September 5, 2022 4:35 am
JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli military body has released a list of rules and restrictions for foreigners wanting to enter Palestinian areas of the West Bank, extending its control of daily life and movement in and out of the occupied territory. COGAT, the Israeli body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, stepped back from a number of controversial restrictions that had appeared in an earlier draft of the rules. That included a requirement that people who form romantic relationships with local Palestinians register with Israeli authorities. But many of the changes released on Sunday appeared to be largely cosmetic. The U.S. ambassador expressed concern over the rules, and rights groups said they entrench Israel’s 55-year control over the Palestinian population.
September 5, 2022 4:34 am
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative Party has chosen Foreign Secretary Liz Truss as the party’s new leader, and she will take office Tuesday as the U.K.’s new prime minister to steer the country through an acute cost-of-living crisis. Truss’ selection was announced Monday in London after a leadership election in which only about 170,000 dues-paying members of the Conservative Party were allowed to vote. Truss beat rival Rishi Sunak, the government’s former Treasury chief. She faces immediate pressure to deliver on her promises to tackle the economic crisis walloping the U.K. Queen Elizabeth II is scheduled to formally name Truss as Britain’s prime minister on Tuesday.
September 5, 2022 4:31 am
WASHINGTON, Pa — Multiple fire incidents kept crews busy in Washington County Sunday, with two calls involving lightning strikes from early morning storms. Just after 3 a.m. North Strabane Fire Crews were dispatched to a house struck by lightning according to officials. While crews investigated a burning odor due to an electrical issue, a call came in from Peters Township regarding a house fire on Crosswinds Drive just before 4 a.m. Peters, Canonsburg and North Strabane crews put out that blaze which was showing from the 2nd floor front and corner of the home according to reports. About an hour later, those departments were called to a commercial building in Peters Township with smoke in the building. Officials on scene say that smoke was from an HVAC unit. Bentleyville Fire Crews were called to cover North Strabane during these incidents. Meanwhile Canton Township Fire Crews were dispatched to a tree fire along McClay Road after it had been struck by lightning in the morning storm and slowly burned into the afternoon. Members used the brush truck to extinguish the fire. (Photo: Canton Township Fire & Rescue Facebook Page)
September 5, 2022 4:17 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — It’s Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer, and more travelers are celebrating with one last road trip despite high gas prices. Gas prices have been dropping for more than two months but are still 74 cents more than a year ago. The national average for gas is $3.90 per gallon. Gas prices could play a factor in why flight numbers are starting to rise again. The Pittsburgh International Airport is expected to have its busiest Labor Day travel period since 2019, according to its publication “Blue Sky News.” Despite rising flight numbers, AAA said more people are taking road trips rather than the air, with the highest number of trips since before the COVID-19 pandemic. AAA said the best way to avoid traffic if you are traveling for Labor Day is to travel during off-peak hours.
September 5, 2022 4:15 am
MCKEESPORT, Pa. (WPXI) — A 68-year-old woman was shot while sitting on her porch in McKeesport, authorities said. Allegheny County dispatchers said police and medics were called to the 1100 block of Craig Street at approximately 5:26 p.m. Sunday. When police arrived at the scene, they found the woman who had been shot in the arm. Police do not believe the shooters were aiming for the victim’s house. Two homes and three vehicles were hit by bullets during the shooting. 30 shot casings were found by authorities, some fired from a rifle and others from a handgun. There is no further information on the woman’s condition. Anyone with information on this shooting is asked to call 1-833-ALL-TIPS.
September 5, 2022 4:13 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — Pittsburgh emergency crews came together Sunday morning to rescue an elderly man from a hillside in South Side Slopes. Pittsburgh Public Safety said that around 7:40 a.m., police, fire and EMS crews responded to the 3000 block of Oakley Way for reports of an older man who had fallen down a hillside. He was also reported missing overnight. EMS Rescue and Fire performed a rope rescue where they rappelled down the rock wall to get the man to safety on the ground. The man was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
September 5, 2022 4:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is beginning his Labor Day celebrations with a trip to one battleground state, Wisconsin, before making his third trip in less than a week to another, Pennsylvania. The White House says Biden will be celebrating “the dignity of American workers.” The unofficial start of fall, Labor Day also traditionally kicks off political crunch time, with campaigns scrambling to excite voters ahead of Election Day on Nov. 8. Biden’s trips on Monday will see him return to a theme that was a centerpiece of his 2020 campaign — that labor unions burnished a middle class that built and strengthened modern American society. Biden will visit the Steelworkers Union Hall on Phillip Murray Road in West Mifflin during his visit. The president is expected to begin speaking at around 5:30 p.m.
September 4, 2022 8:02 am
WEED, Calif. (AP) — The fire-stricken Northern California town of Weed has long been seen by passersby as a whimsical spot to stop and buy an ironic T-shirt, but residents say they’ve grown edgy in recent years due to a new danger: Dark skies, swirling ash and flames that race so quickly they leave little time for escape. Their fears exploded to life again in recent days as California’s latest inferno burned homes and buildings and forced evacuations in the small community. The Mill Fire had spread to more than 6.6 square miles by Saturday evening and was 25% contained. At least two people were injured in the fire.
September 4, 2022 8:01 am
NICE, France (AP) — Eight people go on trial in France on Monday accused of helping the attacker who drove a truck into a crowded beachfront in Nice on Bastille Day, killing 86 people. The attacker was shot dead by police on the same night, July 14, 2016. He had driven a 19-tonne truck through holiday crowds like a snow plow, leaving a two-kilometer trail of crushed and mangled bodies in his wake. During the proceedings in a special terrorist court in Paris, survivors and those mourning loved ones will recount the horrors inflicted that night. The verdict is expected in December.
September 4, 2022 8:00 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has beatified one of his predecessors, John Paul I, a briefly serving pontiff who was distinguished for his humility and cheerfulness. The ceremony in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday constitutes the last formal step in the Vatican before possible sainthood for Albino Luciani, an Italian who died in 1978, 33 days after being elected. Last year, Francis approved a miracle attributed to John Paul I — that of the recovery of a critically ill 11-year-old girl in 2011 in Buenos Aires. Seated under a canopy outside St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis led the ceremony, punctuated by thunder and lightning. Francis encouraged the faithful to pray to Luciani to obtain “the smile of the soul.”
