January 7, 2025 5:46 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A man convicted of injuring an officer with a homemade explosive at a 2023 campus protest over transgender rights at the University of Pittsburgh has been sentenced to five years in prison. Brian DiPippa’s wife, Krystal Martinez-DiPippa, will serve three years of probation for her role in the incident. The DiPippas were part of a group protesting an April 2023 panel sponsored by the Pitt College Republicans that featured speakers opposed to transgender rights. A campus police sergeant told the court that she suffered burns to her legs, hearing loss and back injuries that required surgery.
January 7, 2025 5:42 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jimmy Carter’s state funeral has moved to Washington after observances in his native Georgia. The 39th president’s remains left the Carter Presidential Center on Tuesday morning and flew to the Washington area aboard Special Air Mission 39. The Carter family and former president arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, with a motorcade following to the U.S. Navy Memorial. Carter’s flag-draped casket was transferred to a horse-drawn caisson for his final journey to the Capitol. Carter is the only U.S. Naval Academy graduate to become president. Members of Congress will honor Carter in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday afternoon. The ceremonies carry some irony for the one-term president who campaigned as an outsider in 1976 and never mastered the city. (Photo: AP)
January 7, 2025 2:27 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The singer-songwriter and social activist best known as one-third of the folk-music group Peter, Paul and Mary, has died at age 86. Peter Yarrow died Tuesday at his home in New York. That’s according to publicist Ken Sunshine. Peter, Paul and Mary rose to overnight fame in 1962 when they blended their voices in stunning harmonies as they sang out against war and social injustice. Among their many hits were Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” Pete Seeger’s “If I Had a Hammer” and Yarrow’s own “Puff the Magic Dragon.” After a 1970 breakup they reunited eight years later, continuing their partnership until Mary Travers’ death in 2009. (Photo: AP)
January 7, 2025 5:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge in Florida has temporarily blocked the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on investigations into Donald Trump, who says it would be a “fake report” anyway. An appeals court is weighing a challenge to the disclosure of a much-anticipated document just days before the Republican president-elect reclaims office. Tuesday’s ruling from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon may represent a short-lived victory for Trump. But it’s the latest instance of the Trump-appointed jurist taking action in Trump’s favor. The halt came in response to an emergency request Monday by defense lawyers to block the release of a report they said would be one-sided and prejudicial. Smith’s team is expected to respond later Tuesday.
January 7, 2025 5:05 am
McDonald’s is ending some of its diversity practices, citing a U.S. Supreme Court decision that outlawed affirmative action in college admissions. McDonald’s is the latest company to shift its tactics in the wake of the 2023 ruling and a conservative backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Walmart, John Deere, and other corporations have also rolled back their DEI initiatives. McDonald’s said Monday it will retire specific goals for achieving diversity at senior leadership levels and end a program that encourages its suppliers to develop diversity training. The company’s diversity team will be renamed the Global Inclusion Team. The Chicago burger giant says it remains committed to inclusion and believes a diverse workforce is a competitive advantage.
January 7, 2025 5:03 am
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he won’t rule out the use of military force to seize control of the Panama Canal and Greenland as he declared U.S. control of both to be vital to American national security. Speaking to reporters less than two weeks before he takes office on Jan. 20 and as a delegation of aides and advisers that includes his son Donald Trump Jr. is in Greenland, Trump left open the use of the American military to secure both territories. Trump has floated having Canada join the United States. The Republican said Tuesday he would not use military force to do that, saying, he would rely on “economic force.”
January 7, 2025 5:02 am
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump was thwarted Monday in his bid to indefinitely postpone this week’s sentencing in his hush money case while he appeals a ruling that upheld the verdict. Judge Juan M. Merchan ordered Friday’s sentencing to proceed as scheduled, rejecting arguments from Trump’s lawyers who said it should be halted while they ask a state appeals court to reverse his decision to let the conviction stand. The Republican was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
January 7, 2025 5:00 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says its latest weapons test was a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile designed to strike targets in the Pacific as leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further expand his collection of nuclear-capable weapons to counter rivals. The report Tuesday came a day after South Korea’s military detected the launch. North Korea demonstrated multiple weapons systems last year that can target its neighbors and the United States, including solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, and there are concerns that its military capabilities could advance further through technology transfers from Russia, as the two countries align over the war in Ukraine. Kim reiterated that his nuclear push was aimed at countering threats posed by hostile forces but didn’t directly mention the U.S.
January 7, 2025 4:57 am
TOKYO (AP) — Nippon Steel Chief Executive Eiji Hashimoto says the top Japanese steelmaker is standing firm on its proposed $15 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel. He told reporters Tuesday in Tokyo there is no reason or need to give up. President Joe Biden has blocked the move. Hashimoto says it’s the best for both nations and poses no security risks. Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel have filed lawsuits challenging the decision. In blocking the transaction Friday, Biden said U.S. companies producing steel need to fight for America’s interests. Proponents of the takeover say Japan is a U.S. ally, as well as a top investor in American companies. While Biden is leaving office soon, incoming President Donald Trump also opposes the acquisition.
January 7, 2025 4:55 am
BANGKOK (AP) — President Joe Biden’s decision to reject a bid by Nippon Steel to acquire U.S. Steel isn’t the first time friction over trade and investment has irked Washington’s closest ally in Asia. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken sought to smooth ruffled feathers in a visit to Tokyo on Tuesday. But the assertion that the proposed $15 billion deal could threaten U.S. national security has stung. Many in Japan see the decision as a betrayal after decades of U.S. pressure to lift barriers to investment and trade. Japanese businesses already are bracing for tariff hikes under President-elect Donald Trump. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was blunt in warning that spoiling the deal might hurt Japanese investment in the U.S.
