U.S. health secretary won’t criticize over crowded bars, beaches
WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is declining to criticize local leaders amid images of crowded bars and boardwalks in areas where coronavirus restrictions are being lifted. Azar told CNN in an interview Sunday that “the president has left it up to states to know their local...
U.S. military’s mystery space plane rockets back toward orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The U.S. military’s mystery space plane rocketed toward orbit again Sunday, this time with an extra load of science experiments. It’s the sixth flight of an X-37B, a solar-powered plane that’s flown by remote control without a crew. Officials aren’t saying how long the spacecraft will...
Law enforcement ties, long delay complicate Ahmaud Arbery case
ATLANTA — There was an abundance of evidence when officers arrived at the scene on a February afternoon in coastal Georgia: A man, apparently unarmed, lying on the street, soaked in blood. The suspected shooter, a shotgun, eyewitnesses. And video of the incident. But no arrests were made in the...
Joe Biden’s VP search puts spotlight on how long he’ll serve
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden has longed to win the White House for more than three decades. If he finally makes it there after November’s election, he’s already talking about leaving. In an effort to ease concerns about his age, the 77-year-old presumptive Democratic nominee has said he wouldn’t seek reelection...
Tropical Storm Arthur crawls closer to North Carolina coast
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Arthur crawled closer to the North Carolina coast on Sunday evening, amid threats of some minor flooding and rough seas as the system moves off the Southeast seaboard. Arthur formed Saturday in waters off Florida, marking the sixth straight year that a named storm has developed...
Fire, explosion in Los Angeles injures 10 firefighters
LOS ANGELES — An explosion in downtown Los Angeles injured 10 firefighters Saturday, and more than 200 others rushed to the scene as the flames spread to several buildings. The condition of the injured was not immediately known. News helicopters showed dozens of fire trucks at the scene. As firefighters...
Michigan residents flock to Ohio to enjoy state’s reopening
TOLEDO, Ohio — For the first time in months, Nawal Hamade enjoyed a salon pedicure Friday, although she had to leave Michigan to get it. “It feels amazing,” said Hamade of the pampering she received at Espres Nails and Spa salon in Toledo. “It feels like getting back to normal.”...
Hundreds demand justice for Arbery at Georgia rally
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Justice for Ahmaud Arbery, a black man killed during a pursuit by a white man and his son in Georgia, isn’t just prison time for his killers — it’s changes in a local justice system that never charged them with a crime, rallygoers said Saturday. Hundreds of...
Anti-Semitic incidents reached record high in America last year, report says
A record number of anti-Semitic incidents were documented across the nation last year, according to a report from the Anti-Defamation League. The anti-hate organization recorded 2,107 anti-Semitic incidents, the highest count since it began tracking incidents in 1979. This also marked a 12% increase from the 1,879 incidents recorded in...
S.C. family reunited with dog a year after he was stolen, police say
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Diesel is back with his family after almost a year apart, according to Sumter police. Diesel, a Labrador pit bull mix with a long tail and brown spots, was the family dog of Tiffaney Capell and her daughter. He went missing in June 2019, according to the...
Tropical depression forms, storm watch issued for North Carolina
MIAMI — The National Hurricane Center said Saturday a low-pressure system just off the coast of east-central Florida has become a tropical depression and a tropical storm watch has been issued for a portion of the North Carolina coast. In a 5 p.m. update, meteorologists said the storm is about...
Reopening the economy doesn’t necessarily mean people are opening wallets
Suzann Ordile spent her time and money on restaurants and entertainment before the coronavirus disrupted life in the Philadelphia region and across the world. In a typical week, the Newtown lawyer ordered takeout twice, saw a couple shows with her wife and dined near a theater in Princeton. She squeezed...
Barack Obama criticizes virus response in online graduation speech
WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama on Saturday criticized some officials overseeing the coronavirus response, telling college graduates in an online commencement address that the pandemic shows many officials “aren’t even pretending to be in charge.” Obama spoke on “Show Me Your Walk, HBCU Edition,” a two-hour livestreaming event for...
