May 9, 2024 5:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says he will not supply offensive weapons that Israel can use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah — the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza — over concern for the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there. Biden, in an interview Wednesday with CNN, says the U.S. is still committed to Israel’s defense and will supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms. But he says that if Israel goes into Rafah, “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used.” The interview marked Biden’s toughest public comments yet about the potential Israeli military operation and followed his decision to pause a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel last week.
May 9, 2024 5:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hardline Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has tried and failed to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson. But the resounding rejection by Democrats and Republicans does not end the political chaos. One of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters in Congress, Greene stood on the House floor and read a long list of “transgressions” she said Johnson had committed as speaker. Colleagues booed in protest, and Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise quickly countered by calling for a vote to table Greene’s motion. An overwhelming majority, 359-43, kept Johnson in his job, for now. But any lawmaker can try to remove the speaker, and Trump said at some point there “may very well be” another bid to do so.
May 8, 2024 5:08 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Stormy Daniels will return to the witness stand in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, as the defense tries to undermine the credibility of the porn actor’s salacious testimony about an alleged sexual encounter and the money she got to keep quiet. Defense attorneys will get another chance on Thursday to question Daniels, whose account is central to the prosecutors’ case accusing Trump of scheming to illegally influence the 2016 presidential campaign by burying unflattering stories. Trump looked on in the courtroom as Daniels for hours on Tuesday described an unexpected sexual encounter she says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign. Trump denies they ever had sex.
May 9, 2024 5:38 pm
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal’s transport minister says a Boeing 737 plane carrying 85 people caught fire and skidded off a runway at an airport near the country’s capital, Dakar, and that 10 people were injured. The minister says the Air Sénégal flight operated by TransAir was headed to Bamako, in neighboring Mali, late on Wednesday with 79 passengers, two pilots and four cabin crew. The injured were being treated at a hospital. A Malian musician says he “saw my life flash before my eyes” and that he thought about his mother, wife and kids. He also described “complete panic during the evacuation” out of the plane.
May 9, 2024 5:10 am
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia is wrapping itself in patriotic pageantry for Victory Day, a celebration of its defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II that President Vladimir Putin has turned into a pillar of his nearly quarter-century in power and a justification of his move into Ukraine. Even though few veterans of what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War are still alive 79 years after Berlin fell to the Red Army, the victory over Nazi Germany remains the most important and widely revered symbol of the country’s prowess and a key element of national identity. The Soviet Union lost about 27 million people in the war, an estimate that many historians consider conservative. Thursday’s festivities honor that sacrifice.
May 9, 2024 5:37 pm
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — The World Video Game Hall of Fame has inducted its 10th class of honorees. The games Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity and Ultima were recognized Thursday for their impacts on the video game industry and popular culture. This year’s inductees debuted across decades, advancing technologies along the way and expanding not only the number of players, but the ages and interests of those at the controls. Anyone can nominate a game to the World Video Game Hall of Fame online. The final selections are made by members of an international committee, along with public votes. (Photo: AP)
May 9, 2024 5:11 am
MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Torchbearers are carrying the Olympic flame through the streets of France’s southern port city of Marseille, a day after it arrived on a majestic three-mast ship for the welcoming ceremony. The torch begins its 11-week journey across the country with about 10,000 bearers passing through more than 450 towns until the Games’ opening ceremony in Paris on July 26. Former soccer player Basile Boli, who played with the Marseille team in the 1990s, kicked off Thursday’s relay from the Notre Dame de la Garde basilica. Basketball player Tony Parker will take his turn in the relay later Thursday. One of the torchbearers is Ukrainian gymnast Mariia Vysochanska. It’s an expression of solidarity with Ukraine as well as a symbolic gesture to mark Europe Day,
May 8, 2024 5:26 pm
PAVILION TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — At least eight tornadoes have touched down in Ohio and three have been confirmed in Michigan as severe storms barreled through the central U.S., killing one man in Tennessee when a tree toppled onto a vehicle he was in. The National Weather Service says confirmed tornadoes touched down Tuesday in Ohio, including five in Warren County in the state’s southwest region. Weather service meteorologist in Michigan Nathan Jeruzal says Wednesday that the tornadoes there touched down one each in Kalamazoo, Cass and Branch counties — all in the southwestern part of the state. Tornadoes were first reported after dark Tuesday in parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, while portions of Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri were also under a tornado watch. (Photo: AP)
May 7, 2024 4:57 am
The National Weather Service reports a confirmed tornado touched down overnight in northern Hancock County, West Virginia, and moved toward western Beaver County near Harshaville, Hanover Township. At this time, there are no reports of injuries. Washington County 9-1-1 tells WJPA that there are no weather related issues this morning in Washington County.
May 8, 2024 4:52 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republican lawmakers are advancing a $3 billion tax cut, their newly unveiled counterproposal to a budget proposal from Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro as each side offers a competing vision for how to use a massive cash surplus. The legislation cutting taxes on income and electric service passed the Republican-controlled Senate on a 36-14 vote Tuesday. Republicans said it would be the largest tax cut in the state’s history. In the coming weeks, budget negotiations could revolve around Shapiro’s bid to boost spending by $3 billion, versus the Republican counterproposal to cut taxes by $3 billion. Democrats warn that the Senate GOP’s tax bill won’t pass in the Democratic-controlled House.
