State of the Union viewership down double digits from 2019Video
Ratings for President Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday took a significant drop from the year before. The speech was down more than 20% from 2019 across the three major cable news networks and the four major broadcast networks, according to Nielsen Media Research. Updated Ratings: #SOTU Down vs....
No sanctions for Montana lawmaker over socialism comments
HELENA, Mont. — The speaker of the Montana House conceded Wednesday that the Legislature will likely do nothing to sanction a Republican state representative after the lawmaker refused calls to resign over his assertion that the U.S. Constitution allows socialists to be jailed or shot. Republican House leaders, including Speaker...
Mitt Romney breaks with GOP, will vote to convict Trump
WASHINGTON — Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said Wednesday he will vote to convict President Donald Trump, becoming the first and likely only Republican to break ranks during the Senate’s impeachment trial and favor removing Trump from office. Romney announced his decision during an eight-minute speech on the Senate floor, as...
Groundhog Day 2020 sets attendance record in Punxsutawney
That Punxsutawney Phil really brings people together, and in big numbers. This year’s Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney had attendance that exceeded 40,000, according to PennLive citing estimates from the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. According to PennLive, the previous Groundhog Day attendance record was 35,000 in 1997, with average attendance coming...
Pope Francis defrocks founder of another Latin America-based order
VATICAN CITY — Another founder of a Catholic religious movement has been defrocked for sexual misconduct and abusing his power, the latest in a string of purportedly orthodox, charismatic priests who turned out to be predators. Pope Francis defrocked the Argentine priest, Roberto Juan Yannuzzi, after a four-year investigation determined...
2 leaders of Democratic convention host committee fired
MADISON, Wis. — The two leaders of Milwaukee’s host committee for the 2020 Democratic National Convention were fired late Tuesday amid allegations that they oversaw a toxic work environment, a dramatic shakeup less than six months before the showcase political event in swing state Wisconsin. The host committee board issued...
Report: At least 138 sent from U.S. to El Salvador were killed
WASHINGTON — At least 138 people deported to El Salvador from the United States in recent years were subsequently killed, Human Rights Watch says in a new report that comes as the Trump administration makes it harder for Central Americans to seek refuge here. A majority of the deaths documented...
Vice President Pence to mix politics, education policy in Pennsylvania swing
HARRISBURG — Vice President Mike Pence is making a swing through Pennsylvania on Wednesday to tout the Trump administration’s support for funding tuition for private school students and, on the campaign side, to make an appeal to women voters. He will be with U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and senior...
Plane skids off runway in Istanbul, breaks into pieces
ANKARA, Turkey — A plane skidded off the runway Wednesday at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport, crashing into a field and breaking into pieces. Passengers were seen evacuating through cracks in the plane and authorities said some had been injured. Television footage showed serious damage to the plane, with the fuselage...
Trump, Venezuelan opposition leader Guaidó to meet WednesdayVideo
WASHINGTON — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó is getting a long-sought meeting with President Donald Trump on Wednesday and another show of U.S. support for the Venezuelan people, the White House said. Guaidó was a guest Tuesday night at Trump’s State of the Union address. Lawmakers applauded as Trump introduced...
Fact checking Trump’s State of the Union addressVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s portrayal of American renewal Tuesday night drew on falsehoods about American energy supremacy, health care and the economy as well as distortions about his predecessor’s record. The Associated Press fact-checked remarks from Trump’s State of the Union speech. A look at some of the claims...
U.S. general slips into Iraq for talks to salvage relations
ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT — The top U.S. commander for the Middle East slipped quietly into Iraq Tuesday, as the Trump administration works to salvage relations with Iraqi leaders and shut down the government’s push for an American troop withdrawal. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie became the most senior U.S....
Italy, Turkey screen all arriving passengers for coronavirusVideo
ROME — Italy and Turkey said Wednesday they were taking the temperatures of all arriving airline passengers in new prevention measures aimed at halting the spread of a virus outbreak that has killed hundreds of people in China. Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said thermal cameras installed at Turkish airports...
U.K. government, at odds with media, eyes BBC funding change
LONDON — Britain’s government announced Wednesday it is considering a change in the way the BBC is funded that would severely dent the coffers of the nation’s public broadcaster. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government — which is increasingly at odds with the country’s news media — said it would...
Top 10 unique and local gifts for your Valentine
By now, you’ve probably noticed all of the bouquets of fresh, red roses and giant, stuffed teddy bears lining the store shelves. And that can only mean one thing. Valentine’s Day is almost here. Fortunately, you’re not just stuck choosing a gift for your sweetie from this cliché crop of...
Pete Buttigieg slightly leading Bernie Sanders in partial Iowa caucuses results
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Democratic Party released partial results of its kickoff presidential caucus after a daylong delay late Tuesday showing former Midwestern mayor Pete Buttigieg with a slight lead over progressive Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the opening contest of the party’s 2020 primary season. The results...
Police: Street shooting in Philadelphia leaves 3 men wounded
PHILADELPHIA — A street shooting in Philadelphia left three men wounded early Wednesday, including one who was hospitalized in critical condition. Police officers responding to numerous reports of shots fired found the three victims around 12:30 a.m. Two people were seen running from the scene, but police said it was...
Avalanche in Turkey wipes out rescue team; dozens dead overallVideo
ANKARA, Turkey — An avalanche slammed into a mountain road in eastern Turkey on Wednesday, wiping out a huge team of rescue workers sent to find two people missing in an earlier avalanche. Officials said 23 rescue workers were killed while others were still buried under the snow. Wednesday’s avalanche...
Pelosi rips Trump speech. Right there on the podium.Video
WASHINGTON — And then she tore up the speech. No sooner had President Donald Trump finished his State of the Union address than House Speaker Pelosi ripped the paper it was printed on in two. Right there, on camera, behind Trump’s back. As he stepped down, she ripped again. Then...
Democrat’s response to Trump turns to working-class worries
WASHINGTON — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used Democrats’ response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night to swivel from impeachment to working-class voters’ worries, saying her party is focusing on easing health care costs and other pocket-book concerns. Whitmer mentioned Trump’s impeachment trial only briefly near...
Text of President Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address
WASHINGTON — Text of President Donald Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address, as provided by the White House: Madam Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, the First Lady of the United States, and my fellow citizens: Three years ago, we launched the great American comeback. Tonight, I stand...
Trump boasts of economic gains in State of the Union addressVideo
WASHINGTON — Standing before a Congress and nation sharply divided by impeachment, President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address Tuesday to extol a “Great American Comeback” on his watch, three years after he took office decrying a land of “American carnage” under his predecessor. The first president...
China deaths rise to 490, Japan confirms 10 virus cases on shipVideo
BEIJING — Deaths from a new virus rose to 490 in mainland China on Wednesday while new cases on a Japanese cruise ship, in Hong Kong and in Thailand showed the increasing spread of the outbreak and renewed attention toward containing it. Ten people from the cruise ship tested positive...
9 killed, including 3 kids, at video game arcade in Mexico
MEXICO CITY — Four gunmen shot to death nine people at a video game arcade in western Mexico, and among the dead were three children aged 12, 13 and 14. Prosecutors in the state of Michoacan said late Monday the attack left two other people wounded. The attackers were apparently...
Jailed Lebanon County woman in need of cancer surgery moved to state prison
HARRISBURG — A woman sentenced to 10 months in jail for a $109.63 theft, despite needing surgery to treat what her family says is advanced uterine and cervical cancer, is being transferred to a Pennsylvania state prison, her lawyer said Monday. Ashley Menser’s family is asking the sentencing judge to...
