D.C. faults White House over Rose Garden event, urges testingVideo
WASHINGTON — In an extraordinary step, the Washington, D.C., Department of Health has released an open letter appealing to all White House staff and anyone who attended a Sept. 26 event in the Rose Garden to seek medical advice and take a covid-19 test. The letter indicates a lack of...
Tensions rise as coronavirus cases surge in Wisconsin, Dakotas
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A surge of coronavirus cases in Wisconsin and the Dakotas is forcing a scramble for hospital beds and raising political tensions, as the Upper Midwest and Plains emerge as one of the nation’s most troubling hot spots. The three states now lead all others in new...
U.S. hits all of Iran’s financial sector with sanctions
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has blacklisted virtually all of Iran’s financial sector, dealing another blow to an economy that is already reeling under U.S. sanctions. The move will deepen tensions with European nations and others over Iran. Thursday’s move hits 18 Iranian banks that had thus far escaped the...
House leaders call for Lawrence County lawmaker Aaron Bernstine to resign over videos
HARRISBURG — Republican leaders in Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives called Thursday for one of their members to resign after a newspaper disclosed the existence of videos posted to a since-deleted social media account in which he encourages his 5-year-old son to draw from a cigar and use profane language. In...
Mitch McConnell hasn’t been to White House in months, citing lax covid-19 measures
Sen. Mitch McConnell has been avoiding the White House like the plague. The Republican majority leader said Thursday that has purposely refused to see President Donald Trump in person at the White House, citing lax precautions against the spread of covid-19. “Their approach to how to handle this was different...
Vice presidential debate draws more than 50 million TV viewers, a major spike over 2016Video
The vice presidential debate drew more than 50.7 million viewers on Wednesday, a significant jump over the last meeting of running mates in 2016. Preliminary Nielsen data showed the total audience across the major broadcast and cable networks for the showdown between Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris...
Bill Cosby appeal set for Dec. 1 in Pennsylvania high court
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear Bill Cosby’s appeal of his felony sex assault conviction on Dec. 1. Cosby, 83, is serving a three- to 10-year prison term. A lower appeals court had upheld his conviction, but the state’s high court agreed this year to review two key issues in...
Facebook removes fake accounts linked to conservative group
Facebook has removed 276 accounts that used fake profiles to pose as right-leaning Americans and comment on news articles, often in favor of President Donald Trump, the company announced Thursday. The platform also permanently banned an Arizona-based digital communications firm that it said was behind the fake accounts. The move...
Prominent GOP fundraiser charged in covert lobbying effort
WASHINGTON — Elliott Broidy, a prominent fundraiser for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, has been charged in an illicit lobbying campaign aimed at getting the Trump administration to drop an investigation into the multibillion-dollar looting of a Malaysian state investment fund. Broidy is the latest person accused by...
Waymo removing backup drivers from its autonomous vehicles
Waymo is allowing the general public to hitch a ride in its driverless autonomous vehicles in Phoenix, expanding a service it had been quietly offering to a select group of riders for the past year. The service launches to the general public Thursday. The vehicles, which will have no back-up...
Pennsylvania’s gun background check system sets record
Gun buyers in Pennsylvania between July and September gave the state’s background check system its busiest quarter in its 22-year history, already surpassing 2019’s total so far this year. A record 406,151 background checks were completed between July 1 and Sept. 30, a 55% increase from the same time in...
West Virginia site chosen for high-speed travel facilityVideo
Virgin Hyperloop One will build a certification center in West Virginia for the high-speed transportation concept that uses enclosed pods to zip passengers underground at over 600 mph. The company had received bids from more than a dozen states in the past year to build a 6-mile testing track and...
After 46 years, Cypriot ghost town’s beach opens to public
The pristine, azure waters lapping at the skirts of uninhabited Varosha contrast sharply with the dilapidated, crumbling buildings lining the beachfront of this abandoned suburb of Famagusta. For the first time in 46 years, members of the public were permitted on Thursday to access the beach of Varosha in the...
