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.
December 8, 2019 8:20 am
EASTLAKE, Ohio (AP) – Geologists say a small earthquake centered just off the Lake Erie shoreline shook areas east of Cleveland. The 2.6 magnitude quake struck Saturday morning and was felt in several Ohio cities, including downtown Cleveland. There haven’t been any reports of damage. It’s the second 2.6 magnitude quake since mid-October. The latest one was centered about three miles north of the city of Eastlake. Both of those were much lighter than a 4.2 magnitude event that struck Ohio just northeast of Cleveland in Lake Erie in June.
December 8, 2019 8:18 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) – A popular church building is set to close in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood. The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced Saturday that Prince of Peace parish’s St. Peter church is being closed for worship after a petition was submitted to Bishop David Zubik in October. The decision came after a “growing awareness of the stringent financial limitations facing Prince of Peace Parish, growing debt, and the parish’s ability to adequately provide pastoral and sacramental care,” according to a release. The parish will continue to worship at its other site: St. Adalbert, which is located on 15th Street.
December 8, 2019 4:38 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Gov. Tom Wolf is putting the state House of Representatives on a timeline to pass legislation to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage. The Democratic governor’s office said Friday that the Republican-controlled chamber has until the end of the month. Otherwise, Wolf’s office says he’ll let a rule-making board vote on a regulatory measure to extend overtime pay eligibility to tens of thousands of workers. The Republican-controlled Senate last month approved the legislation raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $9.50 an hour in 2022. The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry agreed to support a minimum wage increase if Wolf relented on his overtime rule.
December 8, 2019 4:35 am
NORTH FAYETTE, Pa. (WPXI) – Police took a person into custody after there was a car chase along Route 22 in North Fayette. According to the Attorney General’s Office, undercover agents and local police had set Justin Torres up during a child predator investigation. Police said Torres drove to a hotel near Settler’s Ridge with the intent of having sex with an underage boy. Instead of a 14-year-old, undercover agents were waiting. According to a police criminal complaint, Torres sent a message to the undercover agent who was posing as a 14-year-old on a social media platform. Pictures were exchanged and the time and place to meet in the parking lot of the hotel was set. Police said Torres was behind the wheel of his car in the parking lot when officers tried to take him into custody. At that point, police said he put the car in reverse and used the car as a weapon — narrowly missing an officer. That’s when a police officer opened fire into the windshield of Torres’ car. Torres then took off, leading police on a chase on Route 22 that ended near the Hankey Farms Exit, where he was taken into custody. Torres, once in custody, told police he knew the child was 14-years-old and knew that sexual contact with someone that young was illegal. When officers asked why he tried to run them down in his car, Torres allegedly said that he was afraid, panicked and tried to get away. Torres is facing several counts of child sex crimes.
