May 12, 2024 5:11 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump’s hush money trial is set to take the stand with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president. Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, is by far the most important witness in the case. And his expected appearance in court on Monday signals that the trial is entering its final stretch. Prosecutors say they may wrap up their presentation of evidence by the end of the week. Defense lawyers have teed up a bruising cross-examination of Cohen, telling jurors during opening statements that he is an “admitted liar” with an “obsession to get President Trump.”
May 11, 2024 5:17 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A promising start has given way to challenging political realities for supporters of a bipartisan commission to tackle the federal government’s growing debt challenges. House Speaker Mike Johnson lauded the idea of establishing such a commission on his first day in office. Then, a House panel passed with bipartisan support a bill to create a 16-member “fiscal commission” — 12 from Congress and four outside experts without voting power. But hits from the left and the right are taking a toll. Many Democrats and left-leaning advocacy groups worry that the commission would recommend cuts to Social Security benefits. Some Republicans and right-leaning groups worry that the commission would recommend tax increases.
May 11, 2024 5:16 am
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — The United Auto Workers is aiming for a key victory at Mercedes-Benz in Alabama. More than 5,000 workers at the facility in Vance and nearby battery plant will vote next week on whether to join the UAW. The vote comes a month after workers at a Volkswagen factory in Tennessee overwhelmingly voted to unionize. A win at Mercedes would be a major prize for the UAW, which is seeking to crack resistance to unions in the Deep South, where states have lured foreign auto manufacturers with large tax breaks, lower labor costs and a nonunion workforce.
May 11, 2024 5:15 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The alleged sexual encounter at the center of Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial got a graphic airing in court this past week as porn actor Stormy Daniels shared her account before a rapt jury. Daniels’ testimony about her time with Trump was by far the most awaited moment of the trial, which now enters its fourth week of witnesses as prosecutors come close to wrapping up their historic case. But it wasn’t all salaciousness. Manhattan jurors saw documentary evidence meant to directly tie Trump to the hush money payments that were sent to Daniels in what prosecutors say was an effort to buy her silence in the weeks before the 2016 presidential election.
May 11, 2024 5:13 am
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel has ordered new evacuations in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, forcing tens of thousands more people to move as it prepares to expand its operation. It has now evacuated the eastern third of Rafah, pushing the operation to the edges of the heavily populated central area, although the move into the city has so far been short of the full-scale invasion that Israel planned. The United Nations and other agencies have warned for weeks that an Israeli assault on Rafah would cripple humanitarian operations and cause a disastrous surge in civilian casualties. Israel also said Saturday that it is moving into an area in northern Gaza where Hamas has regrouped.
May 11, 2024 5:12 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – An unusually strong solar storm could allow the Aurora Borealis to become visible across much of the northern United States. The lights are typically seen in northern latitudes but the severity of the storm tonight could allow the natural light display to be seen further south than usual, including in western Pennsylvania. And the good news is that cloud cover will actually cooperate across our side of the state, with afternoon clouds and showers expected to dissipate by this evening. Be sure to look up toward the northern sky any time after midnight. The best viewing conditions will be found for areas further north and away from lights. This is considered a rare event by space scientists and could potentially be the strongest solar storm we’ve seen since 2003. Some forecasts indicate the possibility of the lights being seen as far south as Alabama!
May 11, 2024 2:24 am
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce announced their ATHENA Award winner for 2024. Laural Ziemba of Range Resources was honored with the award at a luncheon at the Hilton Garden Inn at Southpointe. Other finalists included Christine Blaine of the Washington Wild Things, Leslie LaPosta of JW Ebert/McDonalds Restaurants, Denise J. Leigh of the McGuffey School District and Holly Martin of New Directions Mental Health. Criteria to qualify for the award are achieving the highest level of professional excellence, contribution of time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community and active assistance to others, particularly women in realizing their full leadership potential. The chamber also awarded the Diana Irey Vaughan ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award to Shana Brown of the Washington Business District Authority. This award honors emerging leaders who demonstrate excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession.
May 10, 2024 1:53 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s hush money trial narrowed their focus to checks and phone records as they laid the groundwork for jurors to hear eventually from their star witness: Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney. With the third week of the testimony drawing to a close Friday, the case that ultimately hinges on the issue of record-keeping returned to deeply technical testimony. It’s a sharp contrast from Stormy Daniels’ dramatic, if not downright seamy, account of an alleged sexual encounter with Trump that riveted jurors earlier this week. Trump denies they ever had sex. He has denied wrongdoing in the case.
May 10, 2024 1:51 pm
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The U.N. says heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in the southern Gaza city of Rafah has left crucial nearby aid crossings inaccessible and caused over 110,000 people to flee north. A U.N. official says the World Food Program will run out of food for distribution in southern Gaza by Saturday. The United States is deeply opposed to Israel’s plans for a full-scale invasion of Rafah and is stepping up pressure by threatening to withhold arms to Israel. But even a more limited incursion earlier this week could worsen Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe. Heavy fighting was underway Friday in northern Gaza, where Hamas appears to have again regrouped in an area where Israel had already launched punishing assaults.
May 10, 2024 1:48 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld the criminal conviction of Donald Trump’s longtime ally Steve Bannon for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday rejected Bannon’s challenges to his contempt of Congress conviction. Bannon had been sentenced to four months in prison, but the judge overseeing the case had allowed him to stay free pending appeal. Bannon’s attorneys didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
