February 13, 2021 9:31 am
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iranian state TV reports that a fuel tanker has exploded at the Islam Qaleh crossing in Afghanistan’s western Herat province on the Iranian border. Several trucks were engulfed in flames after the explosion Saturday, the report said. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the explosion and there were no immediate reports of casualties. Fire spread to the Dogharoon customs facilities on the Iran side and first responders, including the fire department, the Iranian army and border forces were assisting in extinguishing the blaze.
February 13, 2021 9:23 am
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – Police say a suicide bomber died and seven civilians were wounded when a vehicle exploded near a checkpoint outside the presidential palace in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. A police spokesman says the driver defied orders to stop on Saturday morning, and police opened fire as passersby ran for their lives. He says more than a dozen vehicles were destroyed in the blast. The bombing occurred as Somali politicians argue over how to hold a delayed national election once set for Feb. 8. Some argue that the president has overstayed his mandate. The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group has threatened to attack the polls.
February 13, 2021 9:22 am
The University of Oxford plans to test its COVID-19 vaccine in children for the first time. The trial announced Saturday seeks to recruit 300 volunteers between the ages of 6 and 17, with up to 240 receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and the remainder a control meningitis vaccine. Andrew Pollard, chief researcher on the Oxford vaccine trial, says that while most children don’t get severely ill from COVID-19, the testing should be done as some children may benefit from vaccination. Regulators in more than 50 countries have authorized use of the Oxford vaccine, which is being produced and distributed by AstraZeneca, for use in people over the age of 18.
February 13, 2021 4:11 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The state Senate’s ranking member says Pennsylvania may need to postpone its primary election next year because of late-arriving data from the U.S. Census Bureau that’s necessary to redraw legislative and congressional districts. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman said Friday said it’ll be difficult to redraw district boundaries quickly enough to give would-be candidates time to make decisions about running. Next year’s primary election in Pennsylvania is scheduled for May 17, 2022. The state House and Senate will hold a joint committee hearing Wednesday on the impact of the delay. The U.S. Census Bureau said Friday it won’t deliver the data until the end of September. Officials blamed operational delays caused by the pandemic.
February 12, 2021 4:48 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – With Valentine’s Day coming, romance is in the air. The ongoing pandemic, however, has made dating even harder, leading many to turn to dating apps and websites to find someone special. A Washington County woman recently used a dating site and had more than her heart broken. State troopers said the victim was a victim of “catfishing” and was scammed out of $620,000. “She was talking to some military men online. Met on Facebook. They just took somebody’s picture and posed as them and here they were from Nigeria,” said Nadine Voelker. Voelker also has a friend who was scammed out of her hard earned money, too. Officials with the FBI office in Pittsburgh said last year, more than 5,700 people in western Pennsylvania were affected by romance scams. That’s 2,100 more than the year before. The total losses were about $20 million. The agency is warning people ahead of Valentine’s Day that criminals are using dating sites to build relationships and scam you out of your money. To avoid becoming a victim, the FBI recommends not giving away your financial information and don’t loan money out. Only use well-known dating sites and apps. Research photos and profiles and ask questions because scammers often create fake accounts. If you plan to meet someone in person, meet in a public place and let someone know where you are.
February 12, 2021 4:26 am
(AP) – The nation’s top public health agency says in-person schooling can be done safely with mask use, social distancing and other strategies, but vaccination of teachers, while important, is not a prerequisite for reopening. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released its long-awaited roadmap for getting students back to classrooms in the middle of a pandemic. But its guidance is just that – the agency cannot force schools to reopen, and agency officials were careful to say they are not calling for a mandate that all U.S. schools be reopened.
February 12, 2021 4:24 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ripped into the performance of his Cabinet and fired a senior economic official he appointed a month ago, saying they’d failed to come up with new ideas to salvage an economy in decay. The report by state media on Friday comes during the toughest period of Kim’s nine-year rule. The diplomacy he had hoped would lift U.S.-led sanctions over his nuclear program is stalemated, and pandemic border closures and crop-killing natural disasters last year deepened the damage to an economy broken by decades of policy failures. Some analysts say the current challenges may set up conditions for an economic catastrophe that destabilizes markets and triggers public panic and unrest.
February 12, 2021 4:23 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The city of San Francisco says that suicide rates of children have hit record highs in a lawsuit aimed at pushing the city’s school district to reopen classrooms. City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed the lawsuit Thursday in the San Francisco Superior Court. It includes testimony from hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area and doctors who cite alarming increases in suicidal youth. San Francisco’s public schools have been closed since March. The lawsuit argues that keeping the schools closed, despite city permission to reopen, violates the state constitution and is harming San Francisco’s children.
February 12, 2021 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump’s lawyers are arguing that his words to his supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol – to “fight like hell” – are common political rhetoric, using a video montage to show almost every single Senate Democrat using the word “fight” in political speeches. The lengthy video featured Vice President Kamala Harris, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and countless other Democrats using the word “fight,” without context. It also featured most of the Democratic impeachment managers who are prosecuting the case against Trump. Once the video finished, lawyer David Schoen pointed at both the senators and the impeachment managers and told them to “stop the hypocrisy.”
February 12, 2021 4:19 am
BUTLER, Pa. — Forty-year-old Rachel Powell has been released from jail. Powell is accused of using a large pipe to break a window at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and giving directions to fellow insurrectionists about how to take over the building. The government believes Powell may be a flight risk, but her attorney said she doesn’t have any prior criminal record. Her attorney also pointed out she did not physically harm anyone during the riot. Authorities searched Powell’s home and found several smashed cell phones; “go bags” with ammunition, rope, duct tape, throwing stars, knives, lighters, a tarp, zip ties and loaded magazines for an AK-47 rifle. Powell faces a long list of charges including violent entry or disorderly conduct, and entering a restricted building. She’s been ordered to remain on house arrest, meaning she must stay in the area and must wear a mask when leaving the house.
