October 17, 2022 4:29 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Explosive-laden suicide drones have struck Ukraine’s capital as families were preparing to start their week, the blasts echoing across Kyiv and sending people scurrying to shelters. Kyiv city Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the capital’s central Shevchenko district was hit, damaging several apartment blocks and setting fire to a non-residential building. There was no immediate word on casualties. The drones’ intended targets weren’t immediately clear but Russian strikes over the past week have hit infrastructure, including power facilities. Witnesses posted videos of drones buzzing across bright morning skies over Kyiv and of what sounded like gunshots of people trying to shoot them down.
October 17, 2022 4:26 am
PITTSBURGH – (WPXI) – Pittsburgh police on Monday provided an update on the North Side shooting that left three people dead and one injured over the weekend. During the press conference, police said the two women who were killed were innocent bystanders. Pittsburgh police Commander Richard Ford said an altercation that took place in the Sunoco gas station parking lot escalated to gunfire between two shooters.. Jacquelyn C. Mehalic, 33, and Betty J Averytt, 59, were standing at a bus stop when they were killed, Ford said. Police and medics were called to the 300 block of Cedar Avenue at around 10:08 p.m. Saturday. The names of the fourth victim and a man who survived the shooting have not been released as police investigate if they were involved Ford said he was angered by all of the violence in the city. “I’m tired of going out there and seeing what I’m seeing every day,” he said. Mayor Ed Gainey also spoke and asked anyone with information to speak up. “Together we can solve some of this,” he said. Gainey said that closing Shuman Juvenile Detention Center, the county’s only juvenile detention center, without a backup plan was a mistake. He said there are too many guns on the street. “More and more of our young people can get guns quicker than you get get a bag of chips at the grocery store,” Gainey said.
October 17, 2022 4:22 am
The Powerball jackpot moved closer to the half-billion mark after there were no winning tickets in Saturday night’s drawing. The grand prize for the promotion is now at $480 million, lottery officials said. Numbers in Saturday’s drawing were 32, 37, 40, 58 and 62, with a red Powerball of 15. The next drawing is Monday, and the estimated lump-sum payout is $242.2 million. It has been more than two months since someone won a Powerball jackpot, and Saturday night was the 31st consecutive drawing without a winner. The last Powerball jackpot was won on Aug. 3, when a ticket in Pennsylvania was worth $206.9 million, lottery officials said. On Friday night, the Mega Millions jackpot featured a pair of winning tickets — one in Fort Myers, Florida, and the other in San Jose, California. Originally set at $494 million, the final jackpot reached $502 million. If the winners take the lump sum option, they will split $252 million before taxes. The overall odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.
October 17, 2022 4:18 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – The coldest air of the season will have you firing up your furnace and grabbing the extra layers the next few days. High temperatures Monday will struggle to get out the 40s, and low temperatures Tuesday morning will be cold enough to end the growing season for many areas. A freeze watch will start the day Tuesday with many areas seeing temperatures near or below freezing. Scattered rain and snow showers will also be in the area, but no accumulation is expected at this time. The better chance for any accumulating snow comes early Wednesday with some spots seeing the first accumulation of the season.
October 17, 2022 4:14 am
WESTMORELAND COUNTY — (WPXI) – A tractor-trailer caught fire after crashing into a bridge pillar on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Emergency crews were called to the 69.9-mile marker in Westmoreland County on the westbound side of the road at around 1:27 p.m. Before catching fire, first responders said the truck ran off the side of the road and hit a pillar supporting Eisaman Road. which sat on top of the turnpike. A passerby helped remove the driver from the vehicle. The driver was later taken to a hospital. Firefighters said the truck was hauling mail, which was damaged during the fire. Firefighters from Hempfield Township, New Stanton, East Huntingdon and Youngwood responded to the scene until about 3:30 p.m.
October 16, 2022 8:13 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Pro-Kremlin officials have blamed Ukraine for a rocket attack that struck the mayor’s office in a key Ukrainian city controlled by the separatists. The municipal building in Donetsk was seriously damaged by the rocket attack. Separately, Ukrainian officials said Russian rockets struck a city across from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, injuring six people. Late Saturday, a Washington-based think tank late accused Moscow of conducting “massive, forced deportations of Ukrainians” which it said likely amount to ethnic cleansing. The attacks on both sides came as Russia has lost ground in the nearly seven weeks since Ukraine’s armed forces opened their southern counteroffensive.
October 16, 2022 8:12 am
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for faster military development and announced no change in policies that have strained relations with Washington and tightened the ruling Communist Party’s control over society and the economy. China’s most influential figure in decades spoke at the start of a party meeting Sunday that was closely watched by companies, governments and the Chinese public for signs of its future economic and political direction. It comes amid a painful economic slump and tension with Washington and Asian neighbors over trade, technology and security. The congress will install leaders for the next five years. Xi, 69, is expected to break with tradition and award himself a third five-year term as party leader.
October 16, 2022 8:11 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — President Joe Biden is calling embattled British Prime Minister Liz Truss’ abandoned tax cut plan a “mistake,” saying he is worried that other nations’ fiscal policies may hurt the U.S. amid what he calls “worldwide inflation.” In remarks Saturday, Biden said it was “predictable” that the new prime minister on Friday was forced to walk back plans to aggressively cut taxes without identifying cost savings, after Truss’ proposal caused turmoil in global financial markets. Biden’s comments are an unusual criticism by a U.S. president of the domestic policy decisions of one of its closest allies.
October 16, 2022 8:10 am
STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) — Police in California say they have arrested a man suspected of killing six men and wounding a woman in a series of shootings. Police say 43-year-old Wesley Brownlee of Stockton was stopped in a car around 2 a.m. Saturday. Police Chief Stanley McFadden says he was dressed in black, had a gun and appeared to be “out hunting” for another victim. Police have been searching for a serial killer who shot five men in the city since July. Police believe the same person killed a man in Oakland in April 2021 and wounded a woman in Stockton a week later. No motive has been released.
October 16, 2022 7:59 am
ROSS TOWNSHIP (WPXI) — A teenager is dead after he was hit by a vehicle in the parking lot of North Hills Village shopping center. Allegheny County dispatchers said police, medics and fire crews were sent to the 4800 block of McKnight Road at around 4:39 p.m. Ross Township police said the teenager was hit while standing in the parking lot and pronounced dead at the scene. The boy was identified as 15-year-old Christopher Lucas from Pittsburgh by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. Authorities say the driver of the vehicle is cooperating with the investigation. Police do not believe drugs or alcohol were involved in the crash.
