FBI was justified in probing Trump-Russia, fed watchdog saysVideo
WASHINGTON — The FBI was justified in opening its investigation into ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia and did not act with political bias, the Justice Department’s internal watchdog declared Monday, undercutting President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that he has been the target of a “witch hunt.” The...
Police: California man rehearsed mass shooting plot on video
SAN DIEGO — A man was arrested after authorities received a tip that he had posted videos online that appear to show him pointing weapons and practicing to carry out a mass shooting from a downtown San Diego hotel room. Steve Homoki was scheduled to be arraigned Monday, the San...
Trump, Dems in tentative deal on North American trade pact
WASHINGTON — House Democrats have reached a tentative agreement with labor leaders and the White House over a rewrite of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal that has been a top priority for President Donald Trump. That’s according to a Democratic aide not authorized to discuss the talks and granted anonymity. Details...
Iran ready for more prisoner swaps with U.S., not negotiations
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran is ready for more prisoner swaps with the United States, the Cabinet spokesman said Monday even as he reiterated the Iranian leadership’s stance that there will be no other negotiations between Tehran and Washington. The remarks by the spokesman, Ali Rabiei, were the first after a...
Prosecutor warns public after cluster of drug overdoses around Reading
READING — A district attorney in southeastern Pennsylvania issued a public health warning Monday in the wake of a series of drug overdoses, some of them deadly, believed to involve the same substance. Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams said that a dozen people overdosed over the weekend in...
Cyberattack downs city computers in site of navy attackVideo
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Federal authorities are investigating a cyberattack on the city of Pensacola, Fla., home to the naval air station where a Saudi flight student killed three sailors and wounded eight others on Friday. A spokeswoman for the city said federal authorities were alerted to the cyberattack as a...
Banking the old-fashioned way this holiday season
The holidays are here, and SSB Bank is focusing on the gifts that set community banks apart and keep customers coming back for more. First, let’s look at some facts. Community bank borrowers are more successful and satisfied than those of other institutions, outperforming mega-banks and online lenders, according to...
5 dead, many more missing in eruption of New Zealand volcanoVideo
WHAKATANE, New Zealand — A volcano on a New Zealand island erupted Monday with a towering blast of ash and scalding steam as tourists were exploring the moon-like surface, killing five people and leaving perhaps two dozen others missing. Police said the site was still too dangerous hours later for...
Kennesaw State cheerleader punished for kneeling awarded $145,000Video
A former Kennesaw State cheerleader who kneeled during the national anthem in 2017 was awarded $145,000 in a lawsuit settlement. Tommia Dean filed the lawsuit in 2018 when the cheerleaders took on criticism from their public protest over police brutality before a game in Georgia. The school responded by ordering...
Watchdog expected to find Russia probe valid, despite flawsVideo
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s internal watchdog will release a highly anticipated report Monday that is expected to reject President Donald Trump’s claims that the Russia investigation was illegitimate and tainted by political bias from FBI leaders. But it is also expected to document errors during the investigation that may...
Police: 3 dead, 1 injured when vehicle strikes building in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A vehicle crashed into a building early Sunday, leaving three people dead and a fourth person critically injured, police in Ohio said. Columbus police said officers responded to an alarm at an NTB Tire & Service Center around 3 a.m. Sunday and found that a vehicle had...
Police: Hunter killed in Wayne County propane explosion
HONESDALE — State police say a Florida man was killed while hunting in northeastern Pennsylvania when his portable propane heater exploded. Police in Wayne County say 81-year-old Gregory Scheer of Chiefland, Fla., was hunting from a stand on the ground and using a portable propane heater in Texas Township. Police...
Female minister, 34-year-old Sanna Marin, tapped to become Finland’s youngest PM
TALLINN, Estonia — A 34-year-old transport minister and lawmaker has been tapped to become Finland’s youngest prime minister ever and its third female government leader. Finland’s ruling Social Democratic Party council voted 32-29 late Sunday to name Sanna Marin over rival Antti Lindtman to take over the government’s top post...
