July 26, 2023 2:43 am
LONDON (AP) — Singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor has died at 56. The gifted and troubled Irish performer was known for her shaved head and for her fierce and expressive voice. O’Connor, who began her musical career singing on the streets of Dublin, was a star from her 1987 debut album “The Lion and the Cobra.” She became an international sensation in 1990 with her cover of Prince’s ballad “Nothing Compares 2 U,” an emotional performance that topped charts from Europe to Australia and brought O’Connor multiple Grammy Award nominations. In 1991, O’Connor was named Artist of the Year by Rolling Stone. (Photo: AP)
July 25, 2023 1:34 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Lawyers for the gunman who killed 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue have requested a court order to exhume the body of his long-dead father. Robert Bowers’ lawyers said Tuesday that they want the body exhumed for a DNA test after federal prosecutors raised questions about paternity. Bowers has already been convicted in the 2018 massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue. A federal jury now has to decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison without parole. The defense is trying to show that Bowers has a family history of mental illness and has introduced evidence that his father, Randall Bowers, was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
July 25, 2023 12:55 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bronny James, son of NBA superstar LeBron James, was hospitalized after going into cardiac arrest while participating in a practice at the University of Southern California on Monday. A family spokesman said medical staff treated him and he was transported to a hospital. The spokesman said Bronny was in stable condition and no longer in the intensive care unit. Bronny James was one of the nation’s top high school prospects and is an incoming freshman with the Trojans. (Photo: AP)
July 25, 2023 12:44 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — UPS has reached a contract agreement with its 340,000-person strong union Tuesday, averting a strike that had the potential to disrupt logistics nationwide for businesses and households alike. The Teamsters called the tentative agreement “historic” and “overwhelmingly lucrative.” The two sides reached a tentative agreement early on safety issues, including equipping more trucks with air conditioning equipment. Under the agreement, UPS said it would add air conditioning to U.S. small delivery vehicles purchased after January 1, 2024. (Photo: ABC)
July 25, 2023 9:40 am
A multi-vehicle crash Tuesday morning closed the northbound lanes of Interstate 79 in North Strabane Township. Washington County 9-1-1 says it happened just after 7 a.m just past the Canonsburg exit. Two people were transported by ambulance from the scene but dispatchers describe their injuries as non-life threatening. According to dispatchers, a pest-control truck was involved in the crash and overturned spilling chemicals. That led to a Haz-Mat response. State Police Washington say both lanes northbound were closed until just after 9:30 am.
July 25, 2023 5:19 am
BURG, Germany (AP) — Two teachers in eastern Germany say they spent months unsuccessfully trying to counter the far-right atmosphere at their small town high school. Hoping to sound a wake-up call, they wrote a public letter that described students greeting each other with the Nazi salute, scratching swastikas on their desks and threatening to beat up immigrant classmates. The letter produced a backlash and threats instead. Disheartened by what they say was a lack of support from fellow educators, Laura Nickel and Max Teske decided to leave Mina Witkojc School in Burg. Their experience has aroused fears in Berlin that the far right has gained a greater foothold in parts of the former East Germany than many thought.
July 25, 2023 5:17 am
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Justice Department is suing Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott over a floating barrier that the state placed on the Rio Grande to stop migrants from entering the U.S. The lawsuit filed Monday asks a court to force Texas to remove a line of bright orange, wrecking ball-sized buoys that the Biden administration says raises humanitarian and environmental concerns. The buoys are the latest escalation of Texas’ border security operation that also includes razor-wire fencing and arresting migrants on trespassing charges. Abbott sent President Joe Biden a letter that defended Texas’ right to install the barrier. He accused the president of putting migrants at risk by not doing more to deter them from making the journey to the U.S.
July 25, 2023 5:13 am
Climate change’s sweaty fingerprints are all over the July heat waves gripping much of the globe. A new study finds these intense and deadly hot spells in the American Southwest and Southern Europe could not have occurred without it. Tuesday’s study finds the increase in heat-trapping gases from the burning of fossil fuels has made a third simultaneous heat wave — one in China — 50 times more likely. An ever-warming world also made the European heat wave 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit hotter, the one in the United States and Mexico 3.6 degrees warmer and the Chinese one 1.8 degrees toastier.
July 25, 2023 5:12 am
ODESA, Ukraine (AP) — In just a week, Russia has fired dozens of missiles and drones at the Odesa region of Ukraine, hitting the historic city center that had been largely spared since the beginning of the war. Among the places struck was the Transfiguration Cathedral, which stands at the heart of the city’s romantic, notorious past and its deep roots in both Ukrainian and Russian culture. Before the war, many in Odesa saw themselves as more than simply Ukrainian. There were rumors, spread by Kremlin propaganda, that the city would welcome Russian soldiers. But they turned out to be false. Now that the city has come under an onslaught of attacks, it has become even more defiant.
July 25, 2023 5:09 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Emergency crews are on the scene of a fire at a Duquesne Light specialized transformer on Brunot Island. Photos and videos shared with our news partners at Channel 11 from viewers showed smoke filling the sky as flames sprout from the island in the Ohio River. Pittsburgh Public Safety said the fire started after a reactor “catastrophically failed,” according to Duquesne Light. Flames could be seen from miles away. While the island is in Pittsburgh’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood, images and videos sent to Channel 11 are from as far back at Ross Township. Officials said no one was hurt in the blaze and the fire and any related hazards are contained on Brunot Island. Officials at the scene said the oil inside of the reactor was on fire. Rail traffic was shut down but the river remains open. There is currently no threat to the public and no power outages reported due to the blaze.
