Pennsylvania fugitive now armed after stealing rifle
from garage
The search for the fugitive that had been unfolding over nearly two weeks in southeastern Pennsylvania was ominously different Tuesday. Now, officials said the man they were looking for had a gun. On Monday night, in a wooded area about 30 miles north of the jail from which he had escaped Aug. 31, Danelo Cavalcante encountered a homeowner in an open garage, officials said Tuesday. He grabbed a .22-caliber rifle from the garage, and the homeowner drew a pistol and fired at Cavalcante as he fled with the weapon. “We consider him desperate. We consider him dangerous,” Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said Tuesday.
A decongestant in cold medicines doesn’t work at all,
an FDA panel says
An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration agreed unanimously Tuesday that a decongestant ingredient used in many over-the-counter cold medicines is ineffective. The panel’s vote tees up a likely decision by the agency on whether to essentially ban the ingredient, phenylephrine, which would result in pulling hundreds of products containing it from store shelves. If the FDA ordered their removal, a trade group warned that numerous popular products — including Tylenol, Mucinex and Benadryl cold and flu remedies — might become unavailable as companies race to reformulate them. It could take months before a final decision is made.
For a pittance, miners can work public land. There’s a push to make them pay.
Since Ulysses S. Grant was in the White House, any company that mines gold or other metals from public land has been able to haul it away without paying royalties to the federal government. As demand is spiking for copper, nickel, cobalt and other metals and minerals essential for electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies, the Biden administration says Congress needs to fix the Gold Rush-era General Mining Law so it can better manage the resources. A call to impose a fee of 4% to 8% of the net value of what is mined could translate into as much as $97 million annually and drew sharp opposition from mining operators.
The ‘forever’ glaciers of America’s West aren’t forever anymore
Once, there were 29. Now at least one is gone, maybe three. Those that remain are almost half the size they used to be. Mount Rainier in Washington is losing its glaciers. That is all the more striking as it is the most glacier-covered mountain in the contiguous United States. The changes reflect a stark global reality: Mountain glaciers are vanishing as the burning of fossil fuels heats up Earth’s atmosphere. According to the World Glacier Monitoring Service, total glacier area has shrunk steadily in the past half-century; some of the steepest declines have been in the western United States and Canada.
Poverty rate soared in 2022 as aid ended and prices rose
Poverty increased sharply last year in the United States, as living costs rose and federal programs that provided aid to families during the pandemic were allowed to expire. The poverty rate rose to 12.4% in 2022 from 7.8% in 2021, the largest one-year jump on record, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. Poverty among children more than doubled, to 12.4%, from a record low of 5.2% the year before. Those figures are according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which factors in the impact of government assistance and geographical differences in the cost of living.
Apple unveils iPhone 15 and switches to USB-C charger
On Wednesday, Apple revealed that its newest product line, the iPhone 15, will drop the company’s proprietary Lightning port in favor of European-mandated USB-C ports. The company’s newest iPhones feature a charging plug that is slightly bigger and rounder than its predecessor but capable of delivering a faster charge. The rule was aimed at reducing electronic waste and saving customers money by making one port compatible across an array of devices. Although Apple resisted the change, warning that government mandates could stifle innovation, it will make it possible to use the same USB-C cord that powers a Mac to charge an iPhone.
8 more companies pledge to make
AI safe, White House says
The White House said Tuesday that eight more companies involved in artificial intelligence had pledged to voluntarily follow standards for safety, security and trust with the fast-evolving technology. The companies include Adobe, IBM, Palantir, Nvidia and Salesforce. They joined Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection AI, Microsoft and OpenAI, which initiated an industry-led effort on safeguards in an announcement with the White House in July. The companies have committed to testing and other security measures, which are not regulations and are not enforced by the government.
New Lyft feature allows women to
match rides with other women
Lyft said Tuesday that it was introducing a feature that would help match female drivers with female passengers on its ride-hailing app. The feature, Women+ Connect, will allow women and nonbinary riders and drivers to make connecting with each other for trips a priority by toggling on a setting in the app. They could still be matched with men when no women or nonbinary people were available nearby. The goal, Lyft said, is for women to feel safer using its platform, and to increase the number of female Lyft drivers. About half of Lyft’s passengers but just 23% of its drivers are women, the company said.
As toll rises in Morocco quake,
the needs of the living deepen
Hopes were fading of finding survivors in the rubble of a powerful earthquake that struck Morocco, as rescue efforts stretched into a fourth day Tuesday with the death toll surpassing 2,900. The quake Friday night with a magnitude of at least 6.8 was centered in the High Atlas Mountains, not far from the major city of Marrakech. It was the most powerful to strike that area in at least a century, flattening fragile mud brick houses in poor, rural villages. Morocco’s government has drawn criticism for what has been seen as a sluggish response and a seeming reluctance to accept offers of expert international teams and aid.
Putin denounces ‘persecution’ of Trump
and calls Musk ‘outstanding’
The setting was an economic conference in far eastern Russia, with discussion of the ruble and domestic investment, but that didn’t stop President Vladimir Putin from wading into American politics Tuesday, branding the criminal cases against Donald Trump political persecution and praising billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. For years, the Russian leader has demonstrated an ability to exploit political divisions within Western nations, often by signaling to conservatives abroad that he is aligned with them in a global fight against liberal values. Trump has long expressed public admiration for the Russian leader and has helped encourage a sizable Moscow-friendly contingent within his party.
State department defends limited release
of Iranian funds for prisoners
The State Department on Tuesday defended its progress toward completing a prisoner deal with Iran under which the United States is freeing $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds for humanitarian purposes in exchange for the release of five Americans held in Tehran. Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed waivers Friday allowing the Iranian money, which has been stored in South Korean accounts, to be transferred to accounts in Qatar without running afoul of U.S. sanctions against Iran. The money will be subject to U.S. government oversight to ensure that Iran uses it only for humanitarian purchases such as medicine and food.
By wire sources
