SpaceX back with 1st Space Coast launch of the year
After a record 2023, SpaceX is not slowing down its launch plans for 2024 with the first launch of the year from Florida slated for Wednesday evening. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying a telecom satellite for private Swedish company Ovzon is slated to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force...
U.S. asks Supreme Court to step in on Texas border barrier
The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to intervene in its ongoing fight with Texas over border policy and immigration laws and allow border agents to remove razor wire on the Texas side of the Rio Grande river. The application asked the justices to set aside an order...
Russia and Ukraine exchange hundreds of prisoners of war in biggest release so far
Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the biggest single release of captives since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukrainian authorities said that 230 Ukrainian prisoners of war returned home in the first exchange in almost five months. Russia’s Defense Ministry said that 248...
U.S. job openings fell slightly in November but remain high by historical standards
WASHINGTON — America’s employers posted 8.8 million job openings in November, down slightly from October and the fewest since March 2021. But demand for workers remains strong by historical standards despite higher interest rates. Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed that the number of job vacancies dipped from 8.9...
Pet pig started fire that destroyed Butler County home, family says
A Butler County family is now homeless because of a fire that they say was caused by their pet pig. Thomas and Margaret Painter in Brady Township told WRAL they believe the fire that happened New Year’s Eve started when their pot-bellied pig Albert moved some fresh hay into his...
U.S. intel confident militant groups used largest Gaza hospital in campaign against Israel: AP source
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is “confident” that Palestinian militant groups used Gaza’s largest hospital to hold “at least a few” hostages seized during their bloody Oct. 7, 2023, attack and to house command infrastructure, an American intelligence assessment declassified Tuesday and shared by a U.S. official found. The assessment offers...
Investigators focus on air traffic communication after a fatal Tokyo runway crash
TOKYO — A transcript of communication between traffic control and two aircraft that collided and burst into flames at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport showed that only the larger Japan Airlines passenger flight was given permission to use the runway where a smaller coast guard plane was preparing for takeoff. An orange...
Meet the newest breed to join the American Kennel Club, a little dog with a big smile
NEW YORK — It’s small in stature, big on activity and known for a “smile,” and it’s ready to compete with 200 other dog breeds. Say hello to the Lancashire heeler, the latest breed recognized by the American Kennel Club. The organization announced Wednesday that the rare herding breed is...
Iran says at least 95 were killed in blasts at a ceremony honoring slain general
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates —Two bombs exploded and killed at least 95 people Wednesday at a commemoration for a prominent Iranian general slain by the U.S. in a 2020 drone strike, Iranian officials said, as the Middle East remains on edge over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. No one...
What to know about changes to this year’s FAFSA application for college students
NEW YORK — A new version of the federal student aid application known as the FAFSA is available for the 2024-2025 school year, but only on a limited basis as the U.S. Department of Education works on a redesign meant to make it easier to apply. That means the Free...
In 2024, Shapiro faces calls for billions for schools, a presidential election and wary lawmakers
HARRISBURG — In 2024, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro could face a more complicated sophomore year in charge of Pennsylvania after his first year brought a highway collapse, a budget stalemate and friction with allies and adversaries as he navigated the battleground state’s political divides. He is under pressure to respond...
Biden will start the year at sites of national trauma to warn about dire stakes of the 2024 election
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is starting the campaign year by evoking the Revolutionary War to mark the third anniversary of the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and visiting the South Carolina church where a white gunman massacred Black parishioners — seeking to present in the starkest possible terms...
Rescuers race against time in search for survivors in Japan after powerful quakes leave 65 dead
SUZU, Japan — Japanese rescue workers and canine units searched urgently through rubble Wednesday ahead of predicted bitter cold and heavy rain in what the prime minister called a race against time after powerful earthquakes killed at least 65 people in western Japan. Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas were shaken...
Israel on alert for possible Hezbollah response after senior Hamas leader is killed in Beirut strike
BEIRUT — Israel was on high alert for an escalation with Hezbollah on Wednesday after one of the top leaders of the Palestinian Hamas was killed in a strike in Beirut that was widely blamed on Israel and heightened the risk of a broader Middle East conflict. The killing of...
In Texas case, federal appeals panel says emergency care abortions not required by 1986 law
NEW ORLEANS — The Biden administration cannot use a 1986 emergency care law to require hospitals in Texas hospitals to provide abortions for women whose lives are at risk due to pregnancy, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. It’s one of numerous cases involving abortion restrictions that have played out...
Souvenir sellers have flooded the Brooklyn Bridge. Now the city is banning them
NEW YORK — Visitors to New York City hoping to take home a souvenir from the Brooklyn Bridge will now have to settle for a photograph, as vendors are about to be banned from the iconic span. The new rule, which goes into effect Wednesday, aims to ease overcrowding on...
Senate leader Kim Ward hopes 2024 brings big change to Pa. education system, minimum wage hike
Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward looks forward to 2024 as a year that will deliver a seismic change to Pennsylvania’s education system, a long-awaited boost in the state’s minimum wage and stronger laws against human trafficking. In remarks made after being re-elected for a second year as the chamber’s...
U.S. national debt hits record $34 trillion as Congress gears up for funding fight
WASHINGTON — The federal government’s gross national debt has surpassed $34 trillion, a record high that foreshadows the coming political and economic challenges to improve America’s balance sheet in the coming years. The U.S. Treasury Department issued a report Tuesday logging U.S. finances, which have become a source of tension...
Former Kentucky official who denied gay couples marriage licenses faces $360,000 payment
LEXINGTON, Ky. — A former Kentucky county official who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples must pay a total of $260,104 in fees and expenses to attorneys who represented one couple, a federal judge has ruled. That judgment against Kim Davis is in addition to a total of...
Prosecutors accuse Sen. Bob Menendez of introducing Qatari royal family member to aid N.J. businessman
NEW YORK — U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez used his international clout to help a friend get a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund, partly by taking actions favorable to Qatar’s government, federal prosecutors said Tuesday in a revised indictment. The new allegations deepen the legal challenges for Menendez, a...
Trump appeals Maine ruling barring him from ballot under the Constitution’s insurrection clause
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday appealed a ruling by Maine’s Democratic secretary of state barring him from the ballot over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was expected to also ask the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on his eligibility to return...
Lawsuit seeks to remove Pa. Rep. Scott Perry from 2024 ballot
A former Pennsylvania congressional candidate filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to remove Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry from the state primary ballot, arguing that Perry’s role challenging the results of the 2020 election should make him ineligible to run for office. Gene Stilp filed the suit as a voter in...
Kennedy cousin whose murder conviction was overturned sues former cop, Connecticut town
HARTFORD, Conn. — Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, whose murder conviction in the 1970s killing of a teenager in Connecticut was overturned, is suing the lead police investigator in the case and the town of Greenwich for alleged malicious prosecution, civil rights violations and other claimed wrongdoing. Skakel, 63, a nephew...
Gunman breaks into Colorado Supreme Court building; intrusion unrelated to Trump case, police sayVideo
DENVER — A man leaving the scene of a car wreck Tuesday shot his way into the Colorado Supreme Court building and inflicted “extensive damage” to the building before being arrested by police, authorities said, adding the incident seems unrelated to the court’s recent ruling banning former President Donald Trump...
Police seek motive in fiery fatal crash in upstate New York; no terror link found
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The driver who crashed an SUV loaded with gas cans outside a western New York concert venue appeared to have been aiming at a pedestrian crossing, but there’s no evidence of a terror motive in the fiery wreck that killed him and two ride-hail passengers on New...
