April 3, 2026 4:53 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ousted the Army’s top uniformed officer and two other generals as the U.S. wages a war against Iran. Top Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Thursday that Gen. Randy George “will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately.” George has held the post of Army chief of staff, which typically runs for four years, since August 2023. His is just the latest in a series of firings of top military officers. A Pentagon official says Hegseth also fired Army Gen. David Hodne and Army Maj. Gen. William Green. No reasons have been given for the departures, which come nearly five weeks into U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.
April 3, 2026 4:55 am
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — There has been little sign Friday of the war in the Mideast winding down as Israel says it faced incoming fire from Iran, and Kuwait and Bahrain also reported being under attack. In Iran, eight people were killed while celebrating the close of Persian new year near a major bridge hit by a U.S. strike. Tehran continued to demonstrate its ability to strike its neighbors even as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed the threat from the country was nearly eliminated. Iran’s strikes on its neighbors along with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted the world’s energy supplies far beyond the Middle East.
April 3, 2026 4:58 am
TOKYO (AP) — Oil prices are surging on worries of a prolonged Iran war while most Asian financial markets are rising moderately during cautious trading. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 11.4% to $111.54 a barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.8% to $109.03 per barrel. Stocks rose in Japan and South Korea, while declining in Shanghai. Markets were closed for the Good Friday holiday in other Asian markets, as well as France, Germany and Britain and Wall Street. Crude oil prices have been driving sharp swings for stocks globally. Shipping traffic has been severely curtailed in the Strait of Hormuz.
April 3, 2026 4:56 am
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that could slap long-threatened pharmaceutical tariffs of up to 100% on some patented drugs from companies that don’t reach deals with his administration in the coming months. Companies that have signed a “most favored nation” pricing deal and are actively building facilities in the U.S. to onshore production of patented pharmaceuticals and their ingredients will have a 0% tariff. For those that don’t have a pricing deal but are building such projects in the U.S., a 20% tariff will apply but increase to 100% in four years. Companies still have months to negotiate before the 100% tariffs kick in. Also Thursday, Trump rolled out an update on his 50% tariffs on imported steel, aluminum and copper.
April 3, 2026 4:51 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s new White House ballroom has gotten final approval from a key commission. This comes after a federal judge ordered a halt to construction unless Congress approves the project. The Trump-appointed chair of the National Capital Planning Commission said the agency moved ahead with Thursday’s vote because the judge’s ruling affects construction, not planning. The ballroom is estimated to cost $400 million and has faced opposition and legal challenges. The Republican president aims to complete the ballroom project before his term ends in 2029. The ballroom will include security upgrades and is funded by donations and public dollars for security enhancements.
April 3, 2026 4:57 am
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Artemis II astronauts have fired their engines and are blazing toward the moon. The so-called translunar ignition came 25 hours after liftoff, putting the three Americans and one Canadian on course for a lunar fly-around early next week. Their Orion capsule has bolted out of orbit around Earth and chased after the moon nearly 250,000 miles away. It is the first engine firing for a moon crew since Apollo 17 set out on that era’s final moonshot in 1972. NASA had the Artemis II crew stick close to home for a day to test their capsule’s life-support systems before clearing them for lunar departure.
April 3, 2026 2:50 am
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT’s) Engineering District 12, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), invites the public to participate in a Virtual Plans Display to review and provide feedback on the 2026 Bridge Preservation Project in Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland counties. The display is available at PennDOT’s website, and “Projects Near You” page. The projects involve construction activities that are vital to extending the life of the structures at eight separate locations across District 12. Safety improvements will also be made to bring guide-rail and drainage up to current standards. Construction activities vary at each location, but consist of concrete lining, repairs to the head-walls and wing-walls, asphalt overlays, and rock protection. Construction activities will include short-term single-lane closures or detours. Work at each site is expected to take two to three weeks. The purpose of this Virtual Plans Display is to provide information on the 2026 Bridge Preservation Project
April 3, 2026 2:18 am
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette is reporting that Walt Maddox has died. Maddox, who would become the leader of The Marcels, died Monday at the age of 88. Maddox was from the North Side neighborhood of Manchester. He started out as a street-corner singer in a group called The Blenders, who were managed by popular local deejay Barry Kaye. In the summer of 1961, The Marcels underwent a shakeup. As a group featuring both Black and white members, it faced hostility touring in the Deep South. When two white members departed, Maddox joined. By September, he was singing second tenor on the group’s second and final Top 40 hit, “Heartaches” (No. 7), a song associated with Guy Lombardo. The group made regular appearances at the annual Roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll shows presented by Pittsburgh promoter Henry DeLuca. Over the past decade, Maddox managed the Marcels without performing.
April 2, 2026 2:35 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says Pam Bondi is out as his attorney general. Bondi’s departure ends the contentious tenure of a Trump loyalist who upended the Justice Department’s culture of independence from the White House, oversaw firings of career employees and investigated the Republican president’s perceived enemies. Thursday’s news follows months of scrutiny over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation that made Bondi the target of angry conservatives. Trump has named Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting attorney general, though three people familiar with the matter say he has privately discussed Environmental Protection Agency head Lee Zeldin as a permanent pick. (Photo: AP)
April 1, 2026 2:23 am
An Oakdale man is facing 20 charges, including homicide by vehicle, for a crash in August that killed a truck driver on a ramp in Washington County. State Police say they filed the charges against nineteen-year-old Jaxon Farrell, alleging that he was lane splitting between two trucks, one moving and one pulled over, on the Route 22 overpass in Robinson Township, that leads onto the Southern Beltway. Authorities allege that, while doing so, he first hit the tires of the stopped truck, then hit and killed the driver, 46-year-old Brian Everhart. Washington County Coroner Tim Warco had previously said that Everhart had parked to the right of the fog line and got out of his truck to check on a mechanical issue. Police say Farrell kept driving after the crash, but his vehicle broke down less than a mile down the road. After catching up with him, State Police say he admitted to lane splitting but didn’t know he had hit a person.
