New outbreaks push inmate coronavirus cases past 50,000
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The number of prison inmates testing positive for the coronavirus soared well past the 50,000 mark last month, as recent outbreaks threatened to undo control measures put in place earlier in the pandemic. At the end of June, the total number of coronavirus cases among prisoners had...
Iran will not disclose cause of mysterious nuclear site fire
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An online video and messages purportedly claiming responsibility for a fire that analysts say damaged a centrifuge assembly plant at Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear site deepened the mystery Friday around the incident — even as Tehran insisted it knew the cause but would not make...
Pa. reports 34 new covid-19 deaths, 667 new cases
There were 34 new covid-19 deaths and 667 new cases reported in the state by the Pennsylvania Department of Health on Friday. Out of the 667 cases, 177 are from Allegheny County. The statewide total is now 88,741 cases and 6,746 deaths, with 634 patients considered probable cases. Pa. coronavirus...
5 things you might not know about Independence Day
1. July 4th might be the wrong date. According to History.com, the Continental Congress actually voted to declare independence from Great Britain on July 2, 1776. And many historians believe none of the Founding Fathers signed the document on July 4. Most didn’t sign until Aug. 2, 1776. July 4...
Complaint: Missing Texas soldier was killed at Fort Hood
AUSTIN, Texas — Federal and military investigators say a soldier missing since April was killed and dismembered by a fellow soldier stationed at the same Texas base. The revelation followed demands for the Army to release details about its investigation of the disappearance. A criminal complaint released Thursday by the...
4th of July weekend will test Americans’ discipline
The U.S. headed into the Fourth of July weekend with many parades and fireworks displays canceled, beaches and bars closed, and health authorities warning that this will be a crucial test of Americans’ self-control that could determine the trajectory of the surging coronavirus outbreak. With confirmed cases climbing in 40...
Putin orders amendments extending his rule, outlawing same-sex marriage into constitution
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered amendments that would allow him to remain in power until 2036 to be put into the Russian Constitution after voters approved the changes during a week-long plebiscite. “The amendments come into force. They come into force, without overstating it, at the people’s...
Trump’s Mount Rushmore trip draws real and figurative fireworks
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — President Donald Trump will begin his Independence Day weekend on Friday with a patriotic display of fireworks at Mount Rushmore, an event expected to draw thousands where masks and social distancing aren’t required as coronavirus cases spike across the country. Trump is expected to speak at...
English pubs are reopening — and they won’t be the same
LONDON — Asking people in English pubs to keep their distance is going to be tough after they’ve had a few of their favorite tipples. Pub managers will have to be resourceful come Saturday when they and other parts of the hospitality industry in England open their doors to customers...
In shake-up, U.K. government plans televised media briefings
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says his government will introduce White House-style televised media briefings, in a shake-up to the traditional system of political communication. For years, political journalists have been briefed off-camera but on the record by the prime minister’s official spokespeople, who are civil servants rather...
4 dead, 97 injured in blast at Turkish fireworks factoryVideo
ANKARA, Turkey — An explosion at a fireworks factory in northwestern Turkey on Friday killed four people and injured 97 others, officials said. At least three people were reported missing. There were 186 workers at the factory outside the town of Hendek, in Sakarya province, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told...
19 dead as train hits bus carrying Sikh pilgrims in Pakistan
LAHORE, Pakistan — A passenger train crashed into a bus carrying Sikh pilgrims at an unmanned railway crossing in eastern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 19 people and injuring several others, officials said. The accident happened in the district of Sheikhupura in Punjab province, Raja Ijaz, an official at...
San Francisco cracks down on archdiocese for violating coronavirus rules
The Archdiocese of San Francisco has agreed to stop celebrating public Mass indoors and to restrict outdoor services after city officials threatened to close churches that were operating in defiance of the city’s public health orders amid the coronavirus outbreak. “The Archdiocese remains steadfast in protecting the health of its...
Richard King Mellon Foundation adds $10 million to its earlier $15 million commitment for covid-19 issues
The Richard King Mellon Foundation plans to add another $10 million to its earlier $15 million covid-19 response grant package, officials announced Thursday. The $25 million total commitment includes a new $2.5 million higher-education initiative, aimed at helping area colleges and universities safely reopen in the fall. “Education always is...
Supreme Court blocks curbside voting in Alabama
MONTGOMERY, Ala. —The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision Thursday blocked a lower court ruling allowing curbside voting in Alabama and waiving some absentee ballot requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conservative justices granted Alabama’s request to stay a federal judge’s order that would allow local officials to offer curbside...
US jobs surge: Trump sees sunshine, Biden ‘no victory yet’
NEW YORK — The U.S. economy just posted its best single-month job gain in history. U.S. unemployment is at one of its worst points since the Great Depression. Both are true. As Republicans and Democrats fought to spin Thursday’s jobs numbers to their advantage, both sides face tremendous political risks...
Booker reaches out to unite Democrats against McConnell
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Looking to flex his newfound influence among Kentucky Democrats after his Senate campaign fell just short, Charles Booker reached out Thursday to unite behind Amy McGrath’s uphill fight to unseat Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Booker, a progressive who lost to McGrath by about 15,100 votes...
Military chief: Troops were issued bayonets in DC unrest
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has confirmed a report by The Associated Press that some of the service members who were mobilized to Washington, D.C., last month in response to civil unrest over the killing of George Floyd were issued bayonets. Defense documents obtained...
One officer shown in Elijah McClain photos resigns
AURORA, Colo. — One of the police officers investigated over photographs connected with the death of Elijah McClain in Colorado has resigned, Aurora police said Thursday. In a tweet, the department said that Jaron Jones was one of those depicted in the photos, which were taken sometime after McClain’s death...
Iowa governor signs abortion law amid court challenge
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday signed into law a bill that requires women to wait 24 hours before getting an abortion, trying again to institute a restriction similar to one struck down two years ago by the Iowa Supreme Court. Reynolds signed the measure into law just after lawyers...
Judge: N.Y. lockup’s covid-19 response lacked common sense
NEW YORK — A Manhattan federal lockup failed to implement common-sense measures to protect prisoners after a COVID-19 outbreak infected dozens of inmates at the facility, a judge said Thursday. U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos said four inmates who sued over conditions at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on behalf of...
Jeffrey Epstein victims cheer arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell
MIAMI — Jeffrey Epstein’s reputed longtime madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been arrested and is in the custody of federal authorities. She was detained at 8:30 Thursday morning in a residence in the small town of Bradford, New Hampshire. The British socialite allegedly helped procure girls for the financier, who died...
Lee button found in time capsule under Confederate monument
RALEIGH, N.C. — A button that experts believe was from Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s dress coat and a strand of hair from his horse are among the items found inside a time capsule discovered when workers removed the base of a Confederate monument from the grounds of the North...
Couple arrested after white woman pulls gun on Black mom, teen daughter outside ChipotleVideo
A Michigan woman and her husband were charged with felony assault Thursday after she was caught on video pointing a gun at a Black mom and daughter following a fiery shouting match outside a fast-food restaurant this week. The confrontation, part of which was captured on video and included accusations...
Texas governor issues mask order to fight coronavirus
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday ordered that face coverings must be worn in public across most of the state, a dramatic ramp-up of the Republican’s efforts to control spiking numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Abbott, who had pushed Texas’ aggressive reopening of the state...
