Trump cancels report on civilian deaths in drone strikes
WASHINGTON — President Trump revoked a requirement that U.S. intelligence officials publicly report the number of civilians killed in drone strikes and other attacks on terrorist targets outside war zones. Trump formally ended the requirement with an executive order on Wednesday, months after signaling such a move. The administration last...
Michael Cohen: Pardons discussed with a second Trump lawyer
WASHINGTON — Michael Cohen has claimed to the House Intelligence Committee that he discussed the subject of a pardon with President Trump’s attorney Jay Sekulow, bringing another of Trump’s representatives into an ongoing dispute over precisely who opened discussions about the matter. Under penalty of perjury, Cohen alleged to lawmakers...
Philadelphia transit police strike over working conditions
PHILADELPHIA — Police officers for the Philadelphia region’s main transit system went on strike Wednesday, citing poor working conditions for the 178 officers that patrol stations. Members of the Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109 walked off the job for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority when they said a...
Elijah Cummings reintroduces legislation to put Harriet Tubman on $20 bill
It’s still not clear whose face will be on the $20 bill in 2020. Last month, a bipartisan pair of lawmakers, Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, and John Katko, a New York Republican, reintroduced legislation to require the Treasury Department to put abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. Tubman...
Celebrity cat Lil Bub attracts notice of geneticists
Dario Lupianez is the author of dense scientific papers with titles including “Breaking TADs: How alterations of chromatin domains result in disease.” Now he, as one member of an international team of molecular biologists, is also a co-author of a paper on the extraordinary genetics of celebrity cat Lil Bub....
More than 140 children may have had hearts removed in ancient sacrifice in Peru
Anthropologists have found evidence of a mass ritual killing that involved the deaths of more than 140 children, three adults and at least 200 young llamas on the northern coast of Peru. The archaeological site, known as Huanchaquito-Las Llamas, represents one of the largest known cases of mass child sacrifice...
Rio Carnival winner paid tribute to slain councilwoman
RIO DE JANEIRO — The Brazilian samba school that paid tribute to a slain city councilwoman has won this year’s Carnival parade contest in Rio de Janeiro. The title announced Wednesday went to Mangueira, which is one of the oldest and most traditional samba schools. The group’s theme was Brazil’s...
Trudeau’s former top aide testifies in his defense
TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s former top aide tried Wednesday to quell a Cabinet controversy that has shaken Canada’s government in an election year, testifying that the demotion of the attorney general had nothing to do with alleged efforts to pressure her into not prosecuting a Canadian company in...
Bill to allow concealed carry on West Virginia campuses fails
CHARLESTON — Legislation to allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry guns on West Virginia college campuses has been defeated. The Senate judiciary committee voted Tuesday night by a narrow margin to keep the measure from going to the full Senate. The House of Delegates had passed the bill...
State bans dispensaries from joining Pennsylvania Cannabis Festival
SCRANTON — The Pennsylvania Department of Health has banned dispensaries from participating in one of the state’s largest cannabis festivals. A spokesperson for the department tells The Philadelphia Inquirer they issued the ban last week because the Pennsylvania Cannabis Festival in Scranton is not a “medically focused event.” Festival organizer...
U.S. envoy Elliott Abrams dismisses military force in Venezuela in prank call
WASHINGTON — The U.S. envoy for Venezuela dismissed the possibility of American military action in the South American country in a recording made by two Russian pranksters and released Wednesday. Special Representative Elliott Abrams said in the recording that the United States wouldn’t use force in Venezuela unless the government...
Police: Two Florida sisters committed ‘the perfect murder.’ A love triangle exposed the truth.
Their father was old and frail, ground down by his 85 years of life and hounded by cancer and dementia. He would die soon, his grown daughters Mary-Beth Tomaselli and Linda Roberts reasoned. They decided to help him make an early exit, police now say. Anthony Tomaselli’s two children meticulously...
