Jim Comey: ‘Real sloppiness’ in Russia probe but no misconductVideo
WASHINGTON — Former FBI Director James Comey acknowledged Sunday that a Justice Department inspector general report identified “real sloppiness” in the surveillance of a former Trump campaign aide and said he was wrong to have been “overconfident” about how the Russia investigation was handled. But Comey also insisted he was...
West Virginia sheriff’s deputy shot in face at rural home
ASHTON, W.Va. — A sheriff’s deputy in West Virginia was shot in the face Sunday while attempting to serve charges on a man at a home in a shooting incident from the previous day, authorities said. Deputies were trying to enter the home in rural Mason County on Sunday where...
Child fatally struck after Tennessee Christmas paradeVideo
MOUNT JULIET, Tenn. — A child was fatally struck at the end of a Christmas parade in Tennessee, authorities said. The child was hit Saturday by a pickup truck that was towing a trailer in a parking lot at Mount Juliet Middle School, police said in a news release. The...
Boy, 13, arrested in killing of Barnard College freshman Tessa MajorsVideo
NEW YORK — A 13-year-old boy was arrested Friday in the stabbing death of a Barnard College freshman who was approached in a park by as many as three youths as she ventured from her New York City campus on the eve of final exams. The arrest of such a...
Edward Constantine of Southwest Greensburg was ‘ultimate role model’
Edward Constantine was a family man par excellence. As the last Constantine of his generation, he was a father figure to many and the “ultimate role model,” said his son Michael. “His whole life revolved around his wife, his kids, his grandkids and his great-grandkids,” Michael Constantine said. “He was...
Bernie Sanders makes pitch for minor leagues
BURLINGTON, Iowa — Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate, is aggressively opposing a Major League Baseball plan to cut 42 minor league teams across the country after 2020. Among the targeted are the Vermont Lake Monsters, the Single-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics in his hometown, Burlington....
Disappointment as marathon climate talks end with slim deal
MADRID — Marathon U.N. climate talks ended Sunday with a slim compromise that sparked widespread disappointment, after major polluters resisted calls for ramping up efforts to keep global warming at bay and negotiators postponed debate about rules for international carbon markets for another year. Organizers kept delegates from almost 200...
Greta Thunberg, German railway company in tweetstorm
Climate activist Greta Thunberg and Germany’s national railway company created a tweetstorm Sunday after she posted a photo of herself sitting on the floor of a train surrounded by lots of bags. The image has drawn plenty of comment online about the performance of German railways. Thunberg posted the tweet...
141-year-old fruitcake is a Michigan family’s heirloom
TECUMSEH, Mich. — Some families pass down jewelry, watches or even recipes. But a Michigan family has its own heirloom: a 141-year-old fruitcake. “It’s a great thing,” said Julie Ruttinger, the great great granddaughter of Fidelia Ford, who baked the cake in 1878. “It was tradition. It’s a legacy.” The...
Strong quake kills 1, collapses building in Philippines
DAVAO, Philippines — A strong earthquake jolted the southern Philippines on Sunday, killing at least one person and causing a three-story building to collapse, setting off a search for people feared to have been trapped inside, officials said. The magnitude 6.9 quake struck an area about 4 miles northwest of...
Mt. Pleasant man endured missile crisis, mining accident, shared lifelong love of golf
Skilled golfer John J. Konieczny Jr. continued to play the “game of kings” while stationed with the Navy in Norfolk, Va., in the early 1960s. He also played a part in one of the deadliest games in history — the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis that threatened nuclear conflict between...
Houses of worship attacked with deadly frequency in 2019
On Dec. 1, a band of assailants opened fire on worshippers at a small-town Protestant church in Burkina Faso, an impoverished West African country where the Christian minority is increasingly a target of attacks. The victims included the pastor and several teenage boys; regional authorities attributed the attack to “unidentified...
