Poll workers contract virus, but Election Day link unclear
Despite painstaking efforts to keep election sites safe, some poll workers who came in contact with voters on Election Day have tested positive for the coronavirus, including more than two dozen in Missouri and cases in New York, Iowa, Indiana and Virginia. The infections cannot be tied definitively to polling...
North Dakota nurses worry about working with sick colleagues
BISMARCK, N.D. — Like many medical workers around the world, the coronavirus pandemic is a burden that Fargo emergency room nurse Adam Johnston can’t escape. The grim reality follows him everywhere: at work, where people die every shift; at the grocery store, where people rail against his city’s mask requirement;...
‘Righting a wrong’: Nevada 1st to protect same-sex marriage
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Las Vegas has been known for decades as the place for exuberant nuptials blessed by the swirl of Elvis’ white capes. But for years, legal marriages were barred for same-sex couples. Now, the state that’s home to the “wedding capital of the world” is also the...
Trump seems to acknowledge Biden win, but he won’t concede
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Sunday appeared to acknowledge for the first time that Joe Biden won the White House, but made clear he would not concede and would keep trying to overturn the election result. Trump’s statements came in tweets that included several baseless claims about the Nov....
Polling industry again faces criticism, but most got it right in presidential race
Days before President-elect Joe Biden declared victory, with millions of votes still being counted, pundits as well as regular voters were quick to condemn the polling industry for failing to gauge just how tight the 2020 presidential race initially seemed to be. Democrats hoping to watch a blue wave roll...
Russian city to demolish derided ‘Robot’ building
MOSCOW — A hulking, never-occupied building sardonically likened to a robot’s head that has loomed over the Russian city of Kaliningrad for decades is to be demolished next year, the region’s governor says. The 21-story House of Soviets was left unfinished when funding ran out in 1985 amid the Soviet...
Biden likely to break barriers, pick woman to lead Pentagon
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden is expected to take a historic step and select a woman to head the Pentagon for the first time, shattering one of the few remaining barriers to women in the department and the presidential Cabinet. Michele Flournoy, a politically moderate Pentagon veteran, is regarded by...
Thousands rally behind Trump, insisting he won race he lost; violent clashes break out
WASHINGTON — After several thousand supporters of President Donald Trump protested the election results and marched to the Supreme Court, nighttime clashes with counterdemonstrators led to fistfights, at least one stabbing and more than 20 arrests. Several other cities on Saturday also saw gatherings of Trump supporters unwilling to accept...
Curtis Flowers defense team receives human rights award
OXFORD, Miss. — A human rights award has been presented to the defense team for a Mississippi man who was freed from prison in December after more than 20 years and this year had all charges dropped against him. The Curtis Flowers defense team, which includes the George C. Cochran...
Thousands attend weekly protest against Israel’s Netanyahu
JERUSALEM — Several thousand protesters gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem on Saturday night in what has become a weekly demonstration calling for the Israeli leader to resign. The protesters have been demonstrating for some five months, saying Netanyahu is unfit to lead while he is...
Ethiopia’s Tigray region bombs airports as conflict spreads
NAIROBI, Kenya — Ethiopia’s defiant Tigray regional government said Saturday it fired rockets at two airports in the neighboring Amhara region as a deadly conflict threatens to spread into other parts of Africa’s second-most populous country. The Tigray regional government said in a statement on Tigray TV that such strikes...
Romania: 10 die in fire at covid-19 intensive care unit
BUCHAREST, Romania — Romanian officials say a fire at a hospital treating covid-19 patients has killed 10 people and critically injured seven others. The blaze spread through the intensive care ward designated for people with covid-19 patients at the public hospital in the northern city of Piatra Neamt, said Irina...
Pennsylvania reports 5th consecutive day of record-setting coronavirus cases
Pennsylvania on Saturday reported 5,551 new coronavirus cases — breaking Friday’s record by 20 cases. It marked the fifth-straight record-setting day for the Keystone State. The state also reported 50 new deaths. The total number of covid-19 deaths in Pennsylvania is 9,274. The new data bring the total cases to...
Thai protesters rally again, promoting a diversity of causes
BANGKOK — Pro-democracy protesters in Thailand rallied again on Saturday, promoting a diversity of causes and taking an opportunity to display their rejection of the country’s power structure directly to the monarch. Some 20 groups called the rally at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument under the name “Mob Fest” as the latest...
Britain’s Prince Charles celebrates 72nd birthday
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Prince Charles celebrated his 72nd birthday Saturday following an eventful year that saw him contract the coronavirus and his son Prince Harry step down from official royal duties. Gun salutes would normally be fired from London’s Green Park and the Tower of London for the heir...
Trump skips Southeast Asia summit for third year in a row
HANOI, Vietnam — President Donald Trump skipped a summit with his Southeast Asian counterparts for the third year in a row on Saturday, with rival China set to expand its influence with a massive free trade deal in the region. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said Trump regretted he was...
Trump putting democracy to the test after his loss to Biden
WASHINGTON — Winston Churchill was not known for leaving his thoughts unspoken. One of them was this: “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried.” President Donald Trump, who has professed admiration for, if not deep...
Iota threatens 2nd tropical strike for Nicaragua, Honduras
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tropical Storm Iota was brewing in the Caribbean Sea early Saturday, threatening a second tropical strike for Nicaragua and Honduras, countries recently ransacked by a Category 4 Hurricane Eta. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Iota could bring dangerous wind, storm surge and as much...
North Dakota mandates masks, capacity limits as virus surges
BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum ordered a statewide mask mandate and imposed several business restrictions late Friday in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus that has stressed the state’s hospital capacity. The Republican governor’s executive order comes after increased pressure from doctors, nurses and...
Infrastructure, jobs are key to coming together under Biden, say Pennsylvania Republicans, unions
After more than a decade of division — Republicans trying to block Barack Obama at every move and Democrats questioning Donald Trump’s legitimacy — President-elect Joe Biden is inheriting a contentious crowd. His best strategy to bring them around a table together, a diverse group of Pennsylvanians say, would be...
Colorado governor says ignoring virus is like playing ‘Russian roulette,’ as daily cases nearly double in week
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Another 6,439 Coloradans were diagnosed with covid-19 — nearly double Monday’s daily total, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced Friday, warning state residents who continue to ignore the virus’s threat that they were playing Russian roulette with their own lives and the lives of others. “You wouldn’t...
California governor went to party, violated own virus rules
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For months, Gov. Gavin Newsom has pleaded with Californians to resist the temptation to socialize with friends and relatives outside their household. Turns out, he’s the one who couldn’t resist. Newsom acknowledged Friday he attended a birthday party with a dozen friends on Nov. 6 at the...
Scott Peterson to stay at San Quentin as judge mulls retrial
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — No one outside of San Quentin State Prison will be seeing Scott Peterson in person anytime soon as officials consider if he should face a new trial in the headline-grabbing slayings of his pregnant wife and unborn child, a California judge decided Friday. San Francisco Superior Court...
Chicago Mayor Lightfoot defends joining crowd celebrating Biden-Harris win as virus cases surge
CHICAGO — Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday defended her appearance last weekend when she joined a crowd celebrating the presumptive win of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. During a morning interview on MSNBC, the mayor was asked about joining revelers Saturday amid a spike in covid-19 cases in Chicago and...
Iowa justices toss murder conviction over jury instructions
The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday tossed out a murder conviction and ordered a new trial for a man accused of the gruesome 2017 stabbing death of his girlfriend. In a split decision, the state’s high court ordered a new trial for Gregory Michael Davis, 30, after finding his trial...
