Nation & World

By Lisa Marie Pane and Sophia Tulp Associated Press Millions of Americans took to the skies and the highways ahead of Thanksgiving at the risk of pouring gasoline on the coronavirus fire, disregarding increasingly dire warnings that they stay home and limit their holiday gatherings to members of their own household. Those who are flying witnessed a distinctly 2020 landscape at the nation’s airports during what is traditionally one of the busiest travel periods of the year: plexiglass…

By Raf Casert and Angela Charlton Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — In a global push to end violence against women, activists held rallies Wednesday and world leaders called for action to stop the abuse, which has worsened because of the coronavirus pandemic this year. Protests from France to Ukraine were held on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to draw attention to domestic violence in what is an uphill struggle to protect millions of women killed or…

By Scott Bauer Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Hackers have stolen $2.3 million from the Wisconsin Republican Party's account that was being used to help reelect President Donald Trump in the key battleground state, the party's chairman told The Associated Press on Thursday. The party noticed the suspicious activity on Oct. 22 and contacted the FBI on Friday, said Republican Party Chairman Andrew Hitt. Hitt said the FBI is investigating. FBI spokesman Brett Banner said that,…

By Lori Hinnant and Daniel Cole Associated Press NICE, France (AP) — A man armed with a knife attacked people inside a French church and killed three Thursday, prompting the government to raise its security alert status to the maximum level hours before a nationwide coronavirus lockdown. The attack in Mediterranean city of Nice was the third in two months in France that authorities have attributed to Muslim extremists, including the beheading of a teacher. It comes during a growing…

By Claudia Lauer Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A tense Philadelphia braced for more demonstrations Wednesday over the police killing of a Black man following two nights of protests that set off clashes with police and break-ins of stores on the other side of the city. The death of Walter Wallace Jr., who was fatally shot by police Monday after authorities say he ignored orders to drop a knife, came amid already heightened tensions in the battleground state just days before the…

By Bill Barrow and Steve Peoples Associated Press An election year already defined by a cascade of national crises descended further into chaos Friday, with President Donald Trump declaring that he’s tested positive for the coronavirus after consistently playing down the threat. Democratic challenger Joe Biden, who spent 90 minutes on stage with Trump in their Tuesday debate, tested negative and moved forward with plans to attend a campaign event in Michigan Friday afternoon. No one…

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government outlined a sweeping plan Wednesday to make vaccines for COVID-19 available for free to all Americans, assuming a safe and effective shot is established and widely accepted though polls show skepticism remains across America. In a report to Congress and an accompanying “playbook” for states and localities, federal health agencies and the Defense Department sketched out complex plans for a vaccination…

By Ralph D. Russo Associated Press Big Ten is going to give fall football a shot after all. Less than five weeks after pushing football and other fall sports to spring in the name of player safety during the pandemic, the conference changed course Wednesday and said it plans to begin its season the weekend of Oct. 23-24. Each team will play eight games in eight weeks and the conference championship game will be held Dec. 19 — if all goes well. That should give the Big Ten an…

By Larry Neumeister, Colleen Long and Jill Colvin Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump's former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and three associates were arrested Thursday on charges they ripped off donors to an online fundraising effort to build a privately funded southern border wall, making him the latest in a long list of Trump allies to be charged with a crime. The organizers of the "We Build The Wall" group portrayed themselves as eager to help the president build…

By Mike  Stobbe and Nicky Forster Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — While deaths from the coronavirus in the U.S. are mounting rapidly, public health experts are seeing a flicker of good news: The second surge of confirmed cases appears to be leveling off. Scientists aren’t celebrating by any means, warning that the trend is driven by four big, hard-hit places — Arizona, California, Florida and Texas — and that cases are rising in close to 30 states in all, with the outbreak's center of…

By Jeff Martin Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) – John Lewis was celebrated as an American hero during his funeral Thursday as former President Barack Obama and others called on people to follow Lewis' example and fight injustice. Three former presidents joined in the eulogies at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church after nearly a week of mourning that took the civil rights icon from his birthplace in Alabama to the nation's capital of Washington to his final resting place in his home of…

By Lisa J. Adams Wagner Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) – Herman Cain, former Republican presidential candidate and former CEO of a major pizza chain who went on to become an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, has died of complications from the coronavirus. He was 74. A post on Cain's Twitter account Thursday announced the death. Cain had been ill with the virus for several weeks. It's not clear when or where he was infected, but he was hospitalized less than two weeks after…

By Christopher Rugaber AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The viral pandemic's resurgence caused the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits to rise last week for the first time in nearly four months, evidence of the deepening economic pain the outbreak is causing. The increase in weekly jobless claims to 1.4 million served to underscore the outsize role the unemployment insurance system is playing among the nation's safety net programs — just when a $600 weekly federal aid…

By John Seewer Associated Press The U.S. headed into the Fourth of July weekend with many parades and fireworks displays canceled, beaches and bars closed, and health authorities warning that this will be a crucial test of Americans' self-control that could determine the trajectory of the surging coronavirus outbreak. With confirmed cases climbing in 40 states, governors have ordered the wearing of masks in public, and families were urged to celebrate their independence at home. Even…

By Scott Bauer Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) –Gov. Tony Evers said Wednesday he was prepared to activate the National Guard to protect state properties after protesters outside the Wisconsin Capitol tore down statues commemorating an abolitionist and women's rights and threw a Molotov cocktail into a government building during a night of violence that also included an attack on a state senator. The violence from a group of between 200 and 300 people broke out Tuesday night as…