Tuscon news

• A Fenway first: Ballpark becomes voting venue amid pandemic

  17-10-2020 23:43
  
  BOSTON (AP) — The baseball season may be over for the Boston Red Sox, but people are lining up at Fenway Park to vote. Hundreds of people on Saturday cast their votes at the storied ballpark, which city officials are using as an alternative to indoor venues during the pandemic. Fenway Park was one of 10 locations across Boston where residents could cast their votes on Saturday as early voting began across the state. Early voting will also be offered at the ballpark on Sunday. Voter Rob Coh
  
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• The Latest: States see “fall resurgence” as COVID cases rise

  17-10-2020 23:09
  
  Pennsylvania is reporting 1,857 new COVID-19 cases, the second-highest daily total since the beginning of pandemic, days after officials said the commonwealth was seeing a “fall resurgence” of the coronavirus.
  The numbers announced Saturday by the state health department are exceeded only by the 1,989 cases reported April 9 and bring the statewide total to almost 181,000. Nine new deaths were reported, bringing the total number of deaths associated with the virus to 8,466.
  On Wednesd
  
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• The worse of the October heat is in the rear view mirror

  17-10-2020 22:33
  
  TUCSON - High temperatures will start to roll back to more seasonal conditions over the next few days.  A weak front is stalling to our north and this will help cool down portions of Southern Arizona.If you live in Safford, Cochise county or north of Marana your cool down over the next couple days will be much quicker than Tucson.As for Tucson, we saw the peak of this heat wave yesterday.Between Sunday and next Friday our temperatures will slowly crawl back down to the low 90's/upper 8
  
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• Police: Man upset with mask mandate threatened Wichita mayor

  17-10-2020 21:51
  
  WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a retired firefighter who was upset with the city’s mask ordinance has been arrested on suspicion of threatening to kidnap and kill Wichita’s mayor. The Wichita Eagle reports that police say the 59-year-old suspect could face a charge of criminal threat. Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple said he had been read text messages received by another city official that asked about the mayor’s address and threatened his life. The mayor says the sus
  
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• As lockdown eases, Israelis again gather against Netanyahu

  17-10-2020 21:46
  
  JERUSALEM (AP) — Thousands of Israelis are demonstrating outside the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, resuming the weekly protest against the Israeli leader after emergency restrictions imposed as part of a coronavirus lockdown were lifted. Scores of smaller demonstrations were held across the country, and organizers claimed some 260,000 people participated nationwide. The protests were curtailed last month after Israel imposed new lockdown regulations in response t
  
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• The Latest: Oklahoma COVID hospitalizations stay near record

  17-10-2020 21:22
  
  OKLAHOMA CITY — The number of hospitalizations due to the coronavirus remained near a record high in Oklahoma on Saturday while the number of reported cases increased by 1,195 and deaths rose by 14.
  Some 792 people were hospitalized, the state Department of Health said Saturday, one fewer than the one-day record of 793 reported Friday. There are 106,503 total cases reported since the pandemic began in March and 1,168 deaths due to COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.
  The department s
  
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• Wildfire burning in forest north of Phoenix grows

  17-10-2020 21:21
  
  CROWN KING, Ariz. (AP) — Officials say a wildfire that’s forced evacuations in small mountain communities north of Phoenix has grown and is showing “extreme fire behavior.” The U.S. Forest Service says the fire about 80 miles north of Phoenix has grown to over 13 square miles. On Friday, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office sent evacuation orders for residents of Crown King, Minnehaha and Horsethief Cabins. Crown King is home to roughly 100 residents. The fire began
  
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• Several injured in blast, fire at Virginia shopping center

  17-10-2020 21:16
  
  HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) — Officials said an investigation was underway into the cause of an explosion and large fire at a shopping center in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Saturday morning that injured several people.
  Three people were hospitalized as a result of the incident that was reported around 8:30 a.m., the Daily News-Record reported, and several others were injured but treated on-site.City spokesman Mike Parks told the newspaper a search of the remains of the building had not turned up an
  
