Same-sex couples start registering marriages in Taiwan
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Hundreds of same-sex couples in Taiwan rushed to get married Friday, the first day a landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage took effect. Taiwan became the first place in Asia to allow same-sex marriage last week in a legislative vote on a cause that the island’s LGBT...
Trump orders declassification of information related to origins of Russia probe
WASHINGTON — President Trump directed the U.S. intelligence community on Thursday to “quickly and fully cooperate” with Attorney General William Barr’s investigation of the origins of the multi-year probe of whether his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. The move marked an escalation in Trump’s efforts to “investigate the investigators,” as...
South Carolina man charged in death of daughter he mistook for intruder
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Authorities in South Carolina have charged a man with killing his daughter, whom he mistook for a potential intruder. The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office says 43-year-old Jermaine Pressley faces charges of murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and three counts of felon in possession...
Senate approves deal on disaster aid, leaves out border money Trump demandedVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a $19.1 billion disaster aid package, advancing legislation that would break a months-long impasse over federal funding for stretches of the country afflicted by natural disasters. A top Senate Republican said the White House has signed off on the bipartisan compromise. House...
Trump merchandise seller charged with assault, robbery at president’s Pa. rally
A traveling Trump merchandise seller in a camouflage “Make America Great Again” hat was charged with assaulting and robbing another vendor shortly after the president’s visit to Lycoming County on Monday. According to the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Willie Edward Singleton, 29, of South Carolina, is accused of stealing cash —around $500...
Senate backs bill to stem flood of robocalls plaguing cellphones
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are fed up with the barrage of scam and nuisance calls plaguing them and their constituents and on Thursday, the Senate passed a bipartisan measure to combat robocalls. Senators voted, 97-1, to pass a bill designed to authenticate and block robocalls and enforce penalties on scammers who...
U.S. charges WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with publishing classified infoVideo
WASHINGTON — Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks and a thorn in the side of intelligence agencies, faces 17 additional U.S. criminal charges, according to an indictment released Thursday that adds to his legal challenge as he fights extradition from a British jail. British police removed Assange on April 11...
Faked Nancy Pelosi videos, slowed to make her appear drunk, spread on social media
Distorted videos of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., altered to make her sound as if she’s drunkenly slurring her words, are spreading rapidly across social media, highlighting how political disinformation that clouds public understanding can now spread at the speed of the web. The video of Pelosi’s onstage speech Wednesday...
Lawmakers reach deal on disaster aid, minus border money Trump demanded, top senator says
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on Thursday announced an agreement on a multibillion-dollar disaster aid package, breaking a months-long impasse that held up critical federal funding for swaths of the country struck by natural disasters. The White House has signed off on a compromise measure, supported by congressional Democrats and Republicans, that...
Donna Brazile: Biden would beat Trump in Pennsylvania despite president’s 2016 win
Joe Biden can take back a key battleground state that President Donald Trump won in 2016, according to ex-DNC Interim Chairwoman Donna Brazile. The former vice president can make up the less than one percentage point Trump won by in Pennsylvania over Hillary Clinton, Brazile claimed. “Look, I think it’s...
Trump admin sending another $16 billion to ailing farmers
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is delivering another $16 billion in aid to farmers hurt by his trade policies, an effort to relieve the economic pain among his supporters in rural America. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the first of three payments is likely to be made in July...
New Jersey beach smoking ban in place for start of summer
SEA GIRT, N.J. — Smoking and vaping will be banned on nearly every public beach in New Jersey this summer under tougher new restrictions. Nonsmokers are rejoicing over the ban, which also applies to public parks. But some smokers are feeling discriminated against by the law, which took effect in...
‘American Taliban’ John Walker Lindh freed after 17 years in prison
John Walker Lindh, the Californian who took up arms for the Taliban and was captured by invading U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2001, got out of prison Thursday after more than 17 years, released under tight restrictions that reflected government fears he still harbors radical views. Lindh, 38, left a...
U.S. forecasters: Expect near normal Atlantic hurricane season
WASHINGTON — The Atlantic hurricane season is off to yet another early start, but U.S. weather officials say it should be a near normal year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday predicted nine to 15 named storms. It says four to eight of them will become hurricanes and...
Pelosi questions Trump’s fitness; time for ‘intervention’?
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi openly questioned President Donald Trump’s fitness for office Thursday, suggesting a family or staff “intervention” after a dramatic blow-up at a White House meeting the previous day. Both the Republican president and Democratic leaders dug in a day after Trump stalked out of the...
Sheriff’s office foils post-prom bash at Airbnb stocked with booze, pot, stripper poles
A post-prom party was busted before students could even get there. The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported reported that several hundred West Boca Community High School students had rented charter buses to take them to a three-story Airbnb stocked with alcohol, marijuana and stripper poles, but a county sheriff’s department...
Sutersville man passed on baseball career for college education
David Dubinsky wanted to go to college so badly, he said no to the Baltimore Orioles. Scouts from the major league team were at a high school baseball game Mr. Dubinsky was playing in. They were there to scout the opposing team, but Mr. Dubinsky had hit a home run...
62,000 pounds of raw meat recalled ahead of Memorial Day
Talk about bad timing. Aurora Packing Company is recalling more than 62,000 pounds of raw beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli, just days before one of the biggest grilling weekends of the year. The USDA reported that North Aurora, Ill.-based company’s recalled products were packaged April 19...
Census: Big cities in U.S. aren’t growing like they used to
ORLANDO, Fla. — Big cities in the U.S. aren’t growing like they used to. Most of the nation’s largest cities last year grew by a fraction of the numbers they did earlier in the decade, according to population and housing unit estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The...
Politics, killings stifle wolf recovery amid hefty price tag
RALEIGH, N.C. — Illegal killings and longstanding political resistance have undercut the return of two species of endangered wolves to the wild, frustrating government efforts that already cost more than $80 million but have failed to meet recovery targets. The number of red wolves roaming the forests of North Carolina...
Fugitive says he’ll surrender if people like his wanted poster on Facebook
HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut police department has reached a deal with a fugitive that would have him surrender if enough people respond to a wanted poster on social media, an agreement that at least one expert calls unethical. Jose Simms, 29, who is believed to be somewhere in New...
Trump’s campaign centered on fighting Democrats, not policy
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump dropped the pretense of working with congressional Democrats on Wednesday and sent a clear message that his re-election campaign will be centered on condemning overzealous investigations rather than advancing a robust domestic policy agenda. Both sides may have feigned surprise at Trump’s angry outburst, in...
U.S. says Trump coal moves hasten but don’t increase emissions
BILLINGS, Mont. — The Trump administration’s decision to lift a moratorium on coal sales from public lands could hasten the release of more than 5 billion tons of greenhouse gases, but officials concluded Wednesday it would make little difference in overall U.S. climate emissions. That conclusion from the Bureau of...
Democratic pledges against big money come with an asterisk
WASHINGTON — Bernie Sanders wants to crack down on outside groups that do political spending, though one is allied with his presidential campaign. Elizabeth Warren has vowed no untraceable “dark money” will help her White House bid, despite being backed by an organization that doesn’t disclose some of its donors....
3 deaths in Missouri as tornado strikes state capital
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A tornado caused heavy damage in Missouri’s capital city as severe weather swept across the state overnight, causing at least three deaths and injuring nearly two dozen people as homes and businesses were ripped apart. The National Weather Service confirmed that the large and destructive tornado...
