U.K. calls virus ‘serious’ health threat; will detain peopleVideo
LONDON — Britain has declared the new coronavirus that emerged from China a “serious and imminent threat to public health” and announced new measures Monday to combat the spread of the disease. The U.K. Department of Health and Social Care said people with the virus can now be forcibly quarantined...
German leader Merkel’s party in crisis as successor quits
BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s designated successor unexpectedly threw in the towel Monday, plunging her conservative party into deeper crisis as it struggles to agree on its future political direction after losing votes to the far right. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told leading members of the Christian Democratic Union that she...
Puerto Rico governor rejects new deal to cut debt by 70%
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Officials announced a settlement late Sunday with bondholders that would reduce Puerto Rico’s public debt by 70%, but the U.S. territory’s governor swiftly rejected it, saying it puts too heavy a burden on the island’s retirees. The settlement is the biggest one to date since...
Hurricane-force wind pounds U.K. and Europe, upends travel
LONDON — Storm Ciara battered the U.K. and northern Europe with hurricane-force winds and heavy rains Sunday, halting flights and trains and producing heaving seas that closed down ports. Soccer games, farmers’ markets and cultural events were canceled as authorities urged millions of people to stay indoors, away from falling...
Police say homicide suspect hired Uber to take victim to hospital
PHILADELPHIA — A man accused of beating his girlfriend to death and calling an Uber to take her to a hospital was charged with murder, according to police records. Police said Nicholas Forman buckled 22-year-old Sabrina Harooni’s injured body into an Uber on Monday and had the driver take them...
Utah sends employees to Mexico for lower prescription prices
SALT LAKE CITY — Ann Lovell had never owned a passport before last year. Now, the 62-year-old teacher is a frequent flier, traveling every few months to Tijuana, Mexico, to buy medication for rheumatoid arthritis — with tickets paid for by the state of Utah’s public insurer. Lovell is one...
AP Photos: Kids race llamas in Ecuador’s highlands
LLANGANATES, Ecuador — The tiny rider sat — well, was tied — atop the towering steed that would carry him to victory in the annual llama races at Ecuador’s Llanganates National Park. Wellington Barrera, clad in a wool poncho, sheep-leather pants and a cowboy hat, was the only finisher in...
Florida man charged with driving into GOP voter sign-up tentVideo
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man in Florida is under arrest after he deliberately drove a van into a tent where voters were being registered by local Republicans, authorities in Jacksonville said Sunday. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said via social media that 27-year-old Gregory William Loel Timm has been charged with...
Spain, U.K. see new virus cases; French focus on ski resortVideo
LISBON, Portugal — French medical authorities tested scores of children and their families Sunday for the new virus from China, zeroing in on a ski resort in the Alps that appeared linked to new infections in Britain and Spain. The U.K. announced its fourth case of the new virus and...
Police: 3 killed, at least two injured in shooting in YoungstownVideo
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A shooting early Sunday near a club in Ohio left three men dead and at least two other people injured, police said. Officers were called to multiple reports of gunfire on the north side of Youngstown shortly before 4 a.m., police said. The shooting occurred in the...
Officials: Gun discharge at church security office injures 2 in Lancaster County
LEOLA — An accidental discharge of a gun at a Pennsylvania church on Sunday morning injured two people, church officials said. Officials said the firearm “was accidentally discharged” inside the security office at Worship Center in Upper Leacock Township at about 10 a.m. Sunday. LNP newspaper reported. One of the...
Lindsey Graham: DOJ has process to review Giuliani’s Ukraine infoVideo
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a close ally of President Donald Trump, said Sunday that the Justice Department has established a way to review information gathered in Ukraine by Trump personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who has targeted Democrat Joe Biden and his son. Sen. Lindsey Graham,...
