Close but not yet: Deal near on covid economic aid bill
WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators on the long-delayed $900 billion covid-19 economic relief package worked through a handful of remaining holdups Thursday as they labored to seal a final agreement for more help to businesses and the unemployed and new stimulus payments to most Americans. Top congressional leaders also finally acknowledged...
U.S. Joint Chiefs chairman meets with Taliban on peace talks
KABUL, Afghanistan — The top U.S. general held unannounced talks with Taliban peace negotiators in the Persian Gulf to urge a reduction in violence across Afghanistan, even as senior American officials in Kabul warned that stepped-up Taliban attacks endanger the militant group’s nascent peace negotiations with the Afghan government. Army...
He came to Baltimore from rural Pennsylvania to buy drugs. Now he’s dead and a 13-year-old boy is charged with murder
BALTIMORE — A Pennsylvania man who police said was gunned down by a 13-year-old boy in Southwest Baltimore struggled with addiction and was in the city to buy heroin to bring back home, the man’s family said. Chad Michael Jordan, 40, of Jefferson, Pa., was shot and killed Friday after...
Alaska health care worker hospitalized after receiving covid-19 vaccine
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Juneau health care worker was hospitalized and treated for a serious allergic reaction after receiving the covid-19 vaccine Tuesday, hospital and health officials said Wednesday. The worker felt flush and took an antihistamine around 10 minutes after receiving the vaccine Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. She felt...
‘If not one thing, it’s another’: Storm rolls into Northeast
NEW YORK — A major snowstorm rolled into the Northeast on Wednesday at a key moment in the coronavirus pandemic, days after the start of the U.S. vaccination campaign and in the thick of a virus surge that has throngs of people seeking tests per day. Snow was falling from...
Chicago mayor apologizes to woman for wrongful police raid
CHICAGO — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot apologized Wednesday to a social worker whose home was wrongly raided by police officers who did not allow the woman to put on any clothes before handcuffing her. A civilian review board is investigating the 2019 incident at Anjanette Young’s home of which Chicago’s...
Texas oilman’s Ansel Adams photo gets $988,000 at auction
DALLAS — A West Texas oilman’s mural-sized print of an Ansel Adams photo has sold for nearly $1 million at an auction. Sotheby’s New York, the auction house, said Tuesday that “The Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming” sold for $988,000, a record price for...
IS widow convicted in Charlie Hebdo, kosher market attacks
PARIS — The fugitive widow of an Islamic State gunman and a man described as his logistician were convicted Wednesday of terrorism charges and sentenced to 30 years in prison in the trial of 14 people linked to the January 2015 Paris attacks against the satirical Charlie Hebdo newspaper and...
As covid-19 surges, Pennsylvania colleges urged to delay students’ return
Citing “an alarming increase in covid-19 cases” and yet another surge expected to peak in January, Pennsylvania acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega on Wednesday urged colleges and universities to delay the start of their spring semester. Ortega also suggested colleges and universities use virtual instruction as much as possible....
U.S. plans new charges in 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department plans to unseal new charges in the coming days in connection with the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, according to a person familiar with the case. The bombing of Flight 103, whose victims included dozens...
U.S. angling to secure more of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials say they’re actively negotiating for additional purchases of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine after passing up a chance to lock in a contract this summer since it was still unclear how well the shots would work. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and special adviser Dr. Moncef...
MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, has given $4.2 billion to charity in 4 months
For many in the U.S. the coronavirus pandemic has brought insurmountable hardship and loss, while others have seen their fortunes soar. CBS News reports that MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, is among those who have seen a substantial increase in their fortunes. Scott, however, has chosen...
Arizona ties, sets records for virus deaths, hospital usage
PHOENIX — Arizona on Wednesday tied a previous record of coronavirus deaths in one day during the current virus surge while its available hospital bed capacity dropped to a record-low since the start of the pandemic. As the state’s vaccination program began to ramp up, the state Department of Health...
