February 12, 2022 4:43 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. officials say the United States is preparing to evacuate its embassy in Kyiv as Western intelligence officials warn that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is increasingly imminent. The officials say the State Department plans to announce early Saturday that virtually all American staff at the Kyiv embassy will be required to leave. A limited number of officials may remain in Kyiv, but almost all will be sent out or relocated to Ukraine’s far west, near the Polish border, so the U.S. can retain a diplomatic presence in the country. The new move comes as Washington has ratcheted up its warnings about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.
February 12, 2022 4:40 am
OAKMONT, Pa. — One person was injured following an overnight crash into the Oakmont Bakery. According to reports, an SUV crashed into the wall of the structure just before midnight Friday. A victim was transported from the scene according to Allegheny County 911. There was no word on the identity of the victim or cause of the crash.
February 12, 2022 4:22 am
NORTH STRABANE, Pa. — One person was flown from the scene of a two vehicle crash in North Strabane Township on Friday evening. According to reports, the accident occurred at the intersection of Washington Road (Route 19) and Weavertown Road around 6:30 p.m. North Strabane and Peters Township Fire crews responded to the scene, where one victim was entrapped in a vehicle for close to an hour before extrication was complete. That patient was flown to an area hospital with unknown injuries. The identities of those involved and the cause of the accident has not been released. (Photo: Nick Markowitz – Fire Incidents of Washington County Facebook Page)
February 12, 2022 1:48 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – The couple hurt when their pickup truck crashed down with the Fern Hollow Bridge is suing the city of Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Port Authority of Allegheny County. Tyrone and Velva Perry, both 69, took a different route than usual on Jan. 28 because of snow and ended up on the bridge when it collapsed. They had been on their way to care for Tyrone’s 93-year-old mother. While they have both been released from the hospital, the couple’s daughter told our news partners at Channel 11 News they were each in the ICU for one day with fractured vertebrae. Attorneys said they are “now in body braces with impaired movement and extreme pain.” The Perrys’ attorneys said notices of intent to sue were sent on Wednesday. “With no warning, the bridge collapsed, dropping the Perrys and the vehicle approximately 100 feet down into the hollow. Other vehicles fell off the bridge immediately afterwards, narrowly missing the Perrys on the ground below. One of those vehicles was a very large commuter bus,” a news release from the attorneys stated. The notices of intent to sue, according to the attorneys, are to inform the agencies of the “serious harm” the couple suffered and to insist that parties responsible for the maintenance of bridges and highways “act now and with vigor to prevent this kind of disaster from happening again.”
February 11, 2022 3:43 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration is escalating its warnings about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying it could take place within days. The White House said it doesn’t know if Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a decision to invade. But, it said Putin has assembled all the elements to do so quickly and told Americans in Ukraine to leave within the next 48 hours. The stark warning accelerated the projected time frame for a potential invasion. Many analysts believed Putin was unlikely to act until after the Winter Olympics in China end on Feb. 20. The heightened U.S. rhetoric followed new intelligence that showed another increase in Russian troops near the Ukrainian border and the start of a major Russian military exercise in neighboring Belarus.
February 11, 2022 2:48 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. regulators have put the brakes on their push to speed Pfizer’s COVID-19 to children under 5. Friday’s move creates major uncertainty about how soon the shots could become available. The Food and Drug Administration had urged Pfizer to apply before the companies’ study was even finished. The agency cited the toll the omicron variant has taken on children. Next week, FDA advisers were supposed to publicly debate if youngsters should starting getting two shots before it’s clear if they’d actually need a third. But Friday, the FDA reversed course. Pfizer said in a statement that it expected the data for a third dose by early April.
February 11, 2022 4:14 am
WINDSOR, Ontario (AP) – A Canadian judge has ordered protesters at the Ambassador Bridge over the U.S-Canadian border to end the 5-day-old blockade that has disrupted the flow of goods between the two countries and forced the auto industry on both sides to roll back production. It is not immediately clear when or if law enforcement officers will be sent in to remove the demonstrators, who parked their pickups and other vehicles in a protest against the country’s COVID-19 restrictions and an outpouring of fury toward Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government.
February 11, 2022 4:12 am
The Justice Department has reached another milestone in its sweeping investigation of last year’s riot at the U.S. Capitol. A Seattle man who punched two police officers during the attack is at least the 100th person to be sentenced after pleading guilty to a Capitol riot-related charge. Mark Leffingwell, a 52-year-old military veteran who served in Iraq, was sentenced on Thursday to six months imprisonment. Leffingwell is the fifth rioter to be sentenced for assaulting police at the Capitol. The other four received prison sentences ranging from 41 to 63 months in prison.
February 11, 2022 4:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Two Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee say the CIA has a secret, undisclosed data repository that includes information collected about Americans. While neither the agency nor lawmakers would disclose specifics about the data, Sens. Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich allege the CIA has long hidden details about the program from the public and Congress. There have long been concerns about what information the intelligence community collects about Americans. The CIA wouldn’t comment on the program but says the agency strictly follows privacy guidelines intended to protect American data.
February 11, 2022 4:08 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – White House call logs obtained so far by the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol do not list calls made by then-President Donald Trump as he watched the violence unfold on television. They also do not list calls made directly to the president, according to two people familiar with the probe. The lack of information about Trump’s personal calls presents a challenge to investigators who are probing Trump’s actions in the White House as his supporters broke into the Capitol. The people requested anonymity because the records have not yet been released by the committee.
