Germany: OPCW confirms nerve agent used in Navalny poisoning
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The global chemical watchdog group has confirmed Germany and other countries’ findings that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was the victim of an attack with a Soviet-era nerve agent, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman said Tuesday. Steffen Seibert said in a statement that the Organization for...
3 scientists win Nobel physics prize for black hole research
STOCKHOLM — Three scientists won this year’s Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for advancing our understanding of black holes, the all-consuming monsters that lurk in the darkest parts of the universe. Briton Roger Penrose received half of this year’s prize “for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust...
Hurricane Delta now Category 4, roars at Mexico’s Yucatan
MEXICO CITY — Hurricane Delta rapidly intensified into a dangerous Category 4 storm with 145 mph wind Tuesday while following a course to hammer southeastern Mexico and then continue on to the U.S. Gulf Coast later in the week. The worst of the immediate impact was expected along the resort-studded...
Lines long as early voting begins amid pandemic precautions
NORWOOD, Ohio — Long lines developed early and stayed that way at election boards as early voting began Tuesday in Ohio, which again was looming as a potential swing state, but this time in a pandemic-altered election. Hundreds waited outside board offices in Hamilton, Franklin and Cuyahoga counties, which serve...
Aldi, Amazon recall apple chips for possible salmonella contamination
Seneca Snack Co. of Washington has recalled two brands of apple chips that may be contaminated with salmonella. Clancy’s Cinnamon Apple Chips sold at Aldi and Seneca Cinnamon Apple Chips sold through Amazon are recalled. “Seneca was notified by an ingredient supplier that it shipped one lot of ingredients containing...
Penn State delays spring semester’s start, cancels spring break
Penn State students will be going back to school one week late, following a series of changes made to the spring semester aimed at making on-campus learning safer amid the covid-19 pandemic. Officials announced plans for the 2021 spring semester Sunday, which include a later start date in January, continuation...
Pence and Harris to debate through plexiglass because of coronavirus concerns
Vice President Mike Pence and California Sen. Kamala Harris will debate Wednesday separated by plexiglass shields, one of a handful of changes debate officials are making in response to concerns about covid-19. President Donald Trump was hospitalized after falling ill late last week. Pence met with the president in the...
Supreme Court reinstates South Carolina ballot witness requirement
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday reinstated a requirement that South Carolina residents voting by mail in November’s election get a witness to sign their ballots. Democrats had sought to have the requirement put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Republicans had defended it as deterring fraud....
CDC says coronavirus can spread indoors in updated guidance
NEW YORK — The top U.S. public health agency said Monday that the coronavirus can spread more than 6 feet through the air, especially in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces. But agency officials maintained that such spread is uncommon and current social distancing guidelines still make sense. However, several experts...
Paris on maximum virus alert, closing bars, not restaurantsVideo
PARIS — French authorities placed the Paris region on maximum virus alert on Monday, banning festive gatherings and requiring all bars to close but allowing restaurants to remain open, as numbers of infections increased rapidly. Paris police prefect Didier Lallement announced the new restrictions would apply at least for the...
Timeline: Pat Toomey’s rise from Lehigh Valley congressman to the U.S. Senate
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who became the Lehigh Valley’s most powerful elected official, will return to private life when his current term ends in 2022, he announced Monday. “Representing the people of Pennsylvania, this big, beautiful, complicated, diverse state, has been an extraordinary honor,” Toomey, 58, said at a news...
Pat Toomey’s announced exit sends Pennsylvania politicos scrambling
Monday’s confirmation by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, that he will call it quits in 2022 and not run to become the next governor of Pennsylvania set the stage for an early scramble among candidates now that two statewide seats will be open. “All of the Republican politicos just...
Texas Republican calls on state attorney general to resign
DALLAS — A Republican congressman from Texas became the most prominent member of his party to call for the resignation of the state’s Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, after Paxton’s top deputies reported him to law enforcement for alleged crimes including bribery and abuse of office. Rep. Chip Roy, who...
