February 17, 2025 4:48 am
MURRYSVILLE, Pa. — (WPXI) – Six people were injured in a crash on Route 66 in Westmoreland County on Sunday. Westmoreland County dispatchers said the crash happened on the 2700 block of Route 66 at 4:45 p.m. At least one person had to be rescued from a vehicle, investigators said. Murrysville medics said two vehicles were involved in the crash. Four of the patients were taken to Allegheny Health Network Forbes in critical condition.
February 17, 2025 5:06 am
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Harsh weather moved west as a polar vortex was expected to grip the Rockies and the northern Plains after winter storms pummeled the eastern U.S. over the weekend, killing at least 10 people, including nine victims in Kentucky who died during flooding from heavy rains. The National Weather Service warned of “life-threatening cold” into Tuesday, with temperatures in northeastern Montana predicted to dip as low as 45 degrees below zero. Weather forces in the Arctic are combining to push the chilly air that usually stays near the North Pole into the U.S. and Europe. In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday that at least 1,000 people stranded by floods had to be rescued.
February 17, 2025 5:08 am
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has called leaders from key European Union nations and the United Kingdom to his ornate Elysee Palace for an emergency meeting Monday. He wants to discuss how to deal with the Trump administration and step up plans to increase defense spending. The European leaders have been stunned by a weeklong diplomatic blitz on Ukraine from the Trump administration that seemed to embrace the Kremlin while it cold-shouldered many of its age-old European allies. There were belligerent warnings ahead of Donald Trump’s reelection as U.S. president. But EU leaders publicly ignored the ominous forebodings and somehow hoped Trump would stand side by side with Europe.
February 17, 2025 5:10 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees who were tasked with working on the nation’s nuclear weapons programs. It’s an about-face that has left workers confused and experts cautioning that DOGE’s blind cost cutting will put communities at risk. Three U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated Press said up to 350 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration were abruptly laid off late Thursday. One of the hardest hit offices was the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. Those employees have one of the most sensitive jobs across the nuclear weapons enterprise, reassembling warheads. By late Friday night, the agency’s acting director, Teresa Robbins, issued a memo rescinding the firings for all but 28.
February 17, 2025 5:13 am
BEIJING (AP) — China’s Foreign Ministry has taken issue with a revised U.S. government fact sheet that removed a line on American opposition to independence for Taiwan. A ministry spokesperson said the U.S. has “gravely backpedaled” on its position on Taiwan and sent the wrong message to “separatist forces” on the island. Taiwan and China split in 1949 during the civil war that brought the communists to power in China. Taiwan has its own government and military but has never declared formal independence from China. The U.S. State Department removed the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence” from the fact sheet last week.
February 17, 2025 5:00 am
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — George Washington was uneasy about the idea of commemorating his life. He was the first leader of a new republic, not a king. And yet the U.S. will once again celebrate its first president on Monday, 293 years after he was born. The meaning of Presidents Day has changed dramatically over the centuries. At first, the day was often unremarkable and filled with work for Washington himself. Now his birthday is a bonanza of consumerism and the reason many people get a three-day weekend. Some historians say the holiday has lost all discernible meaning and lacks recognizable traditions. Unless you want to count sales from retailers.
February 16, 2025 6:02 am
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel and Hamas have completed the sixth exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners with just over two weeks remaining in the initial phase of their fragile Gaza ceasefire. And U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has landed in Israel to begin a Mideast tour. Israelis expressed relief Saturday as the three hostages appeared to be in better condition than the emaciated ones freed a week ago. The ceasefire faces major challenges with its first phase concluding in early March. There have not been substantive negotiations over the second phase, in which Hamas would release all remaining hostages in return for ending the war.
February 16, 2025 5:59 am
MUNICH, Germany (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he directed his ministers not to sign off on a proposed agreement to give the United States access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals because the document was too focused on U.S. interests. The proposal, which was a key part of Zelenskyy’s talks with U.S. Vice President JD Vance on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday, did not offer any specific security guarantees in return, according to one current and one former senior official familiar with the talks. Zelenskyy’s decision not to sign a deal, at least for now, was described as “short-sighted” by a senior White House official.
February 16, 2025 5:55 am
JERUSALEM (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio is kicking of a Mideast tour in Israel on Sunday. Arab leaders are reeling from President Donald Trump’s proposal to transfer the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip to other countries and redevelop it under U.S. ownership. On Rubio’s first visit to the region as America’s top diplomat he is likely to get a warm welcome from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has praised the plan, and pushback from Arab leaders, who have universally rejected it and are scrambling to come up with a counterproposal.
February 16, 2025 5:51 am
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Heavy rains and dangerous flooding have struck the Southeast U.S. as much of the East endured a renewed round of harsh, soggy weather, with at least one fatality reported in Kentucky. Water has submerged cars and buildings in Kentucky and mudslides have blocked roads in Virginia. Both of the states were under flood warnings, along with Tennessee and Arkansas. The National Weather Service has warned residents to stay off the roads. Forecasters also have predicted weekend snowstorms in the Northeast and the threat of tornadoes for the Mississippi Valley. Heavy snow is expected to blanket much of New England. Meteorologists are also warning the U.S. could get its coldest polar vortex stretching event this season in the northern Rockies and northern Plains.
