March 16, 2024 5:23 am
WADI GAZA, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military says a ship has delivered 200 tons of food, water and humanitarian supplies to Gaza, inaugurating a sea route from Cyprus. The sea route is intended to bring more assistance to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the enclave five months into the war between Israel and Hamas. The food on the ship was sent by World Central Kitchen, the charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, and was transported by the Spanish aid group Open Arms. The ship left Cyprus on Tuesday. Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Friday that 149 people were killed over the past 24 hours, bringing to at least 31,490 the number of Palestinians killed in the war.
March 16, 2024 5:24 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian regional governor says two people have been killed in Ukrainian shelling of the city of Belgorod, close to the border with Ukraine. Three others were wounded. Also on Saturday, a Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire at an oil refinery belonging to Russian oil giant Rosneft in the Samara region, the regional governor said. He added that an attack on another refinery was thwarted. No casualties were reported. The attacks come a day after a Russian assault on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa killed at least 20 people. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised a “just response” to the attack.
March 16, 2024 5:25 am
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — When Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died suddenly last month in an Arctic prison, his team was left with a monumental challenge: sustaining an opposition movement against President Vladimir Putin without the living example of their defiant and charismatic leader. A significant test will come Sunday, the last of three days that Russian voters can go to the polls in a presidential election that is widely viewed as more of a formality than an exercise in democracy. Navalny’s team is urging Russians to flock to polling stations Sunday at noon local time across the country’s 11 time zones to demonstrate their discontent with Putin’s rule and his war against Ukraine.
March 15, 2024 4:54 pm
(WPXI) – An investigation into a shots fired incident on Friday led to a police pursuit in the South Hills and three people taken into custody. At 11:40 a.m., police responded to a report of shots fired into a home in the 800 block of Third Street in Clairton. Around 30 minutes later, officers with Whitehall and Brentwood police departments spotted the vehicle involved along Route 51 and attempted to pull it over. Police said three males ran from the vehicle during the traffic stop. Officers were able to take one of them into custody, while the other two got back into the vehicle and fled the scene. The vehicle was spotted again a short time later in Bethel Park, where officers began to pursue it. At 12:44 p.m., police said the driver of the suspect vehicle lost control and crashed at the intersection of Library and Clifton roads. The two males who were inside got out and fled on foot. Both were taken into custody following a brief foot pursuit. Police said a gun was also recovered during the investigation. Allegheny County Police are investigating.
March 15, 2024 4:48 am
NORTH STRABANE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A man is in custody after an hours-long standoff with police in Washington County that shut down a main neighborhood road in North Strabane Township. Police were called to a home on Demar Boulevard around 3 p.m. Thursday after they said Edward Snarey Jr., 69, assaulted his 92-year-old mother. “They could see fresh wounds on her from the domestic and she was able to get out of the residence. In speaking to the actor, he would not speak to police anymore, closed the door, requested we get a warrant,” said Lt. Michael Miller, with North Strabane Police. When Snarey refused to come out of the home, police called in the SWAT team. Investigators say there were multiple complicating factors during the standoff. “We found out that there was also another female inside of the residence. Through our investigation we found out there were weapons inside of the house,” Miller explained. After multiple gas canisters were used by police, officers wheeled Snarey out of the home on a stretcher around 8 p.m. and put him in the back of an ambulance. Snarey is charged with simple assault, neglect of a care-dependent person, terroristic threats and disorderly conduct. (Photo: WPXI)
March 15, 2024 2:24 am
Washington County officials say the recent ransomware attack may have affected the security of some of the information that the county maintains, specifically personal information. The commissioners say they responded to a ransomware attack on January 24th and began working to secure the network, however, they eventually discovered that prior to their being notified of the attack, the cyber criminals took data from the county’s network that contained personally identifiable information. They say that although the review is ongoing, they are providing notification to the media and on its website, and once the review is complete, will provide written notice to individuals and will offer complimentary credit monitoring services where and when appropriate. So far, commissioners say they have not found any indication that data impacted by the hackers has been released or offered for sale on the dark web.
March 15, 2024 4:54 am
Severe storms with suspected tornadoes have damaged homes and businesses and killed at least three people in the central United States. Officials scrambled Friday morning to assess the extent of the destruction with the power out. The three reported deaths came in Logan County, Ohio. Thursday night’s storms also left trails of destruction in Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas. Officials say there are “many, many significant injuries” after a suspected tornado in Winchester, Indiana. Search efforts are underway there. Officials say a tornado in Kentucky’s Trimble County damaged many structures. A suspected tornado struck the retirement community of Hot Springs Village in Arkansas.
March 15, 2024 4:56 am
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge has rejected a bid by Donald Trump to throw out out his classified documents criminal case, and appeared skeptical during hours of arguments of a separate effort to scuttle the prosecution ahead of trial. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon issued a two-page order Thursday saying that though the Trump team had raised “various arguments warranting serious consideration,” a dismissal of charges was not merited. Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, is presiding over one of the four criminal cases against the 2024 presumptive Republican presidential nominee. This case involves records, some highly classified, he took with him from the White House.
March 15, 2024 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is opposing the planned sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan, saying the U.S. needs “strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers.” The announcement Thursday comes as the Democratic president campaigns in the Midwest and could have ripples in his race against Republican Donald Trump. Nippon Steel announced in December it plans to buy the Pittsburgh-based steel producer for $14 billion in cash. That raised concerns within the federal government about what the transaction could mean for unionized workers, supply chains and U.S. national security. Nippon Steel promises no job losses and says it’s committed to keeping U.S. Steel’s Pittsburgh headquarters.
March 15, 2024 4:58 am
Voters are heading to the polls in Russia for a three-day presidential election that is all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule by six more years after he stifled dissent. The election takes place against the backdrop of a ruthless crackdown that has crippled independent media and prominent rights groups and given Putin full control of the political system. It also comes as Moscow’s war in Ukraine enters its third year. Voters will be casting their ballots Friday through Sunday at polling stations across the vast country’s 11 time zones, as well as in illegally annexed regions of Ukraine.
