December 28, 2024 4:10 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Five months after their shock offensive into Russia, Ukrainian troops are bloodied by daily combat losses and demoralized by the rising risk of defeat in Kursk. Some want to stay in the region at all costs. Others question the value of having gone in at all. Battles are so intense that commanders are unable to evacuate their dead. Lags in communication and poorly timed operations have cost lives and commanders say they have little way to counterattack. The overstretched Ukrainians have lost more then 40% of the territory they won in the lightning incursion that seized much of Kursk in August.
December 28, 2024 1:26 am
(AP) – Kwanzaa has become a nationally recognized celebration of African culture and community in the United States since its founding in 1966 and also is celebrated in countries with large African descendant populations. The holiday, which serves as a nationwide communal event reinforcing self-determination and unity in the face of oppression, spans seven days from the day after Christmas through New Year’s Day. It is observed in large, city-sponsored events as well as in smaller communities and homes nationwide. Kwanzaa has grown in popularity in the decades since its founding and is celebrated by 3% of the country, according to a 2019 AP-NORC survey. Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all released statements commemorating the holiday, and in 1997 the U.S. Postal Service began issuing Kwanzaa stamps. It is not recognized as a federal holiday. (Photo: AP)
December 28, 2024 1:21 am
Hanukkah, Judaism’s eight-day Festival of Lights, began this year on Christmas Day, which has only happened four times since 1900. For some rabbis, the intersection of the two religious holidays provides an auspicious occasion for interfaith engagement. “This can be a profound opportunity for learning and collaboration and togetherness,” said Rabbi Josh Stanton, a vice president of the Jewish Federations of North America. He oversees interfaith initiatives involving the 146 local and regional Jewish federations that his organization represents. While Hanukkah is intended as an upbeat, celebratory holiday, rabbis note that it’s taking place this year amid continuing conflicts involving Israeli forces in the Middle East, and apprehension over widespread incidents of antisemitism. Locally, a Menorah was lit on the front lawn of the Washington County Courthouse> (Photo: AP)
December 28, 2024 1:14 am
A Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church has begun. It is a special period of grace and celebration that takes place every twenty-five-years and is designed to offer the faithful a unique opportunity for spiritual renewal and a closer relationship with God. This year’s theme is “Pilgrims of Hope,” and locally, St. James Parish has a special place in the celebration. Bishop Zubik has named one church in each of the six counties of the Diocese of Pittsburgh as a place for Pious Visit. Father Ed Yuhas, Pastor of St. James Parish, says they are blessed that Bishop Zubik has selected Saint James Parish/Immaculate Conception church as the place in Washington County for Pious Visits – where pilgrims can make visits and obtain an indulgence all throughout the Jubilee Holy Year. The Diocese of Pittsburgh will celebrate the opening Mass of the Jubilee 2025 on Saturday, December 28th at Saint Paul Cathedral. Father Yuhas also mentioned a new addition to the Vatican, Luce (Lucy), which means light in Italian. She was introduced as part of the Jubilee Year Celebration to show the light of the Catholic Faith and a means to draw younger people into the church.
December 27, 2024 3:54 pm
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump’s supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in the president-elect’s political movement into public display. The argument previews fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare tensions between the newest flank of Trump’s movement — that is, wealthy members of the tech world who want more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump’s Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies.
December 27, 2024 3:51 pm
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli troops have stormed one of the last hospitals operating in the territory’s north and forced many of the staff and patients outside. Then they had to remove their clothes in winter weather. Friday’s incident was the latest assault on Kamal Adwan Hospital. Staff say it has been hit multiple times in the past three months by Israeli troops waging an offensive against Hamas fighters in the surrounding neighborhoods. Israel’s military says Hamas uses the hospital as a base. It did not provide evidence, and hospital officials have denied it.
December 27, 2024 5:44 am
One person was injured in a crash late Thursday night in Chartiers Township. Washington County 9-1-1 says a vehicle rolled over and struck a utility pole in the 19-hundred block of Henderson Avenue just after 10 p.m. Dispatchers say the driver was entrapped and was eventually flown to a Pittsburgh hospital by medical helicopter. There is no word on their identity or condition. We are told West Penn Power crews were called to the scene to make repairs to the pole but power was not knocked out as a result of the crash.
December 27, 2024 4:58 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s opposition-controlled National Assembly has voted to impeach the country’s acting leader, Han Duck-soo. The assembly approved the impeachment motion in a 192-0 vote on Friday. Governing party lawmakers boycotted the vote. Han, the No. 2 official in South Korea, has been the caretaker leader after President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached by the assembly over his short-lived imposition of martial law earlier this month. Han’s impeachment further deepens South Korea’s political crisis and damages its international image.
December 27, 2024 4:57 am
Aviation experts say that Russian air defense fire was likely responsible for the Azerbaijani plane crash the day before that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured. Azerbaijan is observing a nationwide day of mourning on Thursday for the victims of the crash. Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan. Cellphone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball.
December 27, 2024 4:55 am
DALLAS (AP) — Parts of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas are under severe weather watches as the National Weather Service predicts a storm system in the Gulf of Mexico could bring high winds, hail and possible tornadoes to the region. The storm watches have continued early Friday after more than 100 flights were delayed and dozens more were canceled Thursday at airports in Dallas and Houston. The weather service says the greatest weather risk stretched from just east of Dallas and between Houston and portions of southern Arkansas and western Louisiana. The risk includes the possibility of tornadoes, wind gusts between 60 and 80 miles per hour and large hail.
