November 22, 2023 5:07 am
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser says a planned hostage-for-prisoner swap with Hamas has been delayed until at least Friday. In a statement released late Wednesday, Tzachi Hanegbi said that contacts on the deal were continuing. “The release will begin according to the original agreement between the parties, and not before Friday,” he said. The swap is to take place as part of a four-day truce expected to begin on Thursday. Hanegbi gave no explanation for the delay, and it was not immediately clear when the cease-fire might begin.
November 22, 2023 4:53 am
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) held a public meeting Tuesday previewing its next Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP). The upcoming plan will cover the years 2025-2028. It looks at roads, bridges, public transportation and other means of transportation like trails and bikeways. According to Dominic D’Andrea, SPC Director of the Office of Transportation Planning, $3.9 billion is estimated to be available for the 10 county region for that time period. D’Andrea states that currently in the highway/bridge plan, 43% of the monies are designated for bridge projects and 23% for roads. Angela Swallop Saunders, Transportation Planning Manager for PennDot states that projects are still suffering cost overruns due to inflation. Supplies and diesel fuel are still high. She also said that delays in steel beam construction and concrete culvert construction also contribute to those cost increases. Saunders also stated that PennDot is working with local municipalities, that have extremely limited funds to maintain bridges, to help them financially to replace and main bridges that they own. According to the SPC’s D’Andrea, funding methods could change over the next several years. The buying power of the gas tax is becoming less productive because of fuel efficent vehicles, hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles. Ideas such as tolls, road use charges and additional registration fees suggested by Governor Tom Wolf’s administration are being entertained by the current adminstration. A draft of the 2025-2028 TIP will be available in May, 2024.
November 21, 2023 4:52 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Josh Shapiro says he’ll appeal a court ruling that blocked a state regulation to make Pennsylvania’s power plant owners pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Still, the Democrat on Tuesday urged lawmakers to get to work on a better alternative. In a statement, Shapiro didn’t pledge to enforce the regulation, should his administration win the appeal at the state Supreme Court. His administration says his appeal rests on the need to preserve executive authority. The court case revolves around the centerpiece of former Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to fight global warming and make Pennsylvania the first major fossil fuel-producing state to adopt a carbon-pricing program.
November 21, 2023 10:24 am
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will continue its war against Hamas, even if a temporary cease-fire is reached with the Islamic militant group. In comments Tuesday ahead of an expected Cabinet vote on a cease-fire proposal, Netanyahu vowed to press ahead, saying that “We are at war, and we will continue the war” and that Israel “will continue until we achieve all our goals.” The Cabinet was expected to vote on a plan that would halt Israel’s offensive in Gaza for several days in exchange for the release of about 50 of the 240 hostages held by Hamas. Israel has vowed to continue the war until it destroys Hamas’ military capabilities and returns all hostages.
November 21, 2023 6:47 am
The Charleroi School District cancelled classes Tuesday. District officials say it was the result of a water main break. Washington County 9-1-1 dispatchers told WJPA that a break was reported along McKean Avenue (Route 88) just before 5 a.m. The roadway was also closed in the area while crews made repairs. Officials say the water was turned off but it was unclear how many customers were impacted. It was unclear how long it would take to make repairs and restore service. A worker at the Authority of the Borough of Charleroi told our news partners at WPXI that the break was “bad”.
November 21, 2023 5:01 am
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge in Atlanta is set to hear arguments on a request to revoke the bond of one of former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants in the Georgia case related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis last week filed a motion asking county Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee (pictured) to revoke the bond of Harrison Floyd. She wrote in her motion that Floyd has been attempting to intimidate and contact likely witnesses and his co-defendants in the case in violation of the terms of his release. Floyd’s attorney says Willis’ allegations against his client are meritless. McAfee set a hearing on Willis’ motion for Tuesday afternoon.
November 21, 2023 4:59 am
HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaii official says all nine people aboard a U.S. Navy plane that overshot a runway have escaped injury. A U.S. Marine Corps spokesperson said Monday that the P-8A aircraft overshot the runway at a Marine base and went into Kaneohe Bay. Another spokesperson says the Coast Guard responded but that rescue operations were quickly called off. The P-8A is often used to hunt for submarines and used in reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. It is manufactured by Boeing and shares many parts with the 737 commercial jet. The base is about 10 miles from Honolulu on Oahu.
November 21, 2023 4:57 am
NEW DELHI (AP) — With the annual U.N.-led climate summit known as COP to convene later this month in Dubai, activists are urging policymakers to respond to climate change’s disproportionate impact on women and girls. And they say it’s especially necessary where poverty makes those women and girls even more vulnerable. In India, many women are directly exposed to the perils of climate change because they often assume primary roles in agriculture as men migrate to jobs in urban areas. The activists say leaders should secure land rights for women, promote women’s cooperatives and encourage women to lead on developing climate policy.
November 21, 2023 4:56 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided federal appeals court has found that private individuals and groups such as the NAACP do not have the ability to sue under a key section of the federal Voting Rights Act. It’s a decision that voting rights advocates say could further erode protections under the landmark 1965 law. The 2-1 decision Monday by a panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals based in St. Louis found that only the U.S. attorney general can enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. That section prohibits discriminatory voting practices such as racially gerrymandered districts.
November 21, 2023 4:54 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops are battling Palestinian militants in a dense, urban refugee camp near Gaza City as they expand operations across the north. Residents have been without electricity, water or access to humanitarian aid for weeks. The front line has shifted to the Jabaliya camp, a dense warren of concrete buildings near Gaza City that houses refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation and their descendants. The war sparked by Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 attack into Israel has exacted a heavy toll on Palestinian civilians, particularly those who remain in the north after Israel repeatedly called on people to flee south.
