October 11, 2021 7:42 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Drugmaker Merck has asked U.S. regulators to authorize its promising antiviral pill against COVID-19, setting the stage for a decision within weeks. If cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, it would be the first pill shown to treat COVID-19, adding a new, easy-to-use weapon to the world’s arsenal against the pandemic. The FDA will scrutinize company data on the drug’s safety and effectiveness before rendering a decision. All COVID-19 drugs now authorized by the FDA require an IV or injection.
October 11, 2021 4:30 am
More than 1,000 Southwest Airlines fights were canceled Sunday, one day after air traffic control issues and bad weather prompted the airline to cancel over 800 flights nationwide, according to airline officials and FlightAware. In a statement released Saturday and obtained by USA Today, Southwest officials said they experienced “significant impact in the Florida airports” Friday due to an air traffic management program implemented by the Federal Aviation Administration because of bad weather. “We are working hard behind the scenes to minimize challenges and fully recover the operation as we take care of displaced crews and customers as quickly as possible,” the statement read. “We will continue to reset our network today and hope to return to close to normal operations as we move into Sunday.’’ However, about 27% of Southwest Airlines’ flights were canceled Sunday, while another 382 were delayed, according to FlightAware, a site which tracks flight data. The cancellations came after officials canceled 24% of Southwest’s flights Saturday. Nearly 1,200 other Southwest flights were delayed that day, according to FlightAware.
October 11, 2021 4:25 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department says a Navy nuclear engineer with access to military secrets has been charged with trying to pass information about the design of American nuclear-powered submarines to someone he thought was a representative of a foreign government but who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. In a criminal complaint detailing the espionage-related charges against Jonathan Toebbe, the government says he sold information for nearly the past year to a contact he believed represented a foreign power. That country was not named in the court documents. Toebbe was arrested in West Virginia on Saturday along with his wife. It’s not immediately clear whether either Toebbe has a lawyer.
October 11, 2021 4:23 am
ALAMO, Ga. (AP) – Authorities say a man accused of gunning down a Georgia police officer during his first shift with the department ambushed him in retaliation for the officer’s arrest of an associate hours earlier. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said 43-year-old Damien Anthony Ferguson has been charged with murder in the shooting death of Officer Dylan Harrison outside the Alamo Police Department early Saturday. Harrison arrested a man associated with Ferguson on Friday afternoon. Authorities say they believe Ferguson shot Harrison in retaliation in what they called an “ambush-style attack.” Ferguson was arrested Sunday at his home after a large manhunt. It is not known if he has an attorney to speak on his behalf.
October 11, 2021 4:21 am
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) – Officials say a Southern California beach that had been closed since an undersea pipeline leaked crude into ocean waters last week is set to reopen Monday. City and state beaches in Huntington Beach will reopen after water quality tests revealed no detectable levels of oil associated toxins in the water. Huntington Beach had been reeling from the pipeline leak that spilled crude into the Pacific Ocean off Southern California. The spill of at least about 25,000 gallons and no more than 132,000 gallons of crude has kept the ocean off limits for a week to surfers, swimmers and people who want to walk along the shore.
October 11, 2021 4:19 am
BOSTON (AP) – Benson Kipruto won the pandemic-delayed Boston Marathon as the race returned from a 30-month absence and moved to the fall for the first time in its 125-year history. Diana Kipyogei won the women’s race to complete the eighth Kenyan sweep since 2000. Fall foliage replaced the spring daffodils and masks took the place of mylar from Hopkinton to Boston. A rolling start and shrunken field allowed for social distancing on the course, as organizers tried to manage amid a changing COVID-19 outbreak. Last year’s race was canceled for the first time since the event began in 1897.
October 11, 2021 4:08 am
PENN HILLS, Pa. — (WPXI)- A man is dead after he was thrown from an ATV he was riding in Penn Hills Sunday evening. According to police, at around 7:30 p.m., County 911 was notified of a vehicle versus ATV collision near the intersection of Rodi Road and Universal Road. First responders pronounced the man dead at the scene. Homicide detectives have started an investigation into the man’s death. It’s not clear if the man was riding the ATV on the road or off to the side of it. The man’s identity has not yet been released.
October 11, 2021 2:50 am
BEAVER FALLS — (WPXI) – Pennsylvania State Police have made an arrest in the killing of Sharon Benyo. Benyo, 46, was found dead in a field around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday by utility workers, investigators said. Chippewa Township police were quickly able to secure the area until forensics was able to process evidence. On Thursday, the Beaver County Coroner’s Office said Benyo died of gunshot wounds to her head. Chippewa Township’s police chief added that the gunshot wounds were to the back of her head. John Westley Johnson Jr., 68, of Beaver Falls was arrested at his home on Saturday after the state police found enough information in the case to charge him. He will be held at the Beaver County Jail pending his court dates. Johnson is facing charges of homicide.
October 10, 2021 8:02 am
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban on Saturday ruled out cooperation with the United States to contain extremist groups in Afghanistan, staking out an uncompromising position on a key issue ahead of the first direct talks between the former foes since America withdrew from the country in August. Senior Taliban officials and U.S. representatives are meeting this weekend in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Officials from both sides have said issues include reining in extremist groups and the evacuation of foreign citizens and Afghans from the country. The Taliban have signaled flexibility on evacuations. However, Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen told The Associated Press there would be no cooperation with Washington on containing the increasingly active Islamic State group in Afghanistan. IS has taken responsibility for a number of recent attacks, including a suicide bombing Friday that killed 46 minority Shiite Muslims and wounded dozens as they prayed in a mosque in the northern city of Kunduz.
October 10, 2021 8:00 am
LONDON (AP) — Ireland’s foreign minister has warned that British demands risk a “further breakdown in relations” with the European Union ahead of talks this week aimed at resolving the impasse over the Brexit agreement. Simon Coveney posted the remarks on Twitter after the U.K.’s Brexit minister reiterated his insistence that the European Court of Justice must not be allowed to oversee implementation of the deal. Coveney described this as a new “red line” that will impede progress in the negotiations. “Does (the U.K. government) actually want an agreed way forward or a further breakdown in relations?” he wrote. The European Commission is expected this week to publish its proposals for breaking the deadlock over trade arrangements for Northern Ireland, the only part of the U.K. that has a land border with the 27-nation bloc. The British government has sought to renegotiate part of its divorce deal with the EU that requires customs and border checks on some goods moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.
