Jimmy Carter, America’s oldest living president ever, turns 96
Former President Jimmy Carter marks his 96th birthday Thursday, the latest milestone for the longest-lived of the 44 men to hold the highest American office. Carter planned to celebrate at his home in Plains, Georgia, with his wife of 74 years, Rosalynn Carter, according to a spokeswoman for the Carter...
Report finds flaws in Catholic Church abuse-prevention plans
NEW YORK — Child-protection policies adopted by Roman Catholic leaders to curb clergy sex abuse in the United States are inconsistent and often worryingly incomplete, according to a think tank’s two-year investigation encompassing all 32 of the country’s archdioceses. The analysis by Philadelphia-based CHILD USA said the inconsistencies and gaps...
U.S. layoffs remain elevated as 837,000 seek jobless aid
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits declined last week to a still-high 837,000, evidence that the economy is struggling to sustain a tentative recovery that began this summer. The Labor Department’s report, released Thursday, suggests that companies are still cutting a historically high number of jobs, though the weekly...
Moderator Chris Wallace on the wild presidential debate: ‘It was revealing’
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace was surprised by the ugly contentiousness of the first 2020 debate between President Donald Trump and his opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, on Tuesday, but he believes the clash still offered viewers plenty of insights about the two candidates. “Obviously it was not the...
Parscale steps back from Trump team after hospitalization
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager is stepping away from the reelection campaign days after he was hospitalized after Florida law enforcement officials said threatened to harm himself. Brad Parscale, one of Trump’s closest political aides, served as the campaign manager for the reelection effort until July, when...
Biden scores big union wins on train trek through Western PennsylvaniaVideo
It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood Wednesday for former Vice President Joe Biden as he ventured deep into what was the heart of Trump country in Westmoreland County in 2016 to pick up endorsements from two unions that represent 950,000 working people. Fresh from the spectacle of Tuesday...
12 Democratic governors vow that all votes will be counted
LANSING, Mich. — Twelve Democratic governors issued a joint statement on Wednesday defending American democracy, vowing that every valid ballot will be counted in the election after President Donald Trump sowed distrust during the first presidential debate. Trump claimed without evidence Tuesday night that mail voting — surging in popularity...
California to study reparations for Black Americans
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will develop a detailed plan for reparations under a new law signed on Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, making it the first state to mandate a study of how it can make amends for its role in the oppression of Black people. The law creates a...
Video: Hobbled Black woman begged for help in police cruiser
DENVER — A suburban police agency near Denver is facing more scrutiny for its officers’ treatment of Black people after a video emerged showing a woman begging to be lifted up after she fell to the floor in the back of a police cruiser with her hands and feet cuffed...
Pelosi, Mnuchin have ‘extensive’ talks on covid-19 relief
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held an “extensive conversation” Wednesday on a huge covid-19 rescue package, meeting face to face for the first time in more than a month in a last-ditch effort to seal a tentative accord on an additional round of coronavirus...
Debate commission will make changes after 1st meeting between Trump, Biden
NEW YORK — The presidential debate commission says it will soon adopt changes to its format to avoid a repeat of the disjointed first meeting between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden. The commission said Wednesday the debate “made clear that additional structure should be added to the format...
Trump campaign threatens to sue over Philly election offices
HARRISBURG — President Donald Trump’s campaign has threatened a lawsuit by Wednesday afternoon if it does not gain access soon for its campaign officials to observe activity inside newly opened satellite election offices in Philadelphia, where people can register to vote, apply for mail-in ballots and fill them out. A...
Pa. health secretary concerned about lingering effects of covid-19 on ‘recovered’ patients
A person is generally considered recovered from covid-19 about 30 days after they test positive or exhibit symptoms, according to state health officials. But that doesn’t mean the virus-stricken person has returned to normal health, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said Wednesday. She called people who have lingering effects...
Julian Assange bugged while at Ecuadorian Embassy, UK court told
Julian Assange’s conversations in the latter part of his 7-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London were systematically bugged, even in the toilet, a London court heard Wednesday. In written statements at Assange’s extradition hearing, two anonymous witnesses who worked for a Spanish firm with a security contract at...
Gray parrots separated at zoo after swearing a blue streak
LONDON — A British zoo has had to separate five foul-mouthed parrots who keepers say were encouraging each other to swear. Billy, Eric, Tyson, Jade and Elsie joined Lincolnshire Wildlife Centre’s colony of 200 gray parrots in August, and soon revealed a penchant for blue language. “We are quite used...
9 discarded ballots weren’t fraud, Pennsylvania election chief says
HARRISBURG — It appears that an election worker’s decision to throw out nine military ballots in Wilkes-Barre amounted to a mistake and not “intentional fraud,” the state’s top elections official said Wednesday. Workers in the elections office in Luzerne County are getting training on handling mailed-in military and overseas ballots,...
Trump urged to intervene in trial of U.S.-Saudi national
The trial of a U.S. citizen who is also a Saudi national began Wednesday in Saudi Arabia in a counter-terrorism court that has been used to imprison rights activists in a case that could spark further tensions in already uneasy U.S.-Saudi relations. The case of Salah al-Haidar, who has been...
As Brazil’s wetlands burned, government did little to help
PORTO JOFRE, Brazil — After hours navigating Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands in search of jaguars earlier this month, Daniel Moura beached his boat to survey the fire damage. In every direction, he saw only devastation. No wildlife, and no support from federal authorities. “We used to see jaguars here all the...
Portland asks U.S. to rescind deputization of city police
The mayor of Portland has asked U.S. officials to end the federal deputation of dozens of police officers in Oregon’s largest city as part of the response to ongoing protests in the city. Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement late Tuesday that he had “asked the U.S. Attorney’s office...
Pennsylvania reports 1,153 new coronavirus cases, 19 new deaths
Pennsylvania had its fifth day in September with more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 1,153 new cases, its third-highest day of the month, bringing the total to 158,967. The state also reported 19 new deaths on Wednesday, with one from July and...
Brazil president says Biden’s Amazon comments ‘disastrous’
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday attacked U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden for saying that the South American nation should suffer “significant economic consequences” if devastation of the Amazon rainforest continues. Biden said during Tuesday’s debate with President Donald Trump, an ally of Bolsonaro, that foreign...
5 takeaways from the presidential debate
So what did we learn from Tuesday night’s televised presidential debate? Not a whole lot. In a debate that figures to be remembered mostly for how much President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden insulted and talked over each other, what the candidates didn’t say and the opportunities...
U.S. says it will block palm oil from large Malaysian producer
The United States will detain shipments of palm oil and its products from a major producer in Malaysia after a wide range of labor abuse indicators were found, including physical and sexual violence and forced child labor, an official said Wednesday. The withhold release order against FGV Holdings Berhad goes...
Resorts to RV parks: Parents take school year on the road
NEW YORK — In RVs, rental homes and five-star resorts, families untethered by the constraints of physical classrooms for their kids have turned the new school year into an extended summer vacation, some lured by the ailing hotel industry catering to parents with remote learners through “roadschooling” amenities. With the...
Pompeo urges Vatican to condemn human rights abuses in China
ROME — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the Vatican on Wednesday to join the U.S. in denouncing violations of religious freedom in China, saying the Catholic Church should be at the forefront in the fight to insist on basic human rights there. Pompeo made the appeal at a...