Kenyan man charged with plotting 9/11-style attack on U.S.
NEW YORK — Federal authorities have unsealed an indictment charging a Kenyan man with trying to stage a 9/11-style attack on the United States on behalf of the terrorist organization al-Shabab. Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 30, who was arrested in the Philippines in 2019, was transferred to U.S. custody Tuesday on...
Pennsylvania reports over 10K coronavirus cases for 5th time in 7 days
Pennsylvania’s coronavirus case total grew by 10,049 on Wednesday, the fifth time in the past seven days with a total above 10,000. The new cases reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health bring the state’s total to 519,369. On Wednesday, Pennsylvania surpassed 500,000 cases, becoming the seventh state to reach...
Iran nuclear deal members urge Tehran return to compliance
BERLIN — World powers that are part of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran urged Tehran on Wednesday to roll back violations of the accord and return to full compliance during a virtual meeting in Vienna, a German official said. The meeting came as the signatories to the agreement...
Almost 140,000 people in U.K. have had coronavirus shot so far
Almost 140,000 people in the U.K. have been vaccinated against coronavirus in the first week of the rollout, the government said. Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said there were 108,000 vaccinations in England, 18,000 in Scotland, 7,897 in Wales and 4,000 in Northern Ireland — a total of 137,897 over seven...
McConnell warns GOP off Electoral College brawl in Congress
WASHINGTON — Fending off a messy fight that could damage Republicans ahead of Georgia Senate runoffs, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned fellow GOP senators not to join President Donald Trump’s extended assault on the Electoral College results. In public remarks and private warnings on Tuesday, McConnell worked to push ahead...
Negotiators near agreement on long-delayed covid-19 aid bill
WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators closed in Wednesday on a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package that would deliver additional “paycheck protection” subsidies to businesses, $300 per week jobless checks, and $600 or so stimulus payments to most Americans. The long-delayed measure was coming together as Capitol Hill combatants finally fashioned difficult...
Turning the page? Republicans acknowledge Biden’s victory
WASHINGTON — More than a month after the election, top Republicans finally acknowledged Joe Biden as the next U.S. president, a collapse in GOP resistance to the millions of voters who decisively chose the Democrat. Foreign leaders joined the parade, too, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Speaking on Tuesday from the...
Nigerians anxious after 330 boys kidnapped by extremists
KANKARA, Nigeria — Anger, fear and exhaustion. Anxiety has overwhelmed many parents in Nigeria’s northern village of Kankara who await word on their sons who are among the more than 330 kidnapped by extremists from a government boys’ school late Friday. Nigeria’s Boko Haram jihadist rebels have claimed responsibility for...
N.J. seeks $124K in fines from gym that refused to stay closed despite pandemic order
The state of New Jersey is trying to collect on $123,900 in fines against the owners of a gym it says has been in “non-compliance and contempt” of state executive orders related to the coronavirus pandemic. The owners of the Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, Camden County, have turned their defiance...
China indicts 10 Hong Kong residents over attempt to flee
HONG KONG — Chinese prosecutors on Wednesday announced the indictment of 10 people from Hong Kong over an attempt to flee the city amid a crackdown on opposition political activity. The Yantian district prosecutor’s office in the city of Shenzhen just across the border from Hong Kong said on its...
Iran leaders: Biden arrival won’t guarantee better relations
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s supreme leader and the country’s president both warned America on Wednesday that the departure of President Donald Trump does not immediately mean better relations between the two nations. The remarks come as Iran approaches the first anniversary of the U.S. drone strike that killed Revolutionary Guard...
Investigation opened after women’s symbol put on Polish flag
WARSAW, Poland — Prosecutors have opened an investigation into whether the Polish flag was publicly insulted after a family in Warsaw hung a flag from their balcony combined with a lightning bolt, a symbol for women’s rights in Poland. It’s the latest incident to raise questions about freedom of expression...
