Man speaking on cellphone fatally shot in Philly restaurant; 1 bullet goes through phone
Authorities say a man talking on a cellphone inside a Philadelphia restaurant was killed when someone fired several shots, including one that went through the phone and struck him in the face. But it’s not yet known what sparked the shooting, which occurred around 9:30 p.m. Thursday. The 26-year-old man...
Ohio governor delays 3 more executions while drugs reviewed
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has delayed three additional executions to give the state prison system time to develop a new lethal injection method. The Republican governor’s order Thursday follows a federal judge’s scathing critique in January of the first drug used in the current process, the sedative...
Fired Florida officer guilty of slaying black motorist
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A fired Florida police officer was found guilty of manslaughter and attempted murder Thursday for the fatal 2015 shooting of a stranded black motorist, becoming the first officer in the state to be convicted of an on-duty shooting in 30 years. Nouman Raja, 41, now...
Trump fires back at DNC after they say they’ll not hold debate on Fox News
President Donald Trump said Wednesday night that he will skip debates with “the Fake News Networks” after the Democratic National Committee said they would not hold debates on Fox News. Trump fired back after the DNC chairman said that Fox could not be trusted to host a fair debate. Trump...
Guidelines ask agents to target Spanish speakers at border
SAN DIEGO — Border agents have been told to explicitly target Spanish speakers and migrants from Latin America in carrying out a Trump administration program requiring asylum seekers wait in Mexico, according to memos obtained by The Associated Press that reveal some inner workings of a top government priority to...
Trump still hopes for North Korea deal after video of activity at rocket launch site
WASHINGTON — Satellite photos showing new activity at a North Korean rocket launch site raised fresh doubts that Kim Jong Un will ever give up his drive for nuclear weapons, yet talks continue and President Donald Trump said he was still hoping for the agreement that eluded the leaders at...
McSally says in Senate hearing she was raped in Air ForceVideo
WASHINGTON— U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, the first female Air Force fighter pilot to fly in combat, said she was sexually assaulted by a superior officer and later, when she tried to talk about it to military officials, she “felt like the system was raping me all over again.” The Arizona...
Out of the shadows: Loyal money man swept into Trump probes
NEW YORK — Allen Weisselberg is seemingly everything his longtime boss, Donald Trump, isn’t. The modest money man has always been content to work behind the scenes, with no hint of flash, braggadocio or ostentatious spending. He lived in the same three-bedroom ranch house in suburban Long Island with the...
Manafort scheduled to learn sentence for tax and bank fraud
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — When former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is sentenced for tax and bank fraud , U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III will likely issue the same lecture he gives to drug dealers and bank robbers. “You write the pages to your own life story,” Ellis routinely tells...
23 tornado deaths ‘gut wrenching’ in tiny Alabama community
BEAUREGARD, Ala. — With nearly two dozen people killed in a tornado outbreak that shattered a rural community in east Alabama, notifying the families of the dead was a huge, gut-wrenching task, done in the privacy of a country church. Pastor Rusty Sowell, with the county coroner behind him, would...
Pelosi: House to condemn ‘forms of hatred’ after Omar wordsVideo
WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday the House will vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, white supremacy and other forms of hate after freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar’s comments about Israel sparked turmoil among Democrats. Pelosi said she does not believe the Minnesota Democrat understood the “weight of her...
Georgia House panel approves anti-abortion ‘heartbeat’ bill
ATLANTA — Amid tears, gasps and handshakes, a Georgia House committee approved legislation Wednesday to outlaw abortion after a fetus’ heartbeat can be detected, which is before many women know they are pregnant. Women in Georgia can currently seek an abortion up to 20 weeks of a pregnancy. A heartbeat...
Report: Government kept tabs on journalists, ‘instigators’
SAN DIEGO — The U.S. government ran an operation to screen journalists, activists and others while investigating last year’s migrant caravan from Mexico, a San Diego TV station reported Wednesday, citing leaked documents. Dossiers that included photos from their passports or social media accounts, date of birth and other details...
