July 5, 2023 5:09 am
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The U.S. citizenship test is changing, with rollout expected late next year. Under the proposed changes, the test would have a new English-speaking section and a new written multiple-choice format in the civics section. Some immigrants and advocates worry the changes will hurt test-takers with lower levels of English proficiency. Many are still shaken after former Republican President Donald Trump’s administration in 2020 made the test longer and more difficult to pass. In 2021, Democratic President Joe Biden ordered the U.S. to eliminate barriers to citizenship and changed the citizenship test back to its previous version, which was last updated in 2008.
July 5, 2023 5:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. job openings slipped in May but remained at levels high enough to show the American labor market remains resilient in the face of sharply higher interest rates. The Labor Department said Thursday that employers posted 9.8 million job vacancies, down from 10.3 million in April. But layoffs fell slightly, and more Americans quit their jobs — a sign they were confident they could find better pay or working conditions elsewhere. Job openings remain high by historic standards despite the Federal Reserve’s aggressive campaign to cool the American labor market and slow the economy to combat inflation that last year hit four-decade highs. The Fed has hiked its benchmark short-term interest rate 10 times since March 2022.
July 5, 2023 5:08 am
(AP) – Meta has unveiled an app called Threads to rival Twitter. It’s targeting users looking for an alternative to the social media platform owned — and frequently changed — by Elon Musk. Threads is billed as a text-based version of Meta’s photo-sharing app Instagram. It went live Wednesday in Apple and Google Android app stores in more than 100 countries. CEO Mark Zuckerberg says 10 million people had signed up in the first seven hours. It suggests Meta has been gearing up to directly challenge the platform after Musk’s tumultuous ownership has resulted in a series of unpopular changes that have turned off users and advertisers. But Threads has raised data privacy concerns and won’t launch in the European Union.
July 5, 2023 5:04 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 40-year-old killed one man in a house before fatally shooting four others on the streets of a Philadelphia neighborhood, then surrendering along with a rifle, a pistol, extra magazines, a police scanner and a bulletproof vest, police said. A 2-year-old boy and a 13-year-old were also wounded in the Monday night violence that made the working-class area of Kingsessing the site of the nation’s worst violence around the July 4 holiday. The shooter fired at police in a pursuit for several blocks, and when they caught up, the suspect surrendered in an alley, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference. The shooter had no connection to the victims before the shooting, she said.
July 5, 2023 5:03 am
The State Police fire marshal is investigating a house fire early Wednesday morning in Buffalo Township. Washington County 9-1-1 dispatchers say it broke out just before 2 a.m. in the 100-block of Hathaway Road. Initial reports were that flames were showing from the home when firefighters arrived. No other information is being released at this time.
July 5, 2023 5:00 am
CANONSBURG, Pa. — (WPXI) – The Canonsburg Fourth of July parade is now at the center of a political disagreement. Republican leaders claim they could not walk in the parade for political reasons. But according to Fred Terling, the Vice-Chair of the Canonsburg Fourth of July Committee, that’s not the organizers’ motivation. “We’re not a political body. We’re a parade. We’re entertainment,” Terling said. “State Senator Cam Bartolotta was barred from the parade. Congressman Guy Reschenthaler was barred from the parade,” said Sean Logue, the Washington County Republican Party Chairman. According to Terling, only Canonsburg Mayor David Rhome and Council President Eric Chandler were permitted to walk in the parade. Parade organizers updated their bylaws in 2021. A copy of the bylaws states, “The only politicians that will be invited to participate in the 4th of July Parade will be the Mayor and Council members of Canonsburg.”Terling said this new policy has not been an issue in the last two years. But now, Washington County Republicans are taking issue with the change. “It’s not fair whatsoever,” said Logue. “It’s not stopping who wins. People were allowed to march for the last 40 years, doesn’t matter what your party is. If you’re an officeholder you’re allowed to march. All of a sudden, once us Republicans have gained control of local county offices, they changed the rules in order to fix the parade route.” According to Terling, the reason for the bylaw change is to better protect the organization’s nonprofit status. “The IRS code, to hold our 501(c)(3) standing, that’s important for us to keep that as a nonprofit, states very distinctly, ‘No political campaigning in the parade,’” Terling explained. Otherwise, according to Terling, his organization could be subject to 60 years of back taxes.
July 4, 2023 5:24 pm
(AP) – The planet’s temperature spiked on Tuesday to its hottest day in at least 44 years and likely much longer. Wednesday could become the third straight day that global temperatures unofficially hit a record-breaking high. The numbers from the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer project come on top of months of record warmth in the North Atlantic, record low sea ice in Antarctica, and a strengthening El Nino. Temperatures in cities across the globe are setting high marks for heat, and Wednesday’s forecast shows little relief ahead. Higher temperatures translate into brutal conditions for people all over the world.
July 4, 2023 9:18 am
LONDON (AP) — Meta is poised to launch a new app that appears to mimic Twitter, marking a direct challenge to the social media platform owned by billionaire Elon Musk. A listing for the app, called Threads, appeared on Apple’s App Store, indicating it would debut as early as Thursday. It’s billed as a “text-based conversation app” that’s linked to Instagram. The listing teases a Twitter-like microblogging experience. Instagram users will be able to keep their user names and follow the same accounts on the new app. Threads could be the latest headache for Musk, who has faced backlash over new daily limits on the number of tweets that users can read.
July 4, 2023 9:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The reprieve is over. Just as the American economy is struggling with high inflation and interest rates, the coming resumption of student loan payments poses yet another potential challenge. The restart of those payments will force many people to start paying hundreds of dollars in loans each month — money they had been spending elsewhere for the past three years. Their pullback in spending on goods and services won’t likely make a serious dent in the $26 trillion U.S. economy, the world’s largest. Any pain instead will likely be concentrated in a few industries, notably e-commerce companies, bars and restaurants and some major retailers.
July 4, 2023 9:13 am
The Russian military says it has fended off a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow that prompted authorities to briefly close one of the city’s airports. Ukrainian authorities didn’t claim responsibility for the raid. Tuesday’s attack, which follows previous similar raids on the Russian capital, comes after a mutiny launched by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, which saw his Wagner troops approach Moscow in the biggest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin in more than two decades. The Russian Defense Ministry said in the new incident four drones were downed by air defenses on the outskirts of Moscow and one was jammed and forced down. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said there were no casualties or damage.