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• Haitian police, protesters clash; president calls for unity

  17-10-2020 21:09
  
  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters who blocked roads and set fires in the capital, Port-au-Prince. Several people were injured in the violence on Saturday. It was the latest unrest during more than a year of protests calling for the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse over corruption charges. Haiti is currently experiencing a political impasse without a parliament and is now run by decree under M
  
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• Armenia, Azerbaijan announce new attempt at cease-fire

  17-10-2020 21:07
  
  BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Armenia and Azerbaijan have announced a new attempt to establish a cease-fire in their conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh starting from midnight. It comes a week after a Russia-brokered truce frayed immediately after it took force. The two sides trade blame for breaching that deal. The new agreement was announced by the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers following phone calls between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his counterparts. Lavrov strongly ur
  
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• Headwinds for Trump in bid to repeat Upper Midwest victories

  17-10-2020 21:02
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is making a late reelection pitch to voters Saturday in Michigan and Wisconsin, states in the Upper Midwest that were instrumental to his 2016 victory but may now be slipping from his grasp. He’s facing headwinds not only in national polling, which shows Democrat Joe Biden leading, but also in battleground surveys. The Trump campaign has largely retreated from the TV advertising in the Midwest, shifting much of its money to Sun Belt states suc
  
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• Armenia and Azerbaijan announce a new attempt to establish a cease-fire in their conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh

  17-10-2020 21:01
  
  BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Armenia and Azerbaijan announce a new attempt to establish a cease-fire in their conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.The post Armenia and Azerbaijan announce a new attempt to establish a cease-fire in their conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh appeared first on KVOA.
  
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• Stacey Abrams’ zeal for voting began with preacher parents

  17-10-2020 20:56
  
  Voting is a family affair for Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia House minority leader who lost a razor-thin race for governor in 2018. Abrams and her five siblings were raised by two United Methodist clergy and were trained early in service, from working at soup kitchens to boycotting. The lessons stuck, according to Abrams’ sister Jeanine Abrams McLean, who helps run the census advocacy group, Fair Count. “My siblings are all doing some sort of work that has an impact on people&rsqu
  
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• ‘Home Improvement’ actor Zachery Ty Bryan arrested in Oregon

  17-10-2020 20:38
  
  EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Zachery Ty Bryan, the actor who played the oldest son on the long-running 1990s sit-com “Home Improvement,” has been arrested in Oregon. The Eugene Police Department says officers were dispatched to a North Eugene apartment Friday night on a report of a physical dispute. Police say they found 39-year-old Bryan sitting outside and his 27-year-old girlfriend at a neighboring apartment. Police say Bryan reportedly assaulted the victim, impeded her breathing, an
  
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• Trump struggling to retain Upper Midwest in his win column

  17-10-2020 20:14
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is making a late reelection pitch to voters Saturday in Michigan and Wisconsin, states in the Upper Midwest that were instrumental to his 2016 victory but may now be slipping from his grasp. He’s facing headwinds not only in national polling, which shows Democrat Joe Biden leading, but also in battleground surveys. The Trump campaign has largely retreated from the TV advertising in the Midwest, shifting much of its money to Sun Belt states suc
  
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• Officials in Scotland approve another Trump golf course

  17-10-2020 20:03
  
  LONDON (AP) — Authorities in Scotland have approved plans by President Donald Trump’s family business to build a second golf course in Aberdeenshire, despite campaigning from environmental activists. The Aberdeen council has published documents showing it gave full planning permission for the development, subject to some conditions such as measures to minimize the flooding risk at the site on Scotland’s northeast coast. The 18-hole golf course will be named MacLeod after Trump&
  
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• Organizers exhort women to vote for change at US rallies

  17-10-2020 20:01
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A mostly young, diverse crowd of masked women is rallying in the nation’s capital, exhorting voters to oppose President Donald Trump and his fellow Republican candidates in the Nov. 3 elections. The latest of rallies that began with a massive women’s march the day after Trump’s inauguration in January 2017 was playing out during the coronavirus pandemic, and demonstrators were asked to wear face coverings and practice social distancing. Dozens of other r
  
