Texas deaths hit record, schools get OK for virtual classes
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas on Friday gave public schools permission to keep campuses closed for more than 5 million students well into the fall as the state scrambles to contain one of the largest resurgences of the coronavirus in the country. California also issued strict guidance that makes it unlikely...
Tennessee governor delays scheduled execution due to virus
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee death row inmate received a rare temporary reprieve from Gov. Bill Lee on Friday, after the Republican announced the execution would not take place this year because of the coronavirus — a reason the state’s highest court had previously dismissed as cause to delaying the...
Pentagon report: Turkey sent up to 3,800 fighters to Libya
Turkey sent between 3,500 and 3,800 paid Syrian fighters to Libya over the first three months of the year, the U.S. Defense Department’s inspector general concluded in a new report, its first to detail Turkish deployments that helped change the course of Libya’s war. The report comes as the conflict...
Jay-Z, other celebs ask feds to probe student’s 2010 killing
Rihanna, Jay-Z, Charlize Theron and other celebrities are calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the death of 20-year-old Danroy “DJ” Henry Jr., a Black football player at Pace University killed by a white police officer in New York nearly a decade ago. In a letter sent this...
Mayor of Portland to Trump: Get your troops out of the city
PORTLAND, Ore. — The mayor of Portland demanded Friday that President Donald Trump remove militarized federal agents he deployed to the city after some detained people on streets far from federal property they were sent to protect. “Keep your troops in your own buildings, or have them leave our city,”...
New California rules mean most schools will start online
SAN FRANCISCO — With the first day of school just weeks away in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out sweeping new rules Friday that all but ensure most of the state’s K-12 schools serving 6.7 million students will not reopen classrooms when the academic year starts. The rules also mandate...
Study: Andean condors can fly up to 100 miles without flapping wings
Talk about the path of least resistance. An observation from a recent study on flight habits of large birds followed an Andean condor that soared in the skies for 100 miles without having to flap its wings even once. Scientists tracked a soaring Andean condor for 100 miles (172 kilometers)...
Utility worker in Nebraska recovering after being impaled by steel rod
FIRTH, Neb. — A Nebraska power utility worker is recovering from surgery after being impaled by a 2-foot-long steel rod while on the job near Firth, authorities said. The incident happened Thursday afternoon while Nebraska Public Power District worker Roger Kempf, 46, and a coworker were clearing brush from underneath...
Israel to shut down on weekends in response to virus surgeVideo
JERUSALEM — Israel announced sweeping new restrictions Friday in response to a new surge in coronavirus cases, including weekend closures of many businesses and limiting restaurants to takeout and delivery. The government announced the restrictions after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “interim steps” were needed to avoid another general lockdown....
Pentagon bans Confederate flag in way to avoid Trump’s wrath
After weeks of wrangling, the Pentagon is banning displays of the Confederate flag on military installations, in a carefully worded policy that doesn’t mention the word ban or that specific flag. The policy, laid out in a memo released Friday, was described by officials as a creative way to bar...
China moves rocket into place for upcoming Mars missionVideo
BEIJING — China has moved a rocket into position to launch a rover to Mars in one of three upcoming missions to the red planet, one from the United States and another by the United Arab Emirates. The Long March-5 carrier rocket is China’s heaviest-lift launch vehicle and has been...
Military medics deploy in California, Texas as coronavirus surges
Teams of military medics were deployed in Texas and California to help hospitals deluged by coronavirus patients, as Miami area authorities began stepping up enforcement Friday of a mask requirement — echoing efforts in many parts of the world to contain surging infections. In California, military doctors, nurses and other...
Chicago plan would have kids in classrooms 2 days per week
CHICAGO — Most Chicago children would return to the classroom two days a week and spend the other three days learning remotely once the school year begins under a tentative plan outlined Friday by officials from the nation’s third-largest school district. Chicago Public Schools officials called the proposed hybrid approach...
Queen makes veteran a knight at 100 — no kneeling requiredVideo
LONDON — In the end, Sir Tom didn’t need to rise. On a day infused with emotion, Queen Elizabeth II tapped the blade of a sword once owned by her father on the slender shoulders of 100-year-old Tom Moore, making a hero of a nation a knight of the realm...
Germany: Black Forest fugitive held after 5 days on the run
BERLIN — A man who disarmed four officers at gunpoint in southwestern Germany before fleeing into the Black Forest has been arrested after five days on the run, police said Friday. Four firearms were seized, police said in a brief statement, without giving further details of what happened. Hours earlier,...
Person in custody in killing of tech CEO who was found dismembered
NEW YORK — A person was taken into police custody Friday in the killing of a 33-year-old tech entrepreneur found dismembered inside his luxury Manhattan condo, two law enforcement officials said. The person in custody had worked as Fahim Saleh’s personal assistant, the officials told The Associated Press. The officials...
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says cancer has returned, but won’t retireVideo
WASHINGTON — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Friday she is receiving chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer, but has no plans to retire from the Supreme Court. The 87-year-old Ginsburg, who spent time in the hospital this week for a possible infection, said her treatment so far has succeeded in...
June jobless rate slid down in Pennsylvania, payrolls jumped
Pennsylvania’s unemployment slid a bit down in June after hitting a pandemic peak in April, but it was well above the national rate even as payrolls rebounded by more 230,000, the state reported Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 13% in June, down four-tenths of a percentage point from May’s adjusted...
Pennsylvania covid-19 cases jump by 1,032; 19 new deaths reported
Pennsylvania reported its highest number of coronavirus cases in two months as it approaches the 100,000 mark. The 1,032 new cases announced Friday are the most the state has reported since May 10 and bring the total to 99,478. The state’s department of health reported 19 more deaths, bringing the...
3M files lawsuits for price gouging of N95 masksVideo
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — The leading manufacturer of N95 masks in the United States says it has investigated 4,000 reports of fraud, counterfeiting and price gouging in connection with the product and has filed 18 lawsuits. 3M, based in Maplewood, is among the largest global producers of the N95 mask, which...
France delays retirement reform that caused mass strikes
PARIS — France’s government is delaying a divisive overhaul of the country’s retirement system until at least the end of the year because of the economic crisis unleashed by the pandemic. Prime Minister Jean Castex announced after meeting with unions Friday that the pension reform “will be maintained.” But he...
Princess Beatrice marries in private ceremony at Windsor
LONDON — Buckingham Palace says that Princess Beatrice has got married in a private ceremony, with her grandmother Queen Elizabeth II in attendance. Beatrice married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi Friday morning at The Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor. The monarch, the Duke of Edinburgh and other close...
Report: Democratic officials tell party officials to not attend the 2020 DNC
Democratic officials have told politicians and party delegates to steer clear of Milwaukee next month, the New York Times reported late Thursday. Milwaukee is the site of the Democratic National Convention that’s scheduled in August, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, plans have been shelved. NEW: Democratic National Convention organizers...
U.S. official visits Portland, calls protesters ‘anarchists’Video
PORTLAND, Ore. — The head of the Department of Homeland Security visited Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, just hours after issuing a scathing statement that called the protesters who have taken to the streets every night for nearly two months “violent anarchists” and a “violent mob” that have kept the liberal...
Texas coronavirus deaths hit triple digits for second day in a rowVideo
AUSTIN — The death toll from the coronavirus continued to rise Thursday as Texas health officials reported a record 129 new fatalities. It was a daily high for the second consecutive day, after Texas recorded 110 deaths on Wednesday, and marked the third time the daily death count has reached...
