January 13, 2024 5:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has struck another Houthi-controlled site in Yemen that it had determined was putting commercial vessels in the Red Sea at risk. That’s according to a statement released by U.S. Central Command. The first day of strikes on Friday hit 28 locations and struck more than 60 targets, and President Joe Biden had warned that the Houthis could face further strikes. U.S. Central Command says the “follow-on action” early Saturday local time against a Houthi radar site was conducted by the Navy destroyer USS Carney using Tomahawk land attack missiles. Associated Press journalists in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, heard one loud explosion.
January 13, 2024 5:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a new twist in the abortion access fight, congressional Republicans are trying to block a Biden administration spending rule that they say will cut off millions of dollars to anti-abortion counseling centers. The rule would prohibit states from sending federal funds earmarked for needy Americans to so-called “crisis pregnancy centers,” which counsel against abortions. Millions in federal funding currently flow to the organizations through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, a 1996 block grant program created to give cash assistance to poor children and prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies. Republicans have introduced legislation to block the Health and Human Services Department from restricting funds for the centers, though it has no chance of becoming law this year.
January 13, 2024 5:12 am
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey carried out airstrikes targeting Kurdish militants in neighboring Iraq and Syria on Saturday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said. This comes a day after an attack on a Turkish military base in Iraq killed nine Turkish soldiers. The ministry said fighter jets destroyed caves, bunkers, shelters and oil facilities and “many” militants were “neutralized” in the strikes. On Friday night, attackers attempted to infiltrate a military base in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, leaving nine soldiers and 15 militants dead. Turkey often launches strikes against targets in Syria and Iraq it believes to be affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a banned Kurdish separatist group that has waged insurgency against Turkey since the 1980s.
January 13, 2024 5:11 am
BEAVER FALLS, Pa. — (WPXI) – Beaver Falls Police are investigating after a missing woman was found stabbed Thursday morning on a walking trail off College Avenue, right behind the track at Geneva College. Officers were first called to the scene just before 9:30 a.m. and spent nearly nine hours investigating along the quarter-mile trail. Sources have identified the victim as Rebecca Miller, 41. A preliminary autopsy showed multiple stab wounds. Investigators say she left her home Sunday and never returned. A missing person’s report was taken for Miller on Tuesday. “This is a rough one for all of us. We all felt this one,” said Assistant Chief William Giska, with nearby Conway Fire Department. He and several of his firefighters were at the scene Thursday. According to Giska, the woman’s family also spent several hours there alongside first responders and investigators as they collected evidence. “I had the family in my rehab tent. We would’ve done anything for them,” Giska said. “There is nothing that can comfort at this point. To simply say, ‘I’m sorry,’ just doesn’t do enough. My heart goes out to them.”
January 13, 2024 2:42 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A former Pennsylvania defense attorney who used to work as a county prosecutor has been sentenced to jail for preying on vulnerable clients for sex. The attorney general’s office says that between 2018 and 2022, Corey Kolcharno demanded sexual acts or materials in exchange for providing legal work. Prosecutors say he targeted women who struggled with addiction, had been sexually abused or had financial problems. Kolcharno pleaded guilty in Lackawanna County to four felony counts of promoting prostitution. He was sentenced Thursday to four months to nearly two years behind bars.
January 13, 2024 2:40 am
EMMAUS, Pennsylvania (AP) — President Joe Biden is trying his hand at retail politics. He stopped in a trio of shops in Emmaus, Pennsylvania to tout the value of small businesses and promote his economic record. It was a distinct change from the set speeches that the Democratic president usually gives to highlight his policies about an economy with strong employment but levels of inflation that worry voters. The White House used the visit to say that there have been 16 million applications to start new businesses during the first three years of Biden’s presidency. That’s the most on record. (Photo: AP)
January 12, 2024 5:38 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans say President Joe Biden’s plan to start canceling student loans for some borrowers in February is an attempt to win voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Cancellation was set to begin in July under the new SAVE repayment plan but is being unrolled earlier to provide faster relief to borrowers. The Democratic president said Friday it’s part of an effort “to give more borrowers breathing room.” Borrowers will be eligible if they’re enrolled in the new SAVE plan, if they originally borrowed $12,000 or less to attend college, and they’ve made at least 10 years of payments. North Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx says the plan will dump kerosene on a “raging student debt fire.”
January 12, 2024 4:59 pm
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — U.S. prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a white supremacist gunman who killed 10 Black people inside a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The decision was announced Friday in a court filing. Payton Gendron is already is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole after he pleaded guilty to state charges of murder and domestic terrorism in the 2022 massacre. New York does not have capital punishment, but the Justice Department had the option of seeking the death penalty in a separate federal hate crimes case. Gendron had promised through his lawyers to plead guilty if prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. (Photo: AP)
January 12, 2024 5:18 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S.-led airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels in response to their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have pulled the world’s focus back on the yearslong war raging in the Arab world’s poorest nation. The bombing lit the predawn sky over multiple sites held by the Iranian-backed rebels Friday. The rebels say the strikes killed five people and wounded six others. Saudi Arabia quickly sought to distance itself from the attacks as it seeks to maintain a delicate détente with Iran and a cease-fire in the Yemen war from which it hopes to finally withdraw. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy acknowledged an attack days earlier on a ship in the Indian Ocean likely carried out by Iran.
January 12, 2024 5:17 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is visiting Kyiv to announce a new package of support for Ukraine, including an increase in military funding for its war with Russia, a statement from his office said. Sunak on Friday is expected to announce that military funding for Ukraine for the next financial year will be 2.5 billion pounds ($3.2 billion), the statement said. The funding would cover long-range missiles, air defense, artillery ammunition and maritime security. Sunak first visited Ukraine in November 2022, soon after he became prime minister. Britain has been one of Ukraine’s most vocal backers.
