April 7, 2024 7:00 am
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Mexico’s government has severed diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police broke into the Mexican Embassy to arrest a former Ecuadorian vice president. It was an extraordinary use of force that shocked and mystified regional leaders and diplomats. Ecuadorian police late Friday broke through the external doors of the embassy in the capital, Quito, to arrest Jorge Glas, who had been residing there since December. Glas sought political asylum at the embassy after being indicted on corruption charges. The raid prompted Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to announce the breaking off of diplomatic relations with Ecuador on Friday evening, while his government’s foreign relations secretary said the move will be challenged at the World Court in The Hague.
April 7, 2024 6:57 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The West Virginia United Students’ Union is the leading oppositional force against cuts at the state’s flagship university. The union has organized protests, circulated petitions and helped save a handful of teaching positions before 143 faculty and 28 majors were ultimately cut. West Virginia University in September cut its world language department and dozens of other programs in subjects such as English, math and music amid a $45 million budget shortfall. Led by many first-generation college students and those receiving financial aid in the state with the fewest college graduates, union members say they want to usher in a new era of student involvement in university political life.
April 7, 2024 6:53 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Powerball player in Oregon has won a jackpot worth more than $1.3 billion, ending a winless streak that had stretched more than three months. Powerball says the single ticket matched all six numbers drawn early Sunday to win a jackpot worth $1.326 billion. The jackpot has a cash value of $621 million if the winner chooses to take a lump sum rather than an annuity paid over 30 years. The winning numbers were: 22, 27, 44, 52, 69 and the red Powerball 9. No one had won Powerball’s top prize since New Year’s Day, leading to 41 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner. The $1.326 billion prize ranks as the eighth largest in U.S. lottery history. The odds of winning were 1 in 292.2 million.
April 7, 2024 6:49 am
South Strabane Township officials provided an update to the circumstances surrounding the landslide that occurred on Thursday afternoon. The slide that is in the 2000 block of Rt. 40 is adjacent to Interstate 79 caused South Strabane Emergency Management/Department of Fire and Emergency Services to temporarily close one lane of Rt. 40. During the shutdown, Verizon was able to relieve tension on its cables running across I-79. Meetings with PennDot and a geotechnical engineer determined that Rt. 40 could remain open. The slide is on private property but temporary barriers were placed around the property, creating a safety perimeter, as well as concrete barriers on Walters Spur. More land movement is expected and officials ask that people respect the perimeters that have been established. Any questions can be directed to Fire Chief Jordan Cramer at jcramer@southstrabane.com.
April 7, 2024 6:47 am
Traffic Signals in Charleroi Borough will have improvements made by PennDot. Beginning April 8, Rt. 88 will see intermittent single lane restrictions as 11 traffic signals will be replaced, 4 signals removed and updates to ADA ramps, sidewalks, curbs, pavement markings and signs are made. The $4.3 million dollar project will run from McKean Avenue at First Street to 10th Street and on Fallowfield Avenue from 9th Street to First Street. The work is expected to last through the beginning of November.
April 7, 2024 6:45 am
PITTSBURGH —(WPXI)- A man is dead after he was hit by a train in Pittsburgh’s South Side. Allegheny County dispatchers say emergency crews received the call at 6:21 p.m. Pittsburgh Police say the man was hit under the bridge where South 12th Street meets Brosville Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The man’s identity will not be released until his family is notified. Violent Crime Unit detectives and CSX police are investigating.
April 7, 2024 6:44 am
Two people were injured in a car acccident on Park Avenue early Saturday morning. According to Washington County 9-1-1, a car crashed into a tree in the 250 block of Park Avenue, just after midnight. Two people were involved in the accident and both were flown to Pittsburgh hospitals. No further details are available.
April 7, 2024 5:12 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has declined to endorse a national abortion ban and says he believes abortion should be left to the states. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee released a video outlining his position Monday. Trump says whatever the states decide “must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state.” Trump declines to lay out a timeline for when he believes abortion should be banned. President Joe Biden’s Democratic campaign says Trump is “endorsing every single abortion ban in the states, including abortion bans with no exceptions.” One of the country’s most prominent groups opposed to abortion rights says it’s “deeply disappointed” in Trump’s position.
April 7, 2024 4:14 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Efforts to ban TikTok from government devices have picked up steam in the past year in state legislatures and Congress even as politicians continue to use it to connect with and expand their base. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is a prolific poster, but legislation seeking to ban the app from state networks and devices could reach his desk soon. Researchers say using social media to connect with constituents has a long history. And it’s largely Democrats having the internal debate about using TikTok while weighing a significant ban over security concerns.
April 6, 2024 4:28 am
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Rescuers are planning to bring in heavy equipment to try to recover two bodies buried under boulders on a hiking trail, three days after Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years. Search and recovery work was set to resume Saturday after being called the previous afternoon because of aftershocks. At least 12 people were killed by the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck Wednesday morning off Taiwan’s east coast, and 10 others are still missing. More than 600 people, including about 450 at a hotel at a national park, remained stranded in various locations cut off by rockslides and other damage.
