February 21, 2020 12:55 pm
ISLAMABAD (AP) – A temporary truce between the United States and the Taliban has taken effect, setting the stage for the two sides to sign a peace deal next week. If successfully implemented, the weeklong “reduction in violence” agreement will be followed by the signing of the peace accord aimed at ending 18 years of war in Afghanistan and bringing U.S. troops home. That would wrap up America’s longest-running conflict and fulfill one of President Donald Trump’s main campaign promises. That agreement would be signed in Doha, Qatar, on February 29 and lead to the start of all-Afghan peace talks and a phased withdrawal of American troops.
February 21, 2020 8:51 am
BEIJING (AP) – China has suspended more punitive tariffs imposed on U.S. imports following a truce in its trade war with Washington that threatened global economic growth. The goods affected include industrial components and medical and factory equipment. Beijing imposed penalties after the Trump administration hiked duties on Chinese goods in 2018 in response to complaints China was hurting U.S. companies by pressuring them to hand over technology. President Donald Trump reduced some of those duties, effective last week. That followed the signing of a “Phase 1” agreement in January seen as a possible step toward ending their tariff war.
February 21, 2020 4:24 am
TOKYO (AP) – Japan’s health minister said the last cruise ship passengers who tested negative for a new virus will leave the Diamond Princess on Friday after a much-criticized quarantine of the vessel ended. The ship has the most COVID-19 cases outside of China, with 634 confirmed cases and two deaths among former passengers. Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said the mass disembarkation is set to end Friday, while dozens of foreign passengers return home, many to face second quarantines. Israel returned 14 people early Friday, and Australia said two of its returnees tested positive.
February 21, 2020 4:24 am
BEIJING (AP) – China reported another fall in new virus cases as health officials expressed continued optimism over containment of the outbreak that has caused more than 2,200 deaths but has grown elsewhere. Containment has been a struggle far from the epicenter in central China. South Korea’s capital banned street rallies and the government sent help to a city where cases have surged. Newly reported infections in China have fallen for days, although changes in how health authorities have counted cases have muddied the true trajectory of the epidemic. China’s count of 889 cases brought its total to 75,465.
February 21, 2020 4:22 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump, has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for obstructing a congressional investigation in a case that has sparked fears about presidential interference in the justice system Soon after Judge Amy Berman Jackson pronounced sentence on Thursday, Trump publicly decried Stone’s conviction as unfair. But Trump says he isn’t ready to act just yet on a pardon. Trump had denounced as a “miscarriage of justice” the initial Justice Department recommendation that Stone receive at least seven years in prison. Attorney General William Barr backed off that recommendation, prompting four prosecutors to quit Stone’s case.
February 21, 2020 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Intelligence officials have warned lawmakers that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election campaign to help President Donald Trump get reelected. That’s according to three officials familiar with the closed-door briefing. The disclosure raises questions about the integrity of the presidential campaign and whether Trump’s administration is taking the proper steps to combat the kind of interference that the U.S. saw in 2016. The warning was first reported by The New York Times and The Washington Post. A senior administration official said it infuriated Trump, who complained that Democrats would use the information against him. (Photo: CNN)
February 21, 2020 4:19 am
The start of deer rifle season is a time honored tradition that saw a huge change last hunting season. The Pennsylvania Game Commission moved the traditional start date of deer rifle season from the Monday after Thanksgiving to the Saturday after Thanksgiving in order to try to increase the sales of hunting licenses and allow younger hunters that may be in school the opportunity to enjoy the sport. Representative Bud Cook hosted a public hearing of the state house’s Game and Fisheries Committee and tried to gain insight on the subject. Cook tells us that each start date has positive and negative consequences. Families with young hunters liked the new date. Hunters that have camps do not like the move because it eliminates set up time that normally went on over the weekend before opening day. Testimony from the game commission pointed to gains in license sales as a positive. Dennis Fredricks stated that the move may have eliminated an excuse hunters used to hunt in Ohio and New York with weekend hunting now available in Pennsylvania. Testimony from Randy Santucci, Southwest Regional Director of the group Unified Sportsmen showed evidence of economic disaster. A poll of 10 retailers in northern Pennsylvania reported a combined loss of more than $360,000 in the two days lost due to the moving of opening day. Public comment on the subject of opening day is welcomed by the Game commission until April 7.
February 21, 2020 4:15 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A defense attorney for a sheriff accused of corruption has told Pennsylvania appeals court judges that his client should not be tried again after his first case ended in a mistrial. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Tuesday that former Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held’s lawyer says there is not enough evidence from the first trial to warrant a second. Held is accused of instructing on-duty staffers to participate in reelection campaign activities. The first trial was declared a mistrial in December 2018 after a jury failed to reach a verdict. The Superior Courtájudges will rule at a later date.
February 21, 2020 4:14 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The notion of banning fracking is dividing the Democrats running for president and increasingly dividing Democrats in the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania. The divide was clear, again, on Wednesday night’s debate stage in Las Vegas during questioning about climate change. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says moving to energy efficiency and sustainable energy will create up to 20 million new jobs. Other Democrats on stage preferred to refer to natural gas as a “transition fuel” to non-fossil fuels and talked about getting tough on methane emissions. Pennsylvania’s top Democrats have tried to discourage talk of a fracking ban, while labor leaders point to thousands of building trades members working in the industry.
February 21, 2020 2:30 am
BETHEL PARK, Pa. — (WPXI)- Police have announced that a missing teen has been located in the City of Pittsburgh. Bethel Park police had asked for the public’s help in finding the 19-year-old with autism. According to police, Nathyn Hoffman had last seen around 7 a.m. Thursday at the Fairfield Inn on Neville Island. Police said he left Bethel Park Wednesday evening without his medication. He has autism and is bipolar, according to investigators.