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• The Latest: Indiana posts record number of new COVID cases

  17-10-2020 19:56
  
  INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s daily average of new coronavirus infections continued growing at record levels with Saturday’s update from state health officials, who also added 31 more COVID-19 deaths to the state’s toll.
  The state health department’s daily update showed Indiana’s seven-day rolling average of newly confirmed COVID-19 infections reached 1,799 as of Friday. That is the highest level the state has seen during the pandemic and has more than doubled over
  
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• 2 killed in Louisiana plane crash

  17-10-2020 18:59
  
  HOUMA, La. (AP) — The bodies of two people were pulled from the wreckage after a single-engine, fixed-wing plane went down in south Louisiana. News outlets report the Cessna 182 crashed around noon Friday near Lake Hatch in Terrebonne Parish. The bodies were released to the Terrebonne Parish Coroner’s Office. The names of the dead have not yet been released. No other people were on board. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will conduct an
  
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• Cuomo: Movie theaters in NY can open Friday, with limits

  17-10-2020 18:56
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Movie theaters in New York state can reopen beginning next Friday with restrictions on audience size and other precautions in place, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday. Theaters in New York City aren’t included, and counties must have a positivity rate below 2% on a 14-day average and have no “cluster zones.” Audiences will be restricted to 25% of capacity with a maximum of 50 people per screen, Cuomo said at his briefing. Masks will be required and
  
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• US judge mulls competency of Mexican man who shot American

  17-10-2020 18:50
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge in San Francisco is mulling the competency to stand trial of a Mexican man who shot and killed 32-year-old Kate Steinle. The 2015 shooting figured prominently in President Donald Trump’s run for the White House four years ago. The case against Jose Ines Garcia Zarate on federal gun charges has been pending since a judge raised “serious concerns” about Garcia Zarate’s mental capacities back in January. Two doctors have diagnosed G
  
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• Mesa police: 7, including children, shot in parking lot

  17-10-2020 18:45
  
  MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Police in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa say seven people, including children, were shot in a parking lot on Friday night. There are few details available, but police say they were called out at 9:30 p.m. and found several victims in the parking lot. One is in critical condition with a life-threatening injury. Police say some of the victims were children under 18 years of age.  They say they’re still looking for a suspect or suspects and working the scene to find
  
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• Trump lashes back at Nebraska Sen. Sasse after criticism

  17-10-2020 18:44
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is pushing back at Sen. Ben Sasse on Twitter, calling the Nebraska senator “a liability to the Republican Party, and an embarrassment” to the state. The president’s Twitter attack Saturday came after Sasse told constituents in a telephone town hall Wednesday that Trump has “flirted with white supremacists,” mocks Christian evangelicals in private, and “kisses dictators’ butts.” Sasse is running for a s
  
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• Trump: Nebraska Sen. Sasse ‘a liability to Republican Party’

  17-10-2020 18:34
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is pushing back at Sen. Ben Sasse on Twitter, calling the Nebraska senator “a liability to the Republican Party, and an embarrassment” to the state. The president’s Twitter attack Saturday came after Sasse told constituents in a telephone town hall Wednesday that Trump has “flirted with white supremacists,” mocks Christian evangelicals in private, and “kisses dictators’ butts.” Sasse is running for a s
  
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• Arizona COVID-19 cases grow again

  17-10-2020 18:32
  
  PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s COVID-19 case count went up by 921 new infections on Saturday, along with 18 deaths. The state is seeing a slow increase in the average number of coronavirus cases since a decline that lasted through August and September appears to be ending. The Arizona Department of Health Sciences reports that there have now been 230,407 cases and 5,824 deaths statewide.The post Arizona COVID-19 cases grow again appeared first on KVOA.
  
