February 1, 2024 4:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new poll shows half of U.S. adults believe Israel’s war in Gaza has “gone too far.” The poll by The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found growing disapproval among Republicans and political independents for Israel’s conduct of its military offensive in Gaza. And notably for President Joe Biden, about 7 out of 10 young people in Biden’s Democratic Party disapprove of his approach to the conflict. Overall, 31% of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s handling of the conflict, including just 46% of Democrats. The U.S. has become increasingly isolated in its support of Israel as the Palestinian death toll rises.
February 1, 2024 4:50 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military said North Korea has fired multiple cruise missiles into waters off its western coast, extending a provocative series of weapons tests in the face of deepening tensions with the United States, South Korea and Japan. The launches came hours after state media reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reiterated his focus on strengthening his naval forces as he inspected the construction of new warships at a western shipyard, calling such projects crucial to the country’s war preparations. There was no immediate information on the exact number of missiles fired or how far they flew.
February 1, 2024 4:49 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — New data from automatic voter registration at Pennsylvania driver’s license centers shows that sign-ups have grown but remain almost evenly divided between the political parties in the presidential battleground state. The latest data was published Wednesday. It tallies just over four months of new voter registrations since Gov. Josh Shapiro announced the change in September. There has been an increase of about 45% in sign-ups at driver’s license centers compared with a similar period two years ago. The data also shows little change in the partisan mix of those signing up under the new system. That’s despite accusations by Donald Trump that Democrats would use automatic registration to “steal Pennsylvania.”
February 1, 2024 2:52 am
LEVITTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A man in suburban Philadelphia has been charged with first-degree murder and abusing a corpse after his father was found decapitated. Police are investigating a video on social media that allegedly shows him holding up the head. The father was found decapitated in the bathroom of his home in Levittown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night. Police have identified the son as 32-year-old Justin Mohn. He was arrested about 100 miles away in Fort Indiantown Gap. Mohn was arraigned early Wednesday and held without bail. No attorney for Mohn is listed in court records. A message seeking comment on his behalf was left at a phone listing for him.
January 31, 2024 4:50 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has attributed the drone attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias that includes the militant group Kataib Hezbollah. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says the U.S. believes the attack was planned, resourced and facilitated by the group. The Sunday drone attack on a military base in Jordan killed the three troops and injured at least 40 others. Kirby said Wednesday that President Joe Biden will continue to weigh response options to the attack but “the first thing you see won’t be the last thing.”
January 31, 2024 3:25 pm
Pittsburgh, Pa. – Governor Josh Shapiro and Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Rick Siger joined legislative and business leaders during a visit to Mill 19 in Pittsburgh to highlight the important role of robotics and advanced manufacturing in the Commonwealth’s new Economic Development Strategy, the first plan of its kind to guide the Commonwealth in almost 20 years. Governor Shapiro unveiled the ten year strategy Tuesday at OraSure Technologies in the Lehigh Valley. Shapiro says the new economic development strategy will capitalize on the commonwealth’s strengths and reignite the economy by focusing on the agriculture, energy, life sciences, manufacturing, and robotics and technology sectors, where data-driven analysis reveals a significant potential for growth over the next ten years. Shapiro says that compared to neighbor states, the commonwealth is being outspent on economic development incentives, with states like New York and Ohio leveraging as much as 16 times our total incentive spend and for Pennsylvania to maintain and advance economic competitiveness, we must double down on our strengths while investing in those areas where we need to grow. This strategy seeks to do just that by capitalizing on our substantial strengths in the robotics and technology industries.
January 31, 2024 9:41 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Joe Biden will visit the eastern Ohio community devastated by a fiery train derailment in February 2023. No date has been given for the Democratic president’s trip. But Biden is expected to visit East Palestine in February, about a year after a Norfolk Southern train went off the tracks. The derailment displaced thousands of residents near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Many residents have lingering fears about potential health effects from the assortment of toxic chemicals that spilled and the vinyl chloride that was released a few days after the crash to keep five tank cars from exploding. Some residents have said they feel forgotten because Biden hasn’t visited.
January 31, 2024 5:05 am
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed Disney’s free speech lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Wednesday’s ruling deals a setback to the company’s hopes of regaining control of a district that governs Walt Disney World. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor said in his decision that Disney lacked standing in its First Amendment lawsuit against DeSantis. A separate lawsuit over who controls the district is still pending in state court in Orlando. The feud between DeSantis and Disney started in 2022 after the company publicly opposed the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, which banned classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. Disney plans to appeal the decision.
January 31, 2024 5:05 am
DOVER, Del. (AP) — A judge says Elon Musk must give up a compensation package awarded by Tesla’s board of directors that is potentially worth more than $55 billion. The ruling in a Delaware court Tuesday comes five years after a shareholder lawsuit targeted the Tesla and the company’s directors. They were accused of breaching their duties to the maker of electric vehicles and solar panels, resulting in a waste of corporate assets and unjust enrichment for Musk. Plaintiff’s lawyers argued that the pay package was dictated by Musk and was the product of sham negotiations with directors who were not independent of him. Defense attorneys countered that the pay plan was fairly negotiated by a compensation committee whose members were independent.
January 31, 2024 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans have taken a party-line vote toward impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over what they say is his “willful and systematic” refusal to enforce immigration laws. The Homeland Security Committee voted after midnight Wednesday to recommend the two articles of impeachment to the full House. But Mayorkas, who has been meeting with senators on a border security package, argues the Republicans should instead be working with the Biden administration on U.S.-Mexico border issues. Democrats derided the proceedings as a sham ordered up by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump for the 2024 election. The full House could vote on the impeachment as soon as next week.
