August 14, 2023 5:13 am
ATLANTA (AP) — Just one month after Donald Trump’s January 2021 phone call to suggest Georgia’s secretary of state could overturn his election loss, district attorney Fani Willis announced she was looking into possibly illegal “attempts to influence” the results. As she built her case, she called a parade of witnesses before a special grand jury, presiding over an investigation that was so public it seemed she would become the first prosecutor in U.S. history to indict a former president. She is instead poised to become the third person to levy criminal charges against Trump. But the expected indictment could be the most sprawling case against the former president.
August 14, 2023 5:12 am
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — After two years in power, the Taliban are entrenched as rulers of Afghanistan, facing no significant opposition that could topple them. They have avoided an internal split by falling in line behind their ideologically unbending leader and have kept a struggling economy afloat, even as the international community refused to recognize them as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Girls and women pay the price, with the Taliban barring them from jobs, education and virtually every aspect of public life. Prospects for a change toward moderation are slim as the Taliban mark the second anniversary of its takeover of Afghanistan this week.
August 14, 2023 5:10 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean state media say leader Kim Jong Un has again toured munitions factories and has ordered a drastic increase in production of missiles and other weapons. The report said Kim visited the factories last week and said North Korea must have “an overwhelming military force” and be fully prepared for any war. Some observers suspect Kim’s focus on weapons factories could be related to possible North Korean plans to send more munitions to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Also Monday, South Korea and the U.S. militaries announced they will begin major annual drills next week. The allies say their exercises are defensive, but North Korea views them as an invasion rehearsal.
August 14, 2023 5:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick often touts his deep connection to Pennsylvania as he lays the groundwork for another likely Senate run. McCormick says he lives in the state and points to his $2.8 million home in Pittsburgh. But public records and footage from home interviews with McCormick show the multimillionaire Republican spends much of his time living in Connecticut, where he rents a $16 million mansion on the coast. McCormick previously criticized Dr. Mehmet Oz because he said the 2022 Republican Senate nominee lacked ties to Pennsylvania. McCormick says he was raised in Pennsylvania, but plans to maintain a Connecticut residence while his daughters finish high school.
August 14, 2023 5:02 am
PLUM BOROUGH, Pa. — Peoples Gas president Michael Huwar said the company’s “system was operating as designed” at the site of the house explosion in Plum. According to officials, the explosion happened at around 10:23 a.m. on Rustic Ridge Drive and Brookside Drive. During a press conference on Sunday, Huwar said gas in the area was turned off at 11:30 a.m., just over an hour after the explosion. Huwar said his team at the scene checked for leakage, as well as did smell checks and tested for gas underground and in the air. After the checks, Huwar said his team determined their “system was operating as designed,” but further testing of their systems will be done. Gas is still turned off at some homes and Huwar said it’s too early to estimate when it’ll be restored. This is the second house explosion in Plum in less than two years. Last April, a house exploded on Hialeah Drive. Five people were hospitalized.
August 14, 2023 5:01 am
PLUM BOROUGH, Pa. — (WPXI) – A father and son are among the five people who died in a house explosion in Plum Borough. Several sources tell our news partners at Channel 11 Casey and Keegan Clontz are among the five who died after a house on Rustic Ridge exploded Saturday morning. Casey was 38, Keegan was 12. Three additional people were hurt in the explosion that destroyed one home and damaged several others. Two have since been released from the hospital, and one remains in critical condition. The formal identification of the five people killed will be made by the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner, and is expected to “take some time.”
August 14, 2023 4:56 am
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – The National Weather Service (NWS) confirms an EF-1 tornado touched down in Washington County Saturday night. After conducting a storm survey, NWS determined the tornado started in South Franklin Township around 8:13 p.m. and ended two minutes later. Specifically, NWS says damage on Cracraft Road was from the tornado. NWS the tornado took the roof off a patio and a home, as well as uprooted trees. The agency says the EF-1 tornado has an estimated maximum speed of 105 mph. It traveled 2.4 miles and had a maximum width of 30 yards. It’s the 16th tornado to impact Washington County since 1950.
August 13, 2023 8:25 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Seven people – including a 23-day-old baby girl – have been killed in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, according to the country’s Internal Affairs Ministry. The attack on Kherson province follows Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar’s comments on Saturday quelling rumors that Ukrainian forces had landed on the occupied left (east) bank of the Dnieper in the region. Ukrainian military officials said Saturday evening that Kyiv’s forces had made progress in the south, claiming some success near the key village of Robotyne in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and capturing other unspecified territories. In Russia, local officials reported that on Sunday air defense systems shot down three drones in regions bordering Ukraine.
August 13, 2023 8:24 am
Patients taking blockbuster drugs like Wegovy for weight loss may face potentially deadly complications if they need surgery or other procedures that require empty stomachs for anesthesia. Experts say recent guidance to halt the medication for up to a week may not go far enough. Some doctors say the drug should be held for three weeks before sedation to accommodate the delayed emptying of the stomach, which can cause patients to inhale food and liquid into their lungs. Such complications can lead to deadly injury, infection and even death. It’s not clear how many patients taking the anti-obesity drugs may be affected.
August 13, 2023 8:22 am
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Bystanders who trained their smartphone cameras on an Alabama riverfront dock, as several white boaters pummeled a Black riverboat co-captain, couldn’t have known the footage would elicit a national conversation about racial solidarity. But last weekend’s now-infamous brawl has truly tapped into the psyche of Black America and created a cultural moment. Many see the ordeal on the riverfront dock in Montgomery as a long-awaited answer to countless calls for help that went unanswered for past Black victims of violence and mob attacks. Alabama’s capital city is steeped in civil rights history, including being the first capital of the Confederacy.
