White supremacists stage brief demonstration; no arrests
WILLIAMSPORT — A small group of white supremacists staged a brief demonstration in a central Pennsylvania park over the weekend but disbanded as police arrived in force to break up the event, which was conducted without a permit. More than a dozen members of the National Socialist Movement, some of...
GOP leaders, Trump to discuss coronavirus aid as crisis deepensVideo
WASHINGTON — Top Republicans in Congress were expecting to meet Monday with President Donald Trump on the next covid-19 aid package as the administration panned more virus testing money and interjected other priorities that could complicate quick passage. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was prepared to roll out the $1...
United Arab Emirates: Amal functioning after launch to MarsVideo
TOKYO — A United Arab Emirates spacecraft rocketed away Monday on a seven-month journey to Mars, kicking off the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission. The liftoff of the Mars orbiter named Amal, or Hope, from Japan marked the start of a rush to fly to Earth’s neighbor that includes attempts...
Florida records another 12,478 covid-19 cases and 89 new deathsVideo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida’s coronavirus cases continued to soar Sunday, with the state reporting another 12,478 cases. The state and national record for one day is 15,300 cases, reported July 12. At least 350,047 people have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, the Florida Department of...
Garcetti says Los Angeles reopened too quickly, warns of new stay-at-home orderVideo
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Sunday said L.A. opened too quickly and again warned that the city was close to imposing some type of new stay-at-home order as coronavirus cases continued to spike. Speaking on CNN, Garcetti was asked about a Los Angeles Times editorial that...
Pandemic? What pandemic? Trump reelection ads ignore coronavirus
The death toll keeps rising as covid-19 rages across Florida, Arizona and other campaign battlegrounds, but the television ads President Donald Trump is airing in those states say nothing about the coronavirus pandemic that has upended life for all Americans. It’s a conspicuous omission. Nearly every day, states that could...
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine: Mask order may cover ‘a lot more counties’ this weekVideo
COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio order requiring masks to be worn in public may include “a lot more counties” next week as the coronavirus continues to spread in the state, Gov. Mike DeWIne said Sunday. DeWine said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he is still considering a statewide mask...
Roger Stone calls Black radio host racial slur in interview
Roger Stone, a political operative whose 40-month prison sentence was commuted this month by President Donald Trump, his longtime friend, used the racial slur “Negro” on air while verbally sparring with a Los Angeles-based Black radio host. The exchange occurred on Saturday’s Mo’Kelly Show, whose host — Morris O’Kelly —...
85 Texas infants test positive for covid in one county
Most of the 85 young children in a South Texas county who are known to have contracted the coronavirus tested positive this month amid a surge in the state, a health official said Sunday. Nearly all of the children, most of whom are 1 year old or younger, are expected...
House leaders ‘alarmed’ federal officers policing protestsVideo
PORTLAND, Ore. — Top leaders in the U.S. House said Sunday they were “alarmed” by the Trump administration’s tactics against protesters in Portland, Oregon, and other cities, including Washington, D.C., and called on federal inspectors general investigate. “This is a matter of utmost urgency,” wrote House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold...
Newtown-Sandy Hook foundation, which clashed with victims’ families after massacre, is running out of money
HARTFORD, Conn. — The nonprofit organization that was put in charge of $12.5 million in donations that poured in following the Sandy Hook massacre — and then declined to give it all to the families of the 26 victims — is now quietly seeking more funding because it will run...
Trump not ready to commit to election results if he loses
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is refusing to publicly commit to accepting the results of the upcoming White House election, recalling a similar threat he made weeks before the 2016 vote, as he scoffs at polls showing him lagging behind Democrat Joe Biden. Trump says it’s too early to make...
Trump calls top virus expert Fauci a ‘little bit of an alarmist’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease expert, is a “little bit of an alarmist” but that the two men have a “great relationship.” Trump made the comments in a lengthy interview on “Fox News Sunday” after members of his administration have criticized Fauci,...
FDA approves Quest coronavirus test for ‘pooled’ sample use
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration has given emergency approval to a new approach to coronavirus testing that combines test samples in batches instead of running them one by one, speeding up the process. The FDA said Saturday that it reissued an emergency use authorization to Quest Diagnostics to...
13 shot, wounded at outdoor gathering in Illinois
PEORIA, Ill. — Police said that 13 people were shot and wounded early Sunday after a fight broke out along the riverfront in the central Illinois city of Peoria. None of the wounds are considered life-threatening, police spokeswoman Amy Dotson told the Peoria Journal Star. Officers responding to a report...
Pennsylvania reports 786 new cases, 8 new coronavirus deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health’s latest data added 786 new cases and eight new covid-19 deaths to the state totals on Sunday. The statewide totals now stand at 101,027 cases and 7,015 deaths. More than 926,352 people have tested negative for the virus, state numbers show. Westmoreland County saw an...
How the coronavirus spread through 1 immigration facility
SAN DIEGO — Gregory Arnold walked into the warden’s office April 1 as the novel coronavirus ripped through one of the largest immigration detention centers in the United States. Waiting with about 40 guards to begin his shift, he heard a captain say face masks were prohibited. Incredulous, he and...
Cost, hassle of stamps questioned as mail-in voting surges
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Even if it weren’t for her disability and fear of catching covid-19, Delinda Bryant said getting the necessary postage to cast a ballot this year will be a struggle. Bryant, 63, doesn’t have $10 for a book of stamps, a printer to make them at home or...
Trump campaign urges supporters to back TikTok ban in online ads
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s campaign is paying for ads on Facebook Inc.’s social media platforms urging supporters to sign a petition banning Bytedance Ltd.’s TikTok, as the White House ramps up rhetoric to restrict the video app in the U.S. “TikTok has been caught red handed by monitoring what is...
White House against testing funds in stimulus bill, Washington Post reports
NEW YORK — The Trump administration wants to block new funding to help states with testing and contact tracing in an upcoming coronavirus relief bill, people involved in the talks told the Washington Post. Some Republican senators want to allocate billions of dollars for the Centers for Disease Control and...
Given a chance, Trump would push court pick before election
WASHINGTON — President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have tried to make it clear: Given the chance, they would push through a Supreme Court nominee should a vacancy occur before Election Day. The issue has taken on new immediacy with the disclosure Friday that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg...
As parents look for alternatives, home schooling sees ‘explosive’ interest
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For Laila Barakat’s children, school will be home, like other students in their district. But they won’t participate in distance learning. Their teachers will be mom and dad. Barakat has decided to do home schooling for her three school-aged children — one in first grade, one in...
EU leaders extend summit as they haggle over budget, virus
BRUSSELS — European Union leaders on Saturday extended their summit by an extra day, convinced they were finally closing in on a deal for an unprecedented 1.85 trillion euro ($2.1 trillion) EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund, an EU official said. Heading into a balmy summer night, a deal was...
Atlanta lowering flags indefinitely to honor Rep. John Lewis
ATLANTA — Atlanta will lower flags to half-staff indefinitely to honor Rep. John Lewis, who represented the city for more than 30 years in Congress before his death, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Saturday. Bottoms made the announcement in a statement that said words can’t describe the loss of Lewis,...
Protesters hit with gas as locals demand feds leave Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. — Militarized federal agents deployed by the president to Portland, Oregon, fired tear gas against protesters again overnight as the city’s mayor demanded that the agents be removed and as the state’s attorney general vowed to seek a restraining order against them. Federal agents, some wearing camouflage and...
