September 2, 2019 9:25 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The U.S. Coast Guard says it has launched several boats to help more than 30 people “in distress” off the coast of southern California. Tweets from the Coast Guard in Los Angeles said there were reports the people were on a boat that was on fire near Santa Cruz Island. One tweet said some crew members had been rescued, and rescuers were working to evacuate the remaining passengers. One crew member had minor injuries. Santa Cruz Island is off the coast of Santa Barbara.
September 2, 2019 9:23 am
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran is for the first time acknowledging that a rocket explosion took place at its Imam Khomeini Space Center, with an official saying a technical malfunction caused the blast.
Government spokesman Ali Rabiei made the statement on Monday in comments broadcast by Iranian state television. He said the explosion caused no fatalities and also that officials had found no sign that sabotage was involved in the explosion. Satellite photos showed a rocket on a launch pad at the space center had exploded Thursday. The space center is located about 240 kilometers, or 150 miles, southeast of the capital, Tehran. President Donald Trump on Friday tweeted a surveillance photo likely taken of the site by an American spy satellite. He wrote that the U.S. had nothing to do with the blast.
September 2, 2019 9:12 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WPXI) – The Pittsburgh Aviation Animal Rescue Team is evacuating shelters in Charleston, South Carolina ahead of Hurricane Dorian. Officials said a team was on their way back to the Allegheny County Airport on Sunday with 16 dogs, 12 cats and two rabbits. Early Sunday morning, another team brought 11 dogs to an animal hospital in Lawrenceville. The non-profit said they are helping to make room in the shelters in South Carolina for animals expected to be displaced by the hurricane
September 2, 2019 9:10 am
OHIOPYLE, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say a man on a whitewater rafting trip was thrown into a western Pennsylvania river and died after his foot apparently became trapped under a rock. Ohiopyle State Park operations manager Ken Bisbee told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the man was part of an eight-member group that had rented two rafts from White Water Adventurers on Saturday. Bisbee said the county 911 emergency center contacted the park at about 1 p.m. Saturday about a raft that had overturned at River’s End Rapid on the Youghiogheny River. He said the man had apparently put a foot down on the river bottom, something rafters are typically warned against doing if they are thrown into the water. His body was recovered at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday. His name hasn’t been released.
September 2, 2019 4:21 am
LONDON (AP) – British Prime Minster Boris Johnson is getting tough with members of his Conservative Party who oppose his Brexit plans. The so-called “rebels” are being warned that they will be suspended from the party if they take part in efforts led by opposition parties in Parliament meant to block a departure from the European Union without a deal. Lawmakers are returning from their summer recess this week for a brief session that promises to be a dramatic week in British politics. They are pledging to challenge Johnson’s policy that the U.K. will leave the EU on Oct. 31, even if there is no deal. Without such a deal, Britain faces a chaotic Brexit that economists warn would disrupt trade by imposing tariffs and customs checks between Britain and the bloc.
September 2, 2019 4:17 am
BULGER, Pa. – A Bulger man is dead after crashing on an ATV early SUnday morning in Washington County. Zachary T. VanVoorhis, 28, was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. The victim was riding an ATV southbound on Candor Road when he lost control around a curve and was thrown from the vehicle near the 1600 block around 2:30 a.m. Fort Cherry Ambulance, McDonald Fire Department and Midway Fire Department all arrived on scene to assist the McDonald Police Department. VanVoorhis was pronounced dead at approximately 4:00 a.m. The cause and manner of death is still pending, and the incident is under investigation by the McDonald Police Department.
September 2, 2019 4:16 am
PENN HILLS, Pa. (WPXI) – An Amber Alert was issued after a toddler was abducted in Penn Hills on Saturday, according to police. Allegheny County police have arrested Sharena Islam Nancy, the driver of the Toyota Yaris in connection with the abduction of Nalani Johnson. Nancy is facing several charges including kidnapping of a minor and concealment of whereabouts of a child. Police said the girl was abducted by Sharena Islam Nancy, a 25-year-old Indian American female. Police said Nancy was driving a 2017 black Toyota Yaris with PA plate KLW3926 with Lyft and Uber stickers on the front passenger side window. Police said they found Nancy and the car involved and said she was being questioned at the police department. County police, the lead agency now in the investigation, said they are being helped by the FBI. The agency said shortly after the alleged abduction, Nancy drove to Monroeville, where the car was spotted near the intersection of Route 48 and Route 22 shortly after 5 p.m. During their investigation, police said the black Toyota Yaris traveled to the Blairsville, New Alexandria and Delmont areas of Westmoreland County during the 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. time frame. Family members say Nancy was giving a ride to Nalani, her father and a friend. When Nalani’s father got out of the car and went around to get the girl out is when Nancy allegedly took off with the child. (Photo: WPXI)
September 1, 2019 8:39 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis says he was stuck for 25 minutes in a Vatican elevator and had to be rescued by firefighters. Francis apologized to faithful in St. Peter’s Square Sunday for showing up seven minutes late for his traditional noon appointment with the public. Apparently referring to electric power, Francis said a “drop in tension” caused the elevator to block. He said that Holy See firefighters rescued him and asked the people in the square to applaud them.
September 1, 2019 8:38 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration’s latest round of tariffs on Chinese imports have taken effect, potentially raising prices Americans pay for some clothes, shoes, sporting goods and other consumer goods in advance of the holiday shopping season. The 15% taxes apply to about $112 billion of Chinese imports. All told, more than two-thirds of the consumer goods the United States imports from China now face higher taxes. The administration had largely avoided hitting consumer items in its earlier rounds of tariff hikes. But with prices of many consumer goods now likely to rise, the administration’s move threatens the U.S. economy’s main driver: Consumer spending. As businesses pull back on investment spending and exports slow in the face of weak global growth, American shoppers have been a key bright spot for the economy.
September 1, 2019 8:37 am
MIAMI (AP) – Weather forecasters say Hurricane Dorian has intensified to a Category 5 storm, capable of inflicting catastrophic levels of destruction. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Sunday that Dorian’s maximum sustained winds have increased to 160 mph (260 kph), up from 150 mph (240 kph). It is moving west at 8 mph (13 kph) “Devastating hurricane conditions” are expected in the Abacos Islands early Sunday, with conditions will spread across Grand Bahama Island later in the day, the center said. In its advisory at 8 a.m. EDT, the center says the storm’s center is 35 miles (55 kilometers) east of Great Abaco Island and 225 miles (360 kilometers) east of West Palm Beach.
