December 21, 2023 5:13 am
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says it has uncovered a major Hamas command center in the heart of Gaza City, inflicting what it described as a serious blow to the Islamic militant group. The center’s location comes as pressure grows on Israel to scale back its devastating military offensive in the coastal enclave. The military’s announcement Wednesday came as Hamas’ top leader arrived in Egypt for talks aimed at brokering a cease-fire that would put a temporary pause on over two months of heavy fighting and deliver a new deal for Hamas to swap Israeli hostages for Palestinian imprisoned by Israel.
December 21, 2023 4:55 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge is ordering Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania to turn over more than 1,600 texts and emails to FBI agents investigating efforts to keep President Donald Trump in office after his 2020 election loss. The ruling, late Monday, came more than a year after Perry’s personal cellphone was seized by federal authorities. Making Perry a figure of interest to federal prosecutors were his efforts to elevate Jeffrey Clark to Trump’s acting attorney general in late 2020. Clark had positioned himself as someone who would reverse the Department of Justice’s stance that it had found no evidence of widespread voting fraud.
December 21, 2023 4:53 am
Rite Aid has been banned from using facial recognition technology for five years over allegations that a surveillance system it used incorrectly identified potential shoplifters, especially Black, Latino, Asian or female shoppers. The deal announced late Tuesday settles Federal Trade Commission charges that the struggling drugstore chain didn’t do enough to prevent harm to its customers and implement “reasonable procedures,” the government agency said. Rite Aid said it disagrees with the allegations, though the company is pleased to reach an agreement to resolve the issue. It noted that any agreement will have to be approved in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
December 21, 2023 4:51 am
DUNBAR TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A Fayette County chiropractor is facing indecent assault charges. According to Pennsylvania State Police, Jon Rumbaugh, 58, of Connellsville, is accused of assaulting two female patients. Rumbaugh’s practice is located along Morrell Avenue in Dunbar Township. Investigators believe additional victims may come forward. State police are handling the investigation.
December 21, 2023 2:27 am
A Washington man who led police on a car chase through the city on Thanksgiving had his preliminary hearing on Wednesday. Demoreaze Betts, 34 will face trial on a felony flight charge and several misdemeanors including reckless endangerment and evading arrest. Betts was accused of trying to break into a woman’s home by removing an air condtioner and holding her at gunpoint during a domestic dispute. A felony burglary charge and misdemeanor terroristic threats, and theft charges related to the domestic dispute that started the incident were withdrawn by the district attorney. Betts is free on a $150,000 bond. He will be arraigned on January 25.
December 20, 2023 5:10 am
Two adults and two children were transported to Penn Highlands Mon Valley Hospital after a house fire early Wednesday morning in Monongahela. Washington County 9-1-1 tells WJPA news that all four were on the roof of the home in the 400-block of Park Avenue when firefighters arrived just after 4 a.m. There is no word on their identities or conditions. Dispatchers say the fire began in the kitchen but an exact cause is not known. The fire was brought under control before 5 a.m.
December 20, 2023 5:04 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas’ top leader has arrived in Cairo for talks on the war in Gaza. The militant group is putting up stiff resistance in the territory after more than 10 weeks of heavy Israeli bombardment and fierce urban combat that has killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians. Ismail Haniyeh’s visit Wednesday comes a day after Hamas fired rockets that set off air raid sirens in central Israel. That was a show of strength during a war that has devastated much of northern Gaza and driven some 1.9 million Palestinians from their homes. Israel has called on the rest of the world to blacklist Hamas as a terrorist organization, but the sides have recently relaunched indirect talks.
December 20, 2023 5:04 am
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is defending his comments about migrants crossing the southern border, who he had said are poisoning the blood of America. He said at a campaign rally in Waterloo, Iowa, on Tuesday that he had not read “Mein Kampf,” referencing Adolf Hitler’s fascist manifesto. He reiterated his “blood” purity comments from over the weekend and said immigrants in the U.S. illegally are “destroying the blood of our country.” Trump has faced mounting criticism for his intensifying rhetoric as he seeks to make immigration policy a key piece of his second-term agenda. Experts have noted his language echoes writings from Hitler about the “purity” of Aryan blood, which underpinned Nazi Germany’s systematic murder of millions of Jews.
December 20, 2023 5:02 am
After blunting Ukraine’s counteroffensive from the summer, Russia is building up its resources for a new stage of the war over the winter, which could involve trying to extend its gains in the east and deal significant blows to the country’s vital infrastructure. Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be hoping that relentless military pressure, combined with changing Western political dynamics and a global focus on the Israeli-Hamas war, will drain support for Ukraine in the nearly 2-year-old war and force Kyiv to yield to Moscow’s demands. Amid signs of fraying Western support, Russia has stepped up its pressure on Ukrainian forces on several parts of the more than 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.
December 20, 2023 5:01 am
DENVER (AP) — A divided Colorado Supreme Court is removing former President Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot, saying in a historic ruling that he is ineligible to be president after his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The ruling Tuesday marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate. Trump’s campaign spokesman called it a “flawed decision” and said they will appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has never ruled on Section 3. The provision forbids those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office and was used mainly after the Civil War to keep former Confederates out of government.
