White House: Ukraine aid held up partly over election probe
WASHINGTON — The White House acknowledged that President Trump’s decision to hold up military aid to Ukraine was linked to his demand that Kyiv investigate the Democratic National Committee and the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, a shifting new explanation about events at the heart of the impeachment inquiry. The admission...
Trump says Europe now willing to take IS prisoners in Syria
WASHINGTON — Claiming new progress against Islamic State extremists in Syria, President Donald Trump said Friday that some European nations are now willing to take responsibility for detained IS fighters who are from their countries. “Anyway, big progress being made!!!!” he exclaimed on Twitter. A day earlier, he had proclaimed...
First all-female spacewalking team makes history
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The world’s first all-female spacewalking team made history high above Earth on Friday, working to replace a broken part of the International Space Station’s power grid. As NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir hauled out wrenches, screwdrivers and power-grip tools, it marked the first time...
Syria Kurds accuse Turkey of violating cease-fire
CEYLANPINAR, Turkey — The Kurdish-led administration in northern Syria accused Turkey on Friday of violating a U.S.-brokered cease-fire that went into effect overnight, as fighters from both sides clashed in and around a border town that has been one of the fiercest fronts in the Turkish invasion. The town of...
Officials: Blast at Afghan mosque kills 62 during prayers
KABUL, Afghanistan — An explosion rocked a mosque in eastern Afghanistan as dozens of people gathered to offer Friday players, causing the roof to collapse and killing 62 worshippers, provincial officials said. Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar, said the militant attack wounded 36 others. He said it...
Plane carrying 42 goes off Alaska runway, 2 critically hurt
UNALASKA, Alaska — A commuter airplane carrying 42 people, including a high school swim team, to a remote Aleutian Islands fishing community went off the runway and came to a rest just short of the Bering Sea. Two passengers suffered critical injuries and 10 more were receiving medical care, the...
Trump, in Texas, bashes Democrats as ‘crazy,’ unpatrioticVideo
DALLAS — President Donald Trump tried to turn impeachment rancor into a political rallying cry Thursday, using a Texas rally to bash Democrats as “crazy” and unpatriotic as they push forward with their investigations. Setting a dire tone, Trump told his supporters, “At stake in this fight is the survival...
U.S. envoy Gordon Sondland claims Rudy Giuliani was given role on Ukraine policy
WASHINGTON — The U.S. ambassador to the European Union told House impeachment investigators Thursday that President Trump instructed him and other envoys to work with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, on Ukraine policy and that he was “disappointed” by the directive. He spoke to lawmakers for around 10 hours. Lawmakers...
Seton Hill dedicates Daniel J. Wukich School of NursingVideo
When the Sisters of Charity founded Seton Hill College in 1918, they placed an emphasis on the sciences being taught to female students. And while the Sisters did have a nursing education program at the former Pittsburgh Hospital, Seton Hill University never offered a formal nursing degree program. That changed...
Plan to close New York’s notorious Rikers jail complex by 2026 approvedVideo
NEW YORK — New York City lawmakers voted Thursday to close the notorious Rikers Island jail complex, which has become synonymous with violence and neglect, and replace it with four smaller jails intended to be more modern and humane. The City Council voted 36-13 to replace the complex with four...
West Virginia billionaire governor’s family farms get subsidyVideo
LEWISBURG, W.Va. — A farming business owned by the family of West Virginia’s billionaire governor has received $125,000 in soybean and corn subsidies, the maximum allowed from a federal program meant to help American farmers through the U.S. trade war with China. There is no evidence Gov. Jim Justice did...
Greensburg immigrant strived for citizenship
For decades, Margaret M. Norman worked toward one goal — becoming a citizen of the United States. A native of the Caribbean island of Trinidad, Ms. Norman first tried to immigrate to the U.S. in the 1970s. Her application was ignored. She kept trying, with no success. Finally, in the...
