June 14, 2021 4:31 am
BRUSSELS (AP) – NATO leaders have declared that China poses a constant security challenge and is working to undermine global order. And they say they’re worried about how fast the Chinese are developing nuclear missiles. It’s a summit message in Brussels on Monday in sync with President Joe Biden’s efforts to get allies to speak out with a more unified voice against China’s trade, military and human rights practices. Biden, meanwhile, reaffirmed America’s commitment to the NATO alliance that has been beleaguered during the presidency of Donald Trump.
June 14, 2021 4:30 am
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Vermont became the first state in the country to vaccinate at least 80% of the eligible population, prompting Gov. Phil Scott to lift all remaining state COVID-19 restrictions. Vermont crossed the threshold on Sunday when the state vaccinated 1,151 people, reaching a level of 80.2% of those over age 12. The goal was reached 464 days after Scott declared the state of emergency on March 13, 2020. The state has now vaccinated 81.1% of the population over 18, exceeding President Biden’s goal of 70% of those 18 and older.
June 14, 2021 4:29 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department will tighten its rules around obtaining records from members of Congress. The news comes amid revelations the department under former President Donald Trump had secretly seized records from Democrats and members of the media and amid the news that the Justice Department’s top national security official is resigning. John Demers will leave his position by the end of next week. That’s according to a Justice Department official who spoke Monday to The Associated Press. The resignation comes amid questions about what Demers knew about the Justice Department’s efforts to confiscate phone data from House Democrats and reporters as part of the aggressive investigations into leaks.
June 14, 2021 4:28 am
JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel has a new prime minister for the first time in 12 years after Naftali Bennett secured the backing of parliament and ousted longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu. The two were slated to hold a handover meeting on Monday, but without the formal ceremony that traditionally accompanies a change in government. The new government was sworn in late on Sunday and set to work on Monday morning, with ministers announcing appointments of new ministry directors. A Netanyahu aide said the former prime minister was “full of motivation” as he assumes a role in the opposition “to topple this dangerous government as soon as possible.”
June 14, 2021 4:16 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Pittsburgh Police Special Victims Unit detectives are asking for the public’s help in locating a missing woman. Janet McGregor,74, was last seen Sunday around Noon in the Oakwood neighborhood. McGregor is 5 feet 2 Inches tall, 190 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She may be driving her 2008 Hyundai, PA plate HYM5681. If you have any information on her whereabouts, please call police at (412) 323-7141.
June 14, 2021 4:12 am
(WPXI) – The Department of Defense, in cooperation with local and state law enforcement, will be conducting training in and around the Pittsburgh area from Sunday until June 19. This is a planned exercise and is not in response to any current world events, according to a news release from Pittsburgh Public Safety. During this period, the public may see or hear low-flying aircraft over parts of Southwestern Pennsylvania, which is routine for this type of training. However, the exercise is expected to have minimal impact to the public.
June 14, 2021 4:10 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Two workers at a plasma donation center died after a car crashed into a building along Western Avenue in the Manchester neighborhood on Saturday. Medics also pronounced a person in the car deceased. Parveena Begum Abdul, 55, and Laura Elaine Meneskie, 35, were both killed when the crash happened. A Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) notification was issued due to the severity of the damage and the unknown amount of entrapped victims at the time that police and EMS arrived. Police said two others were also injured. One of them is in critical condition. A medic from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and two Pittsburgh Firefighters were treated for minor smoke inhalation as well. There were around 10 employees and five donors in the building at the time. A small fire started in the building after the crash and two first responders were treated for smoke inhalation.
June 13, 2021 8:01 am
CHICAGO (AP) — Two people were killed and at least 30 others wounded in mass shootings overnight in three states, authorities said Saturday, stoking concerns that a spike in U.S. gun violence could continue into summer as coronavirus restrictions ease and more people are free to socialize. The attacks took place late Friday or early Saturday in the Texas capital of Austin, Chicago and Savannah, Georgia. In Austin, authorities said they arrested one of two male suspects and were searching for the other after a shooting early Saturday on a crowded pedestrian-only street packed with bars and restaurants. Fourteen people were wounded, including two critically, in the gunfire, which the city’s interim police chief said is believed to have started as a dispute between two parties. No arrests were reported by late Saturday in the two other shootings. In Chicago, a woman was killed and nine other people were wounded when two men opened fire on a group standing on a sidewalk in the Chatham neighborhood on the city’s South Side. The shooters also got away and hadn’t been identified by mid-afternoon Saturday.
June 13, 2021 7:59 am
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is set to swear in a new government on Sunday that will send Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into the opposition after a record 12 years in office and a political crisis that sparked four elections in two years. Naftali Bennett, the head of a small ultranationalist party, will take over as prime minister. But if he wants to keep the job, he will have to maintain an unwieldy coalition of parties from the political right, left and center. The eight parties, including a small Arab faction that is making history by sitting in the ruling coalition, are united in their opposition to Netanyahu and new elections but agree on little else. They are likely to pursue a modest agenda that seeks to reduce tensions with the Palestinians and maintain good relations with the U.S. without launching any major initiatives. Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, remains the head of the largest party in parliament and is expected to vigorously oppose the new government. If just one faction bolts, it could lose its majority and would be at risk of collapse, giving him an opening to return to power.
June 13, 2021 7:57 am
CARBIS BAY, England (AP) — The Group of Seven leaders aim to end their first summit in two years with a punchy set of promises Sunday, including vaccinating the world against coronavirus, making huge corporations pay their fair share of taxes and tackling climate change with a blend of technology and money. They want to show that international cooperation is back after the upheavals caused by the pandemic and the unpredictability of former U.S. President Donald Trump. And they want to convey that the club of wealthy democracies — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — is a better friend to poorer nations than authoritarian rivals such as China. But it was uncertain how firm the group’s commitments will be on coronavirus vaccines, the economy and the environment when the leaders issue their final communique. Also unclear was whether all of the leaders would back the United States’ call to chastise China for repressing its Uyghur minority and other abuses. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the summit’s host, wanted the three-day meeting to fly the flag for a “Global Britain,” his government’s push to give the midsized country outsized global influence. Yet Brexit cast a shadow over that goal during the summit on the coast of southwest England. European Union leaders and U.S. President Joe Biden voiced concerns about problems with new U.K.-EU trade rules that have heightened tensions in Northern Ireland. But overall, the mood has been positive: The leaders smiled for the cameras on the beach at cliff-fringed Carbis Bay, a village and resort that became a traffic-clogged fortress for the meeting. The last G-7 summit was in France in 2019, with last year’s event in the United States scuttled by the pandemic.
