Protest and celebration mark Women’s Day, despite threats
NEW YORK — From the streets of Manila to a school in East London, people around the world marked International Women’s Day on Sunday with calls to end exploitation and increase equality. But tensions marred some celebrations, with police arresting demonstrators at a rally in Kyrgyzstan and separatists detonating a...
Anxiety grips companies across the world as virus spreads
WASHINGTON — Since breaking out of China, the coronavirus has breached the walls of the Vatican. It’s struck the Iranian holy city of Qom and contaminated a nursing home in Seattle. And around the world, it’s carrying not just sickness and death but also the anxiety and paralysis that can...
Travel chaos erupts as Italy quarantines north to halt coronavirus
ROME — Italy announced a sweeping quarantine Sunday for its northern regions, igniting travel chaos as it restricted the movements of 16 million people — more than one quarter of its population — in a bid to halt the relentless march of the new coronavirus across Europe. Confusion reigned from...
Behind the scenes, scientists prep for coronavirus vaccine test
WASHINGTON — A team of scientists jostled for a view of the lab dish, staring impatiently for the first clue that an experimental vaccine against the new coronavirus just might work. After weeks of round-the-clock research at the National Institutes of Health, it was time for a key test. If...
Royal farewell: Harry, Meghan on final duty before new life
LONDON — It’s definitely a farewell. But will it be fond? Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will fulfill their final royal commitment when they appear Monday at the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London. It’s the last time they will be seen at...
Sen. Kamala Harris endorses Joe Biden for president
WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris endorsed Joe Biden on Sunday and said she would “do everything in my power” to help elect him, becoming the latest dropout from the Democratic race for president to line up behind the former vice president in his battle with Bernie Sanders for the nomination. The...
2 more presumptive coronavirus cases confirmed in Pa.; now 4 total
HARRISBURG — The governor of Pennsylvania has announced two more presumptive cases of the new coronavirus, making a total of four in the commonwealth so far. Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement Saturday evening that both individuals “are from Montgomery County, have mild symptoms, are in isolation at home...
Saudis’ arrest of 2 princes called a warning to royal family
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Two senior princes in Saudi Arabia are under arrest for not supporting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has consolidated control of all major levers of power with the support of his father, King Salman, two people close to the royal family said Saturday. The...
Greek villagers enlisted to catch migrants at Turkey border
AMORIO, Greece — Over the years, villagers who live near Greece’s border with Turkey got used to seeing small groups of people enter their country illegally. The Greek residents often offered the just-arrived newcomers a bite to eat and directed them to the nearest police or railway station. But the...
UN chief: Gender inequality biggest human rights challenge
UNITED NATIONS — Calling himself “a proud feminist,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres lashed out at men who abuse power and declared before Sunday’s observances of International Women’s Day that the fight for gender equality is “the biggest human rights challenge we face.” Twenty-five years after 189 countries adopted a 150-page...
Lithium mine fight pits electric cars against flower
RENO, Nev. — The rare Tiehm’s buckwheat stands less than a foot tall (30 centimeters) in Nevada’s rocky high desert, its thin, leafless stems adorned with tiny yellow flowers in spring. To the Australian company that wants to mine lithium beneath the federal land where it grows, the perennial herb...
Sanders, Biden up attacks as head-to-head race takes shape
DEARBORN, Mich. — The Democratic presidential primary is down to two major candidates, and it shows. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are spending their first weekend as their party’s last top White House contenders increasingly taking aim at one another. Each wants to show he’s...
Daylight saving time starts this weekend. Many people just want to stop changing their clocks
America is approaching one of its most contentious hours, and officially, it’s one that doesn’t exist. On the issue of daylight saving time, which begins officially at 2 a.m. Sunday — or is that 3 a.m.? — America is a nation divided. Either way, the citizenry loses a precious weekend...
Missing toddler’s remains believed found in Tennessee
BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. — Remains believed to be that of a 15-month-old girl were found in Tennessee, ending the 17-day search across three states for a missing toddler, authorities said. At a press conference Friday night, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office said they believe they found...
‘Egregious’ case of prosecutorial misconduct could set Missouri man free 2 decades later
ST. LOUIS — When Lawrence Callanan was convicted in 1996 of the murder of John M. Schuh, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch wasted no words in celebrating the jury’s decision. “The evidence was clear, convincing and overwhelming as to his guilt,” McCulloch said. “Mr. Callahan is heading for...
Florida: 2 dead who tested positive for coronavirus
MIAMI — Two people who tested positive for the new coronavirus have died in Florida, marking the first deaths on the East Coast attributed to the outbreak in the U.S., health officials said Friday. Helen Aguirre Ferre, a spokeswoman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, confirmed the deaths on Twitter, writing...
SpaceX launches station supplies, nails 50th rocket landing
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX successfully launched another load of station supplies for NASA late Friday night and nailed its 50th rocket landing. The Falcon rocket blasted off with 4,300 pounds of equipment and experiments for the International Space Station. Just minutes later, the spent first-stage booster made a dramatic...
Centenarian, never arrested, spends birthday in jail — fulfilling a bucket list requestVideo
A North Carolina woman celebrated her 100th birthday behind bars. No, she wasn’t arrested for wrongdoing, but rather was granted the opportunity to cross an item off her bucket list. Ruth Bryant, in fact, said she’s never been arrested, according to Raleigh, N.C.’s NBC-affiliate news station WRAL. The station reported...
Pittsburgh-area Costco stores yank free food samples
In what appears to be one of the latest moves to curb the potential spreading of the coronavirus, wholesale giant Costco has halted distribution of free samples throughout the region. According to USA Today, it was not immediately known if the members-only warehouse chain had pulled the samples from all...
Now this: Tornado clobbers historically black North Nashville neighborhood
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — On a frigid Friday morning in North Nashville, Ishvicka Howell stood in her driveway and peered down the street at several utility trucks. “When I saw those blinking lights, it was like Christmas,” she said. Howell has been without electricity since a tornado tore through her neighborhood...
Trump’s challenge: keeping his act fresh in reelection year
WASHINGTON — The Donald Trump show has a consistent script. Same villains. Same nicknames. Same grievances. Same hero: himself. At raucous rallies held mostly in states that are friendly to him, the president tells audiences that he could be presidential, even Lincolnesque, if he wanted to. But that, he says,...
Biden’s big wins also were big for his Pennsylvania backers
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Democratic Party stalwarts in Pennsylvania heaved a collective sigh of relief as Joe Biden, the choice of many party leaders in the battleground state, emerged from the presidential primary pack as the consensus pick to lead the party’s moderate wing. After all, the former vice president and...
Trump names Rep. Mark Meadows his new chief of staff
WASHINGTON — In the midst of one of the most daunting crises of his administration, President Donald Trump announced he had made a major staff overhaul, replacing his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney with Republican Rep. Mark Meadows. While much of the country was focused on the spreading coronavirus,...
Mom of missing kids gets bond reduced to $1 million in Idaho
BOISE, Idaho — A judge on Friday reduced bail to $1 million for the mother of two missing children after her lawyer contended at her first hearing in Idaho that the amount had been set too high because of media attention. Wearing faded orange-and-white striped jail garb and bright pink...
What’s Happening: Cruise ship tests, Prisons sanitized
As cases of the new coronavirus surpassed 100,000 worldwide, people on a cruise ship tested positive, Tokyo Olympics organizers are adjusting for the torch’s arrival in Japan, migrants headed to Europe are facing added hardships and shoppers around the globe continue stocking up. These are some of the latest developments...
