February 9, 2025 5:57 am
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas-led militants have released three gaunt, frail-looking Israeli hostages and Israel has freed 183 Palestinian prisoners in the fifth exchange of a ceasefire that has paused the war in Gaza. The hostages’ condition and scenes of Hamas forcing them to speak in the handover sparked outrage in Israel. Families again feared for the dozens of others still held in Gaza. Not all are alive. It could increase pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the ceasefire. Up next are talks on the truce’s more difficult second phase, when Hamas is to release dozens more hostages in return for a lasting ceasefire.
February 9, 2025 5:53 am
LONDON (AP) — Ever since Winston Churchill coined the phrase, politicians have extolled the “special relationship” between the United States and Britain. Under President Donald Trump’s second administration, Britain will settle for a merely functional relationship with its former colony turned most important ally. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is racing to bolster its diplomatic and economic defenses for a turbulent new trans-Atlantic era. University College London historian Kathleen Burk, who is an expert on U.S.-U.K. relations, says the relationship is in uncharted waters. British officials say Starmer hopes to visit Washington in the coming weeks, but he has yet to receive an invitation from Trump.
February 9, 2025 5:50 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said an elevated U.S. security partnership with South Korea and Japan poses a grave threat to his country and vowed to further bolster his nuclear weapons program. Kim has previously made similar warnings, but his latest statement implies again that he won’t likely embrace President Donald Trump’s overture to meet him and revive diplomacy anytime soon. State media said Sunday that Kim called a U.S. push to boost a trilateral military partnership with Japan and South Korea a “grave” security challenge. Kim was cited as reaffirming “the unshakable policy of more highly developing the nuclear forces.”
February 9, 2025 3:51 am
CANONSBURG, Pa. —(WPXI)- Coworkers of a mother of three who was shot and killed inside a home in Westmoreland County are in mourning. Estela Vasquez, who went by Aby, was shot and killed inside of her Rostraver home on Wednesday. Police arrested her live-in boyfriend, Robert Chaplin, who they said was highly intoxicated when they got to the home. Vasquez was the mother of three children and worked on the chocolate assembly line for Sarris Candies and was a translator for other workers. She moved to the Pittsburgh area from Guatemala and got a job at the Sarris Candies line in Canonsburg. “It’s devastating, she was a wonderful person, loved working here. It was all over her social media page,” Sarris Candies Owner Bill Sarris said. Sarris said Wednesday was the first day Vasquez did not show up for work and they feared something was wrong. He had the difficult task of telling the staff, which he said are like family to one another. “She brought people in from Guatemala, all great workers and she was their translator. She was the one who did all the connecting with everybody. Everybody loved her,” Sarris said. “We told the employees at lunchtime. They were devastated. A lot of them had to leave.” Vasquez’s children are ages 16, 13 and 10. Police who responded to the home said they found her in the basement with a gunshot wound to the chest after one of those kids called 911 for help. Chaplin is from South Carolina. He told police multiple times that he shot Vasquez by accident but police said they found several spent shell casings near her body. He is being held in jail at this time.
February 9, 2025 3:31 am
Washington County Commissioners are continuing their efforts to update the county fleet of vehicles. This time they are doing it in ways that may surprise some people. Commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved a measure to purchase four electric vehicles from Woltz and Wind Ford, the sister dealership to Washington Ford. They will be receiving three 2025 F-150 Lightning trucks and one 2025 Ford Mustang AWD vehicle plus charging stations. According to Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman, the vehicles are being paid for under a Biden administration grant through the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant. Two of the trucks will be used in county parks. The charging stations will be installed in the parks and will be available for park visitors to use to charge their vehicles as well. Sherman says that the county is still devoted to gas and oil drilling, but they still can take advantage of four free vehicles and maintain a commitment to reducing air pollution with these vehicles.
February 8, 2025 9:34 am
Nearly three years after President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, his troops are making steady progress on the battlefield. Kyiv is grappling with shortages of men and weapons. And a new U.S. president could soon halt Ukraine’s massive supply of military aid. Russian and Western analysts say Putin is closer than ever to achieving his objectives in the battle-weary country, with little incentive to come to the negotiating table, no matter how much U.S. President Donald Trump might cajole or threaten him. Both are signaling their readiness for discussions on Ukraine -– by phone or in person -– using a combination of flattery and threats.
February 8, 2025 9:28 am
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israel is releasing 183 Palestinian prisoners in the latest exchange for Israeli hostages held in Gaza, part of a ceasefire that has paused the war but whose future is uncertain. Israel views the security prisoners as terrorists, while Palestinians see them as freedom fighters resisting a decades-long military occupation. Nearly every Palestinian has a friend or family member who has been jailed by Israel at some point, for militant attacks or lesser offenses like rock-throwing, protesting or membership in a banned political group. Some are held for months or years without trial.
February 8, 2025 4:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has dealt President Donald Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk their first big setback in their dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, ordering a temporary halt to plans to pull thousands of agency staffers off the job. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, also agreed to block an order that would have given the thousands of USAID workers the administration wanted to place on abrupt administrative leave just 30 days to move back to the U.S. on government expense. Both moves would have exposed the U.S. workers and their spouses and children to unwarranted risk and expense, the judge said.
February 8, 2025 4:01 am
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Authorities say a small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on its way to the hub community of Nome has been located on sea ice and all 10 on board are dead. Mike Salerno is a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard. He says rescuers were searching the aircraft’s last known location by helicopter when they spotted the wreckage. A Coast Guard photo shows the plane’s splintered body and debris lying on the ice. Two people in brightly colored emergency gear circle the wreckage. The Bering Air single-engine turboprop plane was traveling from Unalakleet on Thursday afternoon with nine passengers and a pilot. It lost contact less than an hour after takeoff.
February 8, 2025 3:58 am
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’s revoking former President Joe Biden’s access to government secrets and ending the daily intelligence briefings he’s receiving in payback for Biden doing the same to him in 2021. Trump made the announcement Friday on social media shortly after arriving at Mar-a-Lago for the weekend. He said “there is no need” for Biden to continue to receive access to classified information and said it would be revoked “immediately.” He ended his post by saying, “I will always protect our National Security — JOE, YOU’RE FIRED. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Biden didn’t immediately comment on the move.
