The European Union's top migration officials are struggling to sell their new plan to overhaul the bloc's failed asylum system. Some are concerned that plan focuses too much on deporting people who don't qualify for asylum and on persuading African countries to stop them leaving in the first place. They said Thursday that anti-migrant governments like those in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have won. The European Commission is trying to convince EU lawmakers and the 27 member countries to adopt the “New Pact on Migration and Asylum” by the end of the year, and it's proving a hard sell. Read more

Six months after Breonna Taylor was fatally shot by police in her Kentucky apartment, a grand jury delivered a long-awaited answer about whether the officers would be punished. The jury on Wednesday did charge one of the officers, Brett Hankison, with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing shots that went into another home with people inside. But jurors didn’t indict any of the officers on charges directly related to Taylor’s death. The jury relied on evidence presented to it by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Read more

A former truck driver has learned his fate after causing a fiery chain-reaction crash on Interstate 78 in Berks County that killed a couple heading to their wedding. Read more

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- When COVID-19 shut down normal operations, Net Health needed to reinvent itself as a virtual company overnight. With first-hand experience as to the benefits of the model, Net Health is now moving to a permanent Work from Anywhere (WFA) model. Josh Pickus, the company's CEO, described the Company's journey to the new model during a presentation at the National Association of Rehabilitation Providers and Agencies (NARA) Fall Virtual Conference on September 23. Read more

A guilty plea is scheduled Thursday for the former director of the Allentown Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. Read more

Partnership Kick-off for NFL Alumni Academy Activation in Canton, Ohio Read more

Germany's economy is rebounding from the virus shutdowns but there's still a long road ahead. That's the takeaway from the latest survey of businesses in the country that has Europe's largest economy. The Ifo index rose for the fifth month in a row as businesses tell the institute they feel the current environment has improved. But they're still cautious about the future. Analysts say the economy is rebounding but the latest increase in cases presents worrisome risk for the last part of the year.  Read more

Britain’s treasury chief has announced a new income support program for workers hurt by the coronavirus pandemic as the government races to prevent widespread layoffs when earlier employer subsidies end next month.  Chancellor Rishi Sunak, in a speech to lawmakers, on Thursday unveiled his plan to subsidize the wages of workers whose hours are cut due to the pandemic as part of a wider package of measures to help businesses and bolster the economy. The plan comes in response to pressure from businesses and labor unions to step in with more direct support for people in precarious work situations.  Read more

A troublesome baboon has been evicted from a seaside village in South Africa. Activists are now demanding he be returned home. Kataza was relocated from Kommetjie, on the edges of Cape Town, to a nearby area late last month after city authorities decided enough was enough. They claim he was responsible for leading other baboons in his troop on raids through the village, where they would invade houses, knock over trash cans, and steal fruit and vegetables from gardens. One activist says Kataza is now wandering alone in an unfamiliar area and sleeping in a prison yard. There are around 500 urban baboons in the greater Cape Town area and they have been a complicated issue for authorities for years. Read more

Police in Berks County are investigating shots fired on a highway that may have stemmed from a road rage incident. Read more

The European Union says the swearing in of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to a sixth term lacks democratic legitimacy, defies the will of the people of Belarus and will only deepen the country’s political crisis. Lukashenko was sworn in Wednesday at an inaugural ceremony not announced in advance. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrel reiterated Thursday that the 27-nation bloc did not recognize the result of the Aug. 9 election that kept Lukashenko in power and said that “on this basis, the so-called ‘inauguration’...and the new mandate claimed by (him) lack any democratic legitimacy.” Thousands of Belarus citizens have taken part in weeks of rallies against the president's reelection, which the opposition says was rigged.  Read more

Democrats are scrambling in Pennsylvania to reduce the number of mail-in ballots that could be rejected because voters fail to put them in the required “secrecy envelope.” These mail ballots have been dubbed “naked ballots” and election officials fear that as many as 100,000 or more could be rejected in November. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled last week that naked ballots could not be counted. On Thursday the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee launched a 30-second digital ad sent to their voters who have requested a mail ballot walking them through how to send it back correctly. Democrats promise other outreach, too. Read more