March 7, 2022 8:13 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party committee members backed U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb by 2 to 1 in an endorsement vote over Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in the primary race for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat. In two months, they’ll find out if their party feels differently about nominating a mold-breaking candidate. Not only did Fetterman come from the party’s progressive wing, but he’s irreverent, blunt, 6 feet 8, tattooed and goateed, and most often seen wearing shorts. Fetterman leads in campaign cash and is the only candidate to have run statewide before. But Democrats say the Jan. 6 insurrection stiffened their resolve to vote for the candidate who is most electable.
March 7, 2022 7:23 am
The Allegheny County Medical Examiners Office has ruled the death of a woman injured in the December fire at the Thomas Campbell Apartments, accidental. Her cause of death was determined to be smoke inhalation and thermal burns. 78 year old Frances Venen died at a Pittsburgh hospital three days after the December 23 blaze at the South Strabane Township complex. She was among six people taken to area hospitals for treatment. Some 100 people were evacuated after the fire broke out in the kitchen of one of the units.
March 7, 2022 4:19 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say multiple people have been wounded in a shooting outside an Iowa high school. KCCI-TV reports that Sgt. Paul Parizek said suspects have been detained in the Monday afternoon shooting on the grounds of East High School in Des Moines. Police said three teens are in critical condition. The school is locked down and residents are asked to stay clear. Streets around the school have been shut down. Police said they do not believe there is a continued threat to the public.
March 7, 2022 4:17 am
BANGKOK (AP) – The death toll from COVID-19 has surpassed 6 million. The tragic number confirmed Monday is believed to be a vast undercount and shows that the pandemic in its third year is far from done. It’s also a reminder of the unrelenting nature of the pandemic even as people are shedding masks, travel is resuming and businesses are reopening around the globe. The last million deaths of the tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University were recorded over the last four months. That’s slightly slower than the previous million, but highlights that many countries are still struggling with the coronavirus. Overall, some 450 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded.
March 7, 2022 4:16 am
TOKYO (AP) – The price of oil has jumped more than $12 a barrel and shares are sharply lower as the conflict in Ukraine deepens amid mounting calls for harsher sanctions against Russia. Brent crude oil surged above $130 a barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude was up $10 at more than $125 a barrel. The surge followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukrainian statehood was imperiled as Russian forces battered strategic locations. A temporary cease-fire in two Ukrainian cities failed – and both sides blamed each other. Libya’s national oil company said an armed group shut down two crucial oil fields.
March 7, 2022 4:14 am
LVIV, Ukraine (AP) – The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine is deepening as Russian forces intensify their shelling and food, water, heat and medicine grow increasingly scarce. Ukraine says it is facing a medieval-style siege by Moscow to batter it into submission. A third round of talks between the two sides Monday ended with a top Ukrainian official saying there had been minor, unspecified progress toward establishing safe corridors that would allow civilians to escape the fighting. Russia’s top negotiator says he expects those corridors to finally start functioning Tuesday.
March 7, 2022 4:07 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The board of another big public pension system in Pennsylvania will sell off its Russia-related investments, amid bipartisan calls from lawmakers and top state officials to respond to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Friday’s vote by the board of the State Employees’ Retirement System affects roughly $7 million of the $40 billion in assets the system reported having at the start of 2022. That exposure amounts to 0.02%. The board’s resolution also bars new investments in assets related to Russia. On Thursday, the board of the $72.5 billion Public School Employees’ Retirement System took a similar vote to divest of nearly $300 million directly invested in Russia and Belarus.
March 6, 2022 8:12 am
VIENNA (AP) — Iran has agreed to supply answers long sought by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, Tehran and the U.N. agency said Saturday, as talks in Vienna over its tattered atomic deal with world powers appear to be coming to an end. A joint statement by Mohammad Eslami, the head of the civilian Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy, came hours after the two met in Tehran. It envisions the IAEA reaching conclusions on the discovery of uranium particles at former undeclared sites in Iran by June. The move is separate from the talks over the nuclear deal but could help push them to a conclusion. But meanwhile, Russia’s foreign minister for the first time linked American sanctions on Moscow over its war on Ukraine to the ongoing Iran nuclear deal talks — adding a new wrinkle to the delicate diplomacy.
March 6, 2022 8:10 am
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The Russian tanks and missiles besieging Ukraine also are threatening the food supply and livelihoods of people in Europe, Africa and Asia who rely on the vast, fertile farmlands of the Black Sea region — known as the “breadbasket of the world.” Ukrainian farmers have been forced to neglect their fields as millions flee, fight or try to stay alive. Ports are shut down that send wheat and other food staples worldwide to be made into bread, noodles and animal feed. And there are worries Russia, another agricultural powerhouse, could have its grain exports upended by Western sanctions. While there have not yet been global disruptions to wheat supplies, prices have surged 55% since a week before the invasion amid concerns about what could happen next. If the war is prolonged, countries that rely on affordable wheat exports from Ukraine could face shortages starting in July, International Grains Council director Arnaud Petit told The Associated Press.
March 6, 2022 8:08 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Six people were killed Saturday when a tornado swept through central Iowa, damaging buildings and knocking down trees and power lines, authorities said. Emergency management officials in Madison County said four were injured in addition to those killed when the tornado touched down in the area southwest of Des Moines at about 4:30 p.m. Among those killed were children and adults. Madison County Emergency Management Director Diogenes Ayala said 25 to 30 homes were badly damaged by the tornado. “This is the worst anyone has seen in a very long time,” he said. Officials didn’t identify those killed but said they were not all in the same location.