Trump cancels report on civilian deaths in drone strikes
WASHINGTON — President Trump revoked a requirement that U.S. intelligence officials publicly report the number of civilians killed in drone strikes and other attacks on terrorist targets outside war zones. Trump formally ended the requirement with an executive order on Wednesday, months after signaling such a move. The administration last...
Michael Cohen: Pardons discussed with a second Trump lawyer
WASHINGTON — Michael Cohen has claimed to the House Intelligence Committee that he discussed the subject of a pardon with President Trump’s attorney Jay Sekulow, bringing another of Trump’s representatives into an ongoing dispute over precisely who opened discussions about the matter. Under penalty of perjury, Cohen alleged to lawmakers...
Philadelphia transit police strike over working conditions
PHILADELPHIA — Police officers for the Philadelphia region’s main transit system went on strike Wednesday, citing poor working conditions for the 178 officers that patrol stations. Members of the Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109 walked off the job for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority when they said a...
Elijah Cummings reintroduces legislation to put Harriet Tubman on $20 bill
It’s still not clear whose face will be on the $20 bill in 2020. Last month, a bipartisan pair of lawmakers, Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, and John Katko, a New York Republican, reintroduced legislation to require the Treasury Department to put abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. Tubman...
Celebrity cat Lil Bub attracts notice of geneticists
Dario Lupianez is the author of dense scientific papers with titles including “Breaking TADs: How alterations of chromatin domains result in disease.” Now he, as one member of an international team of molecular biologists, is also a co-author of a paper on the extraordinary genetics of celebrity cat Lil Bub....
More than 140 children may have had hearts removed in ancient sacrifice in Peru
Anthropologists have found evidence of a mass ritual killing that involved the deaths of more than 140 children, three adults and at least 200 young llamas on the northern coast of Peru. The archaeological site, known as Huanchaquito-Las Llamas, represents one of the largest known cases of mass child sacrifice...
Rio Carnival winner paid tribute to slain councilwoman
RIO DE JANEIRO — The Brazilian samba school that paid tribute to a slain city councilwoman has won this year’s Carnival parade contest in Rio de Janeiro. The title announced Wednesday went to Mangueira, which is one of the oldest and most traditional samba schools. The group’s theme was Brazil’s...
Trudeau’s former top aide testifies in his defense
TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s former top aide tried Wednesday to quell a Cabinet controversy that has shaken Canada’s government in an election year, testifying that the demotion of the attorney general had nothing to do with alleged efforts to pressure her into not prosecuting a Canadian company in...
Bill to allow concealed carry on West Virginia campuses fails
CHARLESTON — Legislation to allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry guns on West Virginia college campuses has been defeated. The Senate judiciary committee voted Tuesday night by a narrow margin to keep the measure from going to the full Senate. The House of Delegates had passed the bill...
State bans dispensaries from joining Pennsylvania Cannabis Festival
SCRANTON — The Pennsylvania Department of Health has banned dispensaries from participating in one of the state’s largest cannabis festivals. A spokesperson for the department tells The Philadelphia Inquirer they issued the ban last week because the Pennsylvania Cannabis Festival in Scranton is not a “medically focused event.” Festival organizer...
U.S. envoy Elliott Abrams dismisses military force in Venezuela in prank call
WASHINGTON — The U.S. envoy for Venezuela dismissed the possibility of American military action in the South American country in a recording made by two Russian pranksters and released Wednesday. Special Representative Elliott Abrams said in the recording that the United States wouldn’t use force in Venezuela unless the government...
Police: Two Florida sisters committed ‘the perfect murder.’ A love triangle exposed the truth.
Their father was old and frail, ground down by his 85 years of life and hounded by cancer and dementia. He would die soon, his grown daughters Mary-Beth Tomaselli and Linda Roberts reasoned. They decided to help him make an early exit, police now say. Anthony Tomaselli’s two children meticulously...
