March 19, 2022 4:25 am
About three dozen would-be asylum seekers from Russia were blocked from entering the U.S. while a group of Ukrainians flashed passports and were escorted across the border. The scene Friday reflected a quiet but unmistakable shift in disparate treatment of Russians and Ukrainians who enter Mexico as tourists and fly to Tijuana, hoping to enter the U.S. for a chance at asylum. A U.S Homeland Security Department memo tells border officials that Ukrainians may be exempt from sweeping asylum limits designed to prevent spread of COVID-19. It makes no mention of Russians.
March 19, 2022 4:23 am
EASTLAND, Texas (AP) – Fire crews in West Texas are hoping to make progress against a massive complex of wildfires that have killed one person and burned at least 50 homes. Angel Lopez is a spokesman for the task force attacking the wildfire complex near Eastland, about 120 miles west of Dallas. He said winds are expected to abate on Saturday, raising hopes for the attack on the flames. However, gusty winds were expected to return Sunday, again raising the wildfire threat to critical levels. Officials warn that fires could also affect parts of Oklahoma and Kansas, and Nebraska warned of an extreme fire risk.
March 19, 2022 4:20 am
BEIJING (AP) – China’s national health authorities have reported two COVID-19 deaths, the first recorded rise in the death toll since January 2021, as the country battles an omicron-driven surge. The deaths reported Saturday, both in northeastern Jilin province, bring the country’s coronavirus death toll to 4,638. China reported 2,157 new COVID-19 cases from community transmission on Saturday, with the majority in Jilin. The province has instituted a travel ban. China had recorded 4,636 deaths since the pandemic began in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019. It revised its death toll once in April 2020, adding in new deaths that were not initially counted as the pandemic overwhelmed the city’s hospitals and other systems.
March 19, 2022 4:16 am
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces are blockading Ukraine’s largest cities to create a “humanitarian catastrophe” with the aim of persuading Ukrainians to cooperate with them. He says Russians are preventing supplies from reaching surrounded cities in the center and southeast of the country. Zelenskyy made the remarks in his nighttime video address to the nation. He filmed his talk outside in Kyiv, with the presidential office in the lamplight behind him. He again appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold talks with him directly.
March 18, 2022 4:20 am
HOBBS, N.M. (AP) – The investigation into this week’s fiery head-on crash in West Texas now focuses on the revelation that a 13-year-old was driving the pickup truck that struck a van, killing nine people, including six members of a college golf team and their coach. The unidentified young teen and a man traveling in the truck also died. National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg on Thursday revealed the truck was driven by the child. He said the truck’s left front tire also blew out before impact. Area residents say it was unsafe for a child to drive on the road.
March 18, 2022 4:19 am
Russia’s Tass news agency says a court near Moscow announced it has extended the detention of WNBA star Brittney Griner until May 19. Griner was detained after arriving at a Moscow airport, reportedly in mid-February. Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges as allegedly containing oil derived from cannabis. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press seeking comment. The 31-year-old Griner is one of the most recognizable players in women’s basketball. The seven-time All-Star has won two Olympic gold medals with the U.S. and a WNBA championship with the Phoenix Mercury. The WNBA season opens May 6.
March 18, 2022 4:17 am
NEW DELHI (AP) – An Indian official says state-run Indian Oil Corp. bought 3 million barrels of crude oil from Russia earlier this week to secure its energy needs, resisting Western pressure to avoid such purchases. The official said India will be looking to purchase more oil from Russia despite calls not to from the U.S. and other countries due to the invasion of Ukraine. The official said India has no such sanctions. Imports make up nearly 85% of India’s oil needs. Its demand is projected to jump 8.2% this year to 5.15 million barrels per day as the economy recovers from the devastation caused by the pandemic.
March 18, 2022 4:16 am
LVIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian forces are pressing their assault Ukrainian cities, hitting a building near the western city of Lviv’s airport with missiles, as world leaders push for an investigation of the Kremlin’s repeat attacks on civilian targets. Rescue workers are still searching for survivors in the ruins of a theater that was serving as a shelter in the besieged southern city of Mariupol. And in Merefa, near the northeast city of Kharkiv, at least 21 people were killed when Russian artillery destroyed a school and a community center. The World Health Organization has verified 43 attacks on hospitals and health facilities in Ukraine.
March 18, 2022 4:13 am
A former Pennsylvania attorney general who served eight months in jail for leaking grand jury material and lying about it has been charged with drunken driving after a weekend crash in Scranton. Kathleen Kane was charged Thursday. Police say the 55-year-old told officers she was a designated driver, but surveillance video showed Kane herself had been drinking alcohol at a Scranton restaurant shortly before the crash.
March 18, 2022 4:09 am
The Covid-19 pandemic is still causing pain with local hospitals as far as losses that they incurred for treating patients that used their services if they were hospitalized for Covid-19. Washington County Commissioners approved two measures on Thursday to help both the Washington Health System and Penn Highlands Mon Valley recoup some of those losses. Commissioners approved one measure to allocate more than $4 million to the Washington Health System. They then passed a second measure to allocate nearly $2 million to Penn Highlands Mon Valley Hospital. Both of those allocations will come from federal American Rescue Plan Act funds received by the county. Commissioner Diana Irey-Vaughn stated that the commissioners realize “that it is critical to our community to do what we can to ensure that our community hospitals remain standing and providing care.”
