July 24, 2022 8:11 am
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The Chinese military has become significantly more aggressive and dangerous over the past five years, the top U.S. military officer said during a trip to the Indo-Pacific that included a stop Sunday in Indonesia. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the number of intercepts by Chinese aircraft and ships in the Pacific region with U.S. and other partner forces has increased significantly over that time, and the number of unsafe interactions has risen by similar proportions. “The message is the Chinese military, in the air and at sea, have become significantly more and noticeably more aggressive in this particular region,” said Milley, who recently asked his staff to compile details about interactions between China and the U.S. and others in the region. His comments came as the U.S. redoubles its efforts to strengthen its relationships with Pacific nations as a counterbalance to China, which is trying to expand its presence and influence in the region. The Biden administration considers China its “pacing threat” and America’s primary long-term security challenge.
July 24, 2022 8:09 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian defense ministry officials on Sunday insisted that an airstrike on the port of Odesa — less than a day after Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement on resuming grain shipments from there — had hit only military targets. “In the seaport in the city of Odesa, on the territory of a shipyard, sea-based high-precision long-range missiles destroyed a docked Ukrainian warship and a warehouse with Harpoon anti-ship missiles supplied by the U.S. to the Kyiv regime,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a daily briefing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly televised address Saturday evening that the attack on Odesa “destroyed the very possibility” of dialogue with Russia. The Ukrainian military said on Saturday that Moscow had attacked Odesa’s sea port with four cruise missiles, two of which had been shot down by Ukrainian air defense.
July 24, 2022 8:05 am
SOUTH STRABANE, Pa. — Multiple fire crews were called to the scene of an industrial oven fire at the X-Mark Plant along North Main Street in South Strabane Saturday afternoon. Fire crews say the incident was contained quickly and personnel was only on scene for about 50 minutes to put out the fire and ventilate the building. South Strabane Fire Department was assisted by the City of Washington, Canton Township and Chartiers Township Fire Departments. Ambulance and Chair also contributed to this call. No injuries were reported.
July 24, 2022 7:48 am
PERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WPXI) — The county coroner was called to the scene of a water rescue in Fayette County Saturday. A dive team was issued to the Youghiogheny River in Perry Township near Layton Road. Multiple departments and crews were on scene during the incident, including the Perry Township Fire Department, Dawson Fire Department, Westmoreland County units, Fayette County EMS and Pennsylvania State Police. Response to the situation began at 4:55 p.m.
July 24, 2022 3:53 am
Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh and Coroner Tim Warco held a joint press conference Friday to address an officer involved shooting that occurred May 22 of this year. Warco announced that Dennis Fonoimoana, 25 was killed by multiple gunshot wounds having been shot five times. District Attorney Jason Walsh cleared a Pennsylvania State Trooper of criminal charges and detailed the events that transpired causing the trooper to fire his weapon seven times killing Fonoimoana. Fonoimoana was part of a pair of individuals that stole a chain saw from Rural King and were tracked down by state police in Mt. Pleasant Twp. The trooper pulled the vehicle identified in the robbery over and the passenger, Fonoimoana refused to exit and refused orders to show the trooper his hands that were poised beneath the car seat. Fonoimoana revealed a loaded weapon from beneath the seat and the trooper fired his weapon killing him. Walsh termed the incident a justifiable homicide and indicated no charges will be filed for this incident. Pennsylvania State Police confirmed that the officer involved is still on administrative leave and will return to full duty soon.
July 24, 2022 1:48 am
Washington PA-Covid cases in Washington County continue to rise. On Friday the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shifted Washington and Fayette counties from the medium community transmission rate category to high transmission. Greene County moved from low to medium. The CDC recommends that people in high transmission areas to wear masks indoors in public and on public transportation. They also recommend staying up to date with vaccinations and boosters and to test if you have symptoms.
July 23, 2022 9:46 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis’ trip to Canada to apologize for the horrors of church-run Indigenous residential schools marks a radical rethink of the Catholic Church’s missionary legacy in the Americas. Francis has said his week long visit, which begins Sunday, is a “penitential pilgrimage” to beg forgiveness on Canadian soil for the “evil” done to Native peoples by Catholic missionaries. His tone of repentance signals a marked shift for the papacy, which has long acknowledged abuses in the residential schools and strongly asserted the rights and dignity of Indigenous peoples. But past popes have also hailed the sacrifice and holiness of the European Catholic missionaries who brought Christianity to the Americas.
July 23, 2022 9:45 am
ALTO, Georgia (AP) – After a bruising opening to his general election campaign for the U.S. Senate, Georgia Republican Herschel Walker is trying to deflect attention back onto Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. He’s trying to saddle the incumbent with the weight of high inflation and President Joe Biden’s poor standing with Georgia voters. Republicans in Washington and Georgia quietly admit it’s the best – if not the only – way Walker, a former University of Georgia football star and political novice, can win in a newfound battleground state that the GOP insists still leans its way.
July 23, 2022 9:42 am
UVALDE, Texas (AP) – In the aftermath of the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, families of victims and many residents are navigating mixed emotions as they channel their grief and fury into demands for change. In the close-knit community, accountability can mean calling for the job of your friend, neighbor or employer. There are signs of political mobilization. The school board is considering firing police Chief Pete Arredondo over the slow law enforcement response to the killing of 21 people. The mere possibility of firing Arredondo after months of resistance from local officials stands as a demonstration of the victims’ families’ rising political clout.
July 23, 2022 9:39 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian missiles have struck Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa just hours after Moscow and Kyiv signed deals to allow grain exports to resume from there. A Ukrainian spokesperson described Saturday’s attack as “spit in the face” of Turkey and the United Nations, which brokered the deal. The Ukrainian military says two Russian cruise missiles hit the port’s infrastructure and Ukrainian air defenses brought down two others. The Foreign Ministry said Russia would bear full responsibility if the war in Ukraine results in a global food crisis. Elsewhere, Russia fired missiles Saturday at an airfield and a railway in central Ukraine, killing at least three people, while Ukraine launched rocket strikes on river crossings in a Russian-occupied southern region.
