December 24, 2025 11:47 am
BRISTOL, Pa. (AP) — Crews are using construction equipment to clear the rubble of a Pennsylvania nursing home after a powerful explosion killed two people and hospitalized 20 others. The blast happened Tuesday at the Bristol Health & Rehab Center, northeast of Philadelphia. Bristol Police Chief Charles Winik said Wednesday that searchers accounted for everyone who had been thought to be missing. Authorities say a utility crew was responding to reports of a gas odor when the explosion occurred. Investigators are examining whether a gas leak caused the blast. Emergency responders evacuated residents amid flames, a strong gas odor and a second explosion. On Wednesday, workers were clearing sections of collapsed roof and walls to help investigators gain better access.
December 23, 2025 11:48 pm
BRISTOL, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s governor says an explosion at a nursing home just outside Philadelphia killed at least two people. The explosion Tuesday collapsed a part of the building and happened just as a utility crew had been on site at Bristol Health & Rehab Center in Bristol Township looking for a gas leak. The extent of the casualties was unclear several hours later. Bucks County officials say a portion of the building collapsed. Fire officials said they were in “rescue mode” five hours later, with rescuers still digging by hand and using search dogs, earth-moving equipment and sonar to locate potential victims.
December 23, 2025 3:52 pm
Former Nebraska U.S. Senator Ben Sasse has announced his diagnosis of advanced pancreatic cancer. He shared the news on social media, revealing he learned of the disease last week. The 53-year-old Sasse resigned from the Senate in January 2023 to become the president of the University of Florida. He was a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump and one of seven Republican senators to vote for Trump’s conviction after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Sasse expressed determination to fight the disease, highlighting advancements in immunotherapy and other treatments as part of his hope.
December 23, 2025 8:50 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy economy expanded at a strong 4.3% annual rate from July through September as consumer spending, exports and government spending all grew. Tuesday’s report from the Commerce Department said U.S. gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — up from its 3.8% growth rate in the April-June quarter. Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet forecast growth of 3% in the period. However, inflation remains higher than the Federal Reserve would like. The Fed’s favored inflation gauge — called the personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE — climbed to a 2.8% annual pace last quarter, up from 2.1% in the second quarter.
December 23, 2025 4:48 am
BROWNSVILLE, Pa. — A fatal pedestrian accident is under investigation. A man died after being hit by a vehicle Monday evening in Brownsville. Fayette County Coroner Bob Baker said Mark Smith, 30, of Brownsville, was struck by a vehicle while walking along Route 40 East. Smith was taken to the Uniontown Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. There is no word on whether the driver of the vehicle stopped.
December 23, 2025 4:54 am
Airports across the country anticipate record numbers over the course of the next two weeks, and the Pittsburgh International is no exception. From Sunday, December 21, to Sunday, January 4, the Airport anticipates around 465,000 arrivals and departures. That’s up 6% from the same period last year. The busiest remaining days are slated to be Friday, December 26 and Sunday, December 28, with an anticipated 34,000 combined seats each date. Friday, January 2, is expected to be the next busiest day, with an anticipated 33,800 combined seats. Airport officials said it’s important to remember early mornings and late afternoon hours are typically busier, so it’s a good idea to allow for extra time. Flyers should try to check their bags at least two hours before domestic flights and three hours before international flights. The new TSA checkpoint can accommodate up to 12 lanes. Airport officials said those additional lanes will help to accommodate the high volume of travelers expected over the next two weeks, but flyers might have to wait a little longer.
December 23, 2025 4:56 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military says it has conducted another strike against a boat it said was smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing one person. In a social media post Monday night, U.S. Southern Command said, “Intelligence confirmed the low-profile vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” A video appears to show a number of strikes landing near and on the boat before it catches fire. Southern Command provided no evidence that the vessel was engaged in drug smuggling. At least 105 people have been killed in 29 known strikes since early September.
December 23, 2025 4:57 am
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump has delivered a new warning to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Trump said Monday if the Venezuelan leader “plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever be able to play tough.” The warning comes as the U.S. Coast Guard steps up efforts to interdict oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea as part of the Republican administration’s escalating pressure campaign on the government in Caracas. Trump was surrounded by his top national security aides, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as he suggested that he remains ready to further escalate his four-month pressure campaign on the Maduro government.
December 23, 2025 5:00 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has scolded Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidant Ghislaine Maxwell for including confidential victim names in court papers seeking to set aside her 2021 sex trafficking conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said Monday that exhibits included with Maxwell’s habeas petition — which she filed on her own, without a lawyer — will be kept under seal and out of public view “until they have been reviewed and appropriately redacted to protect the identities of victims.” Meanwhile, the Senate’s top Democrat on Monday urged colleagues to take legal action over the Justice Department’s incremental and heavily redacted release of its files on Epstein and Maxwell.
December 23, 2025 5:02 am
Hours before airtime on Sunday, CBS News’ “60 Minutes” held a planned story on President Donald Trump’s deportation policy at the order of the network’s new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss. Weiss, the founder of the Free Press website, had sought to get Trump administration perspective included in the story. The move is sure to increase scrutiny on CBS and “60 Minutes,” which Trump sued last fall over an interview with Kamala Harris and has recently complained about stories critical of him. Weiss said in a statement that holding stories that aren’t ready, because they lack context or are missing critical voices, happen every day in newsrooms.