New Jersey governor: Trump fundraiser at Bedminster ‘put lives at risk’Video
TRENTON, N.J. — President Donald Trump’s fundraiser at his Bedminster golf club hours before he announced he had contracted the coronavirus was wrong and “put lives at risk,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday. Murphy called the trip the “wrong decision at every level” and said it should have...
Trump seizes on small election issues to spread concern
WASHINGTON — Nine ballots discarded in Pennsylvania. A mail carrier who altered a handful of affidavit ballot applications. People being sent double ballots. In the run up to Election Day, President Donald Trump is seizing on small, potentially routine voting issues to suggest the election is rigged. But there is...
Trump leaves hospital, declares ‘I feel good’Video
WASHINGTON — Stepping gingerly, President Donald Trump walked out the military hospital Monday night where he has been receiving an unprecedented level of care for covid-19, immediately igniting a new controversy by declaring that despite his illness the nation should not fear the virus that has killed more than 210,000...
WHO: 10% of world’s people may have been infected with coronavirus
GENEVA — The head of emergencies at the World Health Organization said Monday the agency’s “best estimates” indicate roughly 1 in 10 people worldwide may have been infected by the coronavirus — more than 20 times the number of confirmed cases — and warned of a difficult period ahead. Dr....
Mexico City shooting leaves 6 dead, 4 injured
MEXICO CITY — Mexico City police reported that a shootout between rival gangs left six people dead and four wounded. The city prosecutor’s office said Sunday that the shooting occurred outside a business in a rough neighborhood on the city’s north side. Bullets fired in the fray hit nearby businesses...
Deadly floods hit France, Italy; sweep coffins over borderVideo
Three more bodies were discovered Monday on the French side of the border with Italy after severe mountain flooding ravaged parts of both countries, leaving at least 12 dead. Hundreds of rescue workers were searching for up to 20 other people still missing. Flooding devastated mountainous areas in France’s southeastern...
Epic scale of California wildfires continues to grow
The staggering scale of California’s wildfires reached another milestone Monday: A single fire surpassed 1 million acres. The new mark for the August Complex in the Coast Range between San Francisco and the Oregon border came a day after the total area of land burned by California wildfires this year...
UK hit by new virus test failing, finds 16,000 extra cases
The British government has launched an investigation into how nearly 16,000 new coronavirus infections went unreported as a result of a technical glitch, a failing that could have given fresh impetus to an outbreak that critics say is already out of control. Health Secretary Matt Hancock told lawmakers in the...
Pennsylvania adds 672 new covid cases, 11 new deaths
There were 672 new cases of coronavirus announced in Pennsylvania on Monday, according to a report from the state’s Department of Health. In the past seven days, 7,381 covid cases have been added to the state’s total of 164,207. It’s the fourth day the seven-day total has surpassed 7,000 cases,...
Officer wounded in Breonna Taylor protests out of hospital
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A police officer wounded during protests rekindled by a Kentucky grand jury’s decision to not charge officers in the death of Breonna Taylor has been released from the hospital. Louisville Metro Police Officer Robinson Desroches and another officer were shot on Sept. 23 during protests held after...
3 blow up ATM in open Chinese restaurant in Philadelphia, flee without cash
Three men blew up an ATM in a Chinese takeout restaurant in Philadelphia while the establishment was still open but were unable to get any cash, police said. The men entered the Golden Chinese/American takeout restaurant in northwest Philadelphia shortly after 9 p.m. Friday and ordered food, police said. They...
Belgium’s new princess sees no need to be treated as royalty
Delphine Boel has been acknowledged as Belgian Princess Delphine of Saxe-Coburg, after a two-decade royal paternity scandal. Still, she said on Monday she’d still rather be considered an artist than a royal. Last week, a Belgian court ruled in her favor and officially recognized her as the daughter of former...
