2 arrested in Wendy’s fire after Rayshard Brooks’ shooting
ATLANTA — Authorities on Thursday arrested two more people on suspicion of arson in the burning of an Atlanta Wendy’s restaurant where a police officer fatally shot Rayshard Brooks. The arrests of John Wade, 33, and Chisom Kingston, 23, were confirmed by Atlanta fire spokesman Sgt. Cortez Stafford, the Atlanta...
Confirmed coronavirus cases are rising in 40 of 50 states
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Four U.S. states — Arizona, California, Florida and Texas — reported a combined 25,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases Thursday as the infection curve rose in 40 of the 50 states heading into the July Fourth holiday weekend. With the number of daily confirmed coronavirus cases nationwide...
FBI arrests Epstein pal Ghislaine Maxwell, accused of enabling abuse of girls
British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested Thursday on charges she helped lure at least three girls — one as young as 14 — to be sexually abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of victimizing dozens of girls and women over many years. According to the indictment,...
Penn State student dies from coronavirus
A Penn State student died from covid-19 this week, the university’s first known student death connected to the coronavirus, according to officials. Juan Garcia, 21, of Allentown died Tuesday, 10 days after he tested positive for the virus, officials said in a statement. An earth and mineral sciences student, Garcia...
Massachusetts tells fireworks seller to stop ads in stateVideo
BOSTON — The Massachusetts attorney general is demanding that a fireworks retailer with stores in New Hampshire stop targeting its advertising to residents of Massachusetts, where fireworks are illegal. Attorney General Maura Healey in a cease-and-desist letter sent Wednesday to Phantom Fireworks alleges the company is violating state consumer protection...
U.S. adds 4.8 million jobs as unemployment falls to 11.1%Video
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added a substantial 4.8 million jobs in June, and the unemployment rate fell to 11.1%, as the job market improved for a second straight month yet still remained far short of regaining the colossal losses it suffered this spring. The nation has now recovered roughly one-third...
Closing bars to stop coronavirus spread is backed by scienceVideo
Authorities are closing bars, honky tonks and other drinking establishments in some parts of the country to stem the surge of covid-19 infections — a move backed by sound science about risk factors that go beyond wearing or not wearing masks. In the words of one study, it comes down...
Philadelphia police: Sleeping young children unharmed when man steals car
PHILADELPHIA — Two young children were unharmed when the car they were in was stolen early Thursday from a Philadelphia takeout restaurant while their mother was inside the business, authorities said. The mother was picking up food and had left the vehicle running as the children — a toddler and...
Landslide at Myanmar jade mine kills at least 113 people
YANGON, Myanmar — At least 113 people were killed Thursday in a landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar, the government and rescue workers said, the latest in a series of deadly accidents at the sites in recent years. A statement from the Ministry of Information gave the death...
‘Incident’ damages construction near Iran nuclear siteVideo
TEHRAN, Iran — An “incident” damaged an under-construction building Thursday near Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, though it did not affect its centrifuge operations or cause any release of radiation, a spokesman said. The affected building, described as an “industrial shed,” was above ground and not part of the...
British judge denies Venezuela access to gold in bank vault
LONDON — A British judge on Thursday refused to give Venezuela control of over $1 billion in gold sitting in a Bank of England vault, ruling that it is unlawful to give it to the President Nicolás Maduro since Britain does not recognize him as the president. Maduro has demanded...
Myrtle Beach awaits tourists despite being ‘hot spot’ for covid-19 outbreaksVideo
As the Myrtle Beach area braces for tourists to flock the Grand Strand this holiday weekend, a record high of covid-19 cases were announced Wednesday. South Carolina health officials announced 228 new coronavirus cases in Horry County, along with 45 deaths. Some new signage in the sand in Myrtle Beach...Coming...
Alabama students throwing ‘covid parties’ to see who gets sick, officials sayVideo
College students in Tuscaloosa, Ala., who tested positive for the coronavirus have been attending parties in that area as part of a perplexing and unwise contest to see who will be the first to contract covid-19, according to an ABC News report. Tuscaloosa is the seventh-largest city in the state...
Trump, top officials defend response to Russia bounty threatVideo
WASHINGTON — Criticized for inaction, President Donald Trump and top officials on Wednesday stepped up their defense of the administration’s response to intelligence assessments that Russia offered bounties for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Trump’s national security adviser said he had prepared a list of retaliatory options if the intelligence...
Georgia man sentenced to 1,000 years for child porn gets parole
ATLANTA — A former Troup County commissioner once called a prolific collector of child porn will have a chance to spend the rest of his 1,000-year prison sentence on parole. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles released Peter Mallory on parole May 27, three weeks after an appeals court...
Georgia Gov. Kemp: Mask mandate not needed amid coronavirus spike
ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp says he has not yet weighed whether the state will take legal action against local governments that try to impose mask requirements, as Georgia faces a spike in confirmed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. The Republican governor held a news conference Wednesday morning before departing...
Billionaires’ political spending grew 37-fold in 10 years
WASHINGTON — Billionaires gave 37 times as much in political contributions in the last election as they did 10 years earlier, according to a new study. During the 2018 election cycle, billionaires gave $611 million, up from $17 million in 2008, according to the report from Americans for Tax Fairness...
Family: Human remains found in Texas are missing soldier Vanessa GuillenVideo
KILLEEN, Texas — The family of a soldier who has been missing since April believes partial remains that were found in Central Texas are her remains, the lawyer for her family said Wednesday, and the Army said it has identified two suspects in her disappearance. Pfc. Vanessa Guillen was last...
Pennsylvania high court turns down lawmakers’ bid to end shutdown
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s high court on Wednesday ruled against an effort by Republican state lawmakers to end Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s pandemic shutdown orders. A divided court ruled that a resolution passed with mostly GOP votes was a “legal nullity” because it was not sent to Wolf to sign or...
Texas’ Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick criticizes Dr. Fauci as coronavirus cases surgeVideo
AUSTIN, Texas — As confirmed coronavirus case levels in Texas continue surging to record highs, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says the nation’s top infectious disease expert “doesn’t know what he’s talking about” as Patrick defends the state’s handling of the pandemic. Patrick also claimed without offering evidence that Dr....
Richmond orders removal of Confederate statues on city landVideo
RICHMOND — The mayor of Richmond, Va., on Wednesday ordered the immediate removal of all Confederate statues on city land, saying he was using his emergency powers to speed up the healing process for the former capital of the Confederacy amid weeks of protests over police brutality and racial injustice....
Coronavirus spike prompts big California about-face on reopeningsVideo
SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday ordered bars and indoor dining at restaurants to close in most areas of the state for the next three weeks amid a troubling surge of new coronavirus cases throughout the state. The revised stay-at-home order affects 19 counties where nearly three-quarters of...
New York City will paint Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower
NEW YORK — New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that the city will paint a Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue soon — and the president hit back at what he called a wasteful “symbol of hate.” “(Trump) will get a message...
Pennsylvania makes masks mandatory — even outdoors
Face masks are now mandatory in Pennsylvania in public places and outside when social distancing is not possible, according to an order intended to slow the spread of covid-19. Gov. Tom Wolf said the mandate expands an order signed in April that requires the wearing of masks in businesses. The...
Ex-Bush officials launch super PAC backing Biden over Trump
WASHINGTON — A group of former George W. Bush administration and campaign officials have launched a new super PAC supporting Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, the latest in a growing number of Republican groups to come out in support of Biden over President Donald Trump. The group, 43 Alumni for...
