September 6, 2021 4:30 am
A Florida sheriff says a man wearing full body armor fatally shot four people, including a mother and the 3-month-old baby she was cradling, and engaged in a massive gunfight with police and deputies before getting wounded and surrendering. An 11-year-old girl who was shot seven times survived. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Sunday that even after 33-year-old Bryan Riley was arrested, he was so aggressive he tried to wrestle a gun from police as he lay on his hospital gurney. Judd said Riley was a former Marine who seemed to have targeted his victims at random and appeared to be suffering from mental health issues.
September 6, 2021 4:29 am
CAIRO (AP) – Libyan officials say they have released one of Muammar Gadhafi’s sons after more than seven years of detention in the capital of Tripoli. Al-Saadi Gadhafi walked free Sunday from Tripoli’s al-Hadaba prison, where many Gadhafi regime officials are being held pending trial, mostly in connection to the crackdown on the 2011 uprising that toppled the longtime ruler and led to his killing. The country’s interim prime minister announced his release early Monday, saying the move was taken to comply with a previous court order. Al-Saadi Gadhafi had been smuggled across the desert to Niger in 2011 just as his father’s regime was crumbling. He was extradited to Libya in March 2014.
September 6, 2021 4:27 am
The Taliban say they have taken control of Panjshir province north of Kabul, the Afghan capital. The province was the last holdout of anti-Taliban forces in the country and the only province the Taliban had not seized during their sweep of Afghanistan last month. Thousands of Taliban fighters overran eight districts of Panjshir overnight, according to witnesses from the area. The anti-Taliban fighters had been led by the former vice president and the son of the iconic anti-Taliban fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud who was killed by a suicide bomber just days before the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
September 6, 2021 4:24 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Police say a wrong-way driver collided head-on with another car in a western Pennsylvania tunnel, critically injuring the other driver. State police in Pittsburgh say the vehicle entered Interstate 376 traveling west in the eastbound lanes shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday. Police said the car entered the Fort Pitt tunnel under Mount Washington, still traveling in the wrong direction, and collided head-on with another car. The 36-year-old driver of the other car was taken to a local hospital and listed in critical condition with multiple injuries. The other 21-year-old driver was uninjured.
September 6, 2021 4:21 am
PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Multiple people were taken to Pittsburgh-area hospitals following a motor vehicle accident with entrapment in Peters Township Sunday afternoon. Peters Township Fire confirmed the crash took place just after 2:00 p.m. on Waterdam Road. Crews closed the road between Galley Road and Sherwood Drive to investigate and clean up the scene. Officials say the fire department worked with the Peters Township Police and Tri-Community South EMS to extricate the victims. Waterdam Road reopened just before 5:30 p.m. The initial cause of the accident or identities of those involved are not known at this time. The crash is still under investigation by Peters Township Police.
September 6, 2021 4:13 am
CHARLEROI, Pa. — Multiple crews were called to the scene of a structure fire Sunday night in Charleroi. Fire personnel confirmed the fire call came in around 10:00 p.m. on the 900 block of McKean Avenue. Crews reportedly tried to quickly control of the blaze, and as firefighters made it to the second floor, some of the roof came down which caused an evacuation of the building. Officials say a married couple living on the second floor of the old building got out safely. One firefighter was injured after hurting her knee, and she was taken to an area hospital for treatment according to reports. Charleroi Fire Department says crews were on scene for about three hours to get the fire under control. Assisting Charleroi on scene included Lock #4, Fallowfield Township, Stockdale, Monessen, Carroll Township, Roscoe and North Belle Vernon. Crews are still investigating the cause of the fire. (Photo: Charleroi Fire Dept. Facebook)
September 6, 2021 1:51 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — A member of the Ellsworth Fire Department died Saturday after responding to an incident along State Route 136. The Washington County Coroner says Laron Holcomb, 73, was on the scene of a vehicle accident at the intersection of Route 136 and Morrison Lane just around 1:30 p.m. After leaving the scene, Holcomb returned home where he reportedly experienced shortness of breath. He was transported to the Washington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead just before 7:30 p.m. The cause of death is pending an autopsy, while the manner of death is still under investigation. Multiple area first responders took to social media to mourn the loss of Holcomb. (Photo: Ellsworth VFD)
September 5, 2021 8:01 am
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit California’s Bay Area next week to campaign with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who faces possible removal from office in a September 14 recall election. Symone Sanders, Harris’ chief spokesperson, tweeted Saturday that the vice president would visit on Wednesday. Sanders later confirmed that the trip is for Newsom’s political benefit. Newsom was expected to appear with the vice president, Newsom campaign spokesman Nathan Click said. Harris had been set to campaign with Newsom in late August on her way back to the U.S. after a week of events and appearances in Singapore and Vietnam. But she postponed the California stop and returned to Washington because of events in Afghanistan as the U.S. raced to evacuate Americans, allies and vulnerable Afghans before an Aug. 31 deadline. President Joe Biden supports Newsom, a fellow Democrat and first-term governor, and the White House said late last month that Biden would travel to California on Newsom’s behalf.
September 5, 2021 7:58 am
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is encouraging countries to welcome Afghan refugees who are seeking a new life. During his appearance to the public in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, Francis also prayed that displaced persons inside Afghanistan receive assistance and protection. “In these tumultuous moments, in which Afghans are seeking refuge, I pray for the most vulnerable among them, I pray so that many countries welcome and protect all those seeking a new life,” Francis said. The pope didn’t cite the Taliban or their policies, but added: “may young Afghans receive an education, which is essential for human development.” He concluded by expressing hope that all Afghans, whether in their homeland, in transit, or in countries taking them in, may be able to “live with dignity, in peace, in brotherhood with their neighbors.”
September 5, 2021 7:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top U.S. national security officials will see how the failed war in Afghanistan may be reshaping America’s relationships in the Middle East as they meet with key allies in the Persian Gulf and Europe this week. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are traveling to the Gulf separately, leaving Sunday. They will talk with leaders who are central to U.S. efforts to prevent a resurgence of extremist threats in Afghanistan, some of whom were partners in the 20-year fight against the Taliban. Together, the Austin and Blinken trips are meant to reassure Gulf allies that President Joe Biden’s decision to end the U.S. war in Afghanistan in order to focus more on other security challenges like China and Russia does not foretell an abandonment of U.S. partners in the Middle East. The U.S. military has had a presence in the Gulf for decades, including the Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. Biden has not suggested ending that presence, but he — like the Trump administration before him — has called China the No. 1 security priority, along with strategic challenges from Russia.
