January 12, 2025 5:56 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sending the director of the Mossad foreign intelligence agency to ceasefire negotiations in Qatar in a sign of progress in talks on the war in Gaza. It wasn’t immediately clear on Saturday when David Barnea would travel to Qatar’s capital for the latest round of indirect talks between Israel and the Hamas militant group. But there is U.S. pressure for a deal before the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. Just one brief ceasefire has been achieved in 15 months of war, and that was in the early weeks of fighting.
January 12, 2025 5:51 am
(WPXI)-A cyber attack on a program that parents use to track their kids’ grades could have exposed the personal information of local families. The student information system impacted by the attack is called PowerSchool, and it stores some sensitive information for 60 million students across roughly 18,000 organizations around the world. In a statement, a PowerSchool spokesperson says the company learned of a “potential cybersecurity incident” on Dec. 28. That incident involved unauthorized access to PowerSchool information through a community-focused customer portal. Three local districts use the program: Fox Chapel, Mount Lebanon and Canon-McMillan. Canon-McMillan, in a letter to parents, further explains that a PowerSchool employee’s credential was compromised and used to access data through a backend support system. Canon-McMillan does not store teacher, student or parent social security numbers on PowerSchool, so that information is still protected. Contact information, health alerts, and grades for current and former students may have been accessed. Parent/guardian names and addresses may also be compromised. The Fox Chapel Area School District also sent a letter to families about this incident, saying that some of the district’s data was accessed. Either the district or PowerSchool will contact families when more information is available. PowerSchool’s spokesperson says it’s committed to providing affected customers, families, and educators with the resources and support they need.
January 11, 2025 4:16 am
PARIS (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has tossed expansionist rhetoric at U.S. allies and potential adversaries with arguments that the frontiers of American power need to be extended into Canada and the Danish territory of Greenland, and southward to include the Panama Canal. Trump’s suggestions that international borders can be redrawn are particularly inflammatory in Europe, especially for Ukraine. But many European leaders have been measured in their response. Some are taking a nothing-to-see-here view rather than vigorously defend European Union member Denmark. Still, analysts say that even words can damage U.S.-European relations ahead of Trump’s second presidency.
January 11, 2025 4:14 am
ATLANTA (AP) — A winter storm that dropped heavy snow and glazed roads throughout the U.S. South is maintaining its icy grip on much of the region into the weekend. Power outage numbers around Atlanta have crept up as meteorologists warn of accumulating freezing rain. Georgia transportation officials are urging people to stay off the roads until midday Saturday. The snow and ice is forecast to continue across the Carolinas, Virginia, and the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders has mobilized the National Guard to help stranded motorists. School was canceled for millions of children from Texas to Georgia and as far east as South Carolina.
January 11, 2025 4:11 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Some Los Angeles area residents have begun returning to their still smoldering neighborhoods to search for memories even as the threat of new fires persists. For many it has been a first look at the staggering reality of what was lost. Southern California faces a gargantuan challenge of overcoming the disaster and rebuilding. The blazes have killed at least 11 people, obliterated neighborhoods and left the nation’s second-largest city on edge. Firefighters were making gains Friday. But new flareups continued to pop up. By Friday evening, new evacuations were ordered as the eastern side of the Palisades Fire spread, nearing Interstate 405 and The Getty.
January 11, 2025 4:07 am
PANAMA CITY (AP) — The administrator of the Panama Canal has responded to criticisms from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, denying that there is any interference from China in the canal’s operations and saying giving special privileges to any nation would only cause problems. Ricaurte Vásquez said in an interview with The Associated Press Friday that no privileges are given to any nation, and Chinese companies are not meddling in its operations. Trump has gone so far as to suggest the U.S. should take back control of the canal and he would not rule out using military might to do so.
January 11, 2025 4:04 am
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term after a reelection widely viewed as illegitimate and as his administration grows increasingly brazen in cracking down on its opponents. On Friday, the European Union imposed sanctions on 15 top Venezuelan officials who had a role in the country’s 2024 election, including the president and vice president of Venezuela’s Supreme Court. The U.S. and Canada also slapped a new round of sanctions on Venezuelan officials.
January 12, 2025 1:02 am
The jury reached a split verdict decision in the trial of Brandon Allen, 33 of Washington. Allen is one of three men charged in the May 2022 drive-by shooting on Ridge Avenue in Washington that took the life of Kristin Barfield. The jury’s decision was delivered at about 5:40 on Friday evening. Allen was found not guilty of the most serious of the charges, criminal homicide. He was found guilty on charges of attempted homicide, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, aggravated assault and two counts of recklessly endangering another person. Those were for attempts on the life of Trey Willis, the intended target of the shooting. He also was guilty of possession of a firearm without a license. Allen was found not guilty on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and conspiracy aggravated assault for actions against Charles Dickson who was seated next to Barfield during the shooting. Allen is scheduled to be sentenced on April 9.
January 12, 2025 3:38 am
Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman released a statement indicating that voter rolls are being analyzed and inactive voters are being removed from those rolls. According to Sherman 4573 voters who have not taken part in two consecutive federal election cycles have been removed. These actions are in line with state law and the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Mail in ballot applications for eligible voters on the annual list are also now being sent out. Eligible voters that wish to vote by mail must have their application delivered to the elections office by the May 13 deadline.
January 11, 2025 3:37 am
District Attorney Jason Walsh has announced that his office will be providing a state of the art drug testing machine to the Canonsburg and Peters Township Police Departments. The District Attorney’s office obtained grant funding to supply the MX908 mass spectrometer. In what is described as a game changing tool to fight illegal drugs through real time chemical detection and identification, officers are able to quickly identify narcotics on the scene and act accordingly. Earlier this month, the District Attorney’s Office delivered an MX908 to the Charleroi Regional Police Department.
