FDA crackdown on vaping flavors has blind spot: disposables
WASHINGTON — The federal government Thursday began enforcing restrictions on flavored electronic cigarettes aimed at curbing underage vaping. But some teenagers may be one step ahead of the rules. Parents, researchers and students warn that some young people have already moved on to a newer kind of vape that isn’t...
Neighbor uses crossbow to try to save man from dog attack, but kills him
ADAMS, Mass. — A man was shot and killed in his apartment by a crossbow bolt that a neighbor had fired at dogs who were attacking the man, authorities in Massachusetts said. The death Wednesday afternoon in Adams appears to be accidental, according to Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington. The...
Chinese doctor who sounded the alarm about coronavirus diesVideo
BEIJING — A Chinese doctor who got in trouble with authorities in the communist country for sounding an early warning about the coronavirus outbreak died after coming down with the illness Friday, a hospital reported. The Wuhan Central Hospital said on its social media account that Dr. Li Wenliang, a...
Senators urge rapid implementation of measures to combat tick-borne illness
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is urging the nation’s Department of Health & Human Services to quickly implement measures in the Kay Hagan Tick Act, aimed at improving research, prevention, diagnostics and treatment of tick-borne illnesses. The legislation is named in honor of former Sen. Kay Hagan, who died...
Democratic Party chairman Tom Perez calls for Iowa recountVideo
The chairman of the Democratic National Committee called Thursday for a full recount in the party’s botched Iowa caucuses as new questions emerged about the integrity of the vote tally in the first contest of the 2020 presidential race. “Enough is enough,” party Chairman Tom Perez said on Twitter. “In...
Nancy Pelosi defends speech-ripping as protesting ‘falsehoods’
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday defended her speech-ripping performance after President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address and took fresh aim at his fitness for office even as he celebrated his impeachment acquittal. “That was not a State of the Union,” Pelosi said. “That was his...
Scotland’s finance chief quits over messages to teenager
LONDON — Scotland’s finance minister resigned Thursday after revelations he had reportedly sent hundreds of messages to a 16-year-old boy on social media. Derek Mackay, who was due to deliver his annual budget on Thursday, said he had “behaved foolishly and I am truly sorry.” “I apologize unreservedly to the...
Passengers screamed, panicked as Istanbul plane crash-landedVideo
ISTANBUL — Passengers on the Turkish airliner that crash-landed and crumpled into pieces in Istanbul, killing three people, say the plane’s descent felt unusually fast and left those on board screaming and panicking. Engin Demir, who was among the 180 people injured in the crash, told NTV television that he...
Trump unleashes fury at impeachment enemies at prayer eventVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump unleashed his fury against those who tried to impeach him at a prayer breakfast Thursday, a day after his acquittal by the Senate. “As everybody knows, my family, our great country and your president have been put through a terrible ordeal by some very dishonest...
Death toll in Turkey avalanche disaster rises to 41Video
ISTANBUL — The death toll from a pair of avalanches in eastern Turkey climbed to 41 Thursday, Turkey’s disaster and emergency agency said as search teams aided by sniffer dogs scanned the avalanche field for bodies. The first avalanche late Tuesday killed five people in eastern Van province, which borders...
China opens new hospitals for virus patients, deaths top 560Video
BEIJING — China on Thursday finished building a second new hospital to isolate and treat patients of a virus that has killed more than 560 people and continues to spread, disrupting travel and people’s lives and fueling economic fears. A first group of patients was expected to start testing a...
Police: 4 dead after shooting at Indianapolis apartment
INDIANAPOLIS — Four people have been found fatally shot inside an apartment in Indianapolis, authorities said. Officers responded about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday to reports of shots being fired and found three men and one woman with apparent gunshot wounds, said Indianapolis police Assistant Chief Chris Bailey. They were pronounced dead...
