May 17, 2025 4:34 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone has struck a passenger bus in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, killing nine people and injuring four others. Ukrainian officials said the attack happened on Saturday, just hours after Moscow and Kyiv held their first direct peace talks in years which failed to yield a ceasefire. The Sumy regional administration said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that “this is another war crime by Russia — a deliberate strike on civilian transport that posed no threat.” The peace talks ended after less than two hours on Friday, with both sides agreeing on a large prisoner swap while a ceasefire remained elusive.
May 17, 2025 4:12 am
Pennsylvania’s two largest cities will hold primaries Tuesday for high-profile municipal offices. Voters across the commonwealth will choose nominees for statewide appellate court judgeships. The election is a prelude to November, when voters could scramble partisan control of the state Supreme Court. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner faces a Democratic primary challenge from former Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Pat Dugan. Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey faces a Democratic primary challenge from Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor. In both contests, the eventual Democratic nominees will be heavily favored in the general election.
May 17, 2025 4:09 am
Significant rainfall and flooding this week forced the closure of the Mason-Dixon Highway Bridge in Boynton, Somerset County. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll, along with several PennDot officials visited the site to lay out the department’s plan to quickly restore traffic flow on highway U.S. 219. Inspection of the bridge after water receded revealed that the bridge sustained significant damage and needed to be replaced. According to Carroll, “The department will install a temporary bridge to quickly get people and local commerce moving through here again, and then we will replace the bridge.” Work has begun to install the temporary bridge. Detours have been posted for traffic to navigate around the damaged structure. An average of 4700 vehicles cross the 80 foot bridge daily.
May 16, 2025 4:22 am
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump has used the first major foreign trip of his second term to outline a vision for restoring global stability that is grounded in pragmatism and self-interest rather than values. His four-day swing through Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates puts a spotlight on Trump’s transactional approach to foreign affairs as he was feted by autocratic rulers. His trip played out against the backdrop of stubborn global conflicts that showed the limits of his influence. But Trump insisted he was turning the page on American “interventionalism” as he moved to recognize the new government in Syria for the first time and prodded Iran to engage on nuclear talks.
May 16, 2025 4:20 am
A federal judge in Maryland will hear arguments over whether the Trump administration can invoke the state secrets privilege in the court case involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The judge had ordered Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador in April after he was mistakenly deported. She has since directed the administration to provide information about what it’s done to bring him back. Government lawyers say those details are protected state secrets. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys disagree. They note that President Donald Trump and his administration have repeatedly discussed the case publicly and said Abrego Garcia won’t return. The judge’s hearing was set to begin Friday afternoon.
May 16, 2025 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seems intent on keeping a block on President Donald Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship while looking for a way to scale back nationwide court orders. It’s unclear what such a decision might look like. But a majority of the court expressed concerns Thursday about what would happen if the Trump administration were allowed, even temporarily, to deny citizenship to the children born of some immigrants. The justices heard arguments in Trump’s emergency appeals over lower court orders that have kept the restrictions on hold nationwide while lawsuits go forward. Nationwide injunctions have emerged as a check on Trump’s efforts to remake the government and a source of frustration to the Republican president.
May 16, 2025 4:17 am
ATLANTA (AP) — A hospital is using a breathing tube and other measures to keep a brain-dead Georgia woman’s body functioning because she is pregnant. Her family says it should have the option to stop the life-support devices but that they’ve been told state law removes that choice. Georgia bars abortion in most cases after cardiac activity can be detected, which is usually around six weeks into pregnancy. One expert says whether states can force measures to preserve the life of a fetus are murky in the aftermath of the 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door to state abortion bans.
May 15, 2025 4:08 am
State Representative Bud Cook (R-50) is hosting a Student Advisors Forum. The event is taking place Friday, May 16 beginning at 1:00 p.m. at the Convocation Center on the campus of Pennwest University California. The event is designed to keep local students engaged in both government and growth in the area, with the goal of having local students remain in the area after their graduation. The event is comprised of 5 groups comprised of two students making 10 minute presentations. The presentations center on assets, attractions and activities within the boundaries of their school districts. The school districts represented at the event are West Greene, Southeastern Greene, Carmichaels Area, Jefferson Morgan and California Area. Doors for the event open at noon, photo opportunities begin at 2:00 pm.
May 16, 2025 4:05 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI)-A woman has pleaded guilty to vandalizing a Squirrel Hill synagogue. The words “Jews 4 Palestine” and an inverted triangle were spray-painted onto the exterior of Chabad of Squirrel Hill last July. An entry sign at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh was vandalized on the same day. Two people were later federally charged with the vandalism. On Thursday, Talya Lubit, of Pittsburgh, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and defacing and damaging a religious building. During the multi-federal agency investigation, agents uncovered that Lubit had been communicating with a man named Muhammad Hamad. Their conversations consisted of anti-Semitic rhetoric. Plus, according to investigators, Hamad was making homemade bombs. In fact, he detonated three of them, and detectives included the photos in their complaint. Through the investigators, detectives learned a third person was involved in the vandalism. That person is also now facing charges. Lubit, according to the Department of Justice, has agreed to pay full restitution for the damage done to the Chabad property and the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh sign. She’ll be sentenced in September.
May 15, 2025 5:06 am
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — President Donald Trump is urging Qatar to use its influence over Iran to persuade the country’s leadership to reach an agreement with the U.S. over its rapidly advancing nuclear program. Trump is visiting Qatar as part of a three-country Mideast swing. He made the appeal during a state dinner held Wednesday in his honor by Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Trump, who also visited Saudi Arabia this week, will wrap up his three-country Mideast tour with a visit to the United Arab Emirates. While in Riyadh on Wednesday, Trump met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a one-time insurgent leader who fought against the U.S. in Iraq.
