SAN DIEGO -- Sitting at a table in the doctor's lounge on Nov. 22 at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, Dr. Hai Shao listened as a colleague described a puzzling situation.

Two patients, he learned, came in with apparent infections under their skin after using black tar heroin, but neither responded to the standard one-two punch of antibiotics ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Saturday's Army-Navy game kicked off the day after the House Judiciary Committee took a step toward impeaching President Donald Trump, but no one seemed in the mood to let politics intrude on tradition at South Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field.

"Everybody gets along. That's what's nice," said David Daniels, of Sea Isle ...Read more

BALTIMORE -- If Arthur "Squeaky" Kirk needs help at his Southwest Baltimore rec center, he knows who to call. Former Mayor Sheila Dixon always shows up when Kirk needs someone to speak at adult education classes or collect donations around Christmas-time.

Dozens of people packed into that recreation center on Saturday as Dixon formally launched...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Hilary Smith opened the front door of her St. Paul home and expected to find a package.

Instead, she found a neatly folded handwritten note on the steps right where the Amazon package had been delivered a few hours earlier.

"So just a quick little thank you for leaving me the opportunity of stealing your package," the note read....Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- It would not be accurate to say that Charles Strange felt a surge of anger when he read a newspaper report this week of evidence that U.S. military leaders misled the public about the war in Afghanistan.

No, for the Montgomery County father, the anger's always there, like a tiny earthquake rumbling below the surface. The ...Read more

ROME -- Italy's maverick Sardines movement, a silent rebellion against rightist League leader Matteo Salvini, packed a historic square in Rome on Saturday with its first national rally in a backlash against populism.

Tens of thousands of protesters, many waving fish placards, crowded the piazza outside the San Giovanni Basilica in the capital, ...Read more

When it comes to Green Deals, Europe has a lesson or two for liberal politicians in the U.S. trying to engineer far-reaching policies to address climate change.

An American lawmaker, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, may have done more than anyone else to popularize the concept of a sweeping "green deal" to shift away from fossil fuels. But now the ...Read more

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea says it has carried out a test at its satellite facility in the north of the country, which experts infer may have involved the testing of a new rocket engine.

"Another crucial test was successfully conducted at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on December 13, 2019," the KCNA state news agency said on ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- The looming impeachment of President Donald Trump and a crowded Democratic primary are dominating the news. But when Craig Robbins goes door-to-door asking voters what they care about, almost no one mentions politics.

"It's health care, crime, schools, kitchen-table issues," Robbins said. He was out canvassing for the group For ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The year-old Democratic majority in the U.S. House faces its toughest test now that the chamber has locked in a vote on impeaching President Donald Trump next week.

It's a step that many moderates in the party had hoped to avoid. The Democrats who flipped Republican seats in 2018 to give Speaker Nancy Pelosi her gavel have helped ...Read more

LONDON -- British lawmakers will vote before Christmas on the Brexit deal that Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed with Brussels, he said on Saturday.

"We're going to get Brexit done," Johnson told supporters in Sedgefield in northeastern England, where the Conservatives made a historic gain from the opposition Labour party in ...Read more

KABUL -- At least 23 Afghan army soldiers were killed by a group of Taliban infiltrators in the southeastern province of Ghazni, local officials said Saturday.

The infiltrators attacked the soldiers on a military base in Qarabagh district of the province, local council members Esmatullah Jamrudwal and Amanullah Kamran said.

Another soldier was...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Legislation named after a Fort Bragg, N.C., soldier that will allow some members of the military to file claims to be compensated by the government for medical malpractice is one step closer to being signed into law, after the House of Representatives passed the bill this week.

It is a significant departure from decades of ...Read more

AUSTIN, Texas -- Two months after Immigration and Customs Enforcement dropped its intention to fine an Austin-based asylum seeker more than $300,000, ICE this month sent her a new warning letter: If she fails to leave the country per her order of removal, she may face renewed fines and imprisonment.

Hilda RamIrez, who lives with her son in St. ...Read more

MANCHESTER, Iowa -- As dark as American politics have turned, talking to regular, everyday voters is almost always reassuring.

On a recent four-day swing through Iowa, away from the paid political gladiators and social media zealots, almost all of the three-dozen voters I spoke with about the Democratic presidential race had thoughtful, ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday rejected Pacific Gas & Electric's proposal to pull itself out of bankruptcy, saying its reorganization plan falls "woefully short" of safety requirements set under state law and demanding the company make major changes if it wants to access billions of dollars in a fund to pay wildfire...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Pete Buttigieg's campaign on Friday released the names of nearly 150 people who raised at least $25,000 for his presidential bid, including Blackstone Group Vice Chairman Tony James and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Swati Mylavarapu.

The disclosure of the names of the so-called bundlers -- supporters who collect campaign ...Read more