April 8, 2022 4:23 am
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has acknowledged that Russia has suffered “significant losses of troops” during its military operation in Ukraine. Peskov said: “Yes, we have significant losses of troops and it is a huge tragedy for us.” Speaking in an exclusive interview with British broadcaster Sky on Thursday, Peskov also hinted that the operation might be over “in the foreseeable future.” He said that Russian forces were “doing their best to bring an end to that operation.” He said that Moscow hopes that in coming days, in the foreseeable future, “this operation will reach its goals, or we’ll finish it by the negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegation.”
April 8, 2022 4:22 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – A missile has hit a crowded train station in eastern Ukraine that was an evacuation point for civilians fleeing the war. Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least 30 were killed during Friday’s strike. Russia’s Defense Ministry denied it targeted the train station in Kramatorsk, a city in the eastern Donetsk region. But Zelenskyy blamed the Russians for “an evil without limits.” The office of Ukraine’s prosecutor-general said about 4,000 civilians were in and around the station, most of them women and children heeding calls to leave the area before Russian forces arrived. After failing to take Ukraine’s capital and withdrawing from northern Ukraine, Russia has shifted its troops and focus to eastern Ukraine.
April 8, 2022 4:14 am
A prosecutor is releasing details of a gunfight that killed a police lieutenant in Pennsylvania and injured two other officers last week. Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said Thursday that the 34-year-old suspect broke into his stepfather’s home in Lebanon and opened fire on responding officers. Graf says Travis Shaud shot and killed Lt. William Lebo and injured two other officers. She says Shaud was killed by return fire. Authorities had not previously revealed who shot whom in the chaos. Lebo was a 40-year veteran of the force and was only a month away from retirement. His funeral is Friday. His widow says she forgives the gunman.
April 8, 2022 4:10 am
Republican candidate for Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Dave McCormick visited Washington County on Thursday. He toured a natural gas drilling site so that he could get a deeper understanding of how to “unleash the power of Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry”. McCormick met with a small group of supporters after the tour at the The Washington Brewing Company. He spoke briefly as to why he wants to run for the senate. His comments centered on increased production of natural gas and streamlining regulatory issues to aid in the construction of pipelines needed to get the gas to processing plants. He spoke to his support of the second amendment and his belief of pro life and education that pushes back on such ideas of critical race theory. McCormick ended his speech with a comment that stated that environmental protection is important but it cannot be the leading force. Economic growth and job security should be able to go hand in hand with environmental protections.
April 8, 2022 2:17 am
The investigation continues into a stabbing Wednesday night in the city of Washington. Washington City Police Chief Dan Rush says they have arrested a Washington man in connection with a stabbing outside of the Family Dollar on Wylie Avenue just after eight-thirty. Rush tells WJPA News that Joshua Carr was slashed from his ear lobe to his mouth. The injury, however, according to Rush, is not believed to be life-threatening. Rush says he was taken to Washington Hospital for treatment. According to Rush, the Carr told them he had just come out of the Family Dollar and was called out to by the suspect, 30-year-old Shawn Laschinsky, of Washington. The victim said the two exchanged words and it was shortly after that, when Carr said Laschinsky pulled out a knife and slashed his face. Carr needed 24 stitches for the laceration, according to our news partners at Channel 11. Rush says Laschinsky currently faces a charge of aggravated assault and is being held in the Washington County Jail. Rush says additional charges could be filed. Rush says Laschinsky was arrested without incident at a home in the 900 block of Jefferson Avenue.
April 7, 2022 8:45 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs remain at historically low levels. Jobless claims fell by 5,000 to 166,000 for the week ending April 2, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The previous week’s number was revised down a whopping 31,000 claims. First-time applications for jobless aid generally represent the pace of layoffs. The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, fell by 8,000 to 170,000 from the previous week’s 178,000. In total, 1,523,000 Americans were collecting jobless aid for the week ending March 26, a level not seen in more than 50 years.
April 7, 2022 4:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – A compromise $10 billion measure buttressing the government’s COVID-19 defenses has stalled in the Senate. It seems all but certainly sidetracked in that chamber for weeks, victim of a campaign-season fight over the incendiary issue of immigration. There was abundant finger-pointing Wednesday but no signs that the two parties were near resolving their stalemate over a bipartisan pandemic bill that President Joe Biden and top Democrats wanted Congress to approve this week. And with Senate Democrats’ top goal this week being the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, the COVID-19 bill seemed sure to slip at least until Congress returns after a two-week recess.
April 7, 2022 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. Senate has confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court in 53-47 vote, securing her place as the first Black woman on the high court. and giving President Joe Biden a bipartisan endorsement for his historic pick. Jackson, will replace Justice Stephen Breyer when he retires this summer. While the vote was far from the overwhelming bipartisan confirmations for Breyer and other justices in decades past, it was still a significant bipartisan accomplishment for Biden in the narrow 50-50 Senate after GOP senators aggressively worked to paint Jackson as too liberal.
April 7, 2022 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for COVID-19, her spokesman says. That’s a day after the 82-year-old Democratic leader appeared unmasked at a White House event with President Joe Biden. Pelosi received a positive test result for COVID-19 and is currently asymptomatic, her spokesman Drew Hammill said in a tweet Thursday. He said she had tested negative earlier in the week. “The Speaker is fully vaccinated and boosted, and is thankful for the robust protection the vaccine has provided,” Hammill said. He said she will “quarantine consistent with CDC guidance.” A congressional trip to Asia was postponed.
April 7, 2022 4:20 am
UNDATED (AP) – The U.N. General Assembly has voted to oust Russia from the Human Rights Council, which was established in 2006. Russia is just the second country to lost its membership rights to the council. In 2011, the assembly suspended Libya when upheaval in the North African country brought down longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. The vote Thursday was 93-24 with 58 abstentions. That is significantly lower than votes on two resolutions the assembly adopted last month demanding an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine, withdrawal of all Russian troops and protection for civilians. In other news on the war, Ukraine’s foreign minister says he’s cautiously optimistic that some NATO countries will increase their weapons supplies to his country, but he urged swift decisions.
