Pennsylvania’s jobless rate slides back from pandemic peak
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment began sliding down from its pandemic peak in May, even clocking in at below the national rate as payrolls grew by almost 200,000, the state said Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 13.1% in May, down 3 percentage points from April’s adjusted rate, the state Department of...
U.S. in mind, UN body to report on racism after Floyd killing
GENEVA — The U.N.’s top human rights body voted unanimously Friday to commission a U.N. report on systemic racism and discrimination against black people while stopping short of ordering a more intensive investigation singling out the United States after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police sparked...
Atlanta police call out sick over charges in fatal shootingVideo
ATLANTA — Atlanta police officers called out sick to protest the filing of murder charges against an officer who shot a man in the back, while the interim chief acknowledged members of the force feel abandoned amid protests demanding massive changes to policing. Interim Chief Rodney Bryant told The Associated...
Twitter flags Trump’s tweet of doctored ‘racist baby’ videoVideo
LONDON — Twitter has slapped another label on a tweet by President Donald Trump, this time warning that a video he shared was doctored and escalating the social media company’s crackdown on one of its most widely followed users. After Trump tweeted the video late Thursday, Twitter took the rare...
Bank of England apologizes for past links to slavery
LONDON — The Bank of England has apologized for the links some of its past governors had with slavery, as a global anti-racism movement sparked by the death of George Floyd forces many British institutions to confront uncomfortable truths about their pasts. The central bank called the trade in human...
Many Arizona cities back masks to slow virus, others say noVideo
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision to let local governments mandate face masks in public to slow the spread of the coronavirus amid a surge is leading to a patchwork of requirements around the state — the very thing Ducey wanted to avoid. But it appears like most...
Report: State Department official quits over Trump race response
WASHINGTON — A State Department official resigned Thursday over President Donald Trump’s response to racial tensions sweeping the country over the killings of black people by police, The Washington Post reported. Mary Elizabeth Taylor, the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, said in her resignation letter that Trump’s actions...
U.S. holding 63 million doses of hydroxychloroquine after FDA rules it doesn’t help against coronavirus
Good news for President Donald Trump — he can have all the hydroxychloroquine he wants. The federal government suddenly finds itself with a surplus of more than 60 million doses of hydroxychloroquine now that the FDA has deemed the anti-malarial medication ineffective in treating coronavirus. CNN reports that the government...
Trump claims he ‘made Juneteenth very famous’Video
President Trump claims he deserves credit for creating popularity for Juneteenth after drawing derision for scheduling his political rally in Tulsa, Okla., on the same date. Juneteenth, which will be celebrated Friday, commemorates the order that the Emancipation Proclamation be enforced in Texas. The date is recognized as a holiday...
Heat, coronavirus no deterrent for Trump fans camped outside arenaVideo
TULSA, Okla. — Rick Frazier drove more than 750 miles from Ohio to Tulsa to be one of the first campers in line for President Donald Trump’s first rally in months, undeterred by a days-long wait in searing heat, the growing risk of the coronavirus or a lukewarm reception from...
Nancy Pelosi orders removal of Confederate portraits from CapitolVideo
WASHINGTON — Portraits honoring four former House speakers who served in the Confederacy were removed Thursday after Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared that the men “embody the violent bigotry and grotesque racism of the Confederacy.″ Pelosi directed the House clerk to oversee the immediate removal of portraits depicting former speakers from...
Philadelphia man charged with blowing up cash machine
PHILADELPHIA — A 24-year-old Philadelphia man has been charged with using explosives to blow up a cash machine as demonstrations rocked the city this month. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said it would oppose bail for David Elmakayes at a hearing scheduled for Friday. Elmakayes was charged Thursday with using an...
Netflix documentary focuses on courage of U.S. gymnasts in Larry Nassar sex abuse scandalVideo
A Netflix documentary will focus on the gymnasts who survived abuse at the hands of USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar and the journalists who helped expose the culture that allowed it to continue for so long, according to People. Allegations against Nassar go back to the...
Kentucky AG urges patience amid probe of Breonna Taylor’s death
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky’s attorney general asked for patience Thursday as his office investigates the shooting death of a black woman by Louisville police and decides whether the police officers involved will face criminal charges. Attorney General Daniel Cameron declined to publicly set a timetable for completing his investigation into...
Why do some covid-19 patients get seriously sick? It may be blood type, study finds
A genetic analysis of covid-19 patients suggests that blood type might influence whether someone develops severe disease. Scientists who compared the genes of thousands of patients in Europe found that those who had Type A blood were more likely to have severe disease while those with Type O were less...
Facebook removes Trump ads with symbols once used by NazisVideo
WASHINGTON — Facebook has removed campaign ads by President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence that featured an upside-down red triangle, a symbol once used by Nazis to designate political prisoners, communists and others in concentration camps. Nathaniel Gleicher, the company’s head of security policy, confirmed at a House...
Police capture 65-pound snapping turtle in Virginia suburb
A 65-pound alligator snapping turtle with a face only its mother could love has found a new home at a Virginia zoo after freaking out residents in a northern Virginia suburb. The turtle, dubbed Lord Fairfax, was repeatedly crossing a residential road in the Alexandria area, according to Fairfax County...
Pa. Supreme Court: Counties can’t ban probationers from using medical marijuana
Counties may not ban people on probation or parole from using prescription cannabis if they are registered in Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court said that people holding a valid medical marijuana card are immune from “arrest, prosecution or...
Pennsylvania reports 42 new covid-19 deaths, 418 new cases
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Thursday reported 42 new covid-19 deaths and 418 new cases in the state, bringing the total case count to 80,236 and 6,361 deaths. The state considers 630 patients as probable cases but not confirmed. More than half of coronavirus cases in the state are...
Florida shatters daily record for new coronavirus cases – again
ORLANDO — Florida’s confirmed coronavirus cases shot up again Thursday, setting another one-day record of more than 3,200 new infections, the fifth time in eight days a new mark has been set. The increases have come as the state’s economy reopens from a partial shutdown that began in March when...
Facebook says it’s promoting accurate info on vote-by-mail
WASHINGTON — Facebook said Thursday that it is working to help Americans vote by mail, including by notifying users about how to request ballots and whether the date of their state’s election has changed. The Vote By Mail notification connects Facebook users to information about how to request a ballot....
Britain scraps virus tracing app for Google-Apple system
LONDON — Britain is scrapping plans to launch its own coronavirus contact tracing smartphone app because of technical problems and will now work on building one using technology supplied by Apple and Google, health authorities said Thursday. The government’s app had been undergoing trials on the Isle of Wight, and...
EPA drops regulation for contaminant harming babies’ brains
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday ended an Obama-era drive to regulate a widespread contaminant in drinking water linked to brain damage in infants. The agency rejected warnings that the move will mean lower IQs for an unknown number of American newborns. Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s announcement was the latest in...
Injunction extended against removing Lee statue in VirginiaVideo
RICHMOND, Va. — A judge on Thursday indefinitely extended an injunction preventing the Virginia governor from removing a historic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond’s famed Monument Avenue. Richmond Circuit Court Judge Bradley Cavedo made the decision after hearing from attorneys for the state and for the...
Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to end protections for young immigrants
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to end legal protections for 650,000 young immigrants, a stunning rebuke to the president in the midst of his reelection campaign. For now, those immigrants retain their protection from deportation and their authorization to work in the United...
