December 26, 2023 5:04 am
CAIRO (AP) — Israel and Hamas have given cool public receptions to an Egyptian proposal to end their bitter war. But the longstanding enemies on Monday stopped short of rejecting the plan altogether. The Egyptian plan calls for a phased hostage release and the formation of a Palestinian government of experts to administer the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank, according to a senior Egyptian official and a European diplomat familiar with the proposal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment directly on the proposal. But speaking to members of his Likud Party, he said the war is not “close to finished.” Hamas, meanwhile, said it wouldn’t negotiate without an “end to the aggression.”
December 26, 2023 5:03 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has ordered retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia groups after three U.S. servicemembers were injured in a drone attack in northern Iraq. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said one of the U.S. troops suffered critical injuries in the attack that occurred earlier Monday. The Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups, under an umbrella of Iranian-backed militants, claimed credit for the attack. Biden, who is spending Christmas at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, was briefed on the attack on Monday and ordered the Pentagon to prepare response options.
December 26, 2023 4:58 am
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – Two people were injured after falling over an embankment in Washington Township in Fayette County. Rostraver Central Fire Department said they helped Washington Township VFC with the rescue on Johnson Hollow Road. Firefighters said the victims fell over 50 feet. They were flown to Pittsburgh trauma centers to be treated. Their status is unknown at this time. (Photo: Rostraver Central Fire Department)
December 26, 2023 4:55 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Police are investigating an early morning crash on the westbound Parkway where several people were hurt and one person killed. A Pennsylvania State Police spokesperson said the crash involving three separate vehicles happened around 1 a.m. Christmas Day on I-376 westbound at Mile Marker 78, between the PA 8 North/Wilkinsburg and Edgewood/Swissvale exits. The spokesperson said a vehicle became disabled in the left lane of I-376 after overturning. The driver of that car got out and walked to the shoulder with the help of two Good Samaritans who stopped their vehicle to help. At this time, police say a third car started coming around a curve just before the overturned vehicle and was unable to avoid hitting it. After the initial impact, the car hit a guide rail, the driver of the first vehicle, one of the Good Samaritans and the back of the Good Samaritan’s vehicle. The driver of the first vehicle was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Office of the Allegheny County Medical Examiner identified him as Dax Antonio Hernandez-Reyes, 24. The occupants of the other vehicles were also taken to area hospitals for their injuries. Their conditions are currently unknown. PSP’s investigation into the crash is ongoing, with the Forensic Services Unit and Collision Analysis & Reconstruction Specialists on scene.
December 26, 2023 2:30 am
(WPXI) – Two people were killed in a house fire in Washington County early on Christmas eve. The fire started around 5 a.m. along McKean Avenue in Donora. At least three homes were damaged in the fire, and several people were displaced. Washington County Coroner Tim Warco identified one of the victims as Tracy Honabarger, 41. She had become trapped in the home. She was pronounced dead at an area hospital. The second victim has been identified as Clifford Honabarger, 38. James Smith, Tracy Honabarger’s fiancé, was also inside the home at the time but was able to escape. Smith said flames tore through their home as they were all sleeping. He said he thought Tracy was right behind him as he was running out of the house, but she became trapped on the second floor. Around a dozen agencies responded to the fire. The blaze remains under investigation by the Donora Police Department. This is the second fire on McKean Avenue in less than two weeks. On Dec. 14, a fire destroyed an old apartment building blocks away.
December 25, 2023 7:46 am
(WPXI) – Mancini’s Bakery in McKees Rocks celebrated Christmas Eve with an annual tradition and also showed some love for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The bakery made a huge and elaborate piece of bread art for the holiday. This year the art featured Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Mary Mancini Hartner, the bakery’s owner says the bread is made by her son, making it a tradition that is close to her heart. “I like to watch my son’s creativity. I like to see it from when it’s a piece of dough and then how it becomes the art that it is,” said Mancini Hartner. This year the art gave a slight nod to Pittsburgh Steeler Mason Rudolph. His name is written on Rudolph’s rein. Five-hundred pounds of dough were used on this project.
December 25, 2023 7:41 am
(WPXI) – A man is dead after an SUV and motorcycle crashed in Pittsburgh. Police say the crash happened just before noon on Christmas Eve at the intersection of Beechwood Boulevard and Federal Hill Street in Greenfield. An SUV tried to turn left off of Beechwood Boulevard and onto Federal Street and collided with the motorcycle that was heading the opposite way on Beechwood Boulevard. The 60-year-old man who was on the motorcycle was taken to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital where he later died. The woman who was driving the SUV and a male passenger were taken to a hospital to receive medical evaluations.
December 25, 2023 7:39 am
BEIJING (AP) — The death toll from China’s most powerful earthquake in years has risen to 149, with two people still missing after the tremor hit northwestern parts of the country last week. The 6.2-magnitude quake struck a remote mountainous area between Gansu and Qinghai provinces on Dec. 18, reducing homes to rubble and triggering heavy mudslides that inundated two villages in Qinghai province. State broadcaster CCTV said Monday the death toll in Donghai city in Qinghai has risen by one, to 32, and rescuers were still searching for two missing people. In neighboring Gansu, authorities had reported 117 dead. Nearly 1,000 were injured and more than 14,000 homes were destroyed in China’s deadliest earthquake in nine years.
December 25, 2023 7:37 am
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — The typically bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus looks like a ghost town on Christmas Eve, with celebrations in Bethlehem called off due to the Israel-Hamas war. The festive lights and Christmas tree that decorate Manger Square are missing, as are the throngs of foreign tourists who normally gather each year for the holiday. Dozens of Palestinian security forces patrolled the empty square. All of the gift shops in the square were shuttered, save for one. Cold weather and pouring rain added to the dismal atmosphere. “This year, without the Christmas tree and without lights, there’s just darkness,” said Brother John Vinh, a Franciscan monk from Vietnam who was among the few visitors.
December 25, 2023 7:36 am
CAIRO (AP) — A senior Egyptian official and a European diplomat say that Egypt has put forward an ambitious proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war. The official said Monday that the plan calls for a cease-fire, a phased hostage release and the creation of a Palestinian government of experts to administer the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank. The proposal, worked out with Qatar, has been presented to Israel, Hamas, the U.S. and European governments but still appears preliminary. It falls short of Israel’s goal of crushing Hamas and would appear not to meet Israel’s insistence on keeping military control over Gaza after the war.
