‘Nation’s eyes are on us’: Pa. in swing-state spotlight as Biden accepts nomination, Trump stumps near Scranton
Joe Biden aimed to rally American voters remotely during his address broadcast Thursday night, capping off the Democratic Party’s first all-virtual convention and four days of speeches equating voting for Biden as a vote to save democracy itself. “This is a life-changing election that will determine America’s future for a...
Biden seeks Democratic, national unity in convention finale
WILMINGTON, Del. — Joe Biden vowed to unite an America torn by crisis and contempt Thursday night, accepting the Democratic presidential nomination in an unfinished personal quest that has spanned three decades and been marred by personal tragedy, political stumbles and more dynamic rivals. The past hurdles fell away as...
Family members of murder victims assail Golden State Killer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Tearful family members of people killed by Joseph DeAngelo assailed him Thursday for stealing away their loved ones as he escalated his attacks from burglaries and rapes to a series of horrific murders that terrorized California four decades ago. “Today the devil loses and justice wins,” Debbi...
Wisconsin election officials: Kanye off presidential ballot
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin election officials decided Thursday to keep rapper Kanye West off the battleground state’s presidential ballot in November because his campaign turned his nomination papers moments after the deadline. West announced in July he’s running for president on a ticket he calls the “Birthday Party.” West has...
California firefighters `taxed to the limit’ seeking help
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — More than two dozen major fires were scorching California on Thursday and taxing the state’s firefighting capacity, sparked by an unprecedented lightning siege that dropped nearly 11,000 strikes over several days. The fires have destroyed 175 structures, including homes, and are threatening 50,000 more, said Daniel...
Video shows Muslim man’s faith mocked during fatal arrest
PHOENIX — An advocacy group released what they say is previously unseen body camera footage Thursday showing Phoenix police mocking the religion of a Black Muslim man who later died in their custody. Muslim Advocates, a national civil rights organization, released video from the 2017 death of Muhammad Abdul Muhaymin...
Trump eager to troll Biden outside his Scranton birthplace
On Joe Biden’s big day, President Donald Trump is planning to show up in his rival’s old backyard. Trump, in what can only be described as a piece of campaign trolling, on Thursday afternoon was staging an event just outside the former vice president’s birthplace in Scranton, Pennsylvania, mere hours...
Record melt: Greenland lost 586 billion tons of ice in 2019
Greenland lost a record amount of ice during an extra warm 2019, with the melt massive enough to cover California in more than four feet of water, a new study said. After two years when summer ice melt had been minimal, last summer shattered all records with 586 billion tons...
Russia’s Navalny in coma, allegedly poisoned by toxic tea
MOSCOW — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was in a coma and on a ventilator Thursday in an intensive care unit in Siberia after falling ill from suspected poisoning that his allies believe is linked to his political activity. The 44-year-old critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin felt unwell on...
New federal guidance may exempt covid-exposed teachers from quarantine
ATLANTA — New guidance from President Donald Trump’s administration that declares teachers to be “critical infrastructure workers” could exempt teachers from quarantine requirements after being exposed to the coronavirus and send them back into the classroom. Keeping teachers without symptoms in the classroom, as a handful of school districts in...
Trump wants Supreme Court’s OK to let him block critics on Twitter
President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to allow him to block critics from his personal Twitter account. The administration said in a high-court filing Thursday that Trump’s realdonaldtrump account with more than 85 million followers is his personal property and blocking people from it is akin to elected...
Trump reaffirms plan to withdraw all U.S. troops from IraqVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday reaffirmed his plan to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq as quickly as possible as he met with the prime minister of Iraq to discuss ways to rein in pro-Iran militias in the country and counter residual threats from Islamic State sleeper cells....
Judge OKs Manhattan DA getting Trump tax returns, president to appeal
NEW YORK — As President Donald Trump’s lawyers moved swiftly Thursday to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that granted Manhattan’s top prosecutor access to his tax returns, Trump blasted the long-running quest for his financial records as a “continuation of the most disgusting witch hunt in the history of our...
