September 15, 2024 6:13 am
DILI, East Timor (AP) — Pope Francis’ longest and farthest trip has proven that despite his age, ailments and eight hours of jet lag, Pope Francis can still pull off an ambitious trip to Asia. That’s especially true when he’s in his element: in the peripheries of the world, among people forgotten by the big powers, where he can go off-script to respond to the spirit of the moment. It was a trip that he had originally wanted to make in 2020 but COVID-19 intervened. Four years and a handful of hospitalizations later, Francis finally pulled it off.
September 14, 2024 4:44 am
RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has refused to condemn recent racist and conspiratorial comments from right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer, who traveled with him earlier this week to the debate and several 9/11 memorial events. “Laura’s been a supporter of mine,” Trump told reporters at a press conference near Los Angeles, where he was pressed on concerns from Republican allies about his ongoing association with her. Trump acknowledged that Loomer has “strong opinions.” He later said in a social media post that he disagreed with her statements, but he defended her as a supporter. Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, meanwhile, was emphasizing her economic proposals as she campaigned in Pennsylvania.
September 14, 2024 4:41 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris says one difference between her and President Joe Biden is that she offers a “new generation of leadership.” Harris commented in an interview with a Philadelphia TV station on Friday as she campaigned in Pennsylvania, a state that both she and Republican Donald Trump are campaigning hard to win in November’s election. It was her first solo television interview since she became the Democratic presidential nominee. Harris also said she thinks people are “exhausted” by the “hate and division” that she said characterizes Trump’s leadership style. Trump’s campaign offered no immediate comment.
September 14, 2024 4:39 am
SEATTLE (AP) — Blue-collar workers from Boeing are walking picket lines in the Pacific Northwest instead of building airplanes after overwhelmingly rejecting a proposed contract that would have raised their wages by 25% over four years. The strike by 33,000 machinists that started on Friday will not disrupt airline flights anytime soon, but it is expected to shut down production of Boeing’s best-selling jetliners. And it marks yet another setback for a company already dealing with billions of dollars in financial losses and a damaged reputation. Boeing says it’s taking steps to conserve cash while the company’s new CEO looks for ways to come up with a contract that union members will accept.
September 14, 2024 4:35 am
JEFFERSON, Ga. (AP) — A teenage student and a math teacher will be remembered at funerals set to take place 10 days after they were killed in a mass shooting at a Georgia high school. Funeral services are scheduled Saturday afternoon for 14-year-old Mason Schermerhorn and teacher Christina Irimie. A large crowd of mourners is expected for Schermerhorn’s memorial service at a civic center in Jefferson, Georgia. Family and friends are gathering to say farewell to Irimie at a funeral home in nearby Buford. They were among four killed Sept. 4 when a gunman opened fire at Apalachee High School in Barrow County outside Atlanta. A 14-year-old student has been charged with murder.
September 14, 2024 4:32 am
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — An ongoing trial may determine whether Google holds an illegal monopoly on the technology used to buy and sell certain types of advertising on web pages. Testimony at the trial in Virginia is taking a deep dive into the ways advertisers and online publishers buy and sell ad space that ultimately gets placed in front of consumers. The auctions over these ad impressions occur in milliseconds and are designed to match an advertiser’s product or service with consumers whose profiles demonstrate an interest. But the Justice Department contends that Google essentially rigged the bidding in those auctions to favor its own products. Google says it no longer auctions off ad space in the ways alleged.
September 14, 2024 4:28 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes have hit central and southern Gaza overnight, killing at least 14 people as the friends and family members of a Turkish-American activist killed by an Israeli soldier prepared for her funeral. The airstrikes in Gaza City hit one home housing 11 people, including women and children. Gaza’s Civil Defense said another strike hit a tent in Khan Younis housing Palestinians displaced by the war. Meanwhile, the body of the Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was returned to her hometown late Friday for a funeral service Saturday. Her death earned condemnation from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken as the United States, Egypt and Qatar push for a cease-fire.
September 15, 2024 1:18 am
Simultaneous press releases were sent out by the Borough of Charleroi and the Mon Valley Alliance on Friday. Both releases addressed comments spoken by former President Donald Trump while addressing a crowd at a recent campaign rally in Tucson Arizona. In the rally he likened the borough and their Haitian residents to those in Springfield, Ohio where he wrongly accused those residents of eating people’s pets. Charleroi Borough Council President Kristin Hopkins-Calcek called on Trump to halt blaming immigrants for problems and said he could have spoken about corporate greed. Charleroi just lost 300 jobs due to an Anchor Hocking plant closing and another company, Quality Pasta closing its doors, taking 80 jobs away. Jamie Colecchi, CEO of the Mon Valley Alliance says that there is a 50+ acre riverfront property along the Monongahela River with prime access to rail and Interstate 70 and Turnpike 43. He said that with an industrious work force in Charleroi, this would be a desirable property for investors to rebuild anew in Charleroi. (Photo: Charleroi Boro Facebook page)
September 14, 2024 1:21 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania voters could have their mail-in ballots thrown out if they do not write accurate dates on envelopes they use to return them under a state Supreme Court ruling. It could impact the presidential race. The state’s high court ruled Friday on procedural grounds. It said a lower court that found the mandate unenforceable should not have taken up the case because it did not draw in the election boards in all 67 counties. The left-leaning groups that filed the case only sued two of them, Philadelphia and Allegheny counties. Commonwealth Court two weeks ago had halted enforcement of the handwritten dates on exterior envelopes.
September 14, 2024 4:18 am
The ACLU released a written statement criticizing the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s order vacating a ruling of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court that sought to end the disqualification of mail in ballots due to errors on the external envelope. ACLU of Pennsylvania senior supervising attorney Steve Loney called “today’s procedural ruling a setback for Pennsylvania voters.” Mimi McKenzie, legal director of the Public Interest Law Center said “thousands of voters are at risk of having their ballots rejected in November for making a meaningless mistake.” the ACLU indicated that the ruling leaves open the possibility of further action in state courts.
