Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt says he has tested positive for covid-19Video
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Wednesday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and that he is isolating at home, making him the first U.S. governor to report testing positive. Stitt, 48, said he mostly feels fine, although he started feeling “a little achy” Tuesday and...
Philadelphia schools: Most kids in class 2 days per week this fall
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia school district announced Wednesday that it plans to resume limited in-person instruction in the fall, with most students in class just two days per week and learning remotely the other three. District officials also warned that it’s “highly likely” that evolving COVID-19 conditions will require individual...
Virus resurgence forces countries to reimpose restrictions
PROMACHONAS, Greece — Countries around the world are reimposing lockdowns and implementing new health checks at their borders in an effort to curb a resurgence of the coronavirus before it spins even further out of control. Starting Wednesday, all travelers arriving in Greece from a land border with Bulgaria were...
Pennsylvania reports 994 new covid-19 cases, 26 new deaths
Pennsylvania added 994 new covid-19 cases to its total Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported. The increase of nearly 1,000 cases represents the second straight day the number was above 900. That last time that happened was in mid-May. On Tuesday, 929 cases were reported. There were 139,819 tests...
‘I’m not a bad guy’: Police video captures distraught George FloydVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — Body-camera footage made public Wednesday from two Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd’s arrest captured a panicked and fearful Floyd pleading with the officers in the minutes before his death, saying “I’m not a bad guy!” as they tried to wrestle him into a squad car. “I’m...
Walmart to require customers to wear masks at all its stores
Walmart will require customers to wear face coverings at all of its stores, including Sam’s Club locations, beginning Monday. The move makes it the largest retailer to introduce such a policy that has otherwise proven difficult to enforce without state and federal requirements. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company said that about...
Police charge suspect in slaying of 8-year-old Atlanta girl
ATLANTA — A teen suspect has been charged with felony murder and aggravated assault in the shooting that killed an 8-year-old Atlanta girl near the site of an earlier police shooting, police said Wednesday. Police issued warrants a day earlier for 19-year-old Julian Conley in the slaying of Secoriea Turner,...
McConnell: GOP virus proposal for schools, others out soon
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he’ll begin to roll out details of the new covid-19 relief package to senators as soon as next week and suggested it will include new funding for school reopenings, some unemployment benefits and money for health care providers. Expected to hit $1...
Trump trades arenas for Rose Garden in attack on Biden
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump transformed an event that was supposed to highlight his China policy into an impromptu campaign rally, delivering an expansive and often meandering broadside against Democratic rival Joe Biden on trade, policing and his son’s business practices, among other topics. The Republican president traded the arena-style...
Russian prankster gets through by phone to Polish presidentVideo
WARSAW, Poland — A Russian prankster posing as the U.N. secretary-general, managed to get through to Poland’s reelected president, Andrzej Duda, on the telephone, rendering him speechless following questions about Ukraine, Russia and the outcome of Sunday’s election. The prankster, Vladimir Kuznetsov, known as Vovan, posted a recording of the...
Thai man forced to psychiatric hospital over T-shirt motto
BANGKOK — A man who posted a photo online showing himself wearing a shirt with a motto questioning the traditional reverence for Thailand’s monarchy has been admitted against his will to a psychiatric hospital, drawing concern from human rights activists. The legal basis for putting 45-year-old Tiwakorn Vithiton into the...
Lockdowns reimposed in India as virus cases near 1 million
NEW DELHI — As India’s confirmed coronavirus cases approach 1 million, lockdowns are being reimposed in parts of the country as local governments try to shield the health system from being overwhelmed. India on Wednesday reported nearly 30,000 new cases and 582 more deaths, raising its totals to more than...
Statue of Black protester replaces toppled U.K. slave traderVideo
LONDON — An artist has erected a statue of a Black Lives Matter protester atop the plinth in the English city of Bristol formerly occupied by a statue of a slave trader. Marc Quinn created the life-size resin and steel likeness of Jen Reid, a protester photographed standing on the...
French tourism gets boost with reopening of Disneyland ParisVideo
PARIS — The French tourist industry received a further boost Wednesday with the partial reopening of Disneyland Paris and the opening up of the top floor of the Eiffel Tower. Disneyland Paris, Europe’s most frequented theme park resort, is partially reopening to the public, four months after it closed as...
German police find 31 migrants hidden inside Turkish truck
BERLIN — German news agency dpa says police and customs officers discovered some 31 migrants hidden inside a refrigerated truck near the border with the Czech Republic. The truck was stopped Tuesday night on the A 17 highway leading from the border to the eastern German city of Dresden. It...
Trump expected to appoint former aide Sebastian Gorka to National Security Education Board
President Trump is expected to name former White House adviser Sebastian Gorka to the National Security Education Board, the White House announced Tuesday. The National Security Education Board, which was created in 1991, consists of several Cabinet members as well as six individuals appointed by the president “who shall be...
No bodies found in search for Tulsa massacre victims
TULSA, Okla. — Archaeologists resumed searching a Tulsa cemetery on Tuesday but found no signs of human remains from victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, state Archaeologist Kary Stackelbeck said. The search of Tulsa’s Oaklawn Cemetery had thus far turned up only common household items such as broken bottles,...
Democrat Sara Gideon wins Maine primary, will face GOP Sen. Susan Collins
PORTLAND, Maine — Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon beat two other Democrats on Tuesday for the right to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in a race that’s critical to the battle for control of the Senate. Gideon, who’s raised a staggering $23 million in her Senate bid, turned back...
Florida sets new one-day state coronavirus death record with 132Video
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida broke its one-day record for coronavirus deaths Tuesday and while there is a possible caveat, the state is experiencing a skyrocketing fatality rate that’s near the highest in the nation and a rapidly growing number of cases. The 132 deaths reported Tuesday is a 10%...
Kansas GOP Congressman Steve Watkins charged in illegal voting case
WASHINGTON — Kansas Rep. Steve Watkins was charged Tuesday with three felonies and a misdemeanor related to an investigation into whether he illegally voted in a 2019 municipal election. Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced the charges about a half-hour before Watkins, a first-term Topeka Republican, was set to...
Trump bristles at question about police killing BlacksVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump bristled at a reporter’s question about police killing African Americans and defended the right to display the Confederate flag as he continued to play into racial divisions in a pair of interviews Tuesday. In one interview, Trump seemed taken aback when asked why African Americans...
Times editor Bari Weiss resigns, saying she was harassed for her ideas
NEW YORK — Bari Weiss, an opinion editor at The New York Times, quit her job on Tuesday with a public resignation letter that alleged harassment and a hostile work environment created by people who disagreed with her. Andrew Sullivan, another prominent journalist who expressed concern that a “woke” culture...
Justice Ginsburg treated in hospital for possible infection
WASHINGTON — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was being treated for a possible infection and was expected to stay in the hospital for a few days following a medical procedure, the Supreme Court said in a statement Tuesday. The court said that the 87-year-old Ginsburg went to a hospital on Monday...
Joe Biden’s $2 trillion climate plan aims to reframe debateVideo
WILMINGTON, Del. — Joe Biden released a $2 trillion plan on Tuesday to boost investment in clean energy and stop all climate-damaging emissions from U.S. power plants by 2035, arguing that dramatic action is needed to tackle climate change and revive the economy. In remarks near his home in Wilmington,...
First covid-19 vaccine tested in U.S. poised for final testingVideo
The first covid-19 vaccine tested in the United States revved up people’s immune systems just the way scientists had hoped, researchers reported Tuesday — as the shots are poised to begin key final testing. “No matter how you slice this, this is good news,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s...
