Senate rejects witnesses in Trump trial, ensuring acquittal
WASHINGTON — The Senate rejected the idea of witnesses in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial late Friday, all but ensuring his eventual acquittal. But senators considered pushing off final voting on his fate to next week. The vote on allowing new witnesses was defeated 51-49 on a near party-line vote....
Online political ads: cheap, efficient and ripe for misuse
Older men in Arkansas might see a close-up photo of President Trump pumping his fist in the air, along with a message asking them to donate $30 to his campaign for a Super Bowl commercial. Middle-aged women in California might see a photo of Trump pointing to a crowd, with...
Trump curbs immigration for 6 nations in election-year push
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced Friday that it was curbing legal immigration from six additional countries that officials said did not meet security standards, as part of an election-year push to further restrict immigration. Officials said immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania will face new restrictions...
Trump shifts to authorize wider U.S. military use of landmines
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday canceled an Obama-era prohibition on the use of anti-personnel landmines outside of the Korean peninsula. A White House statement said the new U.S. policy authorizes military commanders, “in exceptional circumstances,” to use landmines designed to reduce unintended harm to civilians. President Barack Obama...
As forests burn around the world, drinking water is at risk
Fabric curtains stretch across the huge Warragamba Dam to trap ash and sediment expected to wash off wildfire-scorched slopes and into the reservoir that holds 80% of untreated drinking water for the Greater Sydney area. In Australia’s national capital of Canberra, where a state of emergency was declared on Friday...
U.S. quarantines American evacuees from China in California
LOS ANGELES — U.S. health officials Friday issued a quarantine order for all 195 American evacuees from China. The evacuees will spend two weeks at a military base in California. They were flown on a charter flight earlier this week from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of the...
Pennsylvania on track to expand overtime pay eligibility
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration is on the brink of making Pennsylvania one of a handful of states to expand eligibility for overtime pay beyond federal thresholds, winning a final vote Friday from a state regulatory board. The Independent Regulatory Review Commission voted 3-2 to approve a regulation that...
Former FBI translator gets probation for doctored transcript
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A former FBI translator was sentenced to probation Friday after he admitted doctoring transcripts when his own voice came up on intercepts of phone calls placed by a terrorism suspect. Abdirizak Wehelie of Burke, Virginia, also received a $1,000 fine at his sentencing hearing in U.S. District...
Senate may push final Trump trial vote to next week
WASHINGTON — The Senate is considering pushing off final acquittal in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial until next week under a proposal being negotiated Friday by party leaders. The situation remained fluid, but senators have indicated they want more time to publicly debate the charges and air their positions on...
Johnson hails U.K.’s ‘new beginning’ as Brexit day arrives
LONDON — Britain begins the day as a member of the European Union. Its status at the end of the day — as a proud nation that has reclaimed its sovereignty, or a diminished presence in Europe and the world — will still be up for debate. Britain officially departs...
U.S. advises no travel to China, where virus deaths top 200
BEIJING — The U.S. advised against all travel to China as the number of cases of a worrying new virus spiked more than tenfold in a week, including the highest death toll in a 24-hour period reported Friday. The virus has infected almost 10,000 people globally in just two months,...
John Delaney, longest-running Democratic candidate, ends 2020 bid
WASHINGTON — John Delaney, the longest-running Democratic candidate in the 2020 presidential race, is ending his campaign after pouring millions of his own money into an effort that failed to resonate with voters. The announcement, made Friday morning, further winnowed down a primary field that had once stood at more...
Meet P-80, a mountain lion captured and collared in California
LOS ANGELES — She’s a good-sized cat with greenish eyes that, based on her head shot, reveal the intensity of a predator who does not like to be detained, even for a moment. She has a name — P-80 — and she is the latest mountain lion to join the...
Sen. Pat Toomey to vote ‘no’ on impeachment witnesses
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey will not support calling witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, a blow to Democrats’ chances of securing the four Republican votes needed to call further testimony. In a Fox News interview Thursday, Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, said the House impeachment managers have been...
U.S. finds ally in Mexico as asylum policy marks first year
TIJUANA, Mexico — The Perla family of El Salvador has slipped into a daily rhythm in Mexico while they wait for the U.S. to decide whether to grant them asylum. A modest home has replaced the tent they lived in at a migrant shelter. Their 7- and 5-year-old boys are...
Estranged husband accused of killing Jennifer Dulos diesVideo
HARTFORD, Conn. — A man charged with murdering his wife who went missing amid a contentious divorce case died Thursday, his lawyer said. Fotis Dulos, 52, had been hospitalized since Tuesday when he was found at his home in Farmington, Conn., following an apparent suicide attempt. “It’s been a truly...
Wind topples U.S. border wall being built; it falls in MexicoVideo
CALEXICO, Calif. — A portion of border wall being built in California toppled in strong wind, falling on a busy street on the Mexican side, authorities said Thursday. No one was injured. Concrete had not yet dried on several panels of steel poles topped with metal plates, which fell Wednesday...
Lead, asbestos contamination shuts down Pennsylvania schools
Students at three Pennsylvania schools were told to stay home Thursday amid concerns over lead and asbestos contamination, as Pennsylvania State Police investigate what former district officials did to address problems with tainted water. One day after Gov. Tom Wolf unveiled a $1.1 billion plan to help Pennsylvania’s public schools...
Trump plan would reshape Medicaid with block grants
WASHINGTON — Blocked on Capitol Hill from cutting and restructuring federal money for Medicaid, the Trump administration launched a new effort Thursday to develop ways to change how the half-century-old safety net program is funded. The move, strongly condemned by advocates for the poor, will likely affect relatively few Americans...
U.N. agency declares global emergency over virus from China
BEIJING — The World Health Organization declared the outbreak sparked by a new virus in China that has been exported to more than a dozen countries as a global emergency Thursday after the number of cases spiked tenfold in a week. The U.N. health agency defines an international emergency as...
Sheetz Christmas campaign collects $700K for children’s charity
Sheetz For the Kidz, a charity affiliated with the Altoona-based Sheetz convenience store chain, raised a record amount in its Christmas 2019 fundraiser for children in need, the company announced on Thursday. The $704,658 raised from in-store customer donations provided toys, clothes and other necessities for more than 9,600 children...
Pentagon seeking Iraqi permission to deploy missile defenses
WASHINGTON — The United States has asked Iraq for permission to put Patriot missile systems at bases hosting U.S. troops to improve defenses against attacks like the Jan. 8 Iranian missile strike that caused brain injuries to more than 50 U.S. troops, Pentagon officials said Thursday. “That is one of...
U.S. reports 1st case of person-to-person spread of new virus
NEW YORK — Health officials Thursday reported the first U.S. case of person-to-person spread of the new virus from China. The man is married to the Chicago woman who got sick from the virus after she returned from a trip to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak. There have...
Citing Bolton revelations, Sen. Casey reiterates call for witnesses in impeachment trial
Pennsylvania senior U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, reiterated a call for the inclusion of “relevant” witnesses and documents Thursday morning as he prepared to attend the second day of questioning at the impeachment trial of President Trump. Casey’s comments during a press call Thursday morning came as Republicans continued to...
Trump trial could end soon; Lamar Alexander says no to witnesses
WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee declared late Thursday he will oppose calling more witnesses in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, all but dashing Democratic efforts to hear more testimony and boosting chances the Senate will vote quickly to acquit the president. The retiring senator announced his decision...
