Pope: Sorry I lost patience with hand-shaker who yanked meVideo
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has apologized for hitting the hand of a well-wisher who grabbed him and yanked him toward her. In his new year’s wishes to the public in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Francis confessed to losing his patience with the woman while he was strolling in...
‘Sordid history’ cited as judge blocks North Carolina’s voter ID law
RALEIGH — The federal judge who blocked the newest version of North Carolina’s voter identification law cited the state’s “sordid history of racial discrimination and voter suppression” as she ordered officials not to enforce the law in 2020. U.S. District Court Judge Loretta Biggs’ decision was released Tuesday and prevents...
As more women run for office, child care remains a hurdle
SALT LAKE CITY — When Kimberly Dudik ran for her fourth term in the Montana House, state officials told her she could not use campaign money to pay for child care for her four young children. She is now running for attorney general and is trying to visit a big...
Israel PM Netanyahu seeks immunity from corruption charges
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he will seek immunity from corruption charges, likely delaying any trial until after March elections, when he hopes to have a majority coalition that will shield him from prosecution. Netanyahu was indicted in November on charges of accepting bribes, fraud and...
Century-old TB vaccine may work better if given in a new way
WASHINGTON — Scientists think they’ve figured out how to make a century-old tuberculosis vaccine far more protective: Simply give the shot a different way. In a study with monkeys, injecting the vaccine straight into the bloodstream dramatically improved its effectiveness over today’s skin-deep shot, researchers reported Wednesday. “This offers hope,”...
Officials: Taliban target Afghan security forces, killing 26Video
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban unleashed a new wave of attacks in northern Afghanistan, targeting members of the country’s security forces and killing at least 26, local officials said Wednesday. The insurgents quickly claimed responsibility for the attack. The Taliban today hold sway over practically half of Afghanistan, staging near-daily...
Floats, marching bands hit the streets for 131st Rose Parade
PASADENA, Calif. — After a flyover by a B-2 stealth bomber, marching bands and floral floats took to the streets under mostly sunny California skies as the 131st Rose Parade drew hundreds of thousands of spectators on New Year’s Day. Among the fanciful floats was an award-winning entry from the...
Cars get trapped in tumbleweeds on Washington state highwayVideo
WEST RICHLAND, Wash. — A Washington state highway was closed closed in both directions Tuesday night after several cars became trapped in tumbleweeds. YakTriNews reported that the Washington State Patrol announced via Twitter at about 6:30 p.m. that drivers on State Route 240 near West Richland should be aware of...
4 homicides in first 3 hours of 2020 in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS — Four people in St. Louis were shot to death in the early hours of the first day of 2020, including three killed at one location. Police were called shortly after midnight to an intersection in the Benton Park neighborhood, where three people were found dead. A fourth...
Family: Man stabbed in Hanukkah attack may have brain damage
NEW YORK — A man wounded in the Hanukkah stabbings north of New York City may have permanent brain damage and be partially paralyzed for the rest of his life, his family said. The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council released a statement from the family of Josef Neumann, 71, and...
7 shot at bar in West Virginia on New Year’s DayVideo
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. — Seven people were injured in a shooting at a bar in West Virginia early New Year’s Day, police said. The shooting happened early Wednesday at the Kulture Hookah Bar in Huntington, interim Huntington Police Chief Ray Cornwell said in a news release. The statement said several...
About 5,000 golden eagles winter in eastern U.S.
Golden eagles are back from Canada, spending the winter in the eastern U.S. Researcher Trish Miller said there are probably around 5,000 east of the Mississippi River, compared to estimates of 1,000 to 2,500 when she and her husband, Michael Lanzone, began studying them in 2005. Other scientists have come...
Man caught on video snatching woman from NYC subway train
NEW YORK — New York police arrested a man after a video surfaced showing him apparently trying to abduct a woman on the subway. Sonny Alloway, 48, was charged with unlawful imprisonment on suspicion of grabbing a young woman and carrying her off a No. 6 train Sunday in the...
Trump suggests some flavored vapes may be pulled from market
PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump says the federal government will soon announce a new strategy to tackle underage vaping, promising, “We’re going to protect our families, we’re going to protect our children, and we’re going to protect the industry.” Trump was vague about what the plan would entail...
Year-end violence highlights danger of worshipping
NEW YORK — When a machete-wielding attacker walked into a rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York, during Hanukkah and a gunman fired on worshippers at a Texas church 14 hours later, the two congregations in different regions of the country joined a growing list of faith communities that have come...
Ups and downs in Trump-Kim nuclear diplomacy
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s threat to show the world a new strategic weapon and possibly resume long-range missile tests is another dramatic turn in his high-stakes summitry with President Donald Trump. Some key moments in North Korea-U.S. diplomacy: Jan. 1, 2018: Kim uses his annual New Year’s address...
Kisses, cheers, fireworks welcome 2020 in Times Square
NEW YORK — Couples kissed. Others cheered and waved balloons as fireworks burst into the night sky and confetti fell to welcome the start of 2020 in New York City’s Times Square. In one of the globe’s most-watched New Year’s Eve spectacles, the crowd counted down the last seconds of...
Minister: Texas gunman grew angry in past over cash requests
DALLAS — The congregation at a Texas church where two people were fatally shot had repeatedly given food to the gunman, according to the pastor, but had declined to give money to him, angering a man who court records show was deemed mentally incompetent for trial in 2012. It’s unclear...
Cheers, tears, prayers for 2020: A new decade is ushered in
Revelers around the globe are bidding farewell to a decade that will be remembered for the rise of social media, the Arab Spring, the #MeToo movement and, of course, President Donald Trump. A look at how the world is ushering in 2020: ——— PARIS A joyful crowd of Parisians and...
Sanders says he’ll enact national drinking water standards
CONCORD, N.H. — Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said Tuesday that he would enact federal drinking water standards for a group of toxic chemicals that have caused widespread contamination in New Hampshire and other states. New Hampshire recently set some of the nation’s toughest standards for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances,...
Headless torso found in Idaho cave identified as bootlegger
BOISE, Idaho — The headless torso that was found in a remote Idaho cave 40 years ago has finally been identified as belonging to an outlaw who killed his wife with an ax and was last seen after escaping from jail in 1916. Clark County Sheriff Bart May said Tuesday...
Video: SUV swallowed by sinkhole in Easton streetVideo
2019 may have to go out as the year of the sinkhole — at least in Pennsylvania anyway. On Monday, surveillance from a doorbell camera showed an SUV falling into a sinkhole as it approached a stop sign in the city of Easton. Located in Northampton County, Easton is 55...
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un promises look at new weapon soon
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has accused the Trump administration of dragging its feet in nuclear negotiations and warned that his country will soon show a new strategic weapon to the world as its bolsters its nuclear deterrent in face of “gangster-like” U.S. sanctions and...
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker clears thousands of marijuana convictionsVideo
CHICAGO — Illinois’ governor granted more than 11,000 pardons for low-level marijuana convictions on Tuesday, describing the step as a first wave of thousands of such expungements anticipated under the state’s new marijuana legalization law. The expungement process is a key part of the law, which takes effect Wednesday and...
Hershey is retiring fleet of KissmobilesVideo
The Hershey Co. will soon retire its vehicles that are shaped like its Hershey’s Kisses. The Hershey Kissmobiles, which are each made up of three massive Kisses candies, have traveled across the country since 1997. The chocolate company has confirmed that the 26-foot-long vehicles won’t return in 2020. The company...
