Officer with knee to George Floyd’s neck to be tried alone
MINNEAPOLIS — A former Minneapolis police officer who held his knee to the neck of George Floyd for several minutes will be tried separately from three other former officers accused in his death, according to scheduling orders filed Tuesday. Derek Chauvin will stand trial alone in March because of the...
Officials: Manatee in Florida had ‘Trump’ drawn on back
HOMOSASSA SPRINGS, Fla. — State and federal wildlife officials are investigating reports of a manatee found with “Trump” drawn on its back in a Florida river. The aquatic mammal was spotted over the weekend in the Homosassa River in Citrus County, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida...
Social media crackdown continues after siege of U.S. Capitol
LONDON — Social media platforms are continuing the crackdown on fringe groups and conspiracy theories following last week’s deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. Twitter suspended more than 70,000 accounts associated with the far right QAnon conspiracy and Facebook is removing posts and content fraudulently claiming that the U.S. election...
Early warning signs emerge for GOP after U.S. Capitol riots
HARRISBURG — Since last week’s deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, about 225 Republicans logged in to the election office in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to change their party registration. Ethan Demme was one of them. “Ever since they started denying the election result, I kind of knew it was heading...
Turkey says it’s ready to repair frayed ties with Europe
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday his country is ready to put its frayed relationship with the European Union “back on track” and called on the 27-nation bloc to display the same determination. In an address to EU nations’ ambassadors in Ankara, Erdogan also expressed hope...
Enbridge rejects Michigan’s demand to shut down oil pipeline
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Enbridge said Tuesday it would defy Michigan’s demand to shut down an oil pipeline that runs through a channel linking two of the Great Lakes, contending that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s decision was based on bad information and political posturing. The Democratic governor in November moved to...
Sheldon Adelson, casino mogul and GOP power broker, dies
LAS VEGAS — Sheldon Adelson, founder, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, has died at the age of 87 from complications related to treatment for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma , the casino company announced Tuesday. At one point the third richest man in the world, Adelson brought singing gondoliers to the...
U.S. asking states to speed vaccine, not hold back 2nd doseVideo
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is asking states to speed delivery of covid-19 vaccines to people 65 and older and to others at high risk by no longer holding back the second dose of the two-dose shots, officials said Tuesday. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that “the...
Covid fears grow in Capitol as 3 lawmakers test positive
WASHINGTON — Within a span of about 24 hours, three House Democrats announced they tested positive for covid-19, prompting concern that last week’s insurrection at the Capitol has also turned into a super-spreader event threatening the health of lawmakers and their staffs. Those who tested positive were among dozens of...
Migrants in Bosnia camp have health checked after days in cold
BIHAC, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Many migrants and refugees staying at a camp in northwestern Bosnia have complained of respiratory and skin infections after spending days in makeshift tents and containers amid freezing weather and snowstorms, aid workers warned. Most of the hundreds of migrants stuck at the Lipa facility near Bosnia’s...
More than a dozen lawmakers joined crowds on day of Capitol riot
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A second Republican lawmaker from West Virginia who marched to the U.S. Capitol to support overturning Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential win said in a radio interview Monday that he hopes President Donald Trump “calls us back.” State Sen. Mike Azinger told the broadcast outlet that the crowds...
Gorillas test positive for coronavirus at San Diego park
SAN DIEGO — Several gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park have tested positive for the coronavirus in what is believed to be the first known cases among such primates in the United States and possibly the world. The park’s executive director, Lisa Peterson, told The Associated Press on...
Florida man spotted with Pelosi lectern gets $25K bailVideo
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Florida man spotted carrying a lectern belonging to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office in a widely circulated photo during the Capitol assault was released Monday on $25,000 bail. A federal magistrate judge in Tampa agreed to the release Monday at a brief hearing for Adam...
Arizona man charged in Capitol riot appears in court
PHOENIX — An Arizona man who took part in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol while sporting face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns made his first court appearance Monday. A judge has scheduled a detention hearing Friday for Jake Chansley, who has been jailed on misdemeanor...
Acting Homeland Security chief Chad Wolf is resigningVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s acting head of the Department of Homeland Security abruptly resigned Monday, leaving the post ahead of schedule as the nation faces a heightened terrorism threat from extremists seeking to reverse the election. The announcement by acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf was perplexing. It came less...
West Virginia breaks new grim record for coronavirus cases, deaths
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia reported a new peak in confirmed coronavirus cases and a record 206 deaths last week. Health workers also administered nearly 40,000 vaccine shots, doubling the pace of vaccinations. As the pandemic hits new deadly peaks, the state is now up to 92,070 vaccine doses administered....
Susan Wild, congresswoman in viral photo from Capitol floor, shares harrowing tale of escaping attackVideo
Susan Wild woke up around 7 on Wednesday morning in her Washington, D.C., apartment. The Democratic congresswoman representing Pennsylvania’s 7th District had a busy day ahead of her — Congress was set to certify the results of the 2020 election. The final step in the election process is usually a...
Ex-House Speaker John Boehner: Trump should consider resigning
WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker John Boehner said Monday that President Donald Trump should “consider resigning his post.” The Republican former Ohio congressman began his remarks during a webinar on health care policy by talking about Trump’s baseless claims of widespread election fraud and last week’s siege of the Capitol...
Trump puts Cuba back on ‘terrorism’ list with sanctionsVideo
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Monday re-designated Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism,” in a move that hits the country with new sanctions shortly before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the step, citing in particular Cuba’s continued harboring of U.S. fugitives as...
U.S. imposes new Ukraine sanctions over election interference
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Monday sanctioned more than a half-dozen associates of a Ukrainian lawmaker accused by U.S. officials of interfering in the 2020 presidential election by releasing edited audio recordings of President-elect Joe Biden. The Treasury Department already had imposed sanctions on Andrii Derkach, whom U.S. officials...
FBI warns of plans for nationwide armed protests next week
WASHINGTON — The FBI is warning of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington in the days leading up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, stoking fears of more bloodshed after last week’s deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol. An internal FBI bulletin warned that, as...
Woman hedges apology in tense interview on hotel attackVideo
NEW YORK — A woman who wrongly accused a Black teenager of stealing her cellphone and tackled him at a New York City hotel appeared to back off her apology in a TV interview that aired Monday, suggesting without evidence that maybe he did try to steal her phone after...
Michigan bans open carry of guns inside state Capitol
LANSING, Mich. — A state panel on Monday banned the open carry of guns in Michigan’s Capitol, a week after an armed mob rioted in the U.S. Capitol and following a plot last year to storm the statehouse. Moves to ban weapons at the statehouse have been pushed since April,...
Mississippi governor signing law for flag without rebel sign
JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is set to sign a bill Monday that gives the state a new flag with a magnolia and the phrase, “In God We Trust,” just over six months after legislators retired the last state flag in the U.S. that included the Confederate battle...
Pa. health secretary says ‘it’s a misconception’ that covid vaccines are sitting dormant
Pennsylvania’s top health official said the state could “soon” move to Phase 1B of the covid-19 vaccination plan but revealed little about when that will be and what it will look like. The state so far has administered 285,671 doses of the vaccine, said Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine,...