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• The Latest: Trump shows new determination to minimize virus

  17-10-2020 18:27
  
  WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the week since he emerged from coronavirus isolation, President Donald Trump has demonstrated new determination to minimize the threat of the virus that has killed more than 215,000 Americans and complicated his chances of winning another four years in the White House.
  In word and action, Trump is pushing an optimistic outlook even as coronavirus infections are spiking in Europe and public health officials are raising alarm that the infection rate in the U.S. is climb
  
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• Italy governor eyeing COVID surge blasts “idiotic” Halloween

  17-10-2020 18:10
  
  ROME (AP) — A southern Italy governor has choice words for the exported American holiday of Halloween as Naples buckles under surging coronavirus infections. The Campania governor blasted the holiday as a “stupid American extravagance” and a “monument to imbecility” in announcing a 10 p.m. curfew over Halloween weekend. He has blamed “irresponsible” young people for Campania’s surge in infections. While Italy has long celebrated the religious holid
  
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• Missouri woman whose arrest sparked outrage gives birth

  17-10-2020 17:44
  
  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The attorney for a Black Missouri woman whose arrest when she was nine-months pregnant sparked outrage says she’s given birth to a girl. Deja Stallings of Kansas City, Missouri, had an emergency  cesarean section late Wednesday. Attorney Stacy Shaw told The Kansas City Star that the newborn is in the neonatal intensive care unit. The infant was born two weeks early and had an elevated heart rate. Stallings ended up on the ground with a Kansas City, Missou
  
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• Police in Belarus disperse another protest, detain scores

  17-10-2020 17:31
  
  KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Police in Belarus have detained scores of demonstrators pushing for the resignation of the country’s authoritarian leader after an August election widely seen as manipulated. Hundreds of students marched across the Belarusian capital, demanding that President Alexander Lukashenko step down. Later in the day, hundreds of women staged their regular weekend march across Minsk. Daily protests have occurred since the Aug. 9 election in which Lukashenko was declared th
  
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• Federal appeals court upholds Kentucky abortion law

  17-10-2020 17:26
  
  A federal appeals court has upheld a decades-old Kentucky law requiring abortion clinics to have written agreements with a hospital and an ambulance service in case of medical emergencies. The 2-1 decision by the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals reverses a federal judge’s ruling, who had said the law violated constitutionally protected due process rights. However, in Friday’s ruling, the appeals court rejected that argument and instead countered the “district court erred in concluding
  
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• Officials: Blast, fire in Virginia injure at least 3

  17-10-2020 17:16
  
  HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) — Officials said an explosion at a shopping center in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on Saturday morning injured at least three people.Gov. Ralph Northam tweetedthat state emergency personnel had been deployed to the area after what he called a gas explosion.City spokesman Mike Parks said two people were transported from the scene in serious condition and one had minor injuries, according to the Daily News-Record. It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone was unaccounted
  
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• Lake Havasu City wants to show doll found in London Bridge

  17-10-2020 17:16
  
  LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. (AP) — For nearly 50 years, Lake Havasu City’s landmark London Bridge unknowingly served as doll house too. In 2018, a doll was discovered under a concrete slab and tourism officials are still unsure what to do with it. The Today’s News-Herald reports the doll now resides at the Lake Havasu Visitor Center. According to a 1971 Lake Havasu Herald article, the doll was made to look like their columnist, Jack Hardie. Hardie had won a bet with an engineer tha
  
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• US resorts adapt to new normal of skiing amid pandemic

  17-10-2020 17:14
  
  DENVER (AP) — Roughly seven months after the coronavirus cut the ski season short at the height of spring break, resorts across the U.S. and Canada are picking up the pieces and trying to figure out how to safely reopen this winter. Resort leaders are asking guests to curb their expectations and to embrace a new normal while skiing amid a pandemic. That could mean skiing with face coverings, socially-distanced lift lines, no dine-in service, sharing lifts only with your group and no large
  
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• Police officer shot, another man injured in Kansas shooting

  17-10-2020 17:08
  
  Authorities say a police officer and another man were injured by gunfire in Kansas. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says the Lyons police officer was shot after responding to a 911 call Friday afternoon from a man who said he had been threatened with a gun. The bureau says the officer when to a residence and was shot by a man who lived there. Two bystanders who saw the shooting drove the officer to a hospital in their vehicle. Additional officers then found a 56-year-old Lyons man outside who
  
