34 House Democrats call for investigation into Jan. 5 tours by fellow members ahead of Capitol attackVideo
WASHINGTON — Rep. Mikie Sherrill and 33 other House members want an investigation into access given by fellow House lawmakers to visitors to the Capitol on Jan. 5 before the violent attacks on Congress the next day. The New Jersey Democrat alleged Tuesday night that members of Congress led guests...
Lawmaker wants Dolly Parton statue at Tennessee Capitol
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A statue of country music icon Dolly Parton could be added to the Capitol grounds in Nashville, Tenn., if one state lawmaker gets his way. Democratic Rep. John Mark Windle introduced a bill Tuesday that aims to honor Parton “for all that she has contributed to this...
UN watchdog confirms another Iranian breach of nuclear deal
BERLIN — The United Nations’ atomic watchdog agency confirmed Thursday that Iran has informed it that the country has begun installing equipment for the production of uranium metal, which would be another violation of the landmark nuclear deal with world powers. Iran maintains its plans to conduct research and development...
Fire destroys hundreds of homes in Rohingya refugee camp
DHAKA, Bangladesh — A fire raced through a sprawling Rohingya refugee camp in southern Bangladesh on Thursday, destroying hundreds of homes, officials said. No casualties were reported. The UNHCR said more than 550 homes sheltering about 3,500 people as well as 150 shops were either totally or partially destroyed in...
WHO team arrives in Wuhan to search for pandemic originsVideo
WUHAN, China — A global team of researchers arrived Thursday in the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic was first detected to conduct a politically sensitive investigation into its origins amid uncertainty about whether Beijing might try to prevent embarrassing discoveries. The 10-member team sent to Wuhan by the World...
West Texas flower shop owner Jenny Cudd charged in Capitol riotVideo
DALLAS — A West Texas flower shop owner who posted a video on Facebook bragging about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office being broken into during the U.S. Capitol riot last week was arrested Wednesday, federal officials said. The FBI arrested Jenny Cudd and another Midland resident, Eliel Rosa, in connection...
Ex.-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder charged in Flint water crisisVideo
LANSING, Mich. — Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was charged Wednesday with willful neglect of duty after an investigation of ruinous decisions that left Flint with lead-contaminated water and a regional outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease. The charges, revealed in an online court record, are misdemeanors punishable by up to a...
Enduring 2nd impeachment, Trump stands largely silent, aloneVideo
WASHINGTON — His place in the history books rewritten, President Donald Trump endured his second impeachment largely alone and silent. For more than four years, Trump has dominated the national discourse like no one before him. Yet when his legacy was set in stone on Wednesday, he was stunningly left...
Could McConnell’s signal to Republicans open floodgates against Trump?Video
WASHINGTON — Sen. Mitch McConnell’s openness to convicting Donald Trump in a U.S. Senate impeachment trial is a seismic signal to his caucus that could prod other Republicans to break with the president in the coming days and weeks. While McConnell has remained largely silent since last week’s riot of...
Soldiers flow into Capitol in a scene reminiscent of the Civil WarVideo
WASHINGTON — Soldiers took up positions in the U.S. Capitol in a scene reminiscent of Civil War deployments as Washington braced for the inauguration of a new president and a vote to impeach the current one. With more than 20,000 National Guard units summoned, the Capitol and its park-like campus...
Mix of extremists who stormed Capitol isn’t retreatingVideo
BOISE, Idaho — As rioters laid siege to the U.S. Capitol, the seat of American democracy became a melting pot of extremist groups: militia members, white supremacists, paramilitary organizations, anti-maskers and fanatical supporters of President Donald Trump, standing shoulder to shoulder in rage. Experts say it was the culmination of...
Authorities: Man in ‘Camp Auschwitz’ shirt at Capitol riot arrested
NORFOLK, Va. — A man photographed wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt during the U.S. Capitol riot last week was arrested Wednesday in Virginia, authorities said. Robert Keith Packer, 56, was arrested in Newport News, where he lives. He was charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and...
