February 6, 2026 4:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military says it has carried out another deadly strike on a vessel accused of trafficking drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean. U.S. Southern Command said Thursday on social media that the boat “was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” It said the strike killed two people. A video linked to the post shows a boat moving through the water before exploding in flames. Thursday’s attack raises the death toll from the Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug boats to 128 people.
February 6, 2026 4:59 am
MOSCOW (AP) — A deputy chief of Russian military intelligence has been shot and wounded. Officials say Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev was attacked by an unidentified assailant in Moscow. The incident happened on Friday. Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko says Alekseyev was hospitalized. She did not comment on who might be behind the attack. Alekseyev has served as the first deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence since 2011. Several top Russian military officers have been assassinated in attacks that Moscow blamed on Ukraine. The attack came a day after Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators wrapped up two days of talks in Abu Dhabi. The Russian delegation was led by the military intelligence chief, Adm. Igor Kostyukov.
February 5, 2026 5:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says it would be up to the president to decide whether to sue Kevin Warsh, Donald Trump’s nominee for Federal Reserve chair, if he doesn’t lower interest rates. Trump joked about suing Warsh during a private dinner on Saturday. He later told reporters it was all in jest. Sen. Elizabeth Warren questioned Bessent about Trump’s remarks during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Wednesday. Concerns have risen over the Trump administration’s interference with the Fed’s independence. Sen. Thom Tillis has said he won’t support Warsh’s nomination until an investigation into current Fed chair Jerome Powell is resolved.
February 6, 2026 4:58 am
HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares are mostly lower after Wall Street extended losses driven by technology stocks. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.8% as tech shares in Japan bounced back. U.S. futures edged lower and bitcoin sank about 8% to roughly half its record price, erasing gains since U.S. President Donald Trump was elected for a second term. Oil prices were higher, while gold and silver prices fell following some recovery earlier in the week. On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 1.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.2% and the Nasdaq composite fell 1.6%.
February 5, 2026 5:48 pm
Authorities say the fire at the Bentley Tower in Bentleyville Monday night was caused by someone smoking. The blaze broke out in the senior high rise in an apartment on the seventh floor and was contained to that one unit. Officials say a 68 year old female was flown to Mercy Hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation and burns, while another resident on that floor was also flown to Mercy for treatment of smoke inhalation.
February 5, 2026 5:37 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration is set to launch TrumpRx, a website to help patients buy prescription drugs directly from manufacturers at discounted rates. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Thursday’s expected unveiling in a social media post. The website is not a purchasing platform but directs users to drugmakers’ own sites. President Trump first mentioned TrumpRx in September, highlighting deals with pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices. The website’s release faced delays, but it now showcases efforts to reduce costs through agreements with major companies like Pfizer and AstraZeneca. However, the actual savings for consumers remain unclear.
February 5, 2026 9:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits jumped last week but remains in the same historically low range of the past few years. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending Jan. 31 rose by 22,000 to 231,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s significantly more than the 211,000 new applications that analysts had forecast. Applications for unemployment benefits are seen as representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market. The total number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the previous week ending Jan. 24 grew by 25,000 to 1.84 million.
February 5, 2026 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A hearing with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent turned chaotic Wednesday as Democratic lawmakers clashed with him over fiscal policy and Trump family conflicts. The hearing of the House Financial Services Committee featured fiery exchanges and insults from Bessent. Texas Rep. Sylvia Garcia snapped at Bessent for demeaning comments, while Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch expressed frustration with his interruptions. California Rep. Maxine Waters asked if someone could “shut him up.” Experts say it was an unusual level of combativeness for a treasury secretary, whose role typically avoids political theater. Bessent is set to appear before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
February 4, 2026 2:18 am
Charleroi Borough Manager Joe Manning announced on Wednesday that officials have condemned the offices of District Magistrate Eric Porter, after a water leak caused the building to become uninhabitable. Crews from the Charleroi Fire Department were initially dispatched for a reported water leak and observed collapsed ceilings and water in the basement of the structure and requested assistance from the Borough Code Enforcement Office as well as West Penn Power. Following inspection of the building, electric service was removed and officials took action to condemn the structure. Borough officials have reached out to Judge Porter and the Washington County Court Administrator’s office to assist in temporarily relocating Judge Porter and his staff. Manning says they may use the borough building as a temporary judicial office.
February 4, 2026 2:44 am
Officers with the McDonald Police Department say Raymond Bertovich III was arrested Monday on a warrant for recklessly endangering another person and possession of instruments of crime. Police say they executed the warrant at Bertovich’s home in the 400 block of Fannie Street, where they found two .9 mm pistols, several hundred rounds of ammunition, drug paraphernalia indicating marijuana cultivation and use, unknown pills, documents, fake urine and “prohibited offensive weapons.” They say three other guns were reportedly seized, including an AR-type rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and an AK47 rifle. Police say charges for firearm and drug violations are pending. Authorities say the investigation is the result of Bertovich firing a rifle and shotgun from his back deck early on New Year’s Day, when the department received multiple calls about the incident, but a responding officer wasn’t able to make contact. Bertovich is being held in the Allegheny County Jail on ten-thousand-dollars bond.
