Recalled ground beef may contain plastic
Amity Packing Company has recalled 2,020 pounds of raw ground beef that may be contaminated with plastic. Labeled for Pre Brands, the 1-pound, vacuum-packed packages of 95% lean ground beef were produced on Jan. 6 by the Chicago-based company and were distributed to retailers in nine states including Pennsylvania, Ohio,...
Report: Recording links Trump to Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch’s ousterVideo
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump can be heard in a taped 2018 conversation saying he wants to get rid of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, whose removal a year later emerged as an issue in Trump’s impeachment. The president was talking with a small group that included Lev Parnas,...
On impeachment, McConnell ‘plays to win’
WASHINGTON — In 1999, a rank-and-file Republican senator named Mitch McConnell was, in his words, the “go-to guy” for explaining how arcane Senate rules could influence the outcome of Democratic President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial. “The reason Clinton was not removed from office,” McConnell mused in his 2016 memoir, “was...
Trump, a late convert to cause, attends anti-abortion rally
WASHINGTON — President Trump vowed to stand with anti-abortion activists Friday as he became the first sitting president to speak at the March for Life, an annual gathering that is one of the movement’s highest profile and most symbolic events. “Today as President of the United States, I am truly...
State House scales back proposed emissions inspection overhaul
The state House scaled back a proposal that would have exempted many Pennsylvania drivers from vehicle emissions inspections — now calling for a study instead of an immediate overhaul. “They essentially gutted and replaced it,” said state Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and the driving...
Too soon to tell if new virus as dangerous as SARS cousin
The new virus from China has the world on edge because it’s a close cousin to viruses that killed hundreds in separate outbreaks. While it’s too early to tell if this latest threat will prove as deadly, health authorities are drawing on lessons from that grim past. What’s the link...
At least 14 dead, hundreds hurt as quake hits eastern Turkey
ANKARA, Turkey — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 rocked eastern Turkey on Friday killing at least 14 people, injuring more than 300 and leaving several trapped in the wreckage of toppled buildings, Turkish officials said. Rescue teams from neighboring provinces were dispatched to the affected areas, and...
U.S. vows greater effort to fight flood of counterfeit goods
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration pledged Friday to step up efforts against the vast amounts of counterfeit clothing, medicine and other goods that have flooded into the U.S. in increasing waves with the rise in e-commerce. Customs and Border Patrol would subject online retailers, including the growing number of third-party...
California threatened with funds loss over abortion coverage
WASHINGTON — Saying that California is violating a federal law, the Trump administration on Friday threatened the state with a potential loss of federal health care funds over its requirement that insurance plans cover abortions. The announcement was timed to coincide with the anti-abortion March for Life in the nation’s...
Snow plow kills 2 near Kansas State University campus
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A snow plow struck and killed two pedestrians in Kansas before sunrise Friday after a winter storm coated parts of the Midwest with snow. The collision involving a Riley County plow truck happened shortly after 5 a.m., after the National Weather Service issued winter weather advisories...
Lawsuit: 2 cheated man of $4 million in lottery winnings
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — A Massachusetts says two women cheated him out of $4 million in lottery winnings by taking advantage of his inability to read or speak English. Joao Luis DaPonte filed a lawsuit this month against Maria Oliveira and Susana Gaspar in Bristol Superior Court over the ownership...
Pompeo heads to Ukraine next week as impeachment winds down
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Ukraine next week, making his first trip to the country at the heart of President Donald Trump’s impeachment. As Trump’s Senate trial on impeachment charges continues, the State Department announced Friday that Pompeo would travel to Kiev as part of a...
Pentagon: 34 U.S. troops had brain injuries from Iran’s strike
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Friday that 34 U.S. troops were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries suffered in this month’s Iranian missile strike on an Iraqi air base, and that half of the troops have returned to their military duties. Seventeen of the 34 are still under medical observation, according...
China expands lockdown against virus, fast-tracks hospital
BEIJING — China expanded its lockdown against the deadly new virus to an unprecedented 36 million people and rushed to build a prefabricated, 1,000-bed hospital for victims Friday as the outbreak cast a pall over Lunar New Year, the country’s biggest and most festive holiday. The number of confirmed cases...
Iraqis rally against U.S. troops, demanding they leave
BAGHDAD — Waving national flags and banners denouncing U.S. President Donald Trump, tens of thousands of Iraqis marched peacefully through Baghdad on Friday to demand the ouster of U.S. troops from their country in a protest organized by a populist Shiite cleric. The show of force by followers of Muqtada...
Trump administration picks a new leader for U.S. Border Patrol
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has named a new head of the U.S. Border Patrol. Rodney Scott will take over for Carla Provost, who is retiring, according to an announcement obtained Friday by The Associated Press from Mark Morgan, acting head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Scott has been...
Gov. Wolf to seek school construction aid amid health issues
HARRISBURG — With budget season approaching, Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration is developing a plan to help deal with aging school buildings plagued by environmental problems, including lead paint and asbestos insulation, his office said. Wolf must deliver a budget proposal to the Legislature on Feb. 4, and lawmakers who are...
Chicago woman becomes 2nd U.S. case of new virus from ChinaVideo
WASHINGTON — A Chicago woman has become the second U.S. patient diagnosed with the new pneumonia-like virus from China, health officials announced Friday. The woman in her 60s returned from China on Jan. 13 without showing any signs of illness, but a few days later she called her doctor to...
Convicted NYC bomber gets life term for New Jersey shootout
ELIZABETH, N.J. — An Afghan-born U.S. citizen already serving life in prison for a bombing in New York City was sentenced Friday to an additional life term for a shootout with police in New Jersey as he attempted to avoid arrest in 2016. State Superior Court Judge John Deitch sentenced...
6 killed in Germany shooting, suspect arrested
BERLIN — Six people have been killed and several were injured in a shooting in the southwestern German town of Rot am See, police said Friday. A suspect has been arrested and no further suspects are believed to be at large, Aalen police said. “According to my information, there were...
2 killed, 20 injured when warehouse explosion shakes HoustonVideo
HOUSTON — A massive explosion Friday leveled a warehouse in Houston, killing two workers, damaging nearby buildings and homes and rousing frightened residents from their sleep miles away, authorities said. The explosion happened about 4:30 a.m. inside a building at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing, which makes valves and provides thermal-spray...
Vice President Pence to Pope Francis: ‘You made me a hero’Video
VATICAN CITY — U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told Pope Francis, “You made me a hero” back home by granting him a private audience at the Vatican on Friday. The pontiff and the vice president had a private hour-long conservation. Pence was beaming when the rest of his delegation was...
Agents recover stolen 500-year-old copy of Columbus letter
WILMINGTON, Del. — Federal agents in Delaware have recovered a more than 500-year-old copy of a letter penned by Christopher Columbus that vanished from an Italian library decades ago. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware and Homeland Security investigators, who specialize in the recovery of stolen rare books and historic...
Outer Banks sea turtles rescued from frigid waters
The cold weather isn’t just a pain for us humans. For some sea turtles, it can mean life or death. More than 100 sea turtles, stunned by frigid waters, washed ashore on the soundside of Hatteras Island, N.C., on Monday and Tuesday. “When the water temperatures drop, they are not...
‘Bogus’ Ukraine theory led to Trump’s abuse, Democrats tell trialVideo
WASHINGTON — Democratic House prosecutors made an expansive case Thursday at Donald Trump’s impeachment trial that he abused power like no other president in history, swept up by a “completely bogus” Ukraine theory pushed by attorney Rudy Giuliani. On Friday, the Democrats will press their final day of arguments before...
