December 19, 2021 7:25 am
LONDON (AP) — A senior member of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Cabinet resigned Saturday night, adding to a sense of disarray within a government that has faced rebellion from his own lawmakers and voters this week. Brexit Minister David Frost said in a letter to Johnson that he was stepping down immediately after a newspaper reported that he had planned to leave the post next month. Frost said the process of leaving the EU would be a long-term job. “That is why we agreed earlier this month that I would move on in January and hand over the baton to others to manage our future relationship with the EU,″ he said in his resignation letter. However, the Mail on Sunday said earlier that he resigned because of growing disillusionment with Johnson’s policies. The newspaper said Frost’s decision was triggered by last week’s introduction of new pandemic restrictions, including a requirement that people show proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test to enter nightclubs and other crowded venues.
December 19, 2021 7:23 am
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The governor of an island province in the central Philippines said Sunday at least 72 people died in the devastation wrought by Typhoon Rai in more than half of the towns that managed to contact him, bringing the death toll in the strongest typhoon to batter the country this year to at least 146. Gov. Arthur Yap of Bohol province said 10 others were missing and 13 injured, and suggested the fatalities may still considerably increase with only 33 out of 48 mayors able to report back to him due to downed communications. Officials were trying to confirm a sizable number of deaths caused by landslides and extensive flooding elsewhere. In statements posted on Facebook, Yap ordered mayors in his province of more than 1.2 million people to invoke their emergency powers to secure food packs for large numbers of people along with drinking water. Both have been urgently sought in several hard-hit towns. After joining a military aerial survey of typhoon-ravaged towns, Yap said “it is very clear that the damage sustained by Bohol is great and all-encompassing.”
December 19, 2021 3:57 am
NEW YORK (AP) – After 12 days of testimony over three weeks, jurors heard from the final witnesses in the Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking trial. The British socialite told the judge Friday she wouldn’t testify because she was confident prosecutors hadn’t proved their case. Closing arguments are now set for Monday in the trial, in which Maxwell is accused of helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse four teenage girls. The defense rested its case after a tight, two days of presenting witnesses who attested to Maxwell’s character or said they hadn’t witnessed any wrongdoing.
December 19, 2021 3:19 am
A person has been charged in the October 24 wrong way crash on Interstate 79 that killed Holly Davis. Kristina Coyne, 26 of Washington was charged with criminal homicide, homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and several other offenses by the Washington County District Attorney. Lab results indicate that Coyne’s blood alcohol content was .2%. A preliminary accident reconstruction indicated that Coyne drove approximately 5 miles in the wrong direction with an approximate speed of 70 miles per hour. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for the end of the year.
December 18, 2021 4:01 am
A federal appeals court panel has ruled that President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for larger private employers can take effect. Friday’s 2-1 ruling from a panel of judges on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a lower-court ruling that had paused the requirement. Republican-led states and conservative groups are challenging the rule, which would apply to companies with at least 100 employees and affect some 84 million workers across the U.S. They have vowed to appeal Friday’s ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The mandate was originally scheduled to take effect Jan. 4.
December 18, 2021 3:59 am
Federal environmental officials have announced a $1 billion infusion to the Superfund program. The money comes from the infrastructure billáthat President Joe Biden recently signed into law. It’ll help officials tackle a backlog of highly polluted Superfund sites in 24 states. Nearly 50 toxic waste sites will be cleaned up, and ongoing work at dozens of others will get a funding boost. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan made the announcement Friday at a Superfund site in Philadelphia. He says most of the sites are in minority communities that have suffered disproportionately from contamination.
December 18, 2021 3:54 am
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – The jury that will weigh 11 charges of fraud and conspiracy against former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes finally got the case late Friday after a three-month trial that captivated Silicon Valley. The hand-off came after lawyers for the opposing sides wrapped up a second day of painstaking final arguments to sum up their respective interpretations of the evidence submitted to the jury. That included the testimony of 32 witnesses – including Holmes herself – and more than 900 exhibits. The eight men and four women on the jury began their deliberations late on Friday and will take the weekend off before resuming Monday morning.
December 18, 2021 3:51 am
All the former hostages from a U.S.-based missionary group kidnapped in Haiti have been flown out of the country after a two-month ordeal and are “doing reasonably well.” That’s according to a statement Friday by the head of Christian Aid Ministries, the Ohio-based missions organization. David Troyer, its general director, also says the organization is offering forgiveness to the captors. The group was kidnapped Oct. 16 by the 400 Mawozo gang. The last 12 hostages were freed Thursday, following the release of the other five previously. Details on the circumstances surrounding their release, such as whether ransom was paid, have not been made public.
December 18, 2021 3:47 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The Republican-controlled state House of Representatives still lacks the votes to block the centerpiece of Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to fight climate change, a cap-and-trade program to clamp down on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Wednesday’s vote, 130-70, was on a resolution that Wolf can veto. The authorizing regulation would make Pennsylvania the first major fossil fuel state to adopt carbon pricing. It can take effect if both the House and Senate cannot must a two-thirds majority to override the veto. A Senate vote in late October to disapprove the policy, like the House’s vote Wednesday, was just short of the number needed to override a gubernatorial veto.
December 18, 2021 3:45 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The Legislative Reapportionment Commission is advancing new preliminary Pennsylvania state House and Senate maps over objections from the state House’s Republican leader. The Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted 5-0 for the Senate map and 3-2 for the House map on Thursday. A vote on the final maps is likely a month or more away. The approval on Thursday is a key step in the once-in-a-decade process that will reverberate politically for years to come. There are about two months left before candidates are scheduled to begin circulating nominating petitions to get on the May 17 primary ballot.
