June 1, 2024 3:43 am
SINGAPORE (AP) — United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a gathering of top security officials he didn’t see war with China as imminent, nor unavoidable, despite rapidly escalating tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, stressing the importance of renewed dialogue between him and his Chinese counterpart in avoiding “miscalculations and misunderstandings.” Austin’s comments Saturday at the Shangri-La defense forum in Singapore came the day after he met for more than an hour on the sidelines with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun, the first in-person meeting between the top defense officials since contacts between the American and Chinese militaries broke down in 2022.
June 1, 2024 3:38 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump sought to move past his historic criminal conviction on Friday and build momentum for his bid to return to the White House with fierce attacks on the judge who oversaw the case, the prosecution’s star witness and the criminal justice system as a whole. Speaking from his namesake tower in Manhattan in a symbolic return to the campaign trail, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee delivered a message aimed squarely at his most loyal supporters. Defiant as ever, he insisted without evidence that the verdict was rigged and driven by politics.
June 1, 2024 3:33 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has detailed a three-phase deal proposed by Israel to Hamas militants that he says would lead to the release of remaining hostages in Gaza and could end the grinding Mideast war. Biden on Friday added Hamas is “no longer capable” of carrying out another large-scale attack on Israel as he urged Israelis and Hamas to come to a deal to release hostages for an extended cease-fire. The Democratic president calls the proposal “a road map to an enduring cease-fire and the release of all hostages.” One phase of the deal calls for beginning major reconstruction of Gaza. Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli attacks have killed 36,000 Palestinians.
June 1, 2024 3:30 am
SUMY REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine and Russia have exchanged prisoners of war, each sending back 75 POWs in the first such swap in the past three months. The Ukrainians were returned on several buses that drove into the northern Sumy region. As they disembarked, they shouted joyfully and called their families to tell them they were home. Some knelt and kissed the ground, while many wrapped themselves in yellow-blue flags. They hugged one another, breaking into tears. Many appeared emaciated and poorly dressed. The exchange was the fourth prisoner swap this year and the 52nd since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Earlier in the day, the bodies of the fallen were also swapped.
June 1, 2024 3:25 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI)-A fire at the Pittsburgh Arts Fest panics visitors and vendors. Pittsburgh Fire officials say the flames came from a propane tank at one of the food court tents near the corner of 8th St. and Ft. Duquesne Blvd, right in the middle of the festival’s downtown footprint. “I was scared because I’ve seen it before where they actually explode so we all smelled the gas and it was like hissing and stuff I was just scared it was going to explode or something, but luckily that didn’t happen,” said face paint and henna vendor Edyn Marsland. According to Pittsburgh Fire Deputy Chief Bernard Mohan, a 28-year-old man working at the food tent was taken to Mercy Hospital in serious, but stable condition to be treated for second-degree burns to his arms and legs. “We believe the propane cylinder that was involved may have been over-pressurized. That’s the preliminary report that we’re getting, therefore when it was exposed to the heat, it caught fire,” Mohan said. Marsland saw it all unfold. “We had just got set up right here and then it just kind of went up in flames. I saw the guy. He kind of jumped back and we all just started running,” Marsland described. Once the fire was out and fire investigators were getting to work, just feet away, outside the police caution tape, Arts Fest got back to business. “The festival continues uninterrupted. The schedule is on. Our food court is temporarily shut down. The festival continues. Come on down for the concerts,” said Derek Scalzott, the Senior Director of Communications and Marketing Management for Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, which organizes the event. Visitors, like Kimberly Tymous, are also looking forward to the major downtown festival getting back on track. “It really is a great event,” she said. “I love to see everybody come together in unity, enjoy the music, enjoy the festivities, buy art, eat out. I love it.” Arts Fest runs through June 9. The Allegheny County Health Department will determine when the food court is able to reopen.
June 1, 2024 3:22 am
MOUNT OLIVER, Pa. —(WPXI)- Three juveniles were detained after shots were fired in Mount Oliver. Allegheny County dispatchers say officers were called to Hays Avenue at 1:58 p.m. The Mount Oliver Police Chief said he saw three juveniles shooting at a fourth when he arrived at Hays Avenue and Penn Avenue when he arrived. Police say the three shooters took off down Ormsby Avenue and went inside a house. Officers believe the house belongs to the sister of one of the shooters. SWAT units were called to the scene and the three shooters were detained. Police are still looking for the fourth person involved, the person who was being shot at. Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department vans were on Ormsby Avenue. Pittsburgh Police were also called for assistance. Officers are working on getting a search warrant so they can go inside the house on Ormsby Avenue. Medics were not called to the scene.
June 1, 2024 2:19 am
Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry has reached an agreement with UPMC, advancing the acquisition of Washington Hospital. Henry said the agreement will preserve affordable access to health care in Washington and Greene counties. UPMC and Washington Health Care Services reached an agreement to integrate Washington Health Care Services into UPMC’s network. The Office of Attorney General reviewed the proposed transaction to ensure compliance with Pennsylvania laws and regulations, and acted on behalf of the public to preserve affordable access to quality healthcare. “This transaction will keep Washington Hospital open and available to thousands of Pennsylvanians,” Attorney General Henry said. “It is essential that the transaction promotes the interests of patients, hospital employees, and the community. My office did a comprehensive review and reached this agreement with UPMC and Washington Health Care Services to ensure those protections are in place.” As outlined in the agreement, UPMC Washington, the renamed hospital facility, must negotiate with any willing health insurance plans. UPMC will continue to honor all existing employment contracts, subject to legal requirements, and may not impose any non-compete agreements more restrictive than those that currently exist within Washington Health Care Services, Henry said.
May 31, 2024 5:21 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has announced he has switched his registration to independent. The move on Friday raises questions about his political plans since it could help his chances should he seek elected office again in a state that has turned heavily Republican. Manchin, 76, has often been at odds with the Democratic Party. But he played a central role in helping President Joe Biden get a landmark climate change and health care bill over the finish line in 2022. He says neither party is willing to compromise to find common ground and “to stay true to myself” and “put country before party,” he decided to register an an independent with no party affiliation.
May 31, 2024 2:54 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has attacked the judge and the star witness in his hush money criminal trial and criticized New York’s criminal justice system while trying to repackage his conviction as fuel, not an impediment, to his latest White House bid. Trump spoke to reporters at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Friday, his return to campaigning a day after he was convicted. President Joe Biden responded by blasting Trump’s response, saying the Republican former president “was given every opportunity to defend himself.” The Democratic president says it’s reckless, dangerous and irresponsible ”for anyone to say this is rigged just because they don’t like the verdict'”
May 31, 2024 5:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a sluggish 1.3% annual pace from January through March, the weakest quarterly rate since the spring of 2022, the government said in a downgrade from its previous estimate. Consumer spending rose but at a slower pace than previously thought, a sign that high interest rates and lingering inflation are pressuring household budgets. The Commerce Department had previously estimated that the nation’s gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services — expanded at a 1.6% rate last quarter. The first quarter’s GDP growth marked a sharp slowdown from the vigorous 3.4% rate in the final three months of 2023.
