December 15, 2024 5:12 am
BOSTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer is urging the federal government to deploy advanced drone-tracking technology following weeks of reported drone sightings in parts of New York and New Jersey that have stirred fear and bewilderment. The New York Democrat is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to use the technology to track drones back to their landing spots. National security officials have said the drones don’t appear to be a sign of foreign interference or a public safety threat. But because they can’t say with certainty who’s responsible for the drones, leaders of both parties are demanding better technology and powers to tackle the issue.
December 15, 2024 5:27 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris thanked deep-pocketed Democratic donors who raised record sums in last month’s election loss to President-elect Donald Trump. The leaders of the outgoing administration at a Democratic National Committee holiday reception on Sunday urged the party’s important financial backers not to lose hope and to remain politically engaged. The Democratic Party needs the key donors to stay committed as it tries to pick up the pieces after Republicans took the White House and Senate while maintaining control of the House. Biden told the audience that “we all get knocked down,” but “the measure of a person or a party is how fast they get back up.”
December 16, 2024 5:44 pm
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Drone-detecting devices deployed in New Jersey within the past week have shown little to no evidence of anything nefarious or threatening. That’s according to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who said Monday that 12 sightings of suspected drones were reported in the state overnight Saturday and one on Sunday. He also has echoed calls by officials in other states for Congress to give them more authority to deal with drones. Federal officials say there is no evidence that drones are being operated with bad intent or by foreign governments, and many sightings over the eastern U.S. have actually been of manned aircraft that look like drones.
December 16, 2024 5:28 am
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (AP) — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office in January with a promise of carrying out mass deportations, leaving Honduras and other Central American countries bracing for a potential influx of vulnerable migrants — a situation they are ill-prepared to handle. Migrants and networks aiding deportees in Central America’s Northern Triangle worry their return could thrust them into even deeper economic and humanitarian crises, fueling migration down the line. “We don’t have the capacity” to take so many people, said Antonio García, Honduras’ deputy foreign minister. “There’s very little here for deportees.” People who return, he said, “are the last to be taken care of.”
December 16, 2024 5:26 am
NEW YORK (AP) — When Donald Trump takes office as president for a second time, many journalists anticipate a hostile climate toward them and their work. This is, after all, a man who once labeled journalists as enemies and has talked about retribution toward enemies. Former Washington Post editor Martin Baron says he expects Trump to come after the press with every tool in his toolbox, “and there are a lot of tools.” Lawsuits, efforts to unmask anonymous sources, day-to-day demonization are all on the table. But some experts urge the press not to go into war footing, but to do its work and see how everything plays out.
December 16, 2024 5:23 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Health officials in the Gaza Strip say the death toll from the 14-month war between Israel and Hamas militants has topped 45,000 people. The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children. The Israeli military says it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
December 16, 2024 5:46 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — TikTok is asking the Supreme Court to step in on an emergency basis to block the federal law that would ban the popular platform in the United States unless its China-based parent company agrees to sell it. Company lawyers and China-based ByteDance on Monday urged the justices to act before the law’s Jan. 19 deadline. Content creators who rely on the platform for income and some of TikTok’s more than 170 million users in the U.S. filed a separate plea. The companies say a shutdown lasting just a month would cause TikTok to lose about a third of its daily users in the U.S.
December 15, 2024 7:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has had hip replacement surgery at a U.S. military hospital in Germany after falling while at an event in Luxembourg with other members of Congress. A spokesman on Saturday says the 84-year-old Pelosi “is well on the mend.” Pelosi thanked the staff at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center and the hospital in Luxembourg, where she was also treated, for “their excellent care and kindness.” She was in Europe with a bipartisan congressional delegation to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.
December 15, 2024 7:18 am
NEW YORK (AP) — ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million toward Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. ABC will also post a note on its website expressing regret over the claim in Stephanopoulos’ March 10 segment on “This Week.” That’s according to a settlement document made public on Saturday. It describes ABC’s presidential library payment as a “charitable contribution.” The settlement agreement was signed Friday, the same day a Florida federal judge ordered Trump and Stephanopoulos to sit for separate depositions in the case next week. The settlement means that sworn testimony is no longer required.
December 15, 2024 7:14 am
DAMASCUS (AP) — A transformation has started to take place in the week since the unexpected overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar Assad. Suddenly in charge, the rebels have been met with a mix of excitement, grief and hope. And so far the transition has been surprisingly smooth. Reports of reprisals, revenge killings and sectarian violence are minimal, looting and destruction has been quickly contained. But there are a million ways it could go wrong. Syria is broken and isolated after five decades of Assad family rule. Families have been torn apart by war, former prisoners are traumatized, and tens of thousands of detainees remain missing. The economy is wrecked, poverty is widespread, inflation and unemployment are high. Corruption seeps through daily life.