Brazil strains at quarantine as coronavirus cases pass 5 million
Dozens of people converged on the cobblestone streets of downtown Rio de Janeiro for its traditional Pedra do Sal samba party — the first since the pandemic began — and it seemed Brazil was returning to normal. Among those dancing Monday were Luana Jatobá and two friends, all of whom...
Philadelphia officials express alarm over 2020 gun violence
Philadelphia officials expressed alarm at surging gun violence this year that has already caused more homicides than were recorded in all of last year — and which continued Tuesday with more killings. Commissioner Danielle Outlaw told reporters Tuesday that police were “working very diligently and passionately toward the goal of...
Tensions rise as virus cases surge in Wisconsin, Dakotas
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A surge of coronavirus cases in Wisconsin and the Dakotas is forcing a scramble for hospital beds and raising political tensions, as the Upper Midwest and Plains emerge as one of the nation’s most troubling hotspots. The three states now lead all others in new cases...
Pennsylvania reports 1,376 new coronavirus cases, 27 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Thursday reported a third day of over 1,000 new covid-19 cases, along with 27 new deaths attributed to the coronavirus. The state Department of Health reported 1,376 cases, the highest single day increase in cases since April 30. That brings the total number of cases to 167,928 since...
13 charged in plots against Michigan Gov. Whitmer, policeVideo
DETROIT — Agents foiled a stunning plot to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, authorities said Thursday in announcing charges in an alleged scheme that involved months of planning and even rehearsals to snatch her from her vacation home. Six men were charged in federal court with conspiring to kidnap...
Armenia says cathedral shelled in clashes with Azerbaijan
YEREVAN, Armenia — Armenia accused Azerbaijan on Thursday of shelling a historic cathedral in the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, where nearly two weeks of heavy fighting has killed hundreds of people. The Holy Savior Cathedral, also known as the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, suffered interior and exterior damage, according to the state-run...
‘So frustrating’: Doctors and nurses battle virus skeptics
MISSION, Kan. — Treating the sick and dying isn’t even the toughest part for nurse Amelia Montgomery as the coronavirus surges in her corner of red America. It’s dealing with patients and relatives who don’t believe the virus is real, refuse to wear masks and demand treatments like hydroxychloroquine, which...
‘Sheer anxiety’: Louisiana braces itself for Hurricane Delta
MORGAN CITY, La. — Louisiana residents still recovering from the devastation of a powerful hurricane less than two months ago braced for another hit as Hurricane Delta steamed north through the Gulf on Thursday after swiping Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Forecasters warned that the storm could blow ashore Friday with winds...
Trump hails virus treatment, says he’s ready to do rallies
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is ready to hold campaign rallies and he credited an experimental drug treatment with helping his recovery from COVID-19, although there is no way for the president or his doctors to know whether the drug had any effect. “I’m feeling good....
Protests follow clearing of Wisconsin officer in killing of Black teen
MADISON, Wis. — Residents of a Milwaukee suburb where protests turned violent after a Black police officer was cleared in the fatal shooting of a Black teenager outside a shopping mall were out early Thursday cleaning up debris from overnight damage to businesses. Neighbors wearing masks to protect against the...
Large Chinese mitten crab crawls into German woman’s home
BERLIN — Police in southern Germany say a woman got a shock while airing out her home when a 10-inch Chinese mitten crab scurried in from the terrace through the open door. Freiburg police said Thursday that they received a call reporting the unwanted home invader in the nearby town...
Trump 270 path narrows, Wisconsin mirrors swing state plight
MEDFORD, Wis. — President Donald Trump’s once-comfortable advantage in the pivotal region of Wisconsin around the blue-collar hub of Green Bay has dwindled. In suburban Milwaukee, long a Republican-dominated area, it has thinned as well. And his supporters are far from confident he can find thousands of new voters in...
