December 9, 2019 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – FBI Director Chris Wray says the problems found by the Justice Department watchdog examining the origins of the Russia probe are “unacceptable.” He told The Associated Press on Monday that they are “unrepresentative of who we are as an institution.” His comments came after the watchdog found that the FBI was justified in opening its investigation and did not act with political bias, but there were “serious performance failures” up the bureau’s chain of command. The findings undercut President Donald Trump’s claim that he was the target of a “witch hunt.”
December 9, 2019 4:21 am
ALSACE TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) – Officials say a Pennsylvania man has fatally shot himself with a crossbow while he was hunting on his property. The Berks County coroner’s office announced that 75-year-old James Jacobs died on Wednesday. The Reading Eagle reportsáJacobs and his son were deer hunting when troopers said he lost his footing, fell and discharged a crossbow into his left side and abdomen. The death was ruled an accident caused by sharp force trauma. It was the second hunting fatality this week in the Berks: A 69-year-old man was killed Tuesday when he fell about 25 feet from a tree stand.
December 9, 2019 4:20 am
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Police in Ohio say a car that ran into a building, leaving three people dead and another person injured, apparently was traveling at a high rate of speed when it crashed. Columbus police say áthe car failed to make a curve on an exit ramp of Interstate 71, crashing into an NTB Tire & Service Center around 3 a.m. Sunday. Police say 18-year-old Otoniel Alcauter, 19 year-old Luis Guzman and an unidentified male who were in the car died at the scene. áA 17-year-old male who was in the vehicle was hospitalized in critical condition. No one was in the building.
December 9, 2019 4:18 am
MONONGAHELA, Pa. – (WPXI)- Two people are in custody and one was rushed to the hospital after police responded to an incident in Monongahela. There was a large police presence on Finley Street after a man and a woman were taken away in police cars in the Washington County neighborhood Saturday. Police said this was a follow-up investigation to an aggravated assault in that area, but the details on what happened are still unclear. Our news partners at Channel 11 were there when two people were loaded into police cars. We also saw officers take a pink baseball bat away from a home on Finley Street, but they did not specify what its significance is. SWAT and K-9 units were initially called to assist, but police said they were not needed.
December 8, 2019 8:27 am
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says his country will depend less on oil revenue next year, in a new budget that is designed to resist crippling U.S. sanctions. Rouhani said on Sunday at Parliament’s opening session that the U.S. and Israel will remain “hopeless” despite their goal of weakening Iran.áHe said Iran’s budget in the next fiscal year will also benefit from a $5 billion loan from Russia that’s being finalized. The U.S. re-imposed sanctions that block Iran from selling its crude oil abroad, following President Trump’s decision to withdraw from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
December 8, 2019 8:26 am
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) – A US official says the Saudi student who fatally shot three sailors at Naval Air Station Pensacola had hosted a dinner party earlier in the week to watch videos of mass shootings. The official says a second Saudi student who attended the party recorded video outside the classroom building where the shooting was happening. The official also says 10 Saudi students are being held at the base and that several others are unaccounted for. The official spoke on condition of anonymity after being briefed by federal investigators. The FBI says the dead shooter was a 21-year-old member of the Royal Saudi Air Force.
December 8, 2019 8:25 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – SpaceX has made an early holiday delivery to the International Space Station. The Dragon capsule arrived at the orbiting outpost Sunday, delivering “mighty mice,” pest-killing worms and a smart, empathetic robot. Station commander Luca Parmitano used a large robot arm to capture the Dragon on Sunday. Launched Thursday from Florida, the capsule holds 3 tons of supplies, including extra brawny mice dubbed “mighty mice” for a muscle experiment. There are also 120,000 roundworms, or nematodes of a beneficial variety that are part of an agricultural experiment. Plus there is a large, round robot head with artificial intelligence and Christmas presents.
December 8, 2019 8:24 am
HONG KONG (AP) – Hundreds of thousands of marchers have crammed Hong Kong streets in a mass show of support for the city’s protest movement, which has hit the half-year mark. Chanting “Fight for freedom,” huge crowds stretched for blocks Sunday on Hong Kong Island. Police announced hours earlier that they found a pistol and other weapons they believe were going to be used during the protest. Hundreds of thousands of people first marched on June 9 against now-withdrawn proposals to allow criminal suspects to be sent for trial in mainland China. The movement has expanded to demands for full democracy.
December 8, 2019 8:23 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea says it has carried out a “very important test” at its long-range rocket launch site that it reportedly rebuilt after having partially dismantled it when it entered denuclearization talks with the U.S. last year. The North’s Korean Central News Agency says the test was conducted Saturday afternoon. It says the result of the test was reported to the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party. The report didn’t say what the test was about. The U.N. bans North Korea from launching satellites because it’s seen as a test of long-range missile technology. Analyst Kim Dong-yub at Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies says North Korea likely tested for the first time a solid-fuel engine for an intercontinental ballistic missile.
December 8, 2019 8:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A Justice Department inspector general report is expected to say that the FBI had a legitimate basis to open its investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. It’s also expected to say that senior law enforcement officials weren’t motivated by partisan bias. But it’s also expected to cite multiple errors during the investigation, including by an FBI lawyer suspected of altering a document related to the surveillance of a former Trump campaign aide. The report is being released Monday. Though highly anticipated, it’s not expected to quell the partisan battles surrounding the Russia investigation.
