Pa. Senate passes bill to ensure coroners are told of coronavirus deaths
The day after the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s tally of deaths attributed to covid-19 surpassed 8,000, the state Senate passed a bill to strengthen the role of coroners, who have questioned the accuracy of the counting system. The bill, backed on Tuesday by all Senate Republicans and 10 Democrats, adds...
Facebook: Fake pages from China tried to disrupt U.S. politics
Facebook says it has removed a small network of fake accounts and pages that originated in China and focused on disrupting political activity in the U.S. and several other countries. The U.S.-focused activity was just a “sliver” of the accounts’ overall activity and gained almost no following, Facebook said. Their...
Ginsburg remembered as prophet for justice, American icon
WASHINGTON — With crowds of admirers swelling outside, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was remembered Wednesday at the court by grieving family, colleagues and friends as a prophet for justice who persevered against long odds to become an American icon. The court’s eight justices, masked along with everyone else...
German virus app transmitted 1.2M test results in 100 days
Germany’s coronavirus tracing app has been used to transmit 1.2 million test results from labs to users during its first 100 days, officials said Wednesday. The Corona-Warn-App, downloaded more than 18 million times since its launch in June, was touted by the government as a key tool in the country’s...
Ohio board developing mass protest law enforcement standard
A statewide standard for Ohio police departments to follow when dealing with mass protests could assist small agencies that don’t have experience in handling such demonstrations and give bigger departments the chance to review procedures, according to the head of the state’s criminal justice services office. Anyone watching the news...
Pregnant woman pulls husband to safety after shark attack
MARATHON, Fla. — When a shark attacked her husband during a snorkeling trip in the Florida Keys, his pregnant wife didn’t think twice, jumping out of a boat to pull him to safety, a sheriff’s deputy said. Andrew Eddy, 30, was on a private boat with his wife, Margot Dukes-Eddy...
3 injured by box cutter during fight on Ohio State campus
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A fight on the campus of Ohio State University ended with three students being injured by a box cutter, authorities said. It wasn’t clear what sparked the fight, which was reported around 12:40 a.m. Wednesday. Authorities said one of the injured students was in custody and may...
Sri Lanka to offer livestreams from wildlife parks
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan authorities announced Wednesday that they will offer livestreams from the island nation’s wildlife parks, in a move to help revive a tourism industry that has been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic. The government’s Tourism Promotion Bureau said livestreaming will initially cover four national parks...
Orca attacks force Spain to ban yachting off northwest tip
MADRID — Spain has prohibited yachting across 62 miles of its northwestern coast after a number of sailboats have been damaged by orca whales knocking their hulls. Spain’s transport ministry issued the week-long prohibition for the vessels under 49 feet long starting on Tuesday night. It said the area covered...
Paris police barricade Eiffel Tower after bomb threat
PARIS — Paris police have blockaded the area around the Eiffel Tower after a phone-in bomb threat. Police cars and tape surrounded the streets below the tower and the bridge stretching across the Seine River to Trocadero Plaza. Some tourists were still walking in the area, but it was unclear...
Group sues Austrian government over ski resort virus outbreak
VIENNA — An Austrian consumer protection group said Wednesday it has filed four civil lawsuits against the country’s government for failing to contain a coronavirus outbreak at an Alpine ski resort that has been blamed for thousands of infections worldwide during the early phase of the pandemic. The chairman of...
Late-stage study of first single-shot vaccine begins in U.S.Video
Johnson & Johnson is beginning a huge final study to try to prove if a single-dose covid-19 vaccine can protect against the virus. The study starting Wednesday will be one of the world’s largest coronavirus vaccine studies so far, testing the shot in 60,000 volunteers in the U.S., South Africa,...
U.S. government executes killer obsessed with witchcraft
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The U.S. government on Tuesday executed a former soldier who said an obsession with witchcraft led him to kill a Georgia nurse he believed had put a spell on him. William Emmett LeCroy, 50, was pronounced dead at 9:06 p.m. EDT after receiving a lethal injection...
