Florida shatters daily record for new coronavirus cases – again
ORLANDO — Florida’s confirmed coronavirus cases shot up again Thursday, setting another one-day record of more than 3,200 new infections, the fifth time in eight days a new mark has been set. The increases have come as the state’s economy reopens from a partial shutdown that began in March when...
Facebook says it’s promoting accurate info on vote-by-mail
WASHINGTON — Facebook said Thursday that it is working to help Americans vote by mail, including by notifying users about how to request ballots and whether the date of their state’s election has changed. The Vote By Mail notification connects Facebook users to information about how to request a ballot....
Britain scraps virus tracing app for Google-Apple system
LONDON — Britain is scrapping plans to launch its own coronavirus contact tracing smartphone app because of technical problems and will now work on building one using technology supplied by Apple and Google, health authorities said Thursday. The government’s app had been undergoing trials on the Isle of Wight, and...
EPA drops regulation for contaminant harming babies’ brains
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday ended an Obama-era drive to regulate a widespread contaminant in drinking water linked to brain damage in infants. The agency rejected warnings that the move will mean lower IQs for an unknown number of American newborns. Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s announcement was the latest in...
Injunction extended against removing Lee statue in VirginiaVideo
RICHMOND, Va. — A judge on Thursday indefinitely extended an injunction preventing the Virginia governor from removing a historic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond’s famed Monument Avenue. Richmond Circuit Court Judge Bradley Cavedo made the decision after hearing from attorneys for the state and for the...
Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to end protections for young immigrants
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to end legal protections for 650,000 young immigrants, a stunning rebuke to the president in the midst of his reelection campaign. For now, those immigrants retain their protection from deportation and their authorization to work in the United...
Bank of England unveils another big stimulus for U.K. economyVideo
LONDON — The Bank of England has unveiled another big stimulus for the U.K. economy as it tries to limit the scale of the coronavirus recession, which has already resulted in 18 years of growth wiped out in a matter of just two months. In a statement Thursday, the bank’s...
Jean Kennedy Smith, last surviving sibling of JFK, dies
NEW YORK — Jean Kennedy Smith, the last surviving sibling of President John F. Kennedy and a former ambassador to Ireland, died Wednesday, her daughter confirmed to The New York Times. She was 92. Smith died at her home in Manhattan, her daughter Kym told the Times. Smith was the...
State media: Iran test fires cruise missiles in naval drill
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran test fired cruise missiles in a naval exercise in the Gulf of Oman and northern Indian Ocean, state media reported Thursday. The report by the official IRNA news agency said the missiles destroyed targets at a distance of 170 miles. It said the tests took place...
Beijing’s daily covid-19 cases drop, India’s rise sharplyVideo
BEIJING — China’s capital reported a decline in newly confirmed cases of coronavirus Thursday, with a public health expert saying a recent outbreak in the city was under control and the number of new cases should drop in the coming days. Authorities have confirmed 158 cases in Beijing in the...
4 rockets hit Baghdad’s Green Zone in challenge to Iraqi PM
BAGHDAD — Four rockets exploded inside Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone near the American embassy, Iraq’s military said Thursday, in the third such attack since the United States embarked on strategic talks with Iraq’s new government. It wasn’t immediately clear who was responsible for the attack, which caused no casualties or...
Birthplace of Stonewall Jackson will not remove his statueVideo
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Commissioners in the West Virginia county where Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson was born voted to keep his statue outside the courthouse after hearing public comments on a proposal to remove it. The Harrison County Commission rejected the motion in a 2-1 vote Wednesday, news outlets reported. If...
Prosecutors: Officer had knee on George Floyd for 7:46, not 8:46
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota prosecutors acknowledged Wednesday that a Minneapolis police officer had his knee on the neck of George Floyd for 7 minutes, 46 seconds — not the 8:46 that has become a symbol of police brutality — but said the one-minute error would have no impact on the criminal...
Georgia officer points gun at black teens in video; police explainVideo
ATLANTA — A video showing an officer in a community near Atlanta pointing a gun at group of teenagers has gone viral, with viewers voicing their disdain for the officer’s behavior. The video starts in the middle of the incident and shows a Clayton County police officer pointing a gun...
Many fear Trump’s visit to Tulsa could spark violenceVideo
OKLAHOMA CITY — Black community leaders in Tulsa said they fear a large rally by President Donald Trump in the city this weekend could spark violence, and the state’s governor asked Trump not to visit the site of a race massacre where up to 300 black residents were killed by...
Florida officials worried about spike in coronavirus casesVideo
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In parts of Florida, people under the age of 35 are testing positive for the coronavirus at a higher rate since the pandemic began, contributing to a recent surge in the number of cases in the state, officials said Wednesday. Because of this, some mayors are...
Study: ‘Wandering officers’ more likely to be fired again, receive violations
With violence committed by police sharply called into question the past several weeks, a new study aims to home in on a potential contributing factor in cases of officer misconduct. Among the findings of Ben Grunwald and John Rappaport, in a paper in the Yale Law Journal, is that officers...
FBI used Philadelphia protester’s Etsy profile, LinkedIn, other posts to charge her in arson
PHILADELPHIA — As demonstrators shouted, fires burned outside City Hall and Philadelphia convulsed with outrage over the death of George Floyd, television news helicopters captured footage of a masked woman with a peace sign tattoo and a light blue T-shirt setting a police SUV ablaze. Now, more than two weeks...
Charleston officials to remove statue of slavery advocate John C. CalhounVideo
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Despite a South Carolina law protecting monuments, officials in the historic city of Charleston announced Wednesday that they plan to remove a statue of slavery advocate John C. Calhoun from a downtown square. Mayor John Tecklenburg announced he will send a resolution to the City Council to...
John Bolton says Trump asked China to help him get reelectedVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump “pleaded” with China’s Xi Jinping during a 2019 summit to help his reelection prospects, according to a scathing new book by former Trump adviser John Bolton that accuses the president of being driven by political calculations when making national security decisions. The White House worked...
Pa. auditor’s race poses historic first for candidates of color
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s two major political parties have nominated candidates of color for state auditor general, a historic step that means that voters will for the first time elect a racial minority to lead a statewide executive branch office. Nina Ahmad, who came to the United States from Bangladesh as...
Officer Garrett Rolfe, who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks, to be chargedVideo
ATLANTA — Prosecutors brought murder charges Wednesday against the white Atlanta police officer who shot Rayshard Brooks in the back, saying that the black man posed no deadly threat and that the officer kicked him and offered no medical treatment for over 2 minutes as he lay dying on the...
Pa. Supreme Court to decide lawsuit seeking end to Wolf’s pandemic shutdown
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court on Wednesday granted the Democratic governor’s request and took over a lawsuit by legislative Republicans that could end his pandemic shutdown order. The Supreme Court announced it will decide the case filed by Senate Republicans, seeking to enforce a resolution that both chambers passed last...
Maryland board approves nearly $4M for 2 wrongly imprisoned
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland board approved settlements of nearly $2 million each Wednesday for two men who were wrongly imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. The three-member Board of Public Works approved the settlements to be paid over seven years. Board records show Eric Simmons and Kenneth McPherson were...
Boris Johnson’s car hit in fender-bender; no injuriesVideo
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in a minor car crash on Wednesday after a protester ran in front of the vehicle as it left Parliament. No one was hurt. Footage posted on social media showed a man step running toward the silver Jaguar as it drove out...
