Trump sues in bid to block congressional subpoena of financial records
President Donald Trump and his business on Monday sued House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., in a bid to block a congressional subpoena of his financial records. The lawsuit seeks a court order to prevent Trump’s accounting firm from complying with what his lawyers say is an improper use...
Homeless activists outside Notre Dame demand ‘a roof, too’
PARIS — Dozens of public housing advocates protested outside the gutted Notre Dame in Paris Monday to demand that France’s poorest be remembered after donors pledged $1 billion to rebuild the cathedral and its destroyed roof. Around 50 people from a French homeless association gathered with placards reading “1 billion...
Home sales fall 4.9% in slow start to spring buying season
WASHINGTON — Sales of existing U.S. homes fell in March after a huge gain the previous month, held back partly by a sharp slowdown among the most expensive properties. The National Association of Realtors says home sales fell 4.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.21 million, down from...
New York Times: Operations at Boeing Dreamliner plant threaten safety
Boeing’s factory in North Charleston, South Carolina, one of two plants that produces the 787 Dreamliner, has faced problems with production and oversight that create a safety threat, the New York Times reported. The Times cited a review of internal emails, corporate documents and federal records, as well as interviews...
Video caught woman dumping 7 puppies behind California storeVideo
COACHELLA, Calif. — Authorities are trying to identify a woman captured by security cameras tossing seven newborn puppies into a dumpster in Southern California. The Riverside County Department of Animal Services released surveillance video of the woman pulling up to a dumpster behind an auto parts store in Coachella Thursday...
Deaths reported in powerful earthquake in Philippines
MANILA — A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Philippines’ northern island on Monday, killing five people after buildings collapsed on them north of the capital Manila. Residents of Manila described it as the strongest quake in years, and Clark International Airport about 50 miles northwest of Manila had to be...
U.S. won’t renew sanctions waivers for importing Iranian oil
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Monday told five nations — Japan, South Korea, Turkey, China and India — that they will no longer be exempt from U.S. sanctions if they continue to import oil from Iran. President Donald Trump has decided not to reissue the waivers when they expire...
Kansas patrol: Vulture causes crash that kills husband, wife
MEDICINE LODGE, Kan. — Authorities say a vulture caused a crash that killed a married couple as they rode a motorcycle in southern Kansas. The Kansas Highway Patrol says the bird came out of a ditch Saturday afternoon and struck 42-year-old Brandon Husband of Fowler in the head on a...
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate, payrolls set new records
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped in March to the lowest rate on record, as payrolls hit a new record. The state Department of Labor and Industry said Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped by one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.9%. Pennsylvania’s rate had twice previously hit 4% since 1976, which...
Official: Sri Lanka failed to heed warnings of attacks
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan officials failed to heed warnings from intelligence agencies about the threat of an attack by a domestic radical Muslim group that officials blame for Easter Sunday bombings which killed more than 200 people, the country’s health minister said Monday. The coordinated bombings that ripped...
TV actor wins Ukraine presidential vote in a landslide
KIEV, Ukraine — With nearly all the votes counted in Ukraine, TV star Volodymyr Zelenskiy is projected to win the country’s presidential runoff vote in a landslide. The Central Election Commission says Monday that Zelenskiy has won 73% of the vote while the incumbent President Petro Poroshenko got just 24%...
Notre Dame fire was a warning bell. But will Europe listen?
PARIS — It’s a thin line where the patina of age on Europe’s countless monuments gives way to the onset of neglect. Like with so many loved ones, all is assumed to be fine, until suddenly it’s not. In the wake of the fire last week that gutted Notre Dame,...
Trump administration’s proposed hiring rule alarms criminal justice advocates
WASHINGTON — President Trump was joined by 300 guests at the White House one evening early this month to celebrate the criminal justice system’s most significant retooling in a decade. The president applauded the First Step Act, which revises sentencing laws and expands reentry and early release programs, as a...
Colorado dog reunited with Florida family after 2017 theft
SOUTHWEST RANCHES, Fla. — A dog found abandoned in Colorado has been returned to its family, nearly two years after it was stolen in Florida as a puppy. Animal charity organization Wings of Rescue says the German Shepherd named Cedar was covered with snow in a rural Colorado ditch, apparently...
Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy appears headed for landslide victory in Ukraine
KIEV — A comedian whose only political experience consists of playing a president on TV cruised toward a huge landslide victory in Ukraine’s presidential election Sunday in what was seen as a reaction against the country’s entrenched corruption and low standard of living. Exit polls and early results from about...
‘Panic mode’: Witness describes aftermath of Sri Lanka bombsVideo
Bhanuka Harischandra was running a little late for his meeting Sunday. As a car carrying him pulled into the back entrance of the luxury Shangri-La Hotel in Sri Lanka’s capital of Colombo, he realized something was wrong. People were telling him not to come in, it wasn’t safe. Still, the...
Adam Schiff says Democrats will debate impeachment amid left pressureVideo
WASHINGTON — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Sunday that the Democrats will discuss whether to begin impeachment hearings of President Trump after progressives ratcheted up the pressure on a reluctant party leadership. “We’re going to have a caucus about this over the next couple weeks to try to...
Bonnets, costumes on display at NYC’s Easter Parade
NEW YORK — The fancy hats and finery were out and on display for New York City’s annual Easter extravaganza. Participants in the annual Easter Parade made their way along Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue on Sunday in a processional of the wild and whimsical. The annual event is a New York...
Pennsylvania eyes retirement-savings plan for its portfolio
HARRISBURG — With Pennsylvania facing a wave of retirees leaving the workforce with no savings, top state officials are working to head off the financial blow. A task force organized by Treasurer Joe Torsella has spurred an effort that now has key state lawmakers writing legislation to create a potentially...
Giuliani: Trump camp did no wrong by taking Russian help
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani insisted Sunday the president’s 2016 campaign did nothing wrong by taking information from the Russians, as House Democrats pledged stepped-up investigations into campaign misconduct and possible crimes of obstruction detailed in the special counsel’s report. Giuliani called the Trump campaign’s effort to...
Trump attends Easter service following slew of tweets
PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump on Easter morning offered condolences to the people of Sri Lanka, continued his attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and attended service at the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea near his Florida estate. The president tweeted happy Easter to his many followers earlier in...
Ohio man on beer fast drops 44 pounds during Lent
The Ohio man that decided to sustain himself on just beer for Lent lost 44 lbs and is easing himself back into eating solids. Del Hall of Cincinnati, who is director of sales at Fifty West Brewing, told the Cincinnati Enquirer this week that he lost over 40 lbs and...
Texas town reflects on dragging death ahead of execution
JASPER, Texas — A technology company was almost ready to bring up to 300 new jobs to Jasper, Texas, but in the final stages of recent negotiations, a potential deal-breaker emerged: the community’s history as the place where three white men dragged a black man behind a pickup, killing him....
As Russia probe began, Trump called on spy chiefs for help
WASHINGTON — Two months before special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed in the spring of 2017, President Donald Trump picked up the phone and called the head of the largest U.S. intelligence agency. Trump told Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, that news stories alleging that Trump’s 2016...
Happy birthday: Queen Elizabeth II turns 93 on Easter Sunday
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her 93rd birthday, which this year coincides with Easter Sunday. The queen is marking Easter by attending a service with other senior royals at St. George’s Chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle, west of London. She was joined by Prince William and...
