Pope on Christmas: Vaccines for all; needy, vulnerable first
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis made a Christmas Day plea for authorities to make covid-19 vaccines available to all, insisting that the first in line should be the most vulnerable and needy, regardless of who holds the patents for the shots. “Vaccines for everybody, especially for the most vulnerable and...
Trump golfs in Florida as covid relief hangs in the balance
PALM BEACH — After tossing a grenade that threatens to blow up a massive covid relief and government funding bill and force a government shutdown in the midst of a pandemic, President Donald Trump spent his Christmas Eve golfing in Florida. Failure to agree on the bill could deny checks...
Warrant: Co-worker confessed to fatally stabbing UPS driver
WATERTOWN, Conn. — A UPS employee accused of fatally assaulting a co-worker he was helping deliver packages told police he stabbed the man before fleeing into the woods, according to an arrest warrant released Thursday. When he was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon by state troopers at a gas station...
Ohio police chief urges officer who shot Black man be fired
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The police chief of Columbus, Ohio, recommended on Thursday that the officer who shot and killed Andre Hill, a 47-year-old Black man, earlier this week be fired. Police Chief Thomas Quinlan said in a statement that he filed two departmental charges alleging critical misconduct against officer Adam...
Reward offered in cases of slashed California pelicans
LOS ANGELES — A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the conviction of whoever is slashing the pouches and necks of brown pelicans on the Southern California coast. International Bird Rescue posted the reward after four pelicans with identical, severe injuries were brought in for care at...
Michigan canvasser still afraid after threat, suspect arrest
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — The Republican chair of a county canvassing board in Michigan who initially refused to certify local election results that favored Vice President Job Biden over President Donald Trump said Thursday that she doesn’t know a woman charged with sending her threatening text messages. Wayne County Canvasser...
Florida governor’s spokesman deletes his Twitter account after posting about covid-19 victims
ORLANDO, Fla. — Fred Piccolo, spokesman for Gov. Ron DeSantis, deactivated his Twitter account Wednesday after he tweeted in the middle of night that photos of each dead COVID-19 victim should be balanced with 99 photos of people who survive the disease. In response to a Reuters photo gallery on...
Online store stops selling Rittenhouse family’s merchandise
KENOSHA, Wis. — An online sales company has stopped selling merchandise supporting an Illinois teen who killed two people and wounded a third during a protest in Wisconsin this summer. The Kenosha News reported Thursday that Kyle Rittenhouse’s family began selling “Free Kyle” merchandise through Printify last week. Printify creates...
U.S. military confirms pandemic won’t sideline Santa Claus
DENVER — The U.S. military is tracking an elderly man with a white beard and a large belly who goes by the name of Saint Nicholas. There’s no reason for alarm though, Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck said. In fact, this is a Christmas tradition going on its 65th...
Protesters call for justice in police killing of Andre Hill
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Demonstrators gathered in a cold Christmas Eve drizzle Thursday to call for justice in the death of Andre Hill, a Black man who was shot and killed by a Columbus police officer this week. Chants of “Whose street? Our street!” rang out from the crowd, which gathered...
Italy enters Christmas lockdown amid signs of coronavirus resurgence
ROME — Police in Italy enforced new covid-19 travel restrictions aimed at limiting Christmas get-togethers involving far-flung family members as public health officials appealed Thursday for a “drastic reduction” in social contacts to prevent new infections over the holidays. A modified nationwide lockdown went into effect on Christmas Eve with...
Truckers finally leave U.K. after days of virus gridlock
DOVER, England — Truckers and travelers stuck in a days-long gridlock at the English port of Dover started heading to France on Thursday after the country partially reopened its borders with Britain following international concern over a rapidly spreading new coronavirus variant. However, thousands of stranded truck drivers still awaited...
Dark days: Experts fear the holidays will fuel the U.S. crisis
LOS ANGELES — Hard-hit California eclipsed 2 million coronavirus cases on Christmas Eve as the U.S. headed into a holiday season of travel and family gatherings that threaten to fuel the deadly outbreak across the nation. Despite warnings from public health experts to stay home, over 1.19 million travelers passed...