Church services, vigils mark Sandy Hook shooting anniversary
NEWTOWN, Conn. — Vigils and church services were held Saturday in Connecticut to mark the seventh anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and remember victims of other gun violence since the tragedy in Newtown. Twenty first graders and six educators were killed at the school on Dec. 14,...
FBI recovers van it says may be linked to Jersey City attack
ORANGE, N.J. — Federal authorities have recovered a van that may be connected to the Jersey City shootings that killed four people and are now being investigated as domestic terrorism, the FBI said Saturday. The white van recovered Saturday morning in Orange, New Jersey, about 11 miles (17 kilometers) northwest...
Georgia man arrested after calling police 3 times to confess
BOSTON, Ga. — A man apparently felt so bad about breaking the law that he called police three times to confess, according to police in Georgia. Lt. Tim Watkins of the Thomas County Sheriff’s Office told the Thomasville Times-Enterprise that a man called at 5 a.m. Friday to say he...
NYC paying $625K to mom whose baby was ripped away by police
NEW YORK — New York City will pay $625,000 to resolve a lawsuit filed by a mother whose toddler was yanked from her arms by police in a widely seen online video, the city’s Law Department said. Jazmine Headley sued the city in August alleging trauma and humiliation and seeking...
Reparations mark new front for U.S. colleges tied to slavery
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The promise of reparations to atone for historical ties to slavery has opened new territory in a reckoning at U.S. colleges, which until now have responded with monuments, building name changes and public apologies. Georgetown University and two theological seminaries have announced funding commitments to benefit descendants...
Supporters of embattled Thai opposition party hold big rally
BANGKOK — Several thousand supporters of a popular opposition party in Thailand that is under threat of dissolution rallied Saturday in the nation’s capital in one of the largest political demonstrations in recent years. The crowd, which gathered mostly on an elevated walkway connecting malls and mass transit stations and...
Tens of thousands anti-populist Sardines fill Roman square
ROME — Tens of thousands of members of the Italian anti-populist Sardines movement gathered in Rome on Saturday for their first national rally as people said disillusionment with traditional politics drew them to the fast-growing new group. The movement born last month with a spontaneous rally in Bologna focuses on...
Boris Johnson goes north to celebrate crushing election win
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited northern England on Saturday to thank voters and newly elected Conservative Party lawmakers in the working class heartland that turned its back on the opposition Labour Party in this week’s election and helped give him an 80-seat majority. Speaking in Sedgefield —...
Man videotaped slapping reporter’s rear on live TV chargedVideo
SAVANNAH, Ga. — A Georgia man who was videotaped slapping a female reporter’s rear on live TV was arrested Friday on a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery. Savannah police spokeswoman Bianca Johnson in Savannah confirmed that Thomas Callaway, 43, of Statesboro was charged in connection with the incident that occurred...
Arizona authorities recover body of girl swept away by creek
TONTO BASIN, Ariz. — Authorities in rural Arizona on Friday recovered the body of a 6-year-old girl swept away two weeks ago when her family tried to cross surging creek waters. The body of Willa Rawlings was found in Roosevelt Lake about 20 miles south of Tonto Basin, where the...
NYC police release footage of chaotic, fatal friendly fire scene
NEW YORK — Video from cameras worn by New York City police officers involved in a fatal friendly fire shooting shows a chaotic nighttime scene as officers struggled with an armed man on the grounds of a Bronx housing project before shots rang out. The video footage released by the...
Repercussions over UNC’s ‘Silent Sam’ statue deal continue
RALEIGH, N.C. — Critics on Friday pushed back against a deal to protect a Civil War statue that once stood on the University of North Carolina’s flagship campus and give $2.5 million to a neo-Confederate organization, as a civil rights group objected to it in court and a foundation withdrew...
FDA approves first fish-oil drug for cutting cardiac risks
TRENTON, N.J. — U.S. regulators on Friday approved expanded use of a fish oil-based drug for preventing serious heart complications in high-risk patients already taking cholesterol-lowering pills. Vascepa was approved years ago for people with sky-high triglycerides, a type of fat in blood. The Food and Drug Administration allowed its...
