October 18, 2024 4:56 am
NEW YORK — (AP) — PPG Industries plans to lay off about 1,800 employees amid efforts to cut costs, with the paints and coatings maker also inking a deal to sell a sizeable chunk of its architectural business. Pittsburgh-based PPG said Thursday that the job cuts would primarily impact positions in the U.S. and Europe. The timing of the layoffs was not immediately disclosed, but the company said the cuts were part of a larger multiyear program aimed at reducing structural worldwide — noting that this will also include “various facility closures,” without specifying further. “While these decisions are difficult, they are necessary to adjust our fixed cost base and to right-size our company,” Tim Knavish, PPG chairman and CEO, said in a prepared statement — pointing to two recently-announced business divestitures. PPG also announced that it had agreed to sell all of its U.S. and Canadian architectural coatings business — which houses brands like Liquid Nails, Glidden and Olympic and made up $2 billion in net sales for PPG last year — to private equity firm American Industrial Partners. The sale, expected to close in late 2024 or early 2025, is valued at $550 million.
October 17, 2024 2:08 pm
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military confirms that Hamas’ top leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by its forces in Gaza. Troops appeared to have run across him in a battle on Wednesday, only to discover afterwards that a body in the rubble was the man Israel has hunted for more than a year. Authorities conducted DNA tests on a body to determine if it was him. Sinwar was one of the chief architects of Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has “settled its account” with Sinwar but “war is not yet ended.” (Photo: AP)
October 17, 2024 12:46 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actor-dancer Mitzi Gaynor has died at age 93. Gaynor starred as Nellie Forbush in the 1958 film of “South Pacific” and appeared in other musicals with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly in the 1950s and early 1960s. She starred in the musicals “Golden Girl,” “The I Don’t Care Girl” and Bloodhounds of Broadway.” Gaynor, among the last survivors of the so-called golden age of the Hollywood musical, died of natural causes in Los Angeles on Thursday morning, her long-time managers Rene Reyes and Shane Rosamonda confirmed in a statement to The Associated Press. In the all-star “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” Gaynor danced with Donald O’Connor but was overshadowed by a rising star, Marilyn Monroe. (Photo: AP)
October 17, 2024 5:14 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse dating back decades. An attorney says it is the largest single child sex abuse settlement with a Catholic archdiocese. Attorneys for 1,353 people who allege that they suffered horrific abuse at the hands of local Catholic priests reached the settlement after months of negotiations with the archdiocese. Attorneys for the plaintiffs say there is justice in accountability. After the announcement of the agreement in principle, Archbishop José H. Gomez said in a statement, “I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart.”
October 17, 2024 5:13 am
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia judge has declared that seven new election rules recently passed by the State Election Board are “illegal, unconstitutional and void.” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox issued the order Wednesday after holding a hearing on challenges to the rules. The rules that Cox invalidated include three that had gotten a lot of attention — one that requires that the number of ballots be hand-counted after the close of polls and two that had to do with the certification of election results. He ordered the board to immediately remove the rules and to inform all state and local election officials that the rules are void and not to be followed.
October 17, 2024 5:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris engaged in a combative interview with Fox News on Wednesday. She sparred with anchor Bret Baier on immigration and her shifting policy positions while asserting that if elected, she would not represent a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency. Harris’ interview marked her first foray onto the network, which is popular with conservative viewers. She’s looking to broaden her outreach to GOP-leaning voters with less than three weeks until Election Day. Her nearly 30-minute sit-down with Baier repeatedly grew heated, with the two talking over each other. Harris tried repeatedly to pivot the conversation to attacking Trump.
October 17, 2024 5:08 am
In the months since he became Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance has repeatedly deflected questions about whether the Republican presidential nominee lost the 2020 election, saying he was focused on the future. During a rally in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, Vance was more declarative, saying “no” when asked about whether Trump lost the 2020 election. Vance said: “I think there are serious problems in 2020. So, did Donald Trump lose the election? Not by the words that I would use, OK?” The answer was the most specific Vance has been on the subject, and a departure from the series of evasions he has offered about the election Trump continues to say without evidence was decided fraudulently in favor of Democrat Joe Biden.
October 17, 2024 5:04 am
QANA, Lebanon (AP) — Officials say Israeli airstrikes have pounded areas across Lebanon, killing at least 27 people over the past 24 hours, including more than a dozen in a southern town where Israeli bombardments in previous conflicts are seared into local memory. Elsewhere in the south, a city’s mayor was among the dead in a strike Wednesday that Lebanese officials said targeted a meeting coordinating relief efforts. Fifteen people were killed late Tuesday in the southern town of Qana, with Israel saying it targeted Jalal Mustafa Hariri, a Hezbollah commander. In 1996, Israeli artillery shelling on a United Nations compound housing hundreds of displaced people in Qana killed at least 100 civilians.
October 17, 2024 5:03 am
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Former One Direction singer Liam Payne was found dead after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, local officials told Argentine media. He was 31. Buenos Aires police say in a statement that Payne fell from the third floor, resulting in “extremely serious injuries.” Medics confirmed his death on the spot. The spokesperson for the Security Ministry of Buenos Aires municipality tells The Associated Press that police were dispatched to the hotel in response to an emergency call about an “aggressive man” and Payne “had thrown himself from the balcony of his room.” Authorities are investigating the circumstances of his death and have not made an official cause of death determination.
October 17, 2024 4:58 am
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – Robinson Township leaders voted two to one on a new police department. McDonald Boro has been patrolling Robinson Township for 20 years and their contract expires this year. The township manager told Channel 11 it’s a decision they didn’t take lightly. Our evaluation process for choice of agency involved a combination of in-person interviews, polling, site visits and extensive consultations with the chiefs,” said Crystal Brown. “I do feel like Mount Pleasant township, although it was a controversial choice for some residents, I think it was a responsible choice.” The board received similar proposals from the North Fayette, McDonald, Smith and Mount Pleasant Departments. Mount Pleasant Chief Matthew Tharp gave Channel 11 a statement saying, “If the contracted service is finalized, we are excited at the opportunity to work with their community, visitors and business to provide professional police services as we do for our community now. We are fortunate enough to have five police officers who currently or previously worked for the municipality that previously covered Robinson Township, which will greatly aid in knowing many of their residents, streets and best routes to respond for emergencies in their community. ” Community members have been outspoken about the decision, with some embracing the chance and pushing for regionalization, others against the decision, and others want more questions answered.