Trump’s $4.8 trillion budget proposal revisits rejected cuts
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is offering a $4.8 trillion election-year budget plan that recycles previously rejected cuts to domestic programs to promise a balanced budget in 15 years — all while boosting the military and leaving Social Security and Medicare benefits untouched. Trump’s fiscal 2021 plan, to be released...
Iran again fails to put satellite into orbit amid U.S. worries
TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian rocket failed to put a satellite into orbit on Sunday, state television reported, the latest setback for a program the U.S. claims helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program. The launch happened at 7:15 p.m. local time at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s Semnan province,...
NH poses a last chance for some struggling 2020 Democrats
PLYMOUTH, N.H. — Bounding onto a stage at a conference center in New Hampshire, tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang beamed a smile to a cheering crowd and launched into his pitch for votes heading into Tuesday’s first-in-the nation primary. Yang didn’t mention his poor showing in Iowa, his back-of-the-pack polling in...
Man carrying knife arrested outside White House after threat
WASHINGTON — A man carrying a knife was arrested outside the White House after he told a U.S. Secret Service officer that he was there to kill the president, police said. Roger Hedgpeth, 25, was arrested Saturday afternoon on a charge of making threats to do bodily harm, the Metropolitan...
Police: 2nd officer shot in Bronx hours after ambush
NEW YORK — A gunman walked into a police station in the Bronx and started shooting early Sunday, wounding an officer just hours after a similar unprovoked attack that injured a different officer in a patrol van, according to police officials. Sunday’s shooting happened at the headquarters of the 41st...
‘QAnon’ conspiracy theory creeps into mainstream politics
MILWAUKEE (AP) — President Donald Trump was more than halfway through his speech at a rally in Milwaukee when one of his hand gestures caught the eye of a supporter standing in the packed arena. The 51-year-old woman believed the president had traced the shape of the letter “Q” with...
Murrysville woman lived life to help others
Patricia Loughran was the kind of person who lived her life for others. She raised seven daughters. She was director of financial aid at St. Francis University in Loretto for 18 years. She was a grief counselor at several Catholic parishes. She was an advocate for people with disabilities. In...
China’s virus death toll surpasses SARS but new cases fall
BEIJING — Mainland China’s death toll from the new virus outbreak has risen to 811, surpassing the number of fatalities in the 2002-2003 SARS pandemic. However, the number of new cases reported over the last 24 hours on Sunday fell significantly from the previous period, something experts see as a...
Pennsylvania’s big higher education problem gets a spotlight
HARRISBURG — Gov . Tom Wolf’s proposal to start a major new scholarship program for students at Pennsylvania’s state-owned universities caused a stir over his idea to divert the money from a sacred cow, but it also spotlit an uncomfortable truth about Pennsylvania’s ragged performance on higher education funding. By...
U.S. says 2 soldiers killed, 6 wounded in Afghanistan attack
KABUL, Afghanistan — Two U.S. soldiers were killed and six wounded in a so-called insider attack in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province late Saturday when an Afghan dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire, the U.S. military said. Afghanistan’s defense ministry said one Afghan soldier was also killed and three...
Soldier kills 27 in bloodiest shooting spree in Thailand
NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand — Thai officials said a soldier who went on a shooting rampage and killed a reported 27 people and wounded 57 others has been shot dead inside a mall in northeastern Thailand. Thailand’s prime minister said 27 people are dead, including the gunman who went on the...
Weinstein lawyer on avoiding sexual assault: ‘I would never put myself in that position’
Harvey Weinstein’s lead defense attorney in the movie mogul’s rape and sexual assault trial said in an interview that she has never been a victim of sexual assault “because I would never put myself in that position.” In an interview released by The Daily podcast on Friday, Donna Rotunno, was...
New virus has infected more than 34,800 people globally
A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 34,800 people globally. The latest figures reported by global health authorities as of Saturday in Beijing: — China: 722 deaths and 34,546 confirmed cases on the mainland. In addition, Hong Kong has had 25 cases, including one death. Macao...