Pennsylvania adds 791 new covid-19 cases, 15 new deaths to total
Pennsylvania reported 791 more coronavirus cases as of Thursday, according to the state Department of Health. There were also 15 new deaths from covid-19 reported in the state. Two of the past three days have seen case increases of 700 or more, with 791 new cases Thursday and 735 new...
China, U.S. say talks on implementing trade pact coming soon
BEIJING — Chinese and U.S. trade envoys will hold a meeting by phone “in the near future” to discuss an agreement aimed at resolving a tariff war, a Commerce Ministry spokesman said Thursday. The spokesman, Gao Feng, gave no details of the timing at a ministry news briefing. White House...
Ex-Trump aide Bannon pleads not guilty in border wall scheme
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, was pulled from a luxury yacht and arrested Thursday on allegations that he and three associates ripped off donors trying to fund a southern border wall, making him the latest in a long list of Trump allies to be...
Airbnb bans house parties worldwide, citing virus mandates
Airbnb is banning house parties worldwide as it tries to clean up its reputation and comply with coronavirus-related limits on gatherings. The San Francisco home sharing company will limit occupancy in its rental homes to 16 people. It may offer exceptions for boutique hotels or other event venues. Airbnb said...
Thousands of chicks arrive dead to farmers amid USPS turmoil
PORTLAND, Maine — At least 4,800 chicks shipped to Maine farmers through the U.S. Postal Service have arrived dead in the recent weeks since rapid cuts hit the federal mail carrier’s operations, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said. Pingree, a Maine Democrat, is raising the issue of the dead chicks and...
Obama, in scathing Trump rebuke, warns democracy on the lineVideo
WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama warned Wednesday night that American democracy may not survive if President Donald Trump is reelected, a damning assessment of his successor intended to jolt Democrats into rallying around Joe Biden in the November election. “This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down...
Bernie Sanders delegates seek bold changes beyond unseating Donald Trump, some report feeling left out of DNC events
Despite his passion for politics and role as a Pennsylvania delegate, Mike Cordaro laments feeling a little left out of this year’s Democratic National Convention. He’s feeling alienated not merely because of the all-virtual events, but because he’s a fan of Bernie Sanders. “I’ve asked every day if there will...
Victims want Golden State Killer sent to toughest prison
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Victims of California serial killer and rapist Joseph DeAngelo want him locked away in a distant maximum security prison with other inmates since he isn’t going to spend the rest of his life on death row. But they may not hold much sway over where the 74-year-old...
Navy experiments with ‘cyborg locusts’ to find explosives
Call the swat team. Bomb-sniffing “cyborg locusts” could be the next wave in national security, according to military news agency Stars and Stripes. Washington University researchers, funded by the U.S. Navy, reportedly indicate that locusts can differentiate between TNT, ammonium nitrate and other bomb-making materials, and locate their origins almost...
Ex-Navy SEAL who claims he killed Osama bin Laden tweets, then deletes, maskless selfie aboard flight
**This story contains explicit language** He went to war to fight for his country … but won’t wear a mask during a pandemic? Former Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill, who claims to have fired the shots that killed Osama bin Laden, tweeted a selfie Wednesday bragging about not wearing a mask...
Firefighters contain large blaze at Dallas-area factory
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — A massive daylong fire at a Dallas-area plastics factory Wednesday that sent a dense column of toxic black smoke over North Texas before fire crews could tame it has been contained, fire officials said. There were no reports of injuries from the midnight Tuesday blaze at...
California governor: Hundreds of wildfires blazing statewide
VACAVILLE, Calif. — Crews were battling wildfires in the San Francisco Bay Area and thousands of people were under orders to evacuate Wednesday as hundreds of wildfires blazed across the state amid a blistering heat wave now in its second week. Gov. Gavin Newsom blamed “this extraordinary weather we’re experiencing...
