Worldwide death toll from coronavirus eclipses 1 millionVideo
NEW DELHI — The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus eclipsed 1 million on Tuesday, nine months into a crisis that has devastated the global economy, tested world leaders’ resolve, pitted science against politics and forced multitudes to change the way they live, learn and work. “It’s not just a...
Purging Texas water system of brain-eating microbe to take 60 days
LAKE JACKSON, Texas — A Houston-area official said Monday it will take 60 days to ensure a city drinking water system is purged of a deadly, microscopic parasite that doctors believed killed a boy and that led to warnings for others not to drink tap water. Lake Jackson City Manager...
U.S. official: 2020 census to end Oct. 5 despite court orderVideo
ORLANDO — Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross says the 2020 census will end Oct. 5, despite a federal judge’s ruling last week allowing the head count of every U.S. resident to continue through the end of October, according to a tweet posted on the Census Bureau’s website Monday. The tweet...
Mother, daughter get life terms in slayings of 5 relatives
DOYLESTOWN — A mother and her adult daughter were sentenced Monday to life in prison in the slayings of five close relatives, including three children, outside Philadelphia last year. Shana Decree, 47, and Dominique Decree, 21, were sentenced in Bucks County Court after entering guilty but mentally ill pleas to...
Feds to ship millions of tests in bid to reopen K-12 schoolsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Monday that the federal government will begin distributing millions of rapid coronavirus tests to states this week and urged governors to use them to reopen schools for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The move to vastly expand U.S. testing comes as confirmed new...
Pandemic delays revamp of Pennsylvania’s unemployment benefits claim system
Pennsylvania’s unemployed eventually will submit compensation claims on a weekly basis instead of every other week. But that planned shift, and arrival of online dashboard access to unemployment compensation account information, are on hold while the state Department of Labor & Industry catches up with a backlog of pandemic-related claims...
Trump’s choice of Amy Coney Barrett may not sway female voters he lacksVideo
President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett would give the Supreme Court its most conservative female justice in history but is unlikely to accomplish one thing that could help seal his reelection — a surge in support from women, a segment of the electorate he’s struggled to attract. The...
Federal judge orders stop to Postal Service cuts, echoing other edicts
PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Philadelphia joined others Monday in ordering a halt to recent Postal Service cuts that critics say are causing mail delays and threatening the integrity of the presidential election. Six states and the District of Columbia presented “compelling evidence” from the U.S. Postal Service itself...
Cindy McCain joins Biden’s transition advisory board
PHOENIX — Cindy McCain, the widow of Republican Sen. John McCain, will advise Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential transition team as it prepares for him to take office if he wins in November, the team announced Monday. McCain is the second Republican on the 16-member transition advisory board, joining Bob McDonald,...
Ex-Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale knocked to the ground to end standoff, body camera footage showsVideo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Brad Parscale, former campaign manager to President Donald Trump, was in the middle of a standoff with police at his Fort Lauderdale home when unexpected help arrived: Officer Christopher Wilson, a personal friend. The officer persuaded Parscale to step outside his home, allowing officers to knock...
Louisville officer charged in Breonna Taylor case pleads not guilty
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The lone Kentucky detective charged in connection with the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor pleaded not guilty Monday. Brett Hankison’s plea comes five days after a grand jury indicted him on three counts of wanton endangerment for firing into the home of Taylor’s neighbors. The grand jury...
Could the Pa. GOP bypass the popular vote regardless of who wins? Here’s what we know.
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter. HARRISBURG — It is the nightmare scenario Pennsylvania election officials have fretted over for months: a knock-down, drag-out fight over...
Grand jury indicts Texas sheriff on evidence-tampering count
AUSTIN, Texas — A grand jury on Monday indicted a Texas sheriff on an evidence-tampering charge amid investigations into the death of a Black man in police custody. Williamson County records show Sheriff Robert Chody is facing the third-degree felony charge that is punishable by up to 10 years in...
Romanian villagers re-elect mayor despite his covid-19 death
BUCHAREST, Romania — After handing Ion Aliman victory in the election for their local mayor, residents of a small village in southern Romania went to his grave to light candles for him. Aliman was reelected in a landslide for an unprecedented third term as mayor of the village of Deveselu...
As suicides rise, Army brass reassessing outreach
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — If there were any signs that Staff Sgt. Jason Lowe was struggling, the soldiers he served alongside didn’t see them. The 27-year-old paratrooper was a top performer. He was on the Commandant’s List and had just finished second in his class in the Army’s Advanced Leader...
$20M settlement reached in police killing of handcuffed man
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — A Maryland county has agreed to a $20 million settlement with the family of a man who was handcuffed in a patrol car when a police officer shot and killed him, a county official said Monday. The Prince George’s County police officer who killed William Green...
Another U.S. judge orders stop to Postal Service cuts
PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Philadelphia joined others Monday in ordering a halt to recent Postal Service cuts that critics say are causing mail delays and threatening the integrity of the presidential election. Six states and the District of Columbia presented “compelling evidence” from the U.S. Postal Service itself...
Pennsylvania adds more than 1,500 new covid cases in past 2 days
Pennsylvania’s coronavirus cases increased by 1,594 over the past two days, according to a report Monday from the state’s Department of Health. The department said 918 cases were added Sunday and 676 were announced Monday. The state has seen 156,826 covid-19 cases since the pandemic began in March. From Sept....
Sex ed mandate sparks bitter Washington state ballot fight
SEATTLE — Democrats in the Washington state Legislature thought they had passed a routine sex education requirement for public schools earlier this year. But a coalition of Republicans and religious conservatives launched a swift, historic backlash that’s led to a bitter partisan fight and an effort to overturn the measure...
Feds target predatory lenders to small business, but Pennsylvania remains a haven for the industry
Last summer, Philadelphia lawyer Shane Heskin told Congress that Pennsylvania has robust laws to prevent consumers from being gouged on loans — but none protecting business owners. “Consumers have laws protecting them from usurious interest rates,” he said. “But for small businesses, those protection laws don’t apply at all.” Heskin...
Jury finds white nationalist guilty of rape threat
CONCORD, N.H — A federal jury on Monday found a self-proclaimed white nationalist who rose to prominence during a deadly 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Va., guilty of threatening to rape the wife of a man who was part of a racist group he felt was harassing and bullying him. Christopher...
Belarus detains 500 at weekend anti-government protestsVideo
KYIV, Ukraine — Authorities in Belarus have detained about 500 people during weekend protests against the country’s authoritarian president, who has claimed a sixth term in office in an election widely seen as rigged. Belarus’ Interior Ministry said Monday that 150 protesters were detained on Saturday and over 350 more...
France to release $49 billion in economic stimulus next year
PARIS — France’s government presented its 2021 budget on Monday, a plan that aims to rescue the country’s beleaguered economy from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic by injecting a 42 billion-euro ($49 billion) stimulus next year. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said “we are convinced that France can recover,...
Debates 2020: Trump to woo suburban voters while Biden shows he’s more than ‘not Donald Trump’
President Donald Trump told thousands of cheering supporters outside Pittsburgh International Airport that he’s looking forward to facing off with “Hidin’ Biden” on Tuesday. Speaking to a mostly unmasked, tightly packed crowd outside a hangar in Moon Township, Trump mocked Democratic challenger Joe Biden for rarely being seen on the...
Deadly microbe water warning lifted for final Texas city
LAKE JACKSON, Texas — Environmental officials in Texas have lifted a warning for a final Houston-area community to stop using tap water because it might be tainted with a deadly brain-eating microbe, but with a warning that the water should be boiled before being consumed. Earlier this month, 6-year-old Josh...