Gov. Tony Evers extends Wisconsin’s mask mandate until Nov. 21Video
MADISON, Wis. — Faced with soaring coronavirus cases across Wisconsin, particularly on college campuses, Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday extended a statewide mask mandate until Nov. 21. The order, which has been in effect since August, was scheduled to expire on Monday. Evers extended the order even as his authority...
House passes stopgap funding bill shortly after bipartisan deal
WASHINGTON — The House swiftly passed a stopgap funding measure needed to avert a partial government shutdown in eight days after top congressional leaders reached a deal resolving a fight over farm payments. On a lopsided vote of 359-57, the House sent to the Senate a revised continuing resolution that...
Parents tackle man accused of spying on girl in restaurant bathroom
DUNCAN, S.C. — A group of parents tackled and restrained a registered sex offender accused of spying on a 15-year-old girl in the women’s bathroom of a South Carolina Cracker Barrel restaurant over the weekend, authorities said. Douglas Lane, 53, has been charged with voyeurism, as well as possession of...
Recorded attack on Black runner in New York charged as a hate crimeVideo
NEW YORK — A woman who was captured on video throwing a bottle at a Black runner in New York City and yelling a racial slur at her has been charged with attempted assault as a hate crime and aggravated harassment, authorities said Tuesday. Lorena Delaguna, 53, was arraigned in...
Cindy McCain endorses Biden for president in rebuke of Trump
PHOENIX — Democrat Joe Biden said Tuesday that Cindy McCain plans to endorse him for president, a stunning rebuke of President Donald Trump by the widow of the GOP’s 2008 nominee. Trump has had a fraught relationship with members of John McCain’s family since he disparaged the Arizona senator during...
Arctic sea-ice extent nears a record low, despite growth during a frigid winterVideo
Despite a growth spurt during quite a cold winter in the far north, Arctic sea ice has fallen to its second-lowest extent in 42 years of satellite observations, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported. “The year 2020 will stand as an exclamation point on the downward trend in...
Migrant women to no longer see Georgia gynecologist accused of misconduct
HOUSTON — Immigration authorities have stopped sending detained women to a rural Georgia gynecologist accused of performing surgeries without consent, a government spokesman said Tuesday. Dr. Mahendra Amin faces allegations that he administered hysterectomies and other procedures that women held at the Irwin County Detention Center didn’t seek or fully...
West Virginia’s former health officer, state senator catch coronavirusVideo
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s former public health director and the majority leader of the state senate said they have tested positive for covid-19. Dr. Cathy Slemp, who the governor forced out of her role as state health officer in June, wrote in an op-ed that she was quarantining in...
CDC guidelines recommend avoiding trick-or-treating during HalloweenVideo
The Centers for Disease Control has advised against door-to-door trick-or-treating, attending crowded and indoor parties and wearing costume masks this Halloween to prevent the spread of covid-19. The health agency released new guidelines this week that outlined several traditional Halloween activities that could be high-risk for spreading viruses and offered...
Some Democrats, not yet Biden, talk of expanding Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — The prospect that President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans will fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat before the year is out has ignited a call for major changes on the court, including expanding the number of justices. Some Democratic senators, who had been averse to increasing...
Iran strikes defiant tone at U.N. under crushing U.S. sanctions
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivered a defiant and fiery speech Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly as his nation grapples with the Middle East’s worst coronavirus outbreak and a weakened economy, but he insisted that it is the U.S. that will surrender to the resilience...
Pennsylvania nears launch of new health insurance website
Pennsylvania is getting ready to launch its own website to sell Affordable Care Act-compliant policies that will replace the federally operated Healthcare.gov to enroll people for the 2021 insurance year, state officials said Tuesday. It is named “Pennie” and lawmakers approved the idea last year in a bid to get...