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• Iran announces its virus death toll passes 30,000

  17-10-2020 16:47
  
  TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has announced that its death toll from the coronavirus has passed the milestone of 30,000. An Iranian health ministry spokeswoman announced that the total death toll from the outbreak had reach at least 30,123, with over 526,000 confirmed cases. Iran has been struggling with the Mideast region’s worst outbreak of the coronavirus. Also on Saturday, the United Arab Emirates has announced its highest single-day total of new coronavirus cases amid a spike in the
  
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• Officials: Blast, fire in Harrisonburg injure at least 3

  17-10-2020 16:35
  
  HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) — Officials said an explosion at a shopping center in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on Saturday morning injured at least three people.Gov. Ralph Northam tweetedthat state emergency personnel had been deployed to the area after what he called a gas explosion.City spokesman Mike Parks said two people were transported from the scene in serious condition and one had minor injuries, according to the Daily News-Record. It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone was unaccounted
  
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• The Latest: Rural hospitals in Midwest face viral surge

  17-10-2020 16:31
  
  WESSINGTON SPRINGS, S.D. — Rural parts of the American Midwestthat had previously escaped the worst of the coronavirus are now seeing a surge — and hospitals are struggling to keep up.
  Counties across Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana sit among the top in the nation for new cases per capita over the last two weeks, according to Johns Hopkins researchers. In counties with just a few thousand people, the number of cases per capita can soar with even a small outbreak &md
  
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• Turkey’s Black Sea gas find reaches 405 billion cubic meters

  17-10-2020 16:12
  
  ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s president has announced the discovery of an additional 85 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves in the Black Sea, bringing the amount to 405 billion cubic meters. Speaking aboard the drill ship Fatih, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said explorations in the Tuna-1 well were complete. Turkey has increased its maritime search for hydrocarbon resources with several drill ships in waters near the country. Its vessels in the Eastern Mediterranean have been a
  
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• ‘Big pile’ of eels dumped in NYC park; impact not yet known

  17-10-2020 15:53
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — New York state and city wildlife officials say it’s too soon to know the local impact of exotic eels dumped into a Brooklyn lake last month. The nonnative eel species has been illegally released into freshwater bodies in at least eight U.S. states, including New York. Officials don’t expect the eels to survive winter in the Big Apple, but biologists warn they could still outcompete and prey on native species this fall. The recent eel release is just one example
  
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• Transit shutdowns fail to deter Thai pro-democracy protests

  17-10-2020 15:36
  
  BANGKOK (AP) — Pro-democracy activists in Thailand have staged a fourth straight day of high-profile protests in the capital, thwarting efforts by the authorities to stop them, including a shutdown of the city’s mass transit systems. Unlike protests a day earlier, which saw police using water cannons to keep the protesters at bay, Saturday’s demonstrations were peaceful, with no reports of any clashes by the time participants started heading home in the evening. The protesters
  
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• UK Space Agency backs medical drone delivery project

  17-10-2020 15:17
  
  LONDON (AP) — A medical drone delivery service founded by trainee doctors that aims to transport coronavirus samples, test kits and protective equipment between hospitals has won the backing of Britain’s Space Agency. Authorities said Saturday that the start-up project can help free up healthcare staff, avoid courier waiting times and minimize the risk of virus transmission. The project’s founders are trialling “dronepad” infrastructure so the miniature aircraft can
  
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• Black immigrants find camaraderie, divide amid protests

  17-10-2020 15:13
  
  Inspired by global protests against systemic racism and police brutality, a Nigerian American lifestyle blogger delivered a message to Black immigrant communities in the United States: This is your battle, too. Thirty-one-year-old Nifesimi Akingbe has been outspoken about racial equity since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. But amid the camaraderie younger Black immigrants like her feel with African Americans, they also see a generational divide in their communities. An Ethiopi
  
