Record-setting astronaut feels good after near year in space
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s new record-setting astronaut said Wednesday that aside from sore muscles and trouble with balance, she’s readjusting well to gravity after nearly 11 months in space. Christina Koch met with reporters in Houston six days after returning to Earth from the International Space Station. Her 328-day...
A victory, a caution: Takeaways from New Hampshire’s primary
New Hampshire Democrats gave Bernie Sanders a win, but also a warning. Sanders’ durability, based both on his 2016 campaign and the first two contests this year, cannot be questioned. What remains unanswered is how moderates will now come at him and whether Sen. Elizabeth Warren will be able to...
Sanders edges Buttigieg in New Hampshire, cementing Dem front-runnersVideo
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Bernie Sanders won New Hampshire’s presidential primary election Tuesday night, narrowly edging moderate rival Pete Buttigieg and scoring the first clear victory in the Democratic Party’s chaotic 2020 nomination fight. In his win, the 78-year-old Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, beat back a strong challenger from the...
Michael Bennet ends 2020 bid after poor showing in New Hampshire
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet ended his long-shot presidential bid Tuesday, failing to break out of a crowded Democratic field dominated by other moderate candidates, including Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar. Bennet, 55, was a late entrant to the race who staked his bid largely on trying to win...
Andrew Yang, who created buzz with freedom dividend, ends 2020 bid
CHICAGO — Democrat Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur who created buzz for his presidential campaign by championing a universal basic income that would give every American adult $1,000 per month, suspended his 2020 bid on Tuesday. His national press secretary, Erick Sanchez, confirmed the decision. It came as he expected a...
Trump wants Pentagon to review conduct of impeachment witness Alex VindmanVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that the Pentagon should review the conduct of a former White House national security aide who played a central role in the Democrats’ impeachment case and potentially consider disciplinary action against him. Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who until last week was detailed...
Embattled Boy Scouts seek to boost support for abuse victims
NEW YORK — Facing a possible bankruptcy resulting from sex-abuse litigation, the Boy Scouts of America issued a new apology Tuesday to survivors of abuse and announced plans for expanded services to support them. The Boy Scouts are teaming up in a five-year partnership with 1in6, a national nonprofit that...
AP VoteCast: After Iowa, many NH Dems worry about fairness
WASHINGTON — New Hampshire Democrats headed into Tuesday’s primary with a focus on matters of fairness, with just over 1 in 10 saying they were “very confident” that their party’s process for choosing a presidential nominee is fair. The trouble in counting ballots after last week’s Iowa caucuses, an issue...
New state fund will underwrite counseling for victims with old sexual abuse claims
Survivors of sexual abuse now can access trauma counseling and therapy under a provision quietly inserted in a Pennsylvania statute of limitations reform bill late last fall. In addition to extending the time for survivors of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits until their 55th birthday and eliminating the statute...
Even before Iowa fiasco, caucuses were on their way out
WASHINGTON — It didn’t take the high-profile disaster that was last week’s Iowa caucus for state political parties to move away from the party-run presidential preference system. Even before the Iowa debacle, caucuses were on their way out across the country. Ten states that hosted caucuses in 2016 — Alaska,...
Pennsylvania hemp farmers look to future at conference
Pennsylvania hemp farmers saw a lot less green than they were hoping for in 2019. A sudden glut of supply and lack of infrastructure caused national hemp prices to plummet throughout the year. “We had a bunch of people who threw hemp in the ground and expected at the end...
Unlikely allies push the White House to back cleaning pollution from the Tijuana River
For decades, millions of gallons of raw sewage and trash have flowed from the Tijuana River to the Pacific Ocean, fouling beaches, angering Southern Californians and getting worse by the year. An estimated 143 million gallons of waste from Tijuana spilled into the river valley in 2017, overwhelming a treatment...
Police: Driver traveling 79 mph when Oklahoma students hit
OKLAHOMA CITY — A pickup truck was traveling 79 mph in a 25 mph zone when it struck members of a high school cross-country team on a sidewalk in suburban Oklahoma City, killing two and injuring the others, a police sergeant said Tuesday. A police report said the driver, Max...
