Hong Kong government postpones elections, citing coronavirusVideo
HONG KONG — Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Friday that the government will postpone highly anticipated legislative elections, citing a worsening coronavirus outbreak in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. The Hong Kong government is invoking an emergency regulations ordinance in delaying the elections. Lam said the government has the support...
Supreme leader says Iran won’t negotiate with U.S.
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday his country will not negotiate with the United States because America would only use talks for propaganda purposes. The Trump administration has said it is willing to talk with Iran “with no preconditions,” but that the U.S. will continue...
1 Marine dead, 2 injured, 8 missing after vehicle accident
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — One Marine has died, two injured and eight others were missing after an amphibious assault vehicle accident off the coast of southern California, the Marines said early Friday. The accident happened Thursday and search and rescue efforts were underway Friday morning with support from the Navy...
Trump, GOP suggest temporary fix for $600 jobless benefitVideo
WASHINGTON — The White House and some of its Republican allies in the Senate are signaling they want to extend, at least temporarily, a $600-per-week expanded jobless benefit that has helped keep families and the economy afloat during the covid-19 pandemic. The move looks to be too little, too late...
Trump nominee hearing pulled after furor over Islam remarks
WASHINGTON — A Senate committee abruptly canceled a confirmation hearing Thursday on a controversial former general’s nomination to a top Pentagon post after a furor over offensive remarks he made about Islam and other inflammatory comments. The nomination of retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata to be the Pentagon’s under...
Prosecutor: No charges for officer in Michael Brown’s death
CLAYTON, Mo. — St. Louis County’s top prosecutor announced Thursday that he will not charge the former police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., a dramatic decision that could reopen old wounds amid a renewed and intense national conversation about racial injustice and the police treatment of...
1st dog that tested positive for covid-19 dies in New York
NEW YORK — A German shepherd in New York that had the first confirmed case of covid-19 in a dog in the U.S. has died. Robert and Allison Mahoney of Staten Island told National Geographic that their 7-year-old shepherd, Buddy, developed breathing problems in mid-April after Robert had been sick...
At John Lewis funeral, Obama calls for renewing Voting Rights ActVideo
ATLANTA — Former President Barack Obama used Rep. John Lewis’ funeral on Thursday to issue a stark warning that the voting rights and equal opportunity the late civil rights icon championed are threatened heading into the 2020 election. Speaking from the pulpit of the church that Martin Luther King Jr....
Philadelphia trash piles up as pandemic stymies its removal
What would Ben Franklin think? The Founding Father who launched one of America’s first street-sweeping programs in Philadelphia in the late 1750s would see and smell piles of fly-infested, rotting household waste, bottles and cans as the city that he called home struggles to overcome a surge in garbage caused...
Gov. Wolf, GOP critic spar over social media post parroting health secretary’s LGBQT comments
A public back-and-forth between Gov. Tom Wolf and one of his vocal House critics played out Thursday over the Lebanon County lawmaker’s parody of the health department secretary. The feud ended in calls from both parties for censures, resignations and dismissals. The incident started Wednesday with a social media post...
‘Stain on the House’: Ohio reps oust GOP speaker Larry Householder amid probe
COLUMBUS — In a historic, unanimous and bipartisan vote Thursday, the Ohio House ousted its Republican speaker as the chamber’s top leader following his indictment in an alleged $60 million bribery scheme. Rep. Larry Householder is the first Ohio House speaker ever removed by the chamber, according to the Ohio...
‘Isaias’ unleashes flooding, landslides in north CaribbeanVideo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Isaias battered Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic on Thursday as it continued on a forecast track toward the East Coast. The storm unleashed small landslides and caused widespread flooding and power outages on an island still recovering from previous hurricanes and earthquakes....
Dismissal of Michael Flynn’s case will be heard by full appeals court
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court agreed to reconsider its ruling that the judge overseeing the criminal case against President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn had no choice but to dismiss it. The decision to grant a rare “en banc” rehearing before a larger panel of judges...
Pennsylvania reports 860 new coronavirus cases, 14 deaths
Pennsylvania’s total cases of coronavirus has reached 111,078. The state’s Department of Health on Thursday reported 860 new cases. Officials said the number of tests administered statewide within the past seven days is 163,936, with 6,822 individual positive cases being found. With 14 new deaths, the statewide total is now...
Ohio governor asks state pharmacy board to rescind rule prohibiting hydroxychloroquine
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio pharmacy board should rescind a rule prohibiting the prescription of a malaria drug for use by patients with covid-19, Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday. At issue is the prescribing of the drug hydroxychloroquine, whose effectiveness for the coronavirus has been widely questioned. On Wednesday, the...
Former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain dies after covid-19 battleVideo
ATLANTA — Herman Cain, former Republican presidential candidate and former CEO of a major pizza chain who went on to become an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, died Thursday of complications from coronavirus. He was 74. Dan Calabrese, who authored a post on Cain’s website announcing the death, told...
Key witness in Red Bull heir hit-and-run case dies in road accident
BANGKOK — Police in Thailand said Thursday that a witness whose testimony was important in having hit-and-run charges dropped against a heir to the Red Bull energy drink fortune has died in a traffic accident. The accident in the northern province of Chiang Mai occurred late Wednesday night, just days...
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake shakes Los Angeles, but no damage
LOS ANGELES — A magnitude 4.2 earthquake shook the Los Angeles region before dawn Thursday but no significant damage was reported. The 4:29 a.m. jolt was centered in the northern San Fernando Valley and occurred at a depth of 5.5 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said. A magnitude 3.3 aftershock...
Police: Florida couple jailed for refusing to quarantine
MIAMI — Two residents of the Florida Keys have been jailed for failing to quarantine after testing positive for the new coronavirus. Jose Interian, 24, and Yohana Gonzalez, 26, are facing charges of violating isolation rules for a quarantine and violating emergency management disaster preparedness rules, according to jail records....
Trump floats November election delay – but he can’t do that
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is for the first time floating a “delay” to the Nov. 3 presidential election, as he makes unsubstantiated allegations that increased mail-in voting will result in fraud. The dates of presidential elections — the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in every fourth year...
Red panda born in Berlin as part of global breeding program
BERLIN — A rare red panda has been born at a Berlin zoo, only a few months after its parents were brought to the German capital from India, the zoo said in a statement Thursday. The little cub was first discovered on June 6 in its mother’s cave at the...
Fast-moving Pa. building fire kills roughly 42,000 chickens
MARTIC — A fast-moving fire roared through a building at a southern Pennsylvania site, killing about 42,000 chickens and causing nearly $2 million dollars in damages, authorities said. No humans injuries were reported in the fire in Martic Township, which was reported around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The building was one...
1.4 million seek jobless aid as virus keeps forcing layoffs
WASHINGTON — More than 1.4 million laid-off Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, further evidence of the devastation the coronavirus outbreak has unleashed on the U.S. economy. The continuing wave of job cuts is occurring against the backdrop of a spike in virus cases that has led many states...
U.S. economy shrank at record-breaking 33% rate last quarterVideo
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy shrank at a dizzying 33% annual rate in the April-June quarter — by far the worst quarterly plunge ever — when the viral outbreak shut down businesses, throwing tens of millions out of work and sending unemployment surging to 14.7%, the government said Thursday. The...
NASA launches Mars rover to look for signs of ancient lifeVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The biggest, most sophisticated Mars rover ever built — a car-size vehicle bristling with cameras, microphones, drills and lasers — blasted off Thursday as part of an ambitious, long-range project to bring the first Martian rock samples back to Earth to be analyzed for evidence of...
