August 9, 2020 8:04 am
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has arrived in Taiwan in the highest-level visit by an American Cabinet official since the break in formal diplomatic relations between Washington and Taipei in 1979. Beijing has already protested Azar’s visit as a betrayal of U.S. commitments not to have official contact with the island that China claims as its own territory. Azar is due to meet with the island’s independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen along with health officials during his three-day visit aimed at highlighting cooperation against the coronavirus. Azar’s visit was facilitated by the 2018 passage of the Taiwan Travel Act, which encouraged Washington to send higher-level officials to Taiwan after decades during which such contacts were rare.
August 9, 2020 8:03 am
BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) – President Donald Trump has bypassed the nation’s lawmakers as he claimed the authority to defer payroll taxes and replace an expired unemployment benefit with a lower amount after negotiations with Congress on a new coronavirus rescue package collapsed. Trump’s orders on Saturday encroached on Congress’ control of federal spending and seemed likely to be met with legal challenges. The president cast his actions as necessary given that lawmakers have been unable to reach an agreement to plunge more money into the stumbling economy, which has imperiled his November reelection. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer dismissed Trump’s actions as “meager” in the face of economic and health crises facing Americans.
August 9, 2020 7:55 am
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (WPXI) — A chaotic scene unfolded at Kennywood Saturday as a woman had to be rushed to a local hospital after having a medical emergency. Police sources inside the park say there was a very serious medical emergency that led to this incident early that afternoon. Kennywood officials said park staff was alerted to a “non-ride related medical emergency” around 1:30 p.m. Medical service staff at the park, along with West Mifflin Police, responded to the Merry-Go-Round to help the woman. According to police sources, emergency responders had to perform CPR and used an AED machine on the victim — who has not been identified — before taking her to the hospital. Her condition is unclear at this point, and police didn’t describe what caused the medical emergency.
August 8, 2020 8:42 am
LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer went to Delaware to meet with Joe Biden as he neared the announcement of his vice presidential choice, two high-ranking Michigan Democrats tell The Associated Press. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, say Whitmer visited Biden last Sunday. It’s his first confirmed in-person meeting with a potential pick. Whitmer, the first-term governor of a battleground state, has long been on his short list of possible running mates. Flight records show a chartered flight left Lansing’s Capital Region International Airport for Delaware Coastal Airport at 5:33 p.m. and returned at 11:16 p.m.
August 8, 2020 7:20 am
(AP) – Germany and France have challenged Washington’s role in leading talks over reforming the World Health Organization, citing the U.S. decision to quit the global body. Germany’s Health Ministry said the issue was discussed during a call of health ministers from the Group of Seven leading economies Thursday. In a statement Saturday, the ministry said that in view of the United States’ withdrawal from WHO, “Germany and France currently see no mandate for the U.S. to lead the WHO reform process for the G-7.” It said: “How can you be leading while you are leaving?” The Trump administration, which holds the rotating presidency of the G-7, has accused WHO of bowing to pressure from China in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
August 8, 2020 7:17 am
(AP) – Government employees responsible for making sure airplanes are safe say they face pressure from companies not to raise too many safety concerns. And the say their own bosses don’t back them up often enough. That’s according to a survey of Federal Aviation Administration employees that was delivered to Congress on Friday. Congress is investigating the FAA over the agency’s oversight of Boeing and its approval of the company’s Max jetliner, which is grounded after two of them crashed, killing 346 people. A key lawmaker says the report is disturbing and shows senior FAA officials rolling over for Boeing.
August 8, 2020 5:19 am
Election Day is still months away and there is already voter confusion thanks to mass mailings showing up in mailboxes, encouraging residents to request a mail-in ballot for the upcoming election. The mailings are hitting mailboxes in Washington County and Washington County Commission Chairperson Diana Irey-Vaughan says they were not sent out at the behest of the board of commissioners. The mailings are from the Center for Voter Information and not the state board of elections or the county elections office. Irey-Vaughan says many county residents have reached out to her saying they didn’t request the forms and want to know why they’re getting them. Washington County elections officials say the forms are valid and if sent back to their office they will receive a mail-in ballot, if all of the personal information is verified as correct. Some residents have reportedly received applications for individuals who are deceased or are no longer living at that address and are concerned about the possibility of voter fraud. County elections officials though say there is no need for concern. They say each application is verified through several avenues, including a driver’s license and personal signature.
August 8, 2020 4:40 am
NEW DELHI (AP) – At least 17 people have died and 123 are injured when a special return flight for Indians stranded abroad because of the coronavirus skidded off a hilltop runway and cracked in two while landing in heavy rain in the southern state of Kerala. The dead include both pilots, and at least 15 of the injured are in critical condition. A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Ministry says no fire was reported on the Boeing 737 aircraft after it landed and broke into pieces. It was a repatriation flight carrying Indians back home. Regular commercial flights have been halted in India because of the coronavirus outbreak.
August 8, 2020 4:38 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – More protests are expected in Portland, Oregon, throughout the weekend following violent demonstrations this week as unrest in the Northwest city continues. Since George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis protests have occurred nightly for 70 days. Early Friday morning about 200 people, some wielding homemade shields, clashed with police early for the third consecutive night as two other Black Lives Matter rallies proceeded peacefully elsewhere. Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler said this week the violent protesters are also serving as political “props” for President Donald Trump’s reelection. Trump has tried to portray the protesters as “sick and dangerous anarchists” running wild in the city’s streets.
August 8, 2020 4:36 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. intelligence officials believe that Russia is using a variety of measures to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden ahead of the November election and that individuals linked to the Kremlin are boosting President Donald Trump’s reelection bid. That’s according to a rare public statement Friday from the country’s counterintelligence chief, William Evanina. The statement also says that U.S. officials assess that China prefers that Trump not win a second term and that Beijing has accelerated its criticism of the president and its efforts to shape American opinion and public policy.
