September 24, 2022 9:23 am
ATLANTA (AP) – A breach of sensitive voting equipment data from a rural county in Georgia spilled into the public light last month when documents and emails produced in response to subpoenas revealed the involvement of high-profile supporters of former President Donald Trump. Since then, a series of revelations about what happened in Coffee County have raised questions about whether the Dominion Voting Systems machines used throughout Georgia have been compromised. The tale involves a bail bondsman, a prominent attorney tied to Trump and a cast of characters from an area that rarely draws notice from outsiders.
September 24, 2022 9:20 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian forces have launched new strikes on Ukrainian cities as Kremlin-orchestrated votes continue to pave the way for Moscow to annex occupied regions of Ukraine. Ukraine’s presidential office said the latest Russian shelling killed at least three people and wounded 19. The governor of the Zaporizhzhia region says a Russia missile hit an apartment building. The region is one of four in eastern and southern where referendums on making them part of Russia are underway. Kyiv and its Western allies say the votes are a sham with no legal force. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged residents to undermine “this farce.” He also encouraged people called up to fight to desert or sabotage the Russian military.
September 24, 2022 9:17 am
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) – Strong rain and winds are lashing the Atlantic Canada region as Fiona hits as a powerful post-tropical cyclone. Canadian forecasters are warning it could be one of the most severe storms in the country’s history. Fiona made landfall in Nova Scotia before dawn Saturday after transforming from a hurricane into a post-tropical cyclone. Forecasters caution that despite the change, Fiona still could have hurricane-strength winds and will bring drenching rains and huge waves. More than 500,000 customers in Atlantic Canada are affected by outages.
September 24, 2022 4:16 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, Dr. Mehmet Oz, has released his health records as he maneuvers to keep questions about Democratic rival John Fetterman’s recovery from a stroke front and center. Dr. Rebecca Kurth wrote in a letter obtained by The Associated Press that she found the heart surgeon-turned-TV celebrity to be in “excellent health” in an annual checkup Thursday. The release of the New York City doctor’s note and health records comes as Oz has increasingly made Fetterman’s fitness to serve a central theme in his campaign and as Oz is trying to close a gap in polls. Fetterman didn’t immediately comment Friday.
September 24, 2022 2:56 am
MONONGAHELA, Pa. (AP) — Republican leader Kevin McCarthy headed to Pennsylvania on Friday to directly confront President Joe Biden and the party in power, unveiling a midterm election agenda with sweeping Trump-like promises despite the House GOP’s sometimes spotty record of delivering and governing in Congress. McCarthy, who is poised to seize the speaker’s gavel if Republicans win control of the House in the fall, hopes to replicate the strategy former Speaker Newt Gingrich used to spark voter enthusiasm and sweep House control in a 1994 landslide. The House GOP’s “Commitment to America” gives a nod to that earlier era but updates it for Trump, with economic, border security and social policies to rouse the former president’s deep well of supporters in often-forgotten regions like this rusty landscape outside Pittsburgh. “We have a plan for a new direction for America,” McCarthy told The Associated Press. On Friday, the House Republican leader stood with other lawmakers to roll out the GOP agenda, offering a portrait of party unity despite the uneasy coalition that makes up the House minority – and the Republican Party itself. The GOP has shifted from its focus on small government, low taxes and individual freedoms to a more populist, nationalist and, at times, far-right party, essentially still led by Donald Trump, who remains popular despite the deepening state and federal investigations against him.
September 23, 2022 4:33 am
ATMORE, Ala. (AP) – Alabama officials have called off the lethal injection of a man convicted in a 1999 workplace shooting because of time concerns and trouble accessing the inmate’s veins. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said prison officials called off Thursday’s execution after they determined inmate Arthur Miller’s “veins could not be accessed in accordance with our protocol” before a midnight deadline to commence the execution. Miller has been returned to his cell at the south Alabama prison, Hamm said. The halt came three hours after a divided U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the execution to begin.
September 23, 2022 4:32 am
SAN SALVADOR, Puerto Rico (AP) – Powerful Hurricane Fiona is pounding Bermuda with heavy rains and winds as it sweeps by the island on a route that is forecast to have approaching northeastern Canada as a still-powerful storm late Friday. Authorities in Bermuda opened shelters and closed schools and offices ahead of Fiona. Premier David Burt urged residents to “take care of yourself and your family.” The Canadian Hurricane Centre issued a hurricane watch over extensive coastal expanses of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Fiona should reach Canada as a “large and powerful post-tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds.”
September 23, 2022 4:30 am
BUSAN, South Korea (AP) – The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan has arrived in the South Korean port of Busan ahead of the two countries’ joint military exercise that aims to show their strength against growing North Korean threats. The joint drills will be the first involving a U.S. aircraft carrier in the region since 2017. The allies have revived large-scale military drills this year, responding to North Korea’s resumption of major weapons testing and increasing threats of nuclear conflicts with Seoul and Washington. The South Korean navy said the training is meant to boost the allies’ military readiness and show “the firm resolve” of the South Korea-U.S. alliance for the sake of peace on the Korean Peninsula.
September 23, 2022 4:29 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Voting has begun in Moscow-held regions of Ukraine on referendums to become part of Russia. The Kremlin orchestrated the votes and they’re certain to go Russia’s way. But Ukraine and the West have denounced them as shams without any legal force. The votes are being held in the Luhansk, Kherson, partly Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions. The expected outcome favoring joining Russia would give it the pretext to claim Ukrainian forces are attacking Russia itself. That would dramatically escalate the seven-month conflict. The referendums follow President Vladimir Putin’s order of a partial mobilization that could add some 300,000 Russian troops to the fight. The voting started Friday and runs through Tuesday.
September 23, 2022 4:17 am
MCKESSPORT, Pa. — (WPXI) – McKeesport police are investigating an incident involving a child with a gun. In an anonymous video sent to WPXI, a home surveillance camera shows a little girl running outside and holding a gun in the air. Other children can be seen running away from the girl and screaming. The incident happened recently in the Crawford Village area. Now, McKeesport Police Chief Adam Alger says the child’s father, Charles Counts, has been arrested. According to police, Counts admitted his child got hold of the unloaded gun in a drawer. Counts is being charged with one count of endangering the welfare of children and reckless endangerment of another person.
