November 19, 2023 7:08 am
(AP) – Sugar prices are soaring in many places. That’s largely due to production shortfalls in key exporters India and Thailand that are partly blamed on the El Nino. The U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization is predicting a 2% decline in production this year. Increasingly, sugar is being used for biofuels like ethanol, so global sugar buffer stocks are at their lowest since 2009. Brazil’s harvest next year will help, but that’s months away. Experts say the concern is over shortfalls in the next few months, especially for poor countries that depend on expensive sugar imports, like much of sub-Saharan Africa.
November 19, 2023 7:02 am
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian health officials say at least 30 premature babies have been evacuated from Gaza’s largest hospital and will be transferred to Egypt. A U.N. team said earlier Sunday that 291 patients are left at Shifa Hospital including 32 babies in extremely critical condition after thousands of patients and displaced people left the day before. The Palestinian Red Crescent says the babies will be transferred to a hospital in the Egyptian border city of Rafah. Israel meanwhile signaled that it plans to expand its operations to southern Gaza, where it had told hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to seek refuge early in the war. Israel has long alleged that Hamas maintains a sprawling command post at Shifa, part of its wider accusation that the fighters use civilians as cover.
November 18, 2023 5:06 am
SEATTLE (AP) — Election officials around the country are stocking up on the overdose reversal medication naloxone after a series of suspicious mailings — some containing traces of fentanyl — were sent to vote centers or government buildings in six states. The letters were delivered or intercepted this month in Georgia, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington and Kansas, in some cases prompting evacuations and delaying vote counting. Experts say there is little risk from incidental contact with the synthetic opioid, but officials outraged about the continued threats to election workers say they need to do everything they can to make the offices safe. The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service is investigating the letters.
November 18, 2023 4:58 am
A convicted murderer who escaped from a southeastern Pennsylvania prison earlier this year and eluded a massive two-week search before he was recaptured is now back in court. Danilo Cavalcante was arraigned Friday on theft, burglary and other charges in connection with alleged crimes committed while he was on the run this summer. Authorities have said that following his Aug. 31 escape from Chester County Prison, the 34-year-old stole a transit van and burglarized homes in southeastern Pennsylvania. He was captured Sept. 13 after a two-week search. Cavalcante had been sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of killing Deborah Brandao in front of her children in 2021.
November 18, 2023 4:56 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A witness testifying in federal court says he oversaw improvements at the Philadelphia home of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice, work he said was initially paid for by the labor union the justice’s brother led. The testimony about Justice Kevin Dougherty came this week during the embezzlement trial of his brother. John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty (pictured) is accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Contractor Anthony Massa says he was instructed to bill Local 98. John Dougherty has denied the embezzlement allegations. Kevin Dougherty has not been accused of wrongdoing. He ran successfully for state Supreme Court in 2015. The electricians’ union was a major donor to his campaign.
November 18, 2023 2:54 am
Pennsylvania State Police in Washington say a missing / endangered person has been found. No further information was given. Valerie Bonus, a white female, 63 years of age was last seen on Thursday, November 16, 2023 at approximately 5:00 p.m. Bonus suffers from dementia and her last known location was near the Dollar General on SR 0018 in South Franklin Township, Washington County. Bonus is described as 5’5”, 105 pounds, with brown eyes and brown / gray hair. She was last known to be wearing a black zip up, black leggings and a pink hat.
November 17, 2023 5:37 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — Hip hop legend and marijuana aficionado Snoop Dogg says he’s going to stop smoking. In message posted to social media, the rapper and entrepreneur asked fans to respect his privacy at this time. He didn’t provide many details on the announcement, and representatives did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ requests for comment. But that didn’t stop ample speculation from fans, many of whom were caught off guard by Snoop’s decision in the comments. Some wondered if the 52-year-old would switch to another form of THC or announce a new business-related or marketing venture down the road. Others applauded the announcement and suggested Snoop may have chosen to stop smoking for his own personal health.
November 17, 2023 5:36 pm
(AP) – Advertisers are fleeing social media platform X over concerns about their ads showing up next to pro-Nazi content, hate speech on the site in general or billionaire owner Elon Musk’s own tweets endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory. IBM said it stopped advertising on X after a report said its ads were appearing alongside material praising Nazis. It said the same of ads from Apple, Oracle, NBCUniversal’s Bravo network and Comcast. The EU also said Friday that it’s pausing its advertising on X and other social media platforms, in part because of a surge in hate speech. Musk sparked outcry this week with his own tweets responding to a user who accused Jews of hating white people. Separately, a spokesperson for Lionsgate says the entertainment company has also suspended advertising on X.
November 17, 2023 1:59 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials say at least seven states are seeing high levels of the flu and that cases are rising in other parts of the country. New flu data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows flu is steadily rising. The winter flu season traditionally ramps up in December or January. But it took off in October last year and is making a November entrance now. Louisiana has very high flu activity. There is high activity in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico and South Carolina and the District of Columbia. Health officials in Puerto Rico declared an influenza epidemic earlier this month.
November 17, 2023 1:40 pm
(WPXI) – Pennsylvania State Police are investigating after a Westmoreland County bank was robbed by a man with a gun Friday. According to state police, the robbery happened at 11:25 a.m. at the First National Bank Stonehouse Office in Hempfield Township. State police said a black male suspect presented a threatening note and displayed a handgun in his waistband. The suspect fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash, according to state police. The suspect is described as wearing a face and head covering, a dark-colored hooded shirt or jacket, blue jeans and white sneakers. He also had on a dark-colored backpack. Anyone with information is asked to call state police in Greensburg at 724-832-3288.
