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.
May 23, 2021 4:37 am
The Office of Open Records partially ruled in favor of State Representative Jason Ortitay (R-46) on his appeal of records withheld by the Wolf administration regarding the advertisement of a constitutional amendment that would give victims of childhood sexual abuse recourse in civil court. The Office of Open Records ruled that 56 records were withheld by the Wolf administration in error, and must provide them to Ortitay in 30 days or appeal to the Commonwealth Court. Earlier this month, the House approved an Ortitay resolution creating a Select Committee on the Publication of Constitutional Amendments to study how constitutional amendments are advertised.
May 23, 2021 4:10 am
Authorities are searching for the suspect involved in a reported drive-by shooting in the City of Washington Thursday night. Washington City Police were called to the intersection of Ridge and Shannon Avenues around 8:30 p.m. The suspect, believed to be 26-year-old Maceo Saunders, fled the scene by vehicle before police arrived. Police say a teenage girl was shot in the leg and taken to Washington Hospital for treatment. Police say Saunders already has an outstanding warrant for criminal attempted homicide and is also wanted by the Washington County Adult Probation Office. Authorities say Saunders whereabouts is unknown at this time and they are asking for assistance from the public to find him. Police say Saunders should be considered armed and dangerous and if you see him or know where he is, you’re advised to call Washington County 911. Police are also asking Saunders to turn himself into them or Adult Probation.
May 22, 2021 9:25 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – New body-camera video of Ronald Greene’s arrest shows Louisiana state troopers ordering the shackled, beaten Black man to keep lying facedown — a tactic that may have hindered his breathing — and an autopsy cited restraint and “inflicted head injury” among the factors in his death. The Associated Press obtained still more investigative details of Greene’s 2019 arrest this week after it published previously unreleased footage that showed troopers converging on his car after a high-speed chase, repeatedly jolting him with stun guns, putting him in a chokehold, beating him and dragging him by his ankle shackles.
May 22, 2021 9:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden says he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in remain “deeply concerned” about the situation with North Korea. Biden says he will deploy a new special envoy to the region to help refocus efforts on pressing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Moon is welcoming “America’s return” to the world stage, while Biden is praising the “long history of shared sacrifice” by the two allies. Biden says the U.S. has agreed to vaccinate 550,000 South Korean service members who serve alongside U.S. forces on the peninsula. Biden is also noting South Korea’s growing influence on American culture, saying, “K-pop fans are universal.”
May 22, 2021 9:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Prospects for a vast infrastructure deal have been thrown into serious doubt. The White House has reduced President Joe Biden’s sweeping proposal to $1.7 trillion, but Republican senators are rejecting the compromise as disappointing, saying “vast differences” remain. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki disclosed the new offer as Cabinet secretaries and GOP senators were negotiating. Skepticism had been rising on all sides amid complaints about the lack of significant movement off the opening bids. Republicans had offered a $568 billion plan. The president’s team had set a soft Memorial Day deadline to determine whether a deal was within reach.