Bosnians protest Mass in Sarajevo for Nazi-allied soldiers
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Thousands of Bosnians, many wearing masks, demonstrated Saturday against a Mass in Sarajevo for Croatia’s Nazi-allied soldiers and civilians killed by partisan forces at the end of World War II. The Mass in Sarajevo was a replacement for a controversial annual gathering usually held in Bleiburg, Austria,...
Google antitrust lawsuit being drafted by US Justice Department, source says
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department is drafting a lawsuit against Alphabet Inc.’s Google, accusing the internet giant of violating antitrust laws, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Justice Department has been investigating Google for nearly a year over whether the company is thwarting competition in the...
Gov. Andrew Cuomo says car and race tracks in New York can reopen with no fans
ALBANY, N.Y. — In another step toward reopening its economy going into the summer, New York will allow horse racing tracks and Watkins Glen International car track to reopen with the coronavirus outbreak easing, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday. But the Democrat was quick to add a caveat: “No...
Coronavirus masks a boon for crooks who hide their faces
CHICAGO — The way the FBI tells it, William Rosario Lopez put on a surgical mask and walked into the Connecticut convenience store looking to the world like a typical pandemic-era shopper as he picked up plastic wrap, fruit snacks and a few other items. Then, when the only other...
Democrats investigating Trump firing of State Department watchdogVideo
WASHINGTON — Democrats demanded on Saturday that the White House hand over all records related to President Donald Trump’s latest firing of a federal watchdog, this time at the State Department, and they suggested Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was responsible, in what “may be an illegal act of retaliation.”...
Lawyer: Iran sentences dual national academic to 6 years in prison
An Iranian court has sentenced a prominent researcher with dual French-Iranian citizenship to six years in prison on security charges, her lawyer said Saturday. Fariba Adelkhah was sentenced to five years for “gathering and collusion” against the country’s security and one year for “spreading propaganda” against the Islamic system, her...
Pennsylvania reports 61 more covid-19 deaths; 69% of deaths linked to nursing homes
Pennsylvania reported 61 more covid-19 deaths and 989 newly confirmed cases as of Saturday morning, bringing the state’s total number of cases to more than 61,600. Hospitals are treating 1,887 patients with the disease, and 409 of those patients are on ventilators. Another 18 patients are on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation,...
Group buys Alabama abortion clinic to keep it from closing
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Conservative lawmakers in Alabama last year tried to enact the nation’s most stringent abortion ban, but the attempt to outlaw the procedure may have had one ironic twist. An Alabama-based abortion rights group used a flood of donations that poured in from across the country after the...
Virus rules tighten illegal immigration on northern border
Five Mexican citizens apprehended this week after illegally entering the United States in remote northern Maine were returned to Canada within hours under a rule put into place as part of the U.S. government response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A similar policy by the Canadian government allows the return to...
Judge orders Los Angeles to move thousands of homeless
LOS ANGELES — The city of Los Angeles and LA County must find shelter for thousands of homeless people who are living near freeways, a federal judge ordered Friday, saying their health is at risk from pollution, earthquakes and the coronavirus. U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter issued a...
Alaska lawmaker likens virus screening stickers to Star of David
JUNEAU, Alaska — An Alaska lawmaker on Friday defended asking whether stickers that individuals may be asked to wear as part of a Capitol coronavirus screening process will be “available as a yellow Star of David.” Republican Rep. Ben Carpenter of Nikiski said he was serious in making the comment...
‘Pretty unprecedented’: NYC’s blood supply dangerously low, possibly at 2-day supply
NEW YORK — The Big Apple is running out of blood. The blood bank that supplies all of New York City’s public hospitals — as well as nearly 200 private hospitals throughout the state and in parts of New Jersey — is stocked with only enough donations to last the...
