Trump encourages Republicans to back bipartisan budget bill
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is encouraging Republican lawmakers to back a sweeping bipartisan budget deal his administration struck with Democrats. Trump tweeted on Thursday morning that “House Republicans should support the TWO YEAR BUDGET AGREEMENT which greatly helps our Military and our Vets.” He adds in a note of...
Philippine president offers bounty for ‘head’ of lead killer of 4 police
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine president has offered a bounty to anybody who can deliver to him the head of the communist insurgent leader behind the killings of four police intelligence officers last week in an insurgency-hit central province. President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday he raised a reward of 3...
Study: Home-delivered meals could save money for Medicare
WASHINGTON — Medicare could save $1.57 for every dollar spent delivering free healthy meals to frail seniors after a hospitalization, according to a new study that comes as lawmakers look to restrain costs by promoting patients’ well-being. The report Thursday from the Bipartisan Policy Center addresses ways that Medicare can...
What’s next after Mueller? Lawsuits, investigations and more
WASHINGTON — After months of anticipation, Congress finally heard testimony from former special counsel Robert Mueller. So what now? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Mueller’s appearance was “a crossing of a threshold,” raising public awareness of what Mueller found. And Democrats after the hearing said they had clearly laid out...
Trump celebrates at W.Va. fundraiser after Mueller hearings
WHEELING, West Virginia — A triumphant President Donald Trump celebrated Wednesday evening after Robert Mueller’s testimony, telling attendees at a closed-door fundraiser in West Virginia that the former special counsel’s appearance was a dud. Trump, who arrived at the fundraiser energized and excited, told a crowd at the WesBanco Arena...
Puerto Rico governor says he is resigning Aug. 2
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said late Wednesday that he will resign Aug. 2 after nearly two weeks of furious protests and political upheaval touched off by a leak of crude and insulting chat messages between him and his top advisers. A crowd of...
Record $48.6 million shipment of elephant ivory and pangolin scales intercepted in Singapore
Singapore Customs and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said that it seized around 10 tons of elephant ivory and 12 tons of pangolin scales. According to The Associated Press, the scales came from about 2,000 of the giant pangolins, which resemble an anteater covered in plated armor made of keratin....
AP Photos: Nepal woman spends her day feeding temple monkeys
KATHMANDU, Nepal — In the forests of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu near the revered Hindu temple of Pahsupatinath, some 300 monkeys eagerly await their pieces of roti, or flat bread. For the past four years, Saraswati Dangol has been bringing the bread every day to feed the monkeys. She buys some...
S. Korea says N. Korea fires 2 short-range missiles into sea
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired two short-range missiles into the sea on Thursday, South Korea’s military said, the first weapons launches in more than two months as North Korean and U.S. officials struggle to restart nuclear negotiations. The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles fired from...
Sharks under threat because of global fisheries, study says
CANBERRA, Australia — About a quarter of shark habitats are actively targeted by global commercial fishing fleets, leaving the predators with limited places to hide from the longlines, or baited hooks, on which they frequently get caught, according to study published Wednesday. The researchers found areas frequented by protected species...
Schools that warned about lunch debt now accepting donation
A Pennsylvania school district that warned parents behind on their lunch bills that their children could end up in foster care, and then rejected a businessman’s offer to pay the overdue charges, is apologizing and says it wants to accept the donation after all. The Wyoming Valley West school board...
Fire close to nuke facilities in Idaho shifts away in wind
BOISE, Idaho — The largest wildfire at the nation’s primary nuclear research facility in recent history had been burning close to buildings containing nuclear fuel and other radioactive material but a change in wind direction Wednesday was pushing the flames into open range at the sprawling site in Idaho, officials...
Trump vetoes congressional effort to block Saudi arms sales
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed a trio of congressional resolutions aimed at blocking his administration from bypassing Congress and selling billions of dollars in weapons and maintenance support to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month cited threats from Iran...
Mueller: No Russia exoneration for Trump, despite his claims
WASHINGTON — Robert Mueller, the taciturn lawman at the center of a polarizing American drama, bluntly dismissed President Donald Trump’s claims of “total exoneration” Wednesday in the federal probe of Russia’s 2016 election interference. In a long day of congressional testimony, Mueller warned that Moscow’s actions represented — and still...
Latrobe man was active with hobbies, church
Mickey Repko’s life got swept up in the great drama of World War II when he enlisted in the Army on March 25, 1943. What little he said about his military service over the years suggested that by the time his unit arrived in Europe, most of the fighting was...
Reschenthaler questions Mueller, calls report process ‘un-American’Video
U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters, stuck closely to information that has been released regarding the investigation when questioning Robert Mueller during his testimony Wednesday in Washington. He cited opposition by Janet Reno, attorney general under President Clinton, to publication of reports regarding charges that were not prosecuted. Mueller said Reno’s...
Jeannette company becomes leader in recycling biopharmaceutical waste
Triumvirate Environmental has a new way to help the pharmaceutical industry recycle plastic waste. The Jeannette waste-management company serves clients in the life sciences, health care, education and industrial markets. Biopharmaceutical waste — estimated to be about 30,000 tons per year and either incinerated or sent to landfills — is...
Mexican authorities find 21 bodies buried in yard of house
MEXICO CITY — Prosecutors in western Mexico say 21 bodies have been found in excavations carried out in the yard of a house near the city of Guadalajara. Jalisco state prosecutors say that a possible burial site at the house was detected earlier this month and that excavations over several...
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler accuses Mueller of omitting pro-Trump evidence in report
As former special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s testimony before Congress dragged into its third hour, three Pennsylvania lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee finally got their turns to highlight and critique his work. During his five minutes of questioning, Republican U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, a lawyer who was a Judge Advocate...
Trump, allies frame Mueller testimony as win for White House
WASHINGTON — Believing a two-year shadow over the White House at last has been lifted, President Donald Trump and his allies seized on Robert Mueller’s testimony before Congress on Wednesday as a clear-cut victory, mocking the former special counsel’s findings and performance. After claiming in advance that he might not...
Pennsylvania high court declines to review Jerry Sandusky decision
HARRISBURG — Jerry Sandusky isn’t getting a fresh chance to argue in state court he should get a new trial, seven years after the former Penn State assistant football coach was convicted of molesting 10 boys. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down the 75-year-old’s request it review a Superior...
Allergan recalls textured breast implant tied to rare cancer
WASHINGTON — Breast implant maker Allergan Inc. issued a worldwide recall Wednesday for textured models because of a link to a rare form of cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it called for the removal after new information showed Allergan’s Biocell breast implants with a textured surface account...
‘In God We Trust’ going up at South Dakota public schools
RAPID CITY, S.D. — When students return to public schools across South Dakota this fall, they should expect to see a new message on display: “In God We Trust.” A new state law that took effect this month requires all public schools in the state’s 149 districts to paint, stencil...
Police: Man bit off part of another man’s pinky at Dallas train station
DALLAS — Police arrested a Dallas man over the weekend after he reportedly bit off part of another man’s finger at a commuter train station. Hubert Warren, 50, faces a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. According to Warren’s arrest-warrant affidavit, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) officers were...
U.S. new home sales rise 7% in June after 2 months of decline
WASHINGTON — U.S. new home sales rose at a modest pace in June but remained below sales levels earlier this year, suggesting low mortgage rates and a healthy job market aren’t encouraging many more purchases. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that new home sales increased 7% to a seasonally adjusted...
