August 21, 2023 5:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A trial this week will shine a spotlight on a key part of President Joe Biden’s immigration policy. Under the humanitarian parole program, the U.S. allows up to 30,000 people monthly from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The program started for Venezuelans in fall 2022 was expanded in January. People taking part must have a financial sponsor in the U.S. and can then stay for two years and get a work permit. The Biden administration argues the program is vital in its strategy to reduce stress on the U.S.-Mexico border. But in a lawsuit, Republican-leaning states say the administration is usurping the power of Congress.
August 21, 2023 5:17 am
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A progressive from outside Guatemala’s power structure was resoundingly elected the country’s next president Sunday in a reprimand to the governing elite over widespread allegations of corruption. Despite preliminary results showing a potential landslide for anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arévalo, the attention immediately turned to whether he would be allowed to assume power. The current administration’s attempts to suspend his party’s legal status are ongoing. With all votes counted, Arévalo had 58% while 37% went to former first lady Sandra Torres in her third bid for the presidency. The official results still must be certified.
August 21, 2023 5:14 am
(AP) – Donald Trump’s bond has been set at $200,000 in the Georgia case accusing the former president of illegally scheming to overturn his 2020 election loss. The bond agreement was outlined in a court filing signed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Trump’s defense attorneys. It also bars Trump from intimidating co-defendants, witnesses or victims in the case — including on social media. He is also prohibited from communicating “in any way, directly or indirectly” about the facts of the case with any co-defendant or witness, except through attorneys. It’s the fourth criminal case against the former president, who is campaigning to reclaim the White House in 2024.
August 21, 2023 5:08 am
NEW SALEM, Pa. — (WPXI) – A Fayette County man is facing charges after state police say he attacked a teenager who did not make him a sandwich. State police say the attack happened on Tex Lane in New Salem on Saturday. Justin Jellots, 39, was allegedly responsible for the attack. Police say Jellots punched the boy in the face and hit his head on a wall several times. When troopers asked Jellots what his name was when they were responding he told them he was the “Uniontown Ninja.” Jellots faces simple assault and harassment charges.
August 21, 2023 4:57 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities say a smash-and-grab jewelry store robbery by four men using pepper spray and a sledgehammer prompted evacuation of a northeast Philadelphia mall over the weekend. Police said officers were called to Javier the Jeweler store in the Philadelphia Mills Mall shortly before 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Officials said four men entered and used pepper spray on employees before breaking jewelry cases with a sledgehammer and taking various items. Police said the mall was immediately evacuated and emergency responders provided treatment to the employees. No arrests were immediately announced.
August 21, 2023 4:56 am
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Starbucks has been ordered to pay an additional $2.7 million in lost wages to a former regional manager who was fired after two Black men were arrested at a Starbucks in 2018. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday that the judge’s ruling was over past and future lost compensation, as well as tax damages. The ex-manager Shannon Phillips was awarded $25.6 million in June. She alleged that she and other white employees were unfairly punished after the high-profile arrests. A jury found that race was a determinative factor in Phillips’ firing, in violation of federal and state anti-discrimination laws.
August 20, 2023 7:40 am
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Two Philippine security officials said that the United States, Japan and Australia are planning a joint navy drill this week in the South China Sea off the western Philippines after a recent show of Chinese aggression in the disputed waters. The drill will include three aircraft and helicopter carriers sailing together in a show of force and undertaking joint drills. The three countries expressed concern and support for the Philippines after Chinese coast guard ships used water cannons against Philippine vessels in an Aug. 5 confrontation in the contested waterway where disputes have long become a fault line in the rivalry between the U.S. and China in the region.
August 20, 2023 7:38 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An American-owned oil tanker long suspected of carrying sanctioned Iranian crude oil has begun offloading its cargo near Texas. That’s according to tracking data analyzed late Saturday. The fate of the cargo aboard the Suez Rajan has become mired in the wider tensions between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic, even as Tehran and Washington work toward a trade of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets in South Korea for the release of five Iranian-Americans held in Tehran. U.S. and Iranian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday.
August 20, 2023 7:37 am
CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) — Meteorologists say Hurricane Hilary held a maximum sustained wind speed of 85 mph at 2 a.m. Sunday as the storm was located 30 miles from Punta Eugenia, Mexico, and 385 miles from San Diego. The storm continues moving toward Mexico’s Baja California peninsula as a weakened Category 1 hurricane that is still likely to bring “catastrophic and life-threatening” flooding to the region and cross into the southwest U.S. as a tropical storm, dumping up to 10 inches of rain. Forecasters say the storm is expected to enter the history books as the first tropical storm to hit southern California in 84 years, bringing high winds, flash floods, mudslides, isolated tornadoes and widespread power outages.
August 20, 2023 7:36 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed stern retaliation for a Russian missile strike in the center of the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv that killed seven people and wounded almost 150 others the day before. The region’s governor said Sunday that the total number of people known to have been wounded in the attack has risen to 148. Meanwhile, in Russia, five people were wounded when a Ukrainian drone hit a train station in the city of Kursk, the regional government said. The defense ministry said Russian air defenses also thwarted an attack by a Ukrainian drone flying toward the capital early Sunday, briefly causing two of Moscow’s airports to close.