Articles of impeachment against Trump likely this week, Jerry Nadler saysVideo
WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee, which is spearheading the Democratic-led impeachment drive, will move swiftly to draft articles of impeachment against President Trump, possibly by the end of this week, the panel’s chairman said Sunday. Trump’s congressional supporters separately found themselves on the defensive over the disclosure that the...
Shooting survivor sues Southern California synagogue
POWAY, Calif. — A man wounded in a shooting at a San Diego-area synagogue is suing the house of worship, alleging Chabad of Poway didn’t use federal funds meant to hire security to protect worshipers, according to a newspaper report. In the lawsuit obtained by Los Angeles Times, Almog Peretz...
FBI says it presumes base shooting was act of terrorismVideo
PENSACOLA, Fla. — The Saudi gunman who killed three people at the Pensacola naval base had apparently gone on Twitter shortly before the shooting to blast U.S. support of Israel and accuse America of being anti-Muslim, a U.S. official said Sunday as the FBI confirmed it is operating on the...
Tennessee woman faces $25,000 lawsuit for posting negative posting of doctor on YelpVideo
A Tennessee woman is facing a $25,000 lawsuit for a negative posting on Yelp about a medical doctor. Kelly Beavers, a Wilson County resident, is accused is accused of defamation and libel, and false light for a review she made about Dr. Kaveer Nandigam of Nandigam Neurology in Murfreesboro. “...Kelly...
Police: Slain Arkansas officer ‘ambushed’ in patrol vehicle
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A man who “was looking for an officer to kill” drove into a police parking lot in northwestern Arkansas, approached an officer who was sitting in a patrol car and shot him point-blank in the head, police said Sunday. Officer Stephen Carr, 27, was “ambushed and executed”...
North Korea says it carried out ‘very important test’
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Sunday it carried out a “very important test” at its long-range rocket launch site that U.S. and South Korean officials said the North had partially dismantled as part of denuclearization steps. The announcement comes amid dimming prospects for a resumption of nuclear negotiations...
Rudy Giuliani will file report on findings from Ukraine, Trump says
WASHINGTON — President Trump said his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, plans to prepare a report for the U.S. Justice Department and Congress about allegations of misconduct the former New York mayor says he uncovered during a recent trip to Ukraine. Trump said Giuliani, a central figure in the impeachment investigation...
House impeachment report looks at abuse, bribery, corruption
WASHINGTON — Previewing potential articles of impeachment, the House Democrats on Saturday issued a lengthy report drawing on history and the Founding Fathers to lay out the legal argument over the case against President Trump’s actions toward Ukraine. The findings from the House Judiciary Committee do not spell out the...
Tuskegee Airman celebrates 100th birthday with flight
FREDERICK, Md. — A member of the Tuskegee Airmen celebrated his 100th birthday by taking a flight. Retired Army Air Forces Col. Charles McGee flew a private jet Friday between Frederick, Maryland, and Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, news outlets reported. The Tuskegee Airmen is the nickname of the...
Iran frees Chinese-American scholar for U.S.-held scientist
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A Princeton scholar held for three years in Iran on widely criticized espionage charges was freed Saturday as part of a prisoner exchange that saw America release a detained Iranian scientist, a rare diplomatic breakthrough between Tehran and Washington after months of tensions. The trade...
Venice tide barriers pass another test, but skeptics remain
VENICE, Italy — Floated along by barge , one of the 10-ton barriers designed to relieve Venice’s perennial flooding looks like a giant plaything: an oversized hinged yellow Lego. Central to the plan to protect the city, some or all of the 78 barriers will one day be raised when...
Caroline Kennedy christens father’s namesake carrier
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — John F. Kennedy’s daughter Caroline has christened a new aircraft carrier that is named after the 35th U.S. president. Caroline Kennedy smashed a bottle across the USS John Kennedy carrier’s hull Saturday at the shipyard in Newport News, Virginia. She is the sponsor of her father’s...