Israeli-Palestinian violence spikes a week after Trump plan
JERUSALEM — Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in clashes in the occupied West Bank on Thursday and a third in Jerusalem after he opened fire at a police officer, hours after a car-ramming attack elsewhere in the city wounded 12 Israeli soldiers. Tensions have soared following last week’s release of...
Man dies in snow-trapped car in Serbia amid bad weather
BELGRADE, Serbia — An elderly man has died in his snow-trapped car in Serbia, while blizzards and strong winds left villages and roads blocked during a spate of bad weather in central and eastern Europe. Serbian police said Thursday they found the man’s body while rescuing around 20 people, including...
Bernie Sanders says he raised $25M in January, will bolster ad buys
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Sen. Bernie Sanders says he raised a whopping $25 million in January and will use his presidential campaign’s flush bank account to increase television and digital advertising in 10 states. The Vermont senator spent $50 million during the final three months of 2019 and finished the year...
Prosecutors nearing finish as last Weinstein accuser returnsVideo
NEW YORK — Prosecutors at Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial are on schedule to rest their case Thursday after more than two weeks of testimony, including graphic accounts from six among scores of women who’ve accused him of vile behavior. The last of the accusers to testify, model Lauren Marie Young,...
Trump barrels into 2020 campaign, emboldened after acquittal
WASHINGTON — With the final gavel banging down Wednesday on impeachment, President Donald Trump barreled ahead in his reelection fight with a united Republican Party behind him, and emboldened by reassuring poll numbers and chaos in the Democratic race to replace him. Republican senators voted largely in lockstep to acquit...
Buttigieg clings to narrow lead as Iowa results trickle in
NEW YORK — Pete Buttigieg clung to a slight lead over Bernie Sanders in a new batch of vote totals released by the Iowa Democratic Party on Wednesday, two days after the state hosted its first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. But the race remained too early to call with 96% of precincts...
Trump wins acquittal, but Ukraine saga far from overVideo
WASHINGTON — The impeachment of President Donald Trump is over, but it’s far from case closed on Ukraine. A full accounting of Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, stemming in large part from the foreign policy entanglements pursued by personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, remains unfinished despite Trump’s acquittal Wednesday in the Senate....
Court weighing arguments in Dayton gunman school records case
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Six months after a 24-year-old man who had reportedly exhibited disturbing behavior as a teenager gunned down nine people in Dayton, the Ohio Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether a student’s right to privacy ends with death. Media groups including The Associated Press are seeking...
Bernie Madoff seeks prison release, citing terminal kidney failure
NEW YORK — Epic Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff asked a federal judge Wednesday to grant him a “compassionate release” from his 150-year prison sentence, saying he has terminal kidney failure and less than 18 months to live. Madoff’s attorney filed court papers saying the 81-year-old has end-stage kidney disease and...
New Jersey dentist agrees to suspension after 15 patients sickened, 1 dies
NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey oral surgeon has agreed to a five-year license suspension after 15 patients were sickened by a bacterial heart infection and one died. Dr. John Vecchione on Monday also agreed to pay $293,500 in penalties. He initially had fought the allegations. “Dr. Vecchione spent years...
Snowfall blankets Texas, Oklahoma; Deep South to see stormsVideo
EL PASO, Texas — A powerful winter storm in the central United States dropped snow as far south as El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday while areas of the Deep South were at risk of severe weather including tornadoes and torrential rains, forecasters said. Winter storm warnings or advisories were in...
Not Guilty: Split Senate acquits Trump of impeachmentVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump won impeachment acquittal Wednesday in the U.S. Senate, bringing to a close only the third presidential trial in American history with votes that split the country, tested civic norms and fed the tumultuous 2020 race for the White House. A majority of senators expressed unease...
Study: Pa. roads average 1,030 litter items per mile
Pennsylvania state agencies are declaring war on litter. On Wednesday, the agencies released the results of the first statewide study on litter — the cost of cleaning it up, public attitudes toward litter — and announced the formation of a working group to shift Pennsylvania’s strategy from cleanup to prevention....
