May 22, 2021 9:15 am
The United Nations says approximately 800,000 people in Gaza don’t have regular access to clean piped water. The world body says nearly 50% of the water network was damaged in the recent fighting. Quoting Gaza’s public works and housing ministry, the U.N. ‘s office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said nearly 17,000 residential and commercial units have been damaged or destroyed. These include 769 housing and commercial units that have been rendered uninhabitable, at least 1,042 units in some 258 buildings which have been destroyed and another 14,538 units that have suffered minor damage.
May 22, 2021 9:11 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Police say a shooting in downtown Minneapolis has killed two people and wounded eight others. Police say in tweets early Saturday that the 10 people shot included five men and five women. Two of the men died and another man was at a hospital in critical condition. Police say the other seven wounded people had injuries not considered to be life-threatening. No arrests were immediately announced. KMSP-TV reports a police spokesperson says the gunfire stemmed from two men in a crowd who got into an argument, pulled out guns and started shooting.
May 22, 2021 4:25 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A Michigan man has pleaded guilty to hacking a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center employee database, stealing the personal information of more than 65,000 people and then selling the information online. The Tribune-Review reports that Justin Johnson is being held at Butler County Prison and will be sentenced in four months. Johnson pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Melucci, investigators found that Johnson used his expertise in the PeopleSoft software to gain access to the database. He then sold the information on the dark web. Johnson was arrested last year in Detroit.
May 22, 2021 4:23 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate and payrolls remained virtually the same in April. State figures released Friday show Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a percentage point to 7.4%. That was more than a whole point above the national rate of 6.1% in April. In a survey of households, the labor force remained virtually the same, at just below 6.34 million. The state hit a record high labor force of almost 6.6 million just before the pandemic. In a separate survey of employers, payrolls in Pennsylvania slid in April by 4,400, to below 5.67 million. Pennsylvania has regained about 60% of the 1.1 million jobs lost in the pandemic.
May 22, 2021 4:22 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A senior adviser to Donald Trump is taking to Twitter to stress that the former president has made no endorsement of anyone to become governor of Pennsylvania. Thursday’s statement by the adviser, Jason Miller, comes a day after a Republican state senator said that Trump had asked him to run for governor in 2022 and promised to campaign for him. Miller, on Twitter, reiterated that Trump “has not made any endorsement or commitments yet” in the race. The state senator, Doug Mastriano, hasn’t declared his candidacy. However, Lou Barletta, the Republican Party’s Trump-endorsed nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018, has declared his candidacy for governor.
May 21, 2021 2:53 am
TOKYO (AP) – The IOC and local Tokyo Olympic organizers are wrapping up three days of planning meetings just two months before the postponed games are to open. Much of the focus is on persuading a skeptical public and medical community that the games should go ahead. The problem is that 60 to 80 percent of people in Japan, depending how the question is asked in public opinion polls, don’t want the Olympics to open in the middle of a pandemic despite repeated assurances from organizers that games will be “safe and secure.” The Olympics open on July 23 followed by the Paralympics on August 24.
May 21, 2021 2:51 am
PHOENIX (AP) – Arizona’s top elections official says voting machines from the state’s most populous county should not be used after they were handed over to state Senate Republicans for an audit of the 2020 election results. Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said in a letter that Maricopa County lost control of the machines after they were handed over and doesn’t know what was done to them. She urged the county not to use the machines any longer and threatened to initiate a process that could lead to their decertification. County officials say they’re evaluating their next steps but will not use any machines that could pose a risk to free and fair elections.
May 21, 2021 2:50 am
NEW YORK (AP) – CNN says it was inappropriate for news anchor Chris Cuomo to be involved in phone calls with the staff of his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The Washington Post reports that the CNN news anchor was involved in strategy sessions on how to respond to sexual harassment allegations against his older brother. The Post said Chris Cuomo advised not resigning in the wake of the accusations, which his brother has not done. CNN has not disciplined its prime time anchor for being involved in the phone calls. Chris Cuomo apologized on his show Thursday night for being involved in the calls.
May 21, 2021 2:49 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Federal prosecutors say 18 electronic devices taken during raids last month on Rudolph Giuliani’s home and his law firm in a probe of his dealings in Ukraine belong to Giuliani and employees of his firm. The previously redacted facts were revealed when prosecutors on Thursday re-filed an April 29 letter on the public record in Manhattan federal court. The letter had sought the appointment of a “special master” to ensure nothing subject to attorney-client privilege was revealed to the government. The investigation is examining Giuliani’s ties to Ukraine and whether he violated a federal law that governs lobbying on behalf of foreign countries or entities.
May 21, 2021 2:48 am
JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel and Hamas have announced a ceasefire to end a bruising 11-day war that caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip and brought life in much of Israel to a standstill. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced late Thursday that his Security Cabinet approved the Egyptian-mediated proposal. Hamas quickly followed suit and said it would honor the deal. At 2 a.m. local time, just as the cease-fire took effect, life returned to the streets of Gaza. People went out of their homes, some shouting “Allahu Akbar” or whistling from balconies. The move came after heavy U.S. pressure to halt the offensive. At least 230 Palestinians were killed in the fighting, along with 12 people in Israel.