Trump impeached by U.S. House for historic 2nd timeVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House for a historic second time, charged with “incitement of insurrection” over the deadly mob siege of the U.S. Capitol in a swift and stunning collapse of his final days in office. With the Capitol secured by armed National Guard...
FBI, Justice Department leaders stay out of sight after riotVideo
WASHINGTON — A law enforcement press conference this week on the U.S. Capitol riot was notable not only for news that sedition charges were being contemplated but also because of who was not there: the highest-ranking leaders of the FBI and the Justice Department. Since loyalists of President Donald Trump...
Italy puts over 320 on trial for ‘ndrangheta mob tiesVideo
LAMEZIA TERME, Italy — A trial with more than 320 defendants began Wednesday in southern Italy against the ‘ndrangheta crime syndicate, arguably the world’s richest criminal organization that quietly amassed power as the Sicilian Mafia lost influence. Expected to take at least a year, the trial is taking place in...
Kansas game warden frees tangled deer with single gunshotVideo
WICHITA, Kan. — A Kansas game warden is getting attention for a video that shows him firing a single shot from a handgun to disentangle the antlers of two whitetail stags. The Kansas Wildlife, Parks & Tourism agency released the video from the warden’s body camera showing his sharpshooting skills...
Flint families welcome water crisis charges, seek healing
FLINT, Mich. — Flint mother Ariana Hawk struggled to find words. Bittersweet came to mind, as did frustrated. “I literally could have cried,” said Hawk, sitting in her car after learning former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and others in his administration were expected to be charged in a water crisis...
Prosecutors ask judge to order that Graham Spanier report to jail
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania prosecutors want a judge to order former Penn State president Graham Spanier to begin serving a county jail sentence for endangering children by the way he responded to a complaint that Jerry Sandusky had attacked a boy on campus. The attorney general’s office wrote in a Monday...
U.S. Space Command site will be located in Alabama
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The U.S. Air Force is expected to announce Huntsville, Ala., as the location for the U.S. Space Command headquarters, according to Alabama’s governor. Gov. Kay Ivey said that Huntsville’s Redstone Region is set to house the headquarters. The governor said she was informed of the decision Wednesday...
Pennsylvania covid hospitalizations drop almost 10% in week
The number of patients hospitalized for covid-19 in Pennsylvania has dropped almost 10 percent since last Wednesday. Pennsylvania’s Department of Health reported 5,069 covid-19 patients on Wednesday, a decline of 544 from last Wednesday’s 5,613. The state has 6,004 ventilators, with 1,912 in use, including 645 by covid-19 patients. There...
Internet ‘blackout’ in Uganda on eve of tense election
KAMPALA, Uganda — Ugandan authorities appeared to cut off internet access in the country Wednesday night on the eve of a tense presidential election, while a lawyer for leading opposition candidate Bobi Wine said all contact had been lost with him. “Confirmed: Uganda is now in the midst of a...
Ivanka Trump’s global women’s program halfway toward goal
WASHINGTON — Ivanka Trump’s global women’s development program is about halfway toward its goal of helping 50 million women in developing countries advance economically by 2025. That’s according to an annual report for the U.S. government’s Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative released Wednesday as the program nears its two-year...
Airbnb to block, cancel reservations in D.C. next week
NEW YORK — Airbnb says it will be blocking and cancelling reservations in the Washington, D.C. area during the week of the presidential inauguration. The decision, announced Wednesday, came two days after it said it was reviewing reservations in the area ahead of next week’s presidential inauguration and said it...
Biden picks Samantha Power, former UN envoy, for USAID post
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he has picked Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Barack Obama, to run the agency overseeing American foreign humanitarian and development aid. If confirmed by the Senate, Power will head the U.S. Agency for International Development, which...
NYC to terminate Trump contracts after Capitol insurrection
NEW YORK — New York City will terminate business contracts with President Donald Trump after last week’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday. “I’m here to announce that the city of New York is severing all contracts with the Trump Organization,” de Blasio said in...
