US jobs surge: Trump sees sunshine, Biden ‘no victory yet’
NEW YORK — The U.S. economy just posted its best single-month job gain in history. U.S. unemployment is at one of its worst points since the Great Depression. Both are true. As Republicans and Democrats fought to spin Thursday’s jobs numbers to their advantage, both sides face tremendous political risks...
Booker reaches out to unite Democrats against McConnell
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Looking to flex his newfound influence among Kentucky Democrats after his Senate campaign fell just short, Charles Booker reached out Thursday to unite behind Amy McGrath’s uphill fight to unseat Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Booker, a progressive who lost to McGrath by about 15,100 votes...
Military chief: Troops were issued bayonets in DC unrest
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has confirmed a report by The Associated Press that some of the service members who were mobilized to Washington, D.C., last month in response to civil unrest over the killing of George Floyd were issued bayonets. Defense documents obtained...
One officer shown in Elijah McClain photos resigns
AURORA, Colo. — One of the police officers investigated over photographs connected with the death of Elijah McClain in Colorado has resigned, Aurora police said Thursday. In a tweet, the department said that Jaron Jones was one of those depicted in the photos, which were taken sometime after McClain’s death...
Iowa governor signs abortion law amid court challenge
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday signed into law a bill that requires women to wait 24 hours before getting an abortion, trying again to institute a restriction similar to one struck down two years ago by the Iowa Supreme Court. Reynolds signed the measure into law just after lawyers...
Judge: N.Y. lockup’s covid-19 response lacked common sense
NEW YORK — A Manhattan federal lockup failed to implement common-sense measures to protect prisoners after a COVID-19 outbreak infected dozens of inmates at the facility, a judge said Thursday. U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos said four inmates who sued over conditions at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on behalf of...
Jeffrey Epstein victims cheer arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell
MIAMI — Jeffrey Epstein’s reputed longtime madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been arrested and is in the custody of federal authorities. She was detained at 8:30 Thursday morning in a residence in the small town of Bradford, New Hampshire. The British socialite allegedly helped procure girls for the financier, who died...
Lee button found in time capsule under Confederate monument
RALEIGH, N.C. — A button that experts believe was from Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s dress coat and a strand of hair from his horse are among the items found inside a time capsule discovered when workers removed the base of a Confederate monument from the grounds of the North...
Couple arrested after white woman pulls gun on Black mom, teen daughter outside ChipotleVideo
A Michigan woman and her husband were charged with felony assault Thursday after she was caught on video pointing a gun at a Black mom and daughter following a fiery shouting match outside a fast-food restaurant this week. The confrontation, part of which was captured on video and included accusations...
Texas governor issues mask order to fight coronavirus
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday ordered that face coverings must be worn in public across most of the state, a dramatic ramp-up of the Republican’s efforts to control spiking numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Abbott, who had pushed Texas’ aggressive reopening of the state...
2 arrested in Wendy’s fire after Rayshard Brooks’ shooting
ATLANTA — Authorities on Thursday arrested two more people on suspicion of arson in the burning of an Atlanta Wendy’s restaurant where a police officer fatally shot Rayshard Brooks. The arrests of John Wade, 33, and Chisom Kingston, 23, were confirmed by Atlanta fire spokesman Sgt. Cortez Stafford, the Atlanta...
Confirmed coronavirus cases are rising in 40 of 50 states
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Four U.S. states — Arizona, California, Florida and Texas — reported a combined 25,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases Thursday as the infection curve rose in 40 of the 50 states heading into the July Fourth holiday weekend. With the number of daily confirmed coronavirus cases nationwide...
FBI arrests Epstein pal Ghislaine Maxwell, accused of enabling abuse of girls
British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested Thursday on charges she helped lure at least three girls — one as young as 14 — to be sexually abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of victimizing dozens of girls and women over many years. According to the indictment,...
Penn State student dies from coronavirus
A Penn State student died from covid-19 this week, the university’s first known student death connected to the coronavirus, according to officials. Juan Garcia, 21, of Allentown died Tuesday, 10 days after he tested positive for the virus, officials said in a statement. An earth and mineral sciences student, Garcia...
Massachusetts tells fireworks seller to stop ads in stateVideo
BOSTON — The Massachusetts attorney general is demanding that a fireworks retailer with stores in New Hampshire stop targeting its advertising to residents of Massachusetts, where fireworks are illegal. Attorney General Maura Healey in a cease-and-desist letter sent Wednesday to Phantom Fireworks alleges the company is violating state consumer protection...
U.S. adds 4.8 million jobs as unemployment falls to 11.1%Video
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added a substantial 4.8 million jobs in June, and the unemployment rate fell to 11.1%, as the job market improved for a second straight month yet still remained far short of regaining the colossal losses it suffered this spring. The nation has now recovered roughly one-third...
Closing bars to stop coronavirus spread is backed by scienceVideo
Authorities are closing bars, honky tonks and other drinking establishments in some parts of the country to stem the surge of covid-19 infections — a move backed by sound science about risk factors that go beyond wearing or not wearing masks. In the words of one study, it comes down...
Philadelphia police: Sleeping young children unharmed when man steals car
PHILADELPHIA — Two young children were unharmed when the car they were in was stolen early Thursday from a Philadelphia takeout restaurant while their mother was inside the business, authorities said. The mother was picking up food and had left the vehicle running as the children — a toddler and...
Landslide at Myanmar jade mine kills at least 113 people
YANGON, Myanmar — At least 113 people were killed Thursday in a landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar, the government and rescue workers said, the latest in a series of deadly accidents at the sites in recent years. A statement from the Ministry of Information gave the death...
‘Incident’ damages construction near Iran nuclear siteVideo
TEHRAN, Iran — An “incident” damaged an under-construction building Thursday near Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, though it did not affect its centrifuge operations or cause any release of radiation, a spokesman said. The affected building, described as an “industrial shed,” was above ground and not part of the...
British judge denies Venezuela access to gold in bank vault
LONDON — A British judge on Thursday refused to give Venezuela control of over $1 billion in gold sitting in a Bank of England vault, ruling that it is unlawful to give it to the President Nicolás Maduro since Britain does not recognize him as the president. Maduro has demanded...
Myrtle Beach awaits tourists despite being ‘hot spot’ for covid-19 outbreaksVideo
As the Myrtle Beach area braces for tourists to flock the Grand Strand this holiday weekend, a record high of covid-19 cases were announced Wednesday. South Carolina health officials announced 228 new coronavirus cases in Horry County, along with 45 deaths. Some new signage in the sand in Myrtle Beach...Coming...
Alabama students throwing ‘covid parties’ to see who gets sick, officials sayVideo
College students in Tuscaloosa, Ala., who tested positive for the coronavirus have been attending parties in that area as part of a perplexing and unwise contest to see who will be the first to contract covid-19, according to an ABC News report. Tuscaloosa is the seventh-largest city in the state...
Trump, top officials defend response to Russia bounty threatVideo
WASHINGTON — Criticized for inaction, President Donald Trump and top officials on Wednesday stepped up their defense of the administration’s response to intelligence assessments that Russia offered bounties for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Trump’s national security adviser said he had prepared a list of retaliatory options if the intelligence...
Georgia man sentenced to 1,000 years for child porn gets parole
ATLANTA — A former Troup County commissioner once called a prolific collector of child porn will have a chance to spend the rest of his 1,000-year prison sentence on parole. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles released Peter Mallory on parole May 27, three weeks after an appeals court...
