France, Spain honor hundreds of terrorism victims, vow unity
PARIS — The president of France and the king of Spain paid homage Wednesday to victims of terrorism in a special ceremony prompted by attacks that hit both their countries and changed Europe’s security posture. France’s Emmanuel Macron and Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia led a ceremony on Trocadero...
Down syndrome abortion ban is going before a federal court
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal court in Cincinnati will hear complex legal arguments Wednesday for and against Ohio’s Down syndrome abortion ban in a case viewed as pivotal in the national debate over the procedure. Attorneys for the government contend in legal filings that the sidelined 2017 law does not...
Family of man convicted of Lockerbie bombing can appeal
LONDON — Scotland’s criminal appeals body said Wednesday that the family of a Libyan man jailed for the 1988 bombing of an American airliner over the town of Lockerbie can launch a posthumous appeal against his conviction. The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission said the family of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is...
Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years for sexual assaults
NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein was sentenced Wednesday to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault, a sight the disgraced Hollywood mogul’s multitude of accusers thought they would never see. Weinstein, who has been accused of violating scores of women, was convicted last month of raping a once-aspiring...
Nuclear waste cleanup efforts in Washington could be delayed
RICHLAND, Wash. — The Department of Energy has announced priority plans for environmental cleanup nationwide and indicates a slower process for the decommissioned nuclear site in Washington state, a report said. The focus at the Hanford Site will be to start treating waste at the $17 billion vitrification plant, but...
Bucks County confirms 1st cases of coronavirus, bumping Pennsylvania total to 16
Cases of the new coronavirus crept into a new county in Pennsylvania as Penn State, the University of Pennsylvania and at least a dozen other schools are moving classes online and St. Patrick’s Day parades in Philadelphia, Scranton and Pittsburgh were canceled. Bucks County, in suburban Philadelphia, confirmed its first...
Penn State moves to online-only classes over coronavirus concerns
Penn State, along with several other Pennsylvania universities, will cancel in-person classes and move to online instruction over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus that causes covid-19. Officials announced Wednesday that Penn State will start remote learning for all classes at every campus location beginning March 16 through April...
Police shooting leads to tension, protests in North Carolina
RALEIGH, N.C. — A police shooting that wounded a suspect during a foot chase in Raleigh, N.C., sparked protests early Wednesday from hundreds who demanded answers and burned a flag outside the governor’s mansion. Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown said officers responded to a 911 call Tuesday evening reporting a man...
Russia passes bill allowing Putin to stay in power past 2024
MOSCOW — The Russian parliament approved a sweeping constitutional reform in the third and final reading Wednesday, a move that will allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power for another 12 years after his current term ends in 2024. The Kremlin-controlled lower house, the State Duma, endorsed a set...
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones arrested on DWI charges in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was arrested in Texas on a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated after his wife called police to their house over an argument, according to court records released Tuesday. The Infowars founder was booked into an Austin jail shortly after midnight and released...
Store owner charged after homemade sanitizer burns youths
RIVER VALE, N.J. — A convenience store owner in New Jersey reacting to the coronavirus outbreak created and sold a spray sanitizer that left four children with burns, state and county law enforcement officials said. Authorities on Tuesday issued a summons charging Manisha Bharade, 47, of Wood-Ridge with endangering the...
Trump endorses opponent of Jeff Sessions in Alabama Senate race
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump endorsed the opponent of his former attorney general, Jeff Sessions, in the runoff for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in Alabama. Tommy Tuberville, Trump tweeted Tuesday night, “was a terrific head football coach at Auburn University. He is a REAL LEADER who will never let...
Joe Biden wins hard-fought Michigan, deals major blow to Bernie SandersVideo
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden decisively won Michigan’s Democratic primary on Tuesday, seizing a key battleground state that helped propel Bernie Sanders’ insurgent candidacy four years ago. The former vice president’s victory there, as well as in Missouri and Mississippi, dealt a serious blow to Sanders and substantially widened Biden’s path...
West Virginia delegate loses suit blaming bar for blindness
GARY, Ind. — The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled against a lawsuit filed by a West Virginia delegate over a 2006 parking lot brawl that left him blinded years before he was elected to office. The lawsuit said Cavanaugh’s Sports Bar & Eatery, near Gary, had an obligation to protect...
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas is turned away from polls, told he ‘wasn’t in the system’Video
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The mayor of Kansas City struggled to vote Tuesday in the Missouri presidential primary after a worker mistakenly entered his name in the system. Mayor Quinton Lucas, a Democrat, made a video about the importance of voting before he headed into his normal polling location, Mount...
Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden cancel Ohio rallies over coronavirus concerns
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden abruptly canceled scheduled rallies Tuesday night in Cleveland amid concerns over the spread of the new coronavirus — as public health fears began transforming the 2020 race. Sanders had been planning to speak at a convention center in Cleveland as...
Taliban peace deal draws fire from Democrats, Republicans
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed skepticism Tuesday about whether the Taliban will live up to its side of the Afghanistan peace deal brokered by the Trump administration. That agreement, announced Feb. 29, calls for the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces within 14 months. U.S. leaders...
Louisiana couple accused of stealing $1,000 worth of beer from Target
BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana couple accused of swiping more than $1,000 worth of beer from the shelves of Target stores was arrested on theft charges Sunday, sheriff’s office records show. East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s deputies began investigating the beer burglaries last week, according to the agency. The couple...
Elections officials take steps to limit the spread of coronavirus
Call this one voting in a pandemic. All three states with big delegate prizes in today’s Democratic primary — Michigan with 125 delegates, Missouri with 68 and Washington with 89 — are taking steps to limit the spread of coronavirus among voters and election workers. The top candidates are former...
Lawmakers race to respond to outbreak; Trump to go to HillVideo
WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House Democrats on Tuesday that Congress should stay at work this week as “captains of the ship” despite the risk of coronavirus infection on Capitol Hill as lawmakers scramble under enormous pressure to respond to the epidemic. President Donald Trump was heading there to...
Congress wins ruling giving it access to Mueller records
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department must give Congress secret grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, giving the House a significant win in a separation-of-powers clash with the Trump administration. The three-judge panel said in a 2-1 opinion that the House...
Nearly 10K Pa. government workers are paid at least $100K
HARRISBURG — The number of Pennsylvania state government employees who make at least six figures currently includes nearly 10,000 workers, according to a Pennlive.com report published Tuesday. There were 9,751 state employees who surpassed $100,000 in earnings in 2019, the news organization found. That number increased by 7.5% from the...
Coronavirus spreads in Pennsylvania as cancellations grow
Pennsylvania confirmed more cases of the coronavirus Tuesday, as more schools canceled classes and the city of Philadelphia discourages gatherings of more than 5,000, including professional sporting events and the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. The state Department of Health reported another positive test for the virus, in a resident...
Michigan primary could make or break Sanders’ campaign
DETROIT — Bernie Sanders proved his 2016 presidential bid was serious with an upset victory in Michigan powered by his opposition to free trade and appeal among working-class voters. Four years later, the state could either revive the Vermont senator’s campaign or relegate him to the role of protest candidate....
Putin backs amendment allowing him to remain in power
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday backed a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow him to seek re-election after his current term ends in 2024, ending uncertainty about his future. Putin gave his support to the amendment put forward by lawmaker Valentina Tereshkova, who as a Soviet cosmonaut...