Trump Store has all the ’45’ swag you could wantVideo
They’re on a MAGA mission: to deliver the goods to the faithful followers of President Donald Trump. T-shirts and hats, sure. But also buttons, bracelets, koozies, water bottles, pens. All bearing either the likeness or name of the 45th president. There’s even MAGA magnets. Michael Domanico and his wife, Monica,...
Couple weds in Northern Ireland’s first same-sex marriage
LONDON — Two women tied the knot Tuesday in Northern Ireland’s first same-sex wedding, after the region became the last part of the United Kingdom to legalize gay marriage. Care worker Robyn Peoples, 26, and waitress Sharni Edwards, 27 married at a ceremony in Carrickfergus, near Belfast. The couple said...
Students in Dubai, UAE no longer have to do homework
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Students at more than 250 government-run schools in the United Arab Emirates are officially done with homework. The local National newspaper reports that, starting next week, the Education Ministry is abolishing homework in public schools in the emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi to help...
Guardian for elderly arrested on abuse, neglect charges
ORLANDO, Fla. — A former guardian for the elderly and incapacitated who was accused of filing “do not resuscitate” orders without her clients’ permission has been arrested in Florida on felony charges. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said local authorities arrested Rebecca Fierle-Santoian in a county northwest of Orlando...
Nelson Mandela’s release 30 years ago birthed a new South AfricaVideo
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Thirty years ago, Nelson Mandela was released from 27 years of imprisonment by South Africa’s apartheid regime and instantly galvanized the country, and the world, to dismantle the brutal system of racial oppression. Raising a clenched-fist salute and striding purposefully from the gates of Victor...
Small New Hampshire town votes for Bloomberg in primary
DIXVILLE NOTCH, N.H. — Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is not even on the ballot, won the votes of a tiny New Hampshire community that barely hung onto its tradition of being among the first to make their picks in the presidential primary. Dixville Notch’s five residents...
Global energy-related carbon emissions flat in 2019
BERLIN — Global energy-related emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide remained steady last year, with declines in rich countries balancing out a rise in poor nations, according to data published Tuesday. The International Energy Agency said emissions of the main man-made greenhouse gas stayed at 33 gigatons in 2019, even as...
Rohingya boat capsizes in Bay of Bengal; at least 15 dead
DHAKA, Bangladesh — An overcrowded boat carrying about 138 Rohingya refugees from Bangladeshi camps sank Tuesday in the Bay of Bengal, leaving at least 15 confirmed dead, mostly women, Bangladeshi officials said. The coast guard, navy divers and other rescuers recovered the bodies after the wooden boat capsized off St....
What’s this ‘broom challenge,’ and why are people believing it?Video
Can a broom stand on its own? Yes. Still, videos of people standing up brooms and walking away, leaving them upright, has captivated social media enough to spur a viral trend: the broom challenge. So the challenge didn’t work with me but it worked with my dad?♀️? #broomchallenge pic.twitter.com/PfGV1yt1qQ— Nallely...
4 lawyers quit case as a result of DOJ decision on Roger Stone prison timeVideo
WASHINGTON — Four lawyers who prosecuted Roger Stone quit the case Tuesday after the Justice Department said it would take the extraordinary step of lowering the amount of prison time it would seek for President Donald Trump’s longtime ally and confidant. The decision by the Justice Department came just hours...
UN meeting ponders fast-track drugs, vaccines for new virusVideo
GENEVA — The World Health Organization convened outside experts Tuesday to fast-track promising tests, drugs and vaccines to help slow the outbreak of a new virus that emerged in China that has killed more than 1,000 people and spread to two dozen other countries. The new coronavirus was only identified...
Queen’s grandson Peter Phillips and wife Autumn to divorceVideo
LONDON — Peter Phillips, the eldest grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, and his wife Autumn are divorcing after 12 years of marriage. The couple said in a statement Tuesday that the separation was sad but amicable. They plan to share custody of daughters Savannah, 9 and Isla, 7. The 42-year-old...