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• Rural Midwest hospitals struggling to handle virus surge

  17-10-2020 15:08
  
  WESSINGTON SPRINGS, S.D. (AP) — Rural Jerauld County in South Dakota didn’t see a single case of the coronavirus for more than two months stretching from June to August. But in the last two weeks, its rate of new cases per person soared to one of the highest in the nation. As the brunt of the virus has blown into the Upper Midwest and northern Plains, the severity of the virus outbreak in rural communities has come into focus. Doctors in small towns worry that infections may overwhel
  
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• PM office: ICC prosecutor visits Sudan over Darfur charges

  17-10-2020 14:42
  
  CAIRO (AP) — The office of Sudan’s prime minister says International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is arriving Saturday in Sudan to discuss cooperation with local authorities over bringing to trial those internationally wanted for war crimes and genocide in the Darfur conflict. Among those wanted by the international court is former President Omar al-Bashir, who has been in jail in Khartoum since his ouster last year. The ICC is seeking to charge al-Bashir with war crimes
  
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• AP FACT CHECK: Trump sees what others do not in the pandemic

  17-10-2020 14:33
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — “I believe we’re rounding the corner.” “We’re a winner on the excess mortality.” “We have the vaccines coming and we have the therapies coming.” “We have done an amazing job.”
  President Donald Trump sees in the pandemic what he wants to see. He seemed to acknowledge as much when he was challenged on stage a few days ago for repeatedly and thoroughly misrepresenting a study about masks.No, the study did not find t
  
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• The Latest: Virus case in Vatican hotel where pope lives

  17-10-2020 14:22
  
  The Vatican says someone who lives in the same Vatican hotel as Pope Francis has tested positive for coronavirus, adding to the 11 cases of COVID-19 among the Swiss Guards who protect him.
  The Vatican said Saturday that the resident of the Domus Sanctae Marthae has moved out temporarily and is in isolation, as are all the people who came into direct contact with him.
  The hotel serves as a residence for Vatican-based priests as well as visiting clerics and lay people. Francis chose to live there
  
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• ‘There’s a lemur!’ 5-year-old helps crack SF Zoo theft case

  17-10-2020 14:18
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco police say they arrested a man suspected in the abduction of a ring-tailed lemur from the city’s zoo, where officials rewarded a 5-year-old boy who helped recapture the endangered primate with a lifetime membership. Police said Friday that a 30-year-old man was taken into custody in connection with the theft and will face charges in San Francisco. Zoo officials thanked authorities and the young boy who initially spotted the lemur wandering around th
  
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• Pope removes Polish bishop accused of sex abuse cover-up

  17-10-2020 13:59
  
  ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has permanently removed a Polish bishop who was kicked out of his diocese a few months ago pending a Vatican investigation into allegations he covered up cases of sexual abuse by his priests. The resignation of Edward Janiak as bishop of Kalisz suggests the Vatican was able to substantiate at least some elements of the accusations made in a documentary about sex abuse in Poland that has undermined the country’s influential Catholic hierarchy. Francis on Satur
  
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• China passes amendments outlawing insulting national flag

  17-10-2020 13:15
  
  HONG KONG (AP) — The Standing Committee of China’s congress has passed amendments to a law that will criminalize the intentional insulting of the national flag and emblem, after anti-government protesters last year desecrated the Chinese flag. According to the newly amended National Flag and National Emblem Law, which will take effect on Jan. 1, those who intentionally burn, mutilate, paint, deface or trample the flag and emblem in public will be investigated for criminal responsibil
  
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• Japan’s populist, pragmatic new PM Suga pushes Abe’s vision

  17-10-2020 12:58
  
  TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, leaves Sunday on his first overseas foray since taking over from his former boss Shinzo Abe last month, heading to Vietnam and Indonesia. The choice to visit Southeast Asia underscores Japan’s efforts to counter Chinese influence and build stronger economic and defense ties in the region, much in line with Abe’s vision. It also reflects Suga’s very pragmatic approach to carrying out Abe’s legacy after he
  
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