January 13, 2020 10:00 am
UNDATED (AP) – Todd Phillips’ much-debated supervillain origin story and R-rated box-office smash “Joker” topped all films with 11 Academy Awards nominations on Monday, while Martin Scorsese’s elegiac crime epic “The Irishman,” Quentin Tarantino’s 1960s Los Angeles fairy tale “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” and Sam Mendes’ World War I tale “1917” all trailed close behind with 10 nods apiece. áThe nominations will bring about endless speculation about who will win, and who should win. Who wins will be revealed on Feb. 9, when the Oscars are held in Los Angeles. They’ll need all the star power they can get – the show will go hostless for its second straight year.
January 13, 2020 4:20 am
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – An Australian man who was injured in a volcanic eruption in New Zealand more than a month ago has died, becoming the 20th victim of the disaster. Paul Browitt and his two daughters were caught in the Dec. 9 eruption on White Island. One daughter was killed in the eruption and Browitt and the other daughter were injured and transferred to Alfred Hospital in their hometown of Melbourne three days after the disaster. A police statement confirmed Paul Browitt died on Sunday night as a result of injuries from the eruption. The surviving daughter remains hospitalized.
January 13, 2020 4:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States is preparing to remove more than a dozen Saudi military students from a training program after an investigation into a deadly shooting by a Saudi aviation student at a Florida navy base last month. That’s according to a U.S. official who spoke to The Associated Press on Sunday. The 21-year-old Saudi Air Force officer, 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, opened fire at the naval base in Pensacola, killing three U.S. sailors and injuring eight other people. The Justice Department has been investigating the incident as an act of terrorism.
January 13, 2020 4:17 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Democrat Cory Booker has dropped out of the presidential race after failing to qualify for the December primary debate. Booker announced Monday that he was ending a campaign whose message of unity and love failed to gain traction in a political era marked by chaos and anxiety. The U.S. senator from New Jersey had struggled in polling and fundraising since launching his bid last February. Booker was unable to hit 5% support in a single qualifying poll required to make it on the January debate stage. Booker’s departure leaves a field that was once the most diverse in history with just one remaining African American candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
January 13, 2020 4:15 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Online videos purport to show Iranian police and security forces firing both tear gas and live rounds to disperse demonstrators who are protesting against the Islamic Republic’s initial denial that it shot down a Ukrainian jetliner. The videos obtained by The Associated Press on Monday show protesters gathered near Tehran’s Azadi, or Freedom, Square on Sunday night. Videos show tear gas being fired on what appears to be a peaceful crowd, which then turns to run away. Gunfire can be heard in the background. Another clip shows a woman being carried away as a crowd shouts that she’s been shot. Iranian state media did not immediately report on the incident.
January 13, 2020 4:14 am
(WPXI) – The former promoter for the Three Rivers Regatta who is the subject of a criminal investigation failed to show up to a second bankruptcy court hearing on Monday. Derek Webber, who ran LionHeart Event Group, was accused of falsifying documents, not securing the necessary permits and owing tens of thousands of dollars. Court documents said LionHeart owed money to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office and Starfire Entertainment, among others. Neither Webber nor his attorney showed up to the scheduled court hearing on Monday. The event was cancelled just days before it was supposed to start once board members learned of the issues.
January 13, 2020 4:12 am
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) – Closing arguments are scheduled Monday in the homicide trial of a western Pennsylvania woman charged in the stabbing death of her boyfriend on Christmas Day in 2018. Twenty-eight-year-old Dominique Jones took the stand Friday and alleged that the stabbing at the Holiday Inn Express in Uniontown followed years of abuse. She said she wasn’t trying to kill 25-year-old Tre Montel McCargo but “was just trying to get him off of me.” Fayette County prosecutors, however, say Jones believed McCargo was cheating on her. The (Uniontown) Herald-Standard reports that testimony was to continue Saturday, but prosecutors opted not to call rebuttal witnesses.
January 13, 2020 4:10 am
PITTSBURGH — A man was arrested after a nearly five-month long investigation started when children showed up to school in August with severe bruises, according to court papers. Randall Blair was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child, strangulation and making terroristic threats. According to a criminal complaint, police were notified after two girls and a boy were admitted to UPMC Children’s Hospital when they showed up to school with bruises and a black eye. The oldest girl had vision issues after Blair allegedly put immense pressure on her eye while beating her with a belt. A second girl said the kids had missed the first day of school because they were being punished and missing class was part of the punishment laid out by Blair and his girlfriend. She had pink and purple bruises. The third child, a boy, was “visibly dirty” when doctor’s examined him, had bruising on various parts of his body and tested positive for cocaine and cocaine metabolites. The children also told investigators that Blair and his girlfriend also only provide them with two meals per day and that they were not allowed snacks. Blair was taken to the Allegheny County Jail and was unable to post $5,000 bail, according to court records.
January 13, 2020 4:07 am
BALDWIN, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say a man who tried to commit a home invasion at a western Pennsylvania apartment was shot and killed by a man who lives in the unit. The 22-year-old would-be robber was armed with a handgun when he went to the apartment in Baldwin around 7 p.m. Sunday. Authorities say he was soon confronted by a 25-year-old man, who got his handgun and shot the intruder, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The 25-year-old man’s fiance and their 10-month-old child were in the apartment when the shooting occurred but were not injured. It’s not yet known if any charges will be filed.
January 12, 2020 8:11 am
BURRAGATE, Australia (AP) — Two wildfires merged to form a massive inferno in southeastern Australia and a man suffered serious burns protecting a home, in a night of treacherous conditions during the nation’s unprecedented wildfire crisis, officials said Saturday. Authorities were assessing the damage after firefighters battled flames fanned by strong winds through the night and lightning strikes sparked new blazes in New South Wales and Victoria, Australia’s most populous states. Conditions were milder Saturday and forecast to remain relatively benign for the next week. New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters that officials were “extremely relieved” the fires were not more destructive overnight.
