Tide. Jasmine Walker led Alabama with 23 points.

MADRID (AP) — Desperate to finally put the coronavirus pandemic behind them, thousands of Spaniards lined up to get shots of AstraZeneca on Wednesday as the European country became the latest to restart use of the vaccine whose credibility has…

The family of a Black teenager who was falsely accused of stealing a woman’s cellphone in a New York City hotel last December has filed a lawsuit accusing the woman and the hotel of racial profiling. The lawsuit filed Wedneday in state court in Manhattan alleges that Keyon Harrold Jr. was “violently accosted” by 22-year-old Miya Ponsetto on Dec. 26, 2020 in the lobby of the Arlo Hotel. Ponsetto was later arrested on charges including attempted robbery. An attorney for Ponsetto says his client has not been informed of any civil lawsuit. Messages seeking comment were left with hotel officials.

Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby and Washington winger Tom Wilson have found themselves in agreement on something. Both are questioning the NHL on a lack of clarity between clean and dirty hits on the ice. One solution may be adding an off-ice official high above the play as a backup. That official could help referees decide whether a hit is worth a major penalty. The NHL’s Department of Player Safety has doled out eight suspensions for a total of 20 games this season. Last year, the total was 20 suspensions totaling 51 games.

President Joe Biden has tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the White House effort to tackle the migration challenge at the U.S. southern border. Biden, in delegating the matter to Harris, is seeking to replicate a dynamic that played out when he served as President Barack Obama’s vice president. Obama turned to Biden early in his first term to lead the White House effort to draw down U.S. troops in the intractable war in Iraq. With the move, Biden hopes to show he’s taking the situation seriously after facing stiff criticism from Republicans as the flow of migrants has increased since he took office in January. 

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium is reintroducing a strict lockdown in response to a surge of new COVID-19 infections, with the government saying Wednesday that schools would close and residents would have limited access to nonessential businesses. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander…

LONDON (AP) — The British government said Wednesday that the national flag should fly on all government buildings, the latest move in a highly visible embrace of the Union Jack by Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The government has told…

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen believes the U.S. government has more room to borrow, but says higher taxes would likely be required in the long run to finance future spending increases. Yellen appeared Wednesday before the Senate Banking Committee with the Biden administration considering up to $3 trillion in additional spending on infrastructure, green energy, and education. That “Build Back Better” plan would follow the $1.9 trillion economic relief package approved earlier this month. Yellen says the persistence of low interest rates have changed her views on safe federal debt levels. 

In the years before World War II, the Augusta-Victoria College, a girls’ boarding school in Bexhill-on-Sea, catered to a very specific audience: The daughters and goddaughters of important Germans and high ranking Nazi officials. It is believed that the intent…

Police in Virginia Beach have not been able to determine a motive behind a city engineer’s rampage in 2019 that killed 12 people. That's according to the city’s final investigative report on the mass shooting, which happened in the municipal building where the engineer worked. The report was released Wednesday. It states that authorities couldn't determine a motive despite exhaustive investigative work and in spite of unsubstantiated rumors and accusations. Shooter DeWayne Craddock left no note or any other account that would explain his actions. The city's report is unlikely to satisfy at least some of the victims’ families. They blame a toxic workplace and failure by supervisors to recognize warning signs. 

Pope Francis has ordered pay cuts for cardinals, priests and nuns at the Vatican in a bid to save other Holy See employees' jobs. Francis, in a letter made public by the Vatican on Wednesday, noted that the pandemic emergency “negatively impacted all sources of revenue” for the Holy See and Vatican City State. Travel bans by Italy and other pandemic restrictions severely limited access to to the Vatican Museums, a big money-make for the Holy See. Cardinals' pay will be reduced by 10%, other superiors of Vatican offices will lose 8% monthly, while priests and nuns working at the Holy See will suffer 3% cuts.  

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece on Wednesday kicked off two days of celebrations to mark the bicentenary of the start of the country’s war of independence, although events are far more muted than originally planned due to the pandemic. Dignitaries…

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Wednesday named a Chilean survivor of clerical sex abuse to serve on a Vatican commission that advises the pontiff on how to protect children from pedophile priests. The Vatican said Juan Carlos Cruz…