Putin says stability needed but won’t lift lid on his futureVideo
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he doesn’t want to scrap presidential term limits or resort to other suggested ways of extending his rule, but otherwise he kept mum about his plans. Putin has proposed a sweeping set of constitutional amendments, which are seen by his critics as...
2 with presumed positive cases of coronavirus quarantined in Eastern Pa.
Two people with presumed positive cases of the coronavirus are under quarantine in Delaware and Wayne counties, Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said during a news conference Friday. “We have two individuals with presumed positive cases of covid-19,” Levine said. “They are both at home....
Vatican confirms 1st virus case as pope recovers from cold
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican confirmed the walled city-state’s first case of the new coronavirus Friday and closed some offices as a precaution while Pope Francis continued recovering from a cold. Vatican City’s health clinic, which is used by Vatican employees and their families, was shuttered for sanitizing following the...
Trump CDC visit back on after false coronavirus scare there
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s trip to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, briefly scuttled Friday because of unfounded fears that someone there had contracted the coronavirus, was back on, giving the president another chance to calm growing alarm about the spread of the virus in America. “Be calm....
Trump signs $8.3B bill to combat coronavirus outbreak in U.S.Video
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday signed an $8.3 billion measure to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak that has killed 12 people in the United States and infected more than 200. The legislation provides federal public health agencies with money for vaccines, tests and potential treatments and helps state...
Individuals’ exposure to coronavirus shuts 5 Central Bucks schools
Central Bucks School leaders, “out of an abundance of caution,” decided to close five schools Friday for all students and employees after being made aware of individuals in the district who were exposed to a confirmed case of the coronavirus. After consulting with local and state health authorities, school district...
Migrants, police clash again on Greek-Turkish borderVideo
KASTANIES, Greece — Clashes between Greek riot police and migrants attempting to cross the border from Turkey erupted anew Friday as European Union foreign ministers held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation on the Turkey-Greece border and in Syria, where Turkish troops are fighting. Greek riot-control police used tear...
Man gets probation for tossing water on Iowa Rep. King
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — A Colorado man who threw a cup of water on Iowa Congressman Steve King has been sentenced to two years of probation. The sentence was handed down Thursday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City to Blake Gibbins, of Lafayette, Colo. He’d pleaded guilty to misdemeanor...
Gunmen kill at least 27 at memorial for Afghan Shiite leader
KABUL, Afghanistan — Gunmen killed at least 27 people and wounded at least 55 others in Afghanistan’s capital on Friday at a remembrance ceremony for a minority Shiite leader, officials said. Heath Ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar said the injured had been taken to hospitals in Kabul. All of the casualties...
Rick Santelli of CNBC says giving every American coronavirus would settle the marketsVideo
Rick Santelli apparently wants many people to perish so the stock market will stabilize. Santelli, an on-air editor at CNBC, said Thursday on the network’s “The Exchange” that every person in the country should be administered the coronavirus so the “global and domestic economies” would be “better off.” As the...
Alabama executes inmate convicted in killing of 3 officers
ATMORE, Ala. — A man convicted in the 2004 killings of three police officers in Alabama who were shot by another man was executed Thursday evening. Inmate Nathaniel Woods, 43, was pronounced dead at 9:01 p.m. CST Thursday following a lethal injection at the state prison in Atmore, authorities said....
HHS removed images of condoms from HIV/AIDS education material
The Department of Health and Human Services stripped from a government website HIV/AIDS educational material that featured condoms, calling the images “unapproved,” according to official correspondence obtained by Kaiser Health News. The images had been included in a 2017 fact sheet posted by HHS’ Office on Women’s Health to mark...
Scientists seed local seas with imperiled fish. Can giant sea bass make a comeback?
LOS ANGELES — A team of scuba-diving biologists has released nearly 200 baby giant sea bass into the murky depths of Santa Monica Bay where the critically endangered fish will grow to be the size of Volkswagen Beetles. The captive-bred infants released Wednesday quickly adapted to their new home, a...
In Tornado Alley, storms are even more dangerous for people with disabilities
NORMAN, Okla. — John High has diabetes, which led to his leg being amputated below the knee two years ago. He has been using a wheelchair since then and hasn’t gotten used to having to work out solutions to everyday problems — such as getting into and out of the...
FDA says pacemakers, glucose monitors and other devices could be vulnerable to hackers
Federal agencies warned patients and manufacturers this past week that a recently discovered problem with Bluetooth Low Energy communications may allow computer hackers to remotely disable or access pacemakers, glucose monitors, ultrasound devices and other medical systems. The FDA and Homeland Security Department said that while there have been no...
AGs for crackdown on chemical used to sterilize medical devices
Half of all medical devices used in the United States — from bandages to implantable computers — are sterilized with a toxic gas that has come under critical scrutiny over concerns about air pollution that could cause cancer. Now Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has joined a coalition of 11...
Meet Perseverance: Mars rover gets name ahead of July launch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s next Mars rover finally has a name. Perseverance, a six-wheeled robotic explorer, will blast off this summer to collect Martian samples for eventual return to Earth. The name was suggested by Alex Mather, a Virginia seventh-grader, as part of a naming contest for U.S. schoolchildren....
Federal judge sharply rebukes AG William Barr’s handling of Mueller report
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Thursday sharply rebuked Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the special counsel’s Russia report, saying Barr had made “misleading public statements” to spin the investigation’s findings in favor of President Donald Trump and had shown a “lack of candor.” U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton...
U.S. labs await virus-testing kits promised by administrationVideo
WASHINGTON — Trump administration officials doubled down on their promise to deliver 1 million tests for the coronavirus this week as states reported limited testing supplies and federal lawmakers expressed doubts about the government’s timeline. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters Thursday that a private manufacturer authorized...
$1.25B West Virginia opioid settlement trial date set
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia communities seeking a $1.25 billion settlement with the opioid industry are set to go on trial against the companies in late August, a federal judge said Thursday. The trial date, scheduled for Aug. 31, will serve as a deadline for the proposed settlement, which would...
Worker: Olive Garden customer demanded and got white server in Indiana
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Olive Garden has fired the manager of one of its restaurants in southwestern Indiana who was accused of complying with a white customer’s demand to replace her table’s black server with one who wasn’t black. An Olive Garden spokeswoman, Meagan Bernstein, said Wednesday that the company does...
Michigan lawmaker Pete Lucido disciplined after sexual harassment probe
LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan lawmaker was stripped of a committee chairmanship and ordered to undergo training Thursday after the state Senate concluded allegations of sexual harassment lodged by several women, including a legislator, were credible. Republican Sen. Peter Lucido of Macomb County’s Shelby Township lost his position leading the...
Prosecution doctor: Florida killer was insane when he bit victim’s faceVideo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A prosecution psychiatrist says a Florida college student was legally insane when he fatally attacked a couple outside their home, chewing off part of the man’s face, court documents filed this week show. Dr. Gregory C. Landrum’s finding bolsters the case of Austin Harrouff’s attorneys, who...
Company is telling Twitter users not to use its vodka for homemade hand sanitizers
With stores and online retailers running out of hand sanitizers in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, some have turned to the internet for recipes to create your own gels. Several sites have posted guides to concoct the hand-cleaning mixture at home using alcohol and aloe vera gel, and adding...
Wine flows from water taps in small Italian town
Imagine turning on your kitchen faucet only to have wine flow out instead of water. At first, it sounds like heaven. But then, you might consider what effect that would have when you go to take a shower. Or wash clothes. The residents of Castelvetro, a small village about 10...