Judge in Pa. rejects restaurants’ challenge of Wolf’s indoor dining ban
HARRISBURG — A federal judge in Pennsylvania has rejected a bid to block one of Gov. Tom Wolf’s latest orders to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus, a three-week shutdown of indoor dining at restaurants through Jan. 4, as Wolf went to court to sue restaurants defying the...
Police: Couple steals $300 albino python from Massachusetts pet store
PEABODY, Mass. — Police in Peabody, Massachusetts, are looking for a couple who slithered away with a snake worth $300 from a city pet store. The couple entered the Petco store around 4:30 p.m. Monday, police told The Salem News on Wednesday. The man asked an employee if he could...
Pair of Nazi headstones removed from Houston Cemetery
SAN ANTONIO — Two German WWII graves bearing Nazi swastikas have been removed from Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery and replaced with new headstones. The pair of headstones had become a long controversy over whether they were historical artifacts worth preserving or emblems of hate that should be destroyed, according...
Nurses fear what’s to come: ‘Walk down our unit for a day’
LOS ANGELES — The nurses of California are afraid. It’s Christmas Eve, and they aren’t home with their families. They are working, always working, completely gowned up — and worn down. They’re frightened by what people are doing, or not doing, during a coronavirus pandemic that has already killed more...
Pennsylvania’s covid surge eases a bit as Christmas arrives
When a surge of new cases hit Pennsylvania in early December, it ratcheted up the state’s average daily case count to over 10,000. Over the past week, that surge seems to have eased slightly. The trend continued on the day before Christmas. With 9,230 new covid-19 cases announced by the...
Chacko’s in Wilkes-Barre selected by Barstool Sports to get covid aid throughout pandemicVideo
The holidays got a little brighter Thursday for Chacko’s Family Bowling Center. The Wilkes-Barre bowling alley and restaurant got word on Christmas Eve that they were chosen for The Barstool Fund, a covid relief effort started by Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports. The next business we're helping is Chacko's Family...
Time almost up for some unemployed workers to apply for extra $300
People who were fully or partially unemployed for six weeks in August and September because of covid-19 are running out of time to apply for extra aid. Eligible individuals could receive up to $300 a week in extra jobless benefits, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency will close the application...
Attempt to recall Lincoln, Neb., mayor, council falls short
LINCOLN, Neb. — A campaign to recall Lincoln’s mayor and four city council members has failed after petition circulators could not to gather enough signatures to trigger a recall election, organizers said Wednesday. The group LNK Recall said it came up thousands of signatures short in their quest to recall...
Melted fuel removal at Fukushima delayed by pandemic
TOKYO — Japan’s government and the operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant said Thursday that the removal of melted reactor fuel planned to start in 2021 will have to be postponed by about one year due to the worsening coronavirus pandemic. The economy and industry ministry and Tokyo Electric...
Coronavirus dampens Christmas joy in Bethlehem and elsewhere
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — A stream of marching bands joyously paraded through Bethlehem on Thursday, but few people were there to greet them as the coronavirus pandemic and a strict lockdown dampened Christmas Eve celebrations in the traditional birthplace of Jesus. Similar subdued scenes were repeated across the world as...
Presidential election hostilities may fuel fight over Pa. courts
HARRISBURG — The angst, anger and hostility over Pennsylvania’s presidential election result will flow past New Year’s Day. Republicans who control the state Legislature could use the first weeks of 2021 to fast-track a constitutional amendment that would remake the Democratic-majority state Supreme Court after Republicans and President Donald Trump...
‘We are struggling’: A bleak Christmas for America’s jobless
NEW YORK — Last Christmas, Shanita Matthews cooked up a feast for her family of three: Roast chicken, barbecue spareribs, spinach, macaroni and cheese. This year? They’ll stick with tuna fish and crackers, among the few items she can afford at the supermarket. “We’re not really doing Christmas — I...
