October 24, 2023 5:13 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Authorities say at least seven people have been killed after a “superfog” of smoke from south Louisiana marsh fires and dense fog caused multiple massive car crashes involving 158 vehicles. Louisiana State Police said in a statement Monday that 25 people were injured and the number of fatalities may increase as first responders continue to clear the crash scenes and search for victims. The crashes turned Interstate 55 near New Orleans into an apocalyptic scene of mangled and scorched cars as people cried out for help. Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a call for blood donors and asked for prayers “for those hurt and killed.”
October 24, 2023 5:11 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An off-duty pilot riding in the cockpit of a Horizon Air passenger jet tried to shut down the engines in midflight. It happened Sunday on a flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco. The plane diverted to Portland, Oregon, where it was met by law enforcement officers. Alaska Airlines, which owns Horizon, said Monday that the crew reported “a credible security threat related to an authorized occupant in the flight deck jump seat” — one of its pilots, who was off duty. Authorities in Oregon identified the man as Joseph David Emerson. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office says he is being held on 83 counts each of attempted murder and reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft.
October 24, 2023 5:09 am
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Health Ministry in Gaza says hundreds of people were killed in the past day as a result of Israeli airstrikes. Israel has been striking Gaza since Hamas militants attacked southern Israeli towns on Oct. 7. Israel said Tuesday it had launched 400 airstrikes over the past day, killing Hamas commanders, hitting militants as they were preparing to launch rockets into Israel and striking command centers and a Hamas tunnel shaft. The Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, said more than 700 people were killed in the past day, a claim that AP could not independently verify.
October 24, 2023 4:59 am
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — Local election offices have been understaffed for years. But the 2020 election became a tipping point, with all the pandemic-related challenges before the presidential election and the hostility and death threats afterward that were fueled by the false claims of a stolen election. A wave of retirements and resignations has followed across the country, creating a vacuum of institutional knowledge in an environment in which the slightest mistake can be twisted by conspiracy theorists into a nefarious plot to subvert the vote. One Pennsylvania county is now on its fifth election director in the last three years, but has vowed to regain stability — and rebuild trust with voters.
October 24, 2023 4:56 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – A car crashed into the river near Acrisure Stadium on Pittsburgh’s North Shore Monday afternoon. According to Allegheny County 911, first responders were called to North Shore Drive at 4:57 p.m. A bystander at the scene said the car came from the river trail area and was driving fast into the water. The EMS chief told our news partners at Channel 11 the driver was a woman, and she called 911 as soon as the car hit the water. The driver got herself out of the car before EMS arrived on scene. Police say the woman admitted she was trying to hurt herself. She is now being evaluated at the hospital. No one else was in the vehicle.
October 24, 2023 4:53 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Another gun was stopped at Pittsburgh International Airport over the weekend, in a trend officials call “alarming and disturbing.” TSA says its officers stopped the loaded .380 caliber handgun at a checkpoint Friday in a carry-on bag of a man from McDonald, Pa. It brings the total of guns stopped at the airport this year to 39, continuing to increase the record high for guns stopped in a year. The previous record of 35 was set in 2019. “The number of travelers who continue to bring guns to our checkpoints is alarming and disturbing,” said TSA Federal Security Director for the airport Karen Keys-Turner. “Our officers are stopping nearly four guns per month. The man now faces a federal financial civil penalty of up to $15,000. TSA has details on how to travel with a firearm properly posted on its website. (PHOTO; TSA)
October 23, 2023 5:13 am
WORCESTER, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a tanker truck carrying jet fuel struck a pair of stopped cars on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in southeastern Pennsylvania, resulting in a fiery crash that killed two people and injured another. State police said the crash occurred in the northbound lanes of I-476 just before 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Montgomery County. Troopers said a vehicle with a flat tire and the car behind it stopped and the truck hit both vehicles. A state police spokesperson told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the truck driver and the driver of the first vehicle struck were killed, a passenger in that vehicle later died. The other driver sustained minor injuries.
October 23, 2023 5:11 am
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Prices for Russian oil have risen well above a price cap imposed by Western allies as part of sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. And that is putting the cap to its first serious test. The idea is to limit President Vladimir Putin’s earnings from oil by barring Western insurers and shippers from handling oil above $60 per barrel. But some traders and shippers are finding ways around the restrictions. And Russia’s profits have risen even before the Israel-Hamas war pushed up global oil prices. The first signs of enforcement are appearing 10 months after the price cap was imposed, but sanctions advocates say the crackdown needs to go further to really hurt Russia.
October 23, 2023 5:09 am
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin say the United States is ready to protect American forces or personnel in the Middle East should the Israel-Hamas war escalate as they expect. The two men say they expect the war will escalate through proxies for Iran. Blinken says the U.S. doesn’t want to see escalation but he adds “we’re ready for it.” The pair of top U.S. officials delivered the warnings as the war that followed a deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel entered its third week. The U.S. State Department has ordered all non-essential personnel at the embassy in Iraq to leave the country because of the heightened tensions in the region.
October 23, 2023 5:07 am
Israeli warplanes are striking targets across Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive in the besieged Hamas-ruled territory. Fears of a widening war have grown as Israel struck targets in the occupied West Bank, Syria and Lebanon and traded fire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group. Two aid convoys arrived in the Gaza Strip over the weekend carrying food, water and medical supplies. Israel has not allowed in fuel, which is critically needed for water and sanitation systems and hospitals. The war in its 17th day Monday is the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides.
