Pennsylvania reports 8,818 new covid-19 cases, 185 deaths
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health on Tuesday reported 8,818 additional cases and 185 deaths attributed to the coronavirus. The death toll for the state stands at 16,546 since the pandemic started last March. With the day’s report, there have been 568 deaths counted this month. Of the deaths newly reported on...
Where is Jack Ma, China’s e-commerce pioneer?
BEIJING — China’s best-known entrepreneur, e-commerce billionaire Jack Ma, made his fortune by taking big risks. The former English teacher founded Alibaba Group in 1999, when China had few internet users. Online payments service Alipay launched five years later, before regulators said such businesses would be allowed. Both long shots...
Half of Chicago’s teachers expected to return to schools Monday didn’t show up
CHICAGO — More than half of Chicago Public Schools teachers who were expected to return to schools Monday did not show up, CEO Janice Jackson said. Her comments came at a news conference Tuesday, days after the Chicago Teachers Union said some of its members would not report to schools...
Pennsylvania legislators to kick off session by taking oath
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers returned to the Capitol on Tuesday to be sworn in for the two-year legislative term, facing a still-raging pandemic and a dispute over seating as senator, with Republicans holding large majorities in both chambers. The state House begins the session with 113 Republican seats and 90...
If I’ve already had the coronavirus, can I get it again?
If I’ve already had the coronavirus, can I get it again? It’s possible, but such cases seem to be rare. Evidence is growing that people whose bodies mounted a strong defense to the virus are unlikely to test positive again for at least several months and maybe longer. It’s not...
Loyal soldier Pence torn between Trump, Constitution
WASHINGTON — He has been President Donald Trump’s most loyal soldier, dutifully backing the unpredictable leader through one chaotic situation after another. Now Vice President Mike Pence finds himself in the most precarious position of his tenure as he prepares to preside over Wednesday’s congressional tally of Electoral College votes,...
Illinois teen pleads not guilty in Kenosha protest slayings
MADISON, Wis. — An Illinois teenager who fatally shot two people and wounded a third amidst sometimes violent summer protests on the streets of Kenosha, Wis., pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges including intentional homicide. Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, entered his plea in a brief hearing conducted by teleconference that...
Dog found alive raises hopes in deadly Norway landslide
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A small dog was found alive in the rubble of the deadly landslide that swept away homes in a Norwegian village, raising hopes for rescuers who are still searching for three missing people. Seven others have died. The dog was found late Monday “in good condition” in...
Georgia counts ballots as Senate control hangs in balanceVideo
ATLANTA — Georgia officials counted the final votes of the nation’s turbulent 2020 election season early Wednesday as polls closed in two critical races that will determine control of the U.S. Senate and, in turn, the fate of President-elect Joe Biden’s legislative agenda. The two Senate runoff elections are leftovers...
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice defends his resort’s party on New Year’s EveVideo
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice brushed off criticism that the posh resort he owns did not follow coronavirus pandemic guidelines after video surfaced of a New Year’s Eve gala showing a tightly packed ballroom, with many people not wearing masks. The Republican governor, who did not attend...
Analysis: With call, Trump shows no limit to his power grabVideo
ATLANTA — President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to overturn the 2020 election results — laid out in stark detail in an hourlong weekend phone call with a Georgia election official — are demonstrating his unrestrained determination to maintain a grip on power no matter the consequences for the nation’s democratic...
Proud Boys leader arrested, accused of burning church banner
WASHINGTON — Police in the nation’s capital on Monday arrested the leader of the Proud Boys, who is accused of burning a Black Lives Matter banner that was torn down from a historic Black church in downtown Washington last month. Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, 36, was arrested by Metropolitan Police Department...
Attorney: Congressional seat data from census won’t be ready in January
A Trump administration attorney said Monday that the numbers used for deciding how many congressional seats each state gets won’t be ready until mid-February at the earliest, putting in jeopardy an effort by President Donald Trump to exclude people in the country illegally from those figures. The U.S. Census Bureau...
Worries about vaccine rollout rise as New York finds coronavirus variantVideo
ALBANY, N.Y. — In an effort to speed up what has been a sluggish rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, New York’s governor threatened Monday to fine hospitals up to $100,000 if they don’t finish their first round of inoculations by the end of the week. Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the...
Prosecutor: Wisconsin pharmacist thought covid vaccine was unsafeVideo
PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. — A Wisconsin pharmacist convinced the world was “crashing down” told police he tried to ruin hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine because he believed the shots would mutate people’s DNA, according to court documents released Monday. Police in Grafton, about 20 miles north of Milwaukee, arrested...
Urging calm, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser calls in National Guard for protestsVideo
Bracing for possible violence, the nation’s capital has mobilized the National Guard ahead of planned protests by President Donald Trump’s supporters in connection with the congressional vote expected Wednesday to affirm Joe Biden’s election victory. Trump’s supporters are planning to rally Tuesday and Wednesday, seeking to bolster the president’s unproven...
South Africa testing whether vaccines work against variant
JOHANNESBURG — Scientists in South Africa are urgently testing to see if the vaccines for covid-19 will be effective against the country’s variant virus. The genomic studies come as Britain’s health minister, Matt Hancock, and other experts in the U.K. have said they worry that vaccines may not be effective...
In farewell, DeVos urges Congress to reject Biden’s policies
In a farewell letter to Congress on Monday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urged lawmakers to reject President-elect Joe Biden’s education agenda, while imploring them to shield Trump administration policies that Biden has promised to eliminate. DeVos does not explicitly acknowledge President Donald Trump’s election defeat nor does she refer to...
U.K. prime minister orders new virus lockdown for England
LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday a new national lockdown for England until at least mid-February to combat a fast-spreading new variant of the coronavirus, even as Britain ramped up its vaccination program by becoming the first nation to start using the shot developed by Oxford University...
Federal judge rejects lawsuit seeking to overturn Trump loss
MADISON, Wis. — A federal judge on Monday rejected a lawsuit filed by two Republican Wisconsin lawmakers, voting rights groups and others seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Wisconsin and four other swing states where Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg,...
Prosecutor says Wisconsin pharmacist thought vaccine was unsafe
PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. — A Wisconsin pharmacist told police he tried to ruin hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine because he felt the medicine wasn’t safe, a prosecutor said Monday. Police in Grafton, about 20 miles north of Milwaukee, arrested the Advocate Aurora Health pharmacist last week following an investigation...
Harvard professor believes asteroid was actually old alien techVideo
It would appear that one man’s rock is another alien’s outdated cellphone. Avi Loeb, an Israeli-American theoretical physicist and professor at Harvard University, theorizes in his upcoming book “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) that a rock that entered our solar system in September...
California’s covid-19 numbers grow with hospitals swamped
LOS ANGELES — California’s coronavirus death toll has topped 26,500 and confirmed cases have neared 2.4 million since the pandemic began, health officials said. The state’s swamped hospitals held more than 22,000 covid-19 patients, including nearly 4,700 in intensive care units, the Department of Public Health said Monday. Gov. Gavin...
France charges an alleged organizer of giant New Year’s rave
PARIS — An alleged organizer of an illegal New Year’s Eve rave that at least 2,500 people attended for more than a day in western France was charged Monday with endangering lives amid a coronavirus curfew and other restrictions. The 22-year-old man also faced property damage and drug charges among...
Amazon’s Bezos tops list of richest charitable gifts in 2020
SILVER SPRING, Md. — The world’s richest person made the single-largest charitable contribution in 2020, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual list of top donations, a $10 billion gift that is intended to help fight climate change. Amazon’s founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, whose “real-time” worth Forbes magazine estimates...
