May 24, 2021 4:15 am
NEW DELHI (AP) – The COVID-19 death toll in India has passed 300,000 as a devastating surge of new infections appears to be easing in big cities. But the virus isn’t finished with India by any means. As megacities such as Mumbai and New Delhi see some improvement, the virus appears to be taking a ghastly toll in the country’s vast rural areas. A majority of India’s people live in rural areas, where health care is limited. The health ministry on Monday reported 4,454 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing India’s total to 303,720. India has the third most deaths, behind the United States and Brazil. Experts, however, believe the true toll is significantly greater.
May 24, 2021 4:12 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate and payrolls remained virtually the same in April. State figures released Friday show Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a percentage point to 7.4%. That was more than a whole point above the national rate of 6.1% in April. In a survey of households, the labor force remained virtually the same, at just below 6.34 million. The state hit a record high labor force of almost 6.6 million just before the pandemic. In a separate survey of employers, payrolls in Pennsylvania slid in April by 4,400, to below 5.67 million. Pennsylvania has regained about 60% of the 1.1 million jobs lost in the pandemic.
May 24, 2021 4:11 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Stephen Zappala Sr., a former chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court being remembered for his distinguished legal career and public service, has died. He was 88. The William Slater II Funeral Service of Pittsburgh said Zappala Sr., died Friday. He served in the Army and attained the rank of first lieutenant before returning to Pittsburgh to begin private law practice. Zappala Sr. then became Allegheny County’s planning director and solicitor before winning a Common Pleas court seat. In 1981, he was elected to the state Supreme Court and became chief justice in 2001 before retiring in December 2002.
May 24, 2021 3:53 am
FINLEYVILLE, Pa. — A Finleyville man has died following an ATV accident in Union Township Saturday night. Dusty Robison, 40, was pronounced dead on the scene just before 9:30 p.m. near 295 Garvin Road. According to officials, Robison was the lone rider of the vehicle, which lost control and came to rest in a ditch. The Monongahela Police Department is investigating the incident. They were assisted by Southeast Regional EMS as well as the Finleyville and Elrama Fire Departments.
May 24, 2021 3:49 am
HOPEWELL TWP. — A Canonsburg man has died after being electrocuted while working on a home in Avella Saturday morning. According to officials, Joseph Bevec, 57, was working as a handyman cleaning gutters at a residence on Brush Run Road. Reports say his aluminum ladder came into contact with a high-voltage power line. The death was ruled an accident. Assisting Pennsylvania State Police on scene were Ambulance and Chair Service, Avella Fire Department, West Middletown Fire Department and West Penn Power. The incident is still under investigation.
May 23, 2021 8:03 am
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council is welcoming the cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers and calls for full adherence to the cessation of hostilities. Saturday’s statement was approved by all 15 members of the council. It said the council “mourned the loss of civilian lives resulting from the violence” and “stressed the immediate need for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly in Gaza.” The statement further said it was urgent to restore calm and “reiterated the importance of achieving a comprehensive peace based on the vision of a region where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace with secure and recognized borders.” Council members backed U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for the international community to work with the United Nations in developing a “robust package of support for a swift, sustainable reconstruction and recovery.”
May 23, 2021 8:01 am
TOKYO (AP) — If John Coates was trying to stir controversy, he succeeded. An International Olympic Committee vice president, Coates was asked a few days ago by a Japanese reporter at an online news conference if the Tokyo Olympics would go ahead, even if a state of emergency were in force in Japan. Coates replied: “Absolutely, yes.” Coates said what the IOC and local organizers have been trying to persuade the Japanese public about for months: The postponed Olympics with 11,000 athletes from 200 nations and territories will open on July 23 and will be “safe and secure.” But his defiant tone has stirred a backlash in Japan where 60-80% in polls say they do not want the Olympics to open in two months in the midst of a pandemic. Just over 12,000 deaths in Japan — good by global standards, but poor in Asia — have been attributed to COVID-19. But Tokyo and Osaka and several other areas are under a state of emergency until May 31. And it’s likely to be extended.
May 23, 2021 8:00 am
BEIJING (AP) — Twenty-one people running a mountain ultramarathon have died in northwestern China after hail, freezing rain and gale-force winds hit the high-altitude race, state media reported Sunday. After an all-night rescue operation in freezing temperatures involving more than 700 personnel, rescuers were able to confirm that 151 people were safe, out of a total of 172 participants. Twenty-one had died, according to the official Xinhua News Agency, which said the runners suffered from physical discomfort and the sudden drop in temperature. The runners were racing on an extremely narrow mountain path at an altitude reaching 2,000-3,000 meters (6,500-9,800 feet). The 100-kilometer (60-mile) race was held Saturday in the Yellow River Stone Forest tourist site in Baiyin city in Gansu province. Participants were not rookies. One of the deceased was a well-known runner Liang Jing, who had won a 100-kilometer (62-mile) race in Ningbo, reported the Paper, a state-backed newspaper based in Shanghai.
May 23, 2021 7:58 am
New coronavirus cases across the United States have tumbled to rates not seen in more than 11 months, sparking optimism that vaccination campaigns are stemming both severe COVID-19 cases and the spread of the virus. As cases, hospitalizations and deaths steadily dropped this week, pre-pandemic life in America has largely resumed. Hugs and unmasked crowds returned to the White House, a Mardi Gras-style parade marched through Alabama’s port city of Mobile, and even states that have stuck to pandemic-related restrictions readied to drop them. However, health experts also cautioned that not enough Americans have been vaccinated to completely extinguish the virus, leaving the potential for new variants that could extend the pandemic. As the seven-day average for new cases dropped below 30,000 per day this week, Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pointed out cases have not been this low since June 18, 2020. The average number of deaths over the last seven days also dropped to 552 — a rate not seen since July last year. It’s a dramatic drop since the pandemic hit a devastating crescendo in January.
May 23, 2021 7:40 am
One lucky ticket holder in Pennsylvania is feeling much richer today, after that ticket matched all numbers drawn in Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot, for an estimated $515 million. Here are the winning numbers from Friday’s drawing: 06 – 09 – 17 – 18 – 48 and gold Mega Ball 08. The $515 million jackpot is the ninth largest jackpot awarded since the game began in 2002, the largest ever won during the month of May, and the third and largest won in Pennsylvania. A Pittsburgh man won a $149 million prize on May 20, 2014, and a $153 million jackpot was won on July 21, 2015, by a Virginia truck driver while on his route in Pennsylvania. The third Mega Millions jackpot won to date in 2021, Friday night’s win follows a whopping $1.050 billion prize collected by a group of players in Michigan on January 22 and $96 million won by a New York couple on February 16.
