May 25, 2020 3:40 am
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern barely skipped a beat when an earthquake struck during a live television interview. She interrupted Newshub host Ryan Bridge to tell him what was happening at the parliament complex. “We’re just having a bit of an earthquake here Ryan, quite a decent shake here,” she said, looking up and around the room. “But, um, if you see things moving behind me.” She continued with the interview and noted she was in a structurally sound place and not under any light fixtures. The quake was felt by thousands of New Zealanders getting ready to start their work weeks, but no major damage was reported.
May 25, 2020 3:40 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has booked back-to-back Memorial Day appearances amid the coronavirus pandemic. Trump plans to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday. Afterward, he will head to Baltimore to speak at Fort McHenry national monument. That’s where “The Star-Spangled Banner” was written. But Baltimore’s mayor is unhappy about Trump’s visit, saying it sets a bad example when many residents have been told to limit travel. Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young also says the city can’t afford the cost of a presidential visit when city revenue is declining because of the virus outbreak.
May 25, 2020 3:39 am
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida. (AP) – Big crowds turned out for the Memorial Day weekend in the U.S. amid warnings from authorities about people disregarding the coronavirus social-distancing rules and risking a resurgence of the scourge that has killed nearly 100,000 Americans. On the Navajo Nation, which sprawls across the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the number of virus cases rose by 56 on Sunday to 4,689, according to the local health department. Meanwhile, the White House broadened its travel ban against countries hit hard by the virus, saying it would deny admission to foreigners who have recently been in Brazil. Japan moved further toward reopening Monday, with plans to end a state of emergency in Tokyo and surrounding areas.
May 25, 2020 3:35 am
AMBRIDGE, Pa. (WPXI) — A body located in the Ohio River near a bridge in Ambridge on Saturday night has been identified as the man who fell in while he was fishing. According to the Ohio Township Police Department, the body is that of 23-year-old Kenneth Robinson and the manner of death has been ruled as accidental. Police confirmed the body was located in the water near the Ambridge-Aliquippa Bridge around 8 p.m. on Saturday night. Robinson was fishing on a dock with friends on Neville Island when he fell in last weekend.
May 25, 2020 3:32 am
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – State game commission wardens in northwestern Pennsylvania tranquilized and removed a 127-pound bear from an Erie neighborhood over the weekend. Erie police and game wardens were called to east Erie at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday after the animal was spotted in a tree in a home’s backyard. A game warden fired a tranquilizer dart from the bucket of a fire department ladder truck backed into an adjacent yard near the tree, and the bear dropped to the ground from a branch about 25 feet in the air. Wardens said the bear would likely be taken to Forest County and be released.
May 25, 2020 3:31 am
BELL ACRES, Pa. (AP) – Authorities in western Pennsylvania say a man is facing charges in a hit-and-run crash that killed a bicyclist near Pittsburgh over the weekend. Allegheny County police say Bell Acres officers were dispatched just before 12:30 p.m. Saturday on a report of a collision involving a pickup truck and a 51-year-old cyclist, who died shortly afterward. Witnesses said the truck was heading west in the eastbound lanes and struck the eastbound cyclist head-on. Thirty-three-year-old Justin Michael Miller faces charges including vehicular homicide while driving under the influence. Court documents don’t list a defense attorney. A listed number for Miller couldn’t be found Sunday.
May 24, 2020 6:24 am
HONG KONG (AP) – Hong Kong police have fired volleys of tear gas in a popular shopping district as thousands took to the streets to march against China’s proposed tough national security legislation for the city. Pro-democracy supporters have sharply criticized China’s proposal to enact a national security law that would ban secessionist and subversive activity, as well as foreign interference and terrorism. Critics say it goes against the “one country, two systems” framework that promises the city freedoms not found on the mainland. On Sunday afternoon, crowds of protesters dressed in black gathered in Causeway Bay, a popular shopping district, to protest the proposed legislation. The bill would bypass the city’s legislature and make it possible for Chinese agents to arbitrarily arrest people.
May 24, 2020 6:22 am
HONOLULU (AP) – Joe Biden has won the presidential primary in Hawaii. The results were announced Saturday. The party-run primary was delayed by more than a month because of the coronavirus. In-person voting was canceled and additional ballots were sent out for an all-mail-in voting system. Biden received 63% of the votes and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders received 37%. Biden won 16 delegates and Sanders got eight. According to the count by the Associated Press, Biden has a total of 1,566 delegates to the party’s national convention. He needs 1,991 delegates to win the nomination, a threshold he is projected to reach in June.
May 24, 2020 6:21 am
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) – At least one migrant has drowned, six are missing and over 80 have been rescued off Tunisia’s Mediterranean coast. Tunisian authorities are reporting a new wave of dangerous attempts by migrant traffickers to cross the Mediterranean Sea and reach Europe. The Tunisian coast guard rescued 11 migrants after an emergency call from a boat that was filling with water Saturday off the city of Sfax. Divers from the Tunisian emergency services retrieved one body, and the captain and chief trafficker fled. Six others who had been aboard the boat are missing. The coast guard also rescued 70 other people from another boat in poor condition.
May 24, 2020 6:20 am
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – The first of five tankers loaded with gasoline sent from Iran has reached Venezuelan waters. The ships’ loads are expected to temporarily ease the South American nation’s fuel crunch while defying Trump administration sanctions targeting the two U.S. foes. The oil tanker Fortune encountered no immediate signs of U.S. interference late Saturday as it eased through the Caribbean. Venezuela’s foreign minister celebrated the gasoline delivery, saying Iran and Venezuela have always supported each other in times of difficulty. Washington says both nations are ruled by repressive regimes. The Trump administration has heavily sanctioned both nations.