Lehigh University bans hard liquor from on-campus housing
BETHLEHEM — Lehigh University in Pennsylvania has announced a ban on hard liquor from on-campus housing as part of a crackdown on fraternities and sororities. University officials announced the ban Tuesday as part of its 10-point “plan for Greek excellence.” Other points on the plan include requiring live-in graduate assistants...
Arizona Sen. Martha McSally, ex-Air Force pilot, says officer raped her
WASHINGTON — Sen. Martha McSally, the first female Air Force fighter pilot to fly in combat, said Wednesday that she was sexually assaulted by a superior officer, and later, when she tried to talk about it to military officials, she “felt like the system was raping me all over again.”...
Homeless man charged in $400,000 GoFundMe scheme pleads guilty
CAMDEN, N.J. — Johnny Bobbitt, the homeless vet who conspired with a Burlington County couple to spin a feel-good story that captured hearts across the country and raised $400,000 in a GoFundMe campaign, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering Wednesday in federal court in Camden. Bobbitt, 36, could...
Dissent among Dems over response to Omar’s Israel remarks
WASHINGTON — A meeting of House Democrats turned contentious Wednesday as some new members who helped deliver the House majority confronted leaders over a resolution implicitly rebuking Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota over her comments on Israel. In the party’s weekly closed meeting, Democrats protested the way Speaker Nancy Pelosi...
Democrats say no upcoming presidential debates on Fox News
NEW YORK — The Democratic National Committee says it won’t pick Fox News to televise one of the upcoming debates being held for its 2020 presidential contenders. The party chairman, Tom Perez, says he’s concluded that the network isn’t in a position to host a fair and neutral debate. He’s...
Recent humongous gators: One 700-pounder dies while another has its own Facebook page
Cell phone footage captured Larry the Alligator lumbering across the road this weekend in a retirement community northwest of Orlando, Florida. The image has gone viral. The gator believed to be at least 12 feet long, has a fan following, and even its own Facebook page, according to Fox News....
State police issue 2K citations to commercial drivers during storms
Pennsylvania State Police issued 2,065 citations and 295 written warnings to commercial vehicle drivers who ignored emergency traffic restrictions on several major roadways during three recent winter storms. State troopers also responded to 31 crashes involving commercial vehicles on roads where restrictions on such vehicles and a reduced speed limit...
German police: Dead gardener targeted enemies with bombs
BERLIN — German police on Wednesday urged anyone who had a conflict with a recently deceased man to be wary, after a doctor was killed and a mother and daughter were injured by bombs apparently planted by him before he died. Westpfalz police spokesman Bernhard Christian Erfort told The Associated...
Kentucky could make it a crime to ‘dox’ minors
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Months after a Kentucky high school student was vilified following his interaction with a Native American protester, the state legislature is advancing a bill that would make it a crime to publish personal information of a child online with the intent to harass or intimidate. A Kentucky...
First cub seen on new Game Commission bear webcam
It didn’t take long for the new Pennsylvania Game Commission webcam to show one bear cub tucked under momma bear Tuesday evening. There are more cubs, but just how many, the game commission isn’t sure. In most of the webcam views, the mother black bear has had her back to...
School lessons targeted by climate change doubters
HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut lawmaker wants to strike climate change from state science standards. A Virginia legislator worries teachers are indoctrinating students with their personal views on global warming. And an Oklahoma state senator wants educators to be able to introduce alternative viewpoints without fear of losing their jobs....
School bus crash injures 20, 1 student seriously hurt
AURORA, Ind. — A school bus collided with a garbage truck in Indiana on Wednesday, seriously injuring one student and leaving 20 other people hurt, authorities said. Preliminary information indicates that 18 students, the bus driver and the driver of the garbage truck were injured in the crash, said Indiana...
Foreign leaders lavish Trump with diplomatic gifts
WASHINGTON — Foreign leaders showered President Donald Trump and his family with more than $140,000 in gifts during their first year in the White House, with China and Saudi Arabia among the most lavish givers. According to the State Department’s annual accounting of such gifts, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave...