Wolf, Fetterman travel to NYC for cannabis summit
Gov. Tom Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman traveled to New York City on Thursday to talk pot with leaders from other states. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo hosted the Governors’ Regional Cannabis and Vaping Summit. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont also participated, as did...
Spokesman for grieving U.K. parents: White House ‘a bunch of henchmen’ for TrumpVideo
WASHINGTON — The grieving parents of a British teenager who was killed in a car crash involving a U.S. diplomat’s wife said President Donald Trump “doesn’t understand” how much the accident has “broken” their family. Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn appeared on CNN for an interview Thursday morning in which...
Energy Secretary Rick Perry tells Trump he plans to leave post soon
WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Rick Perry notified President Donald Trump Thursday that he will soon be leaving the post, according to two people familiar with the matter. Perry, one of the administration’s original Cabinet secretaries, enjoyed good rapport with Trump. The former Texas governor has recently come under scrutiny in...
NFL season rockets Pennsylvania to new sports betting record
HARRISBURG — Sports betting in Pennsylvania blew through its previous monthly record with the start of the NFL season. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said Thursday that gamblers bet a record $194.5 million in September at nine casinos and two off-track betting parlors where sports betting is approved. That was...
Mick Mulvaney confirms Trump withheld aid in part to pressure Ukraine to investigate DemocratsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump withheld roughly $400 million in aid to Ukraine earlier this year in part to push its new government to investigate Democrats, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Thursday, a stunning confirmation that hits directly at the center of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry....
Family finds 5 inches of blood in their basementVideo
An Iowa family discovered a bloody mess in their basement. Five inches of animal blood, fat and tissue, to be specific. Nick Lestina, a father of five, stopped home on Oct. 3 and found his sump pump spewing red liquid, reports the Des Moines Register. The blood and guts had...
Mike Pence says Turkey agrees to cease-fire in Syria
ANKARA, Turkey — Vice President Mike Pence announced Thursday that Turkey has agreed to a cease-fire to allow the Kurdish forces it was battling to safely withdraw from an area in northern Syria. Pence spoke after he and other U.S. officials met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara....
Trapper plays with alligator until it tires, pulls it from pool
PARKLAND, Fla. — A Florida animal trapper says he corralled a large alligator by playing with it until it got tired after it hopped into a residential swimming pool. Celebrity trapper Paul Bedard, who is contracted with the state’s nuisance alligator program, said Thursday that he was dispatched to a...
Romania’s autumn fairs delight all ages, incomes
TITU, Romania (AP) — Romania’s autumn fairs are a loud, colorful reminder that summer has come to an end. And for many families in poorer areas of the country, they are one of the few affordable events of the year. Fairs like the one in Titu, northwest of Bucharest, which...
Pennsylvania fir selected as White House Christmas tree
A 23-foot Douglas fir from Pennsylvania will be decorated and displayed in the Blue Room of The White House this Christmas season. The tree was planted about 16 years ago at Mahantango Valley Farms in Upper Mahanoy Township in Northumberland County, reports WNEP. White House officials selected the tree Tuesday...
U.S. envoy key to Ukraine probe distances himself from Trump
WASHINGTON — The U.S. ambassador to the European Union distanced himself on Thursday from President Donald Trump, planning to tell House impeachment investigators that he was disappointed Trump directed him to work with his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine policy and that he believes it’s wrong to invite a...
Hurricane Center: Tropical storm likely along Gulf Coast
MIAMI — The National Hurricane Center says thunderstorms and showers off the coast of Mexico are likely to develop into a storm that will threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast by this weekend. Forecasters say there’s an 80% chance that the area of low pressure located in the Bay of Campeche...
Rep. Elijah Cummings dies from health complications at 68Video
BALTIMORE — Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings died early Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital due to complications from longstanding health challenges, his congressional office said. He was 68. A sharecropper’s son, Cummings became the powerful chairman of a U.S. House committee that investigated President Donald Trump, and was a formidable...
