April 18, 2023 4:13 am
MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court is scheduled to hear a defense appeal of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s arrest on espionage charges which he and the U.S. government strenuously deny. The 31-year-old Gershkovich is the first U.S. correspondent since the Cold War to be detained in Russia for alleged spying. Russia’s Federal Security Service or FSB arrested Gershkovich in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg on March 29. Authorities accused him of trying to obtain classified information about a Russian arms factory. Gershkovich, his employer and the U. S. government all deny he was involved in spying and have demanded his release. The Moscow City Court is set to consider a defense appeal of his arrest on Tuesday.
April 18, 2023 4:12 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited headquarters of the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine. A video released by the Kremlin early Tuesday showed Putin visiting the command post for Russian forces in the southern Kherson region. It showed Putin receiving reports from the top military brass. He then moved by helicopter to the headquarters of the Russian National Guard in the Luhansk region to hear reports about the situation there. Russia took the Kherson and Luhansk regions into its fold along with Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia in September in a move that was rejected by most of the world as illegal annexation. It was Putin’s second trip to the areas that Russia occupied in Ukraine in as many months.
April 18, 2023 4:02 am
WASHINGTON — (WPXI) – For the first time in more than two months, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman returned to the Senate. The senator returned to Capitol Hill on Monday. Fetterman was out after checking himself into Walter Reed Medical Center for clinical depression. His office said he’s now “in remission,” and he was released from the hospital last month. Fetterman tweeted once he returned, saying, “It’s good to be back.” Wednesday, Fetterman is scheduled to chair a hearing on nutritional assistance in the farm bill. It will be his first time chairing a subcommittee hearing.
April 18, 2023 2:40 am
Washington County Coroner Tim Warco announced on Monday that an inquest will be held into the death of a man who was shot and killed by police earlier this month in Washington. Warco says he will announce a date and time for the inquest into the death of 38-year-old Eduardo Lee Hoover Jr., of Coraopolis in the near future. Hoover was shot and killed after he led police on a chase from Smith Township into the city of Washington. Police have said that Hoover did not stop until they got to the one-thousand block of Jefferson Avenue and they were able to get cars in front of and behind him. Authorities say that’s when Hoover stopped his truck and put it into reverse, ramming the front of a police car and then driving into a utility pole. Officers from both Smith Township and Mt. Pleasant police departments fired their weapons into Hoovers pickup truck. State Police and the Washington County District Attorney’s office are investigating.
April 17, 2023 1:08 pm
BOSTON (AP) — Defending champion Evans Chebet has won the Boston Marathon again. He surged to the front at Heartbreak Hill to spoil the much-anticipated debut of world record holder Eliud Kipchoge and win in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 5 minutes, 54 seconds. Hellen Obiri won the women’s race in a sprint down Boylston Street to finish in an unofficial 2:21:38 and complete the Kenyan sweep. She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 5,000 meters. The fastest ever fields in Boston included world record holders, Olympic and Paralympic medalists, winners of major marathons from 27 countries and a dozen Boston Marathon champions. (Photo: AP)
April 17, 2023 12:39 pm
(WPXI) – Members of the Pittsburgh Stadium Independent Employees Union who work for PNC Park are going on strike. According to the PSICEU, the members of the union voted on the most recent contract offer from the Pirates on Sunday and rejected it. The strike was then voted on and was accepted. Ticket takers, sellers and ushers will be members of the strike. The Pittsburgh Pirates released a statement on the strike Sunday night saying they are disappointed that PSIEU did not ratify the proposed agreement and that they have bargained in good faith under the guidance of a federal mediator for several months. Workers will meet across the street from PNC Park at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The Pirates are scheduled to play Cincinnati at 6:35 p.m.
April 17, 2023 9:37 am
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (AP) — SpaceX has called off its first launch attempt of its giant rocket. Elon Musk and his company had planned to launch the nearly 400-foot Starship rocket Monday morning from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. SpaceX postponed the launch because of a problem with the first-stage booster. No people or satellites were aboard for this attempt. There won’t be another attempt until at least Wednesday. The company plans to use Starship to send astronauts and cargo to the moon and, ultimately, Mars.
April 17, 2023 4:22 am
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Sudan’s embattled capital has awoken to a third day of heavy fighting between the army and a powerful rival force for control of the country. The weekend’s civilian death toll has risen to 97. Airstrikes and shelling intensified on Monday in parts of Khartoum and the adjoining city of Omdurman. Rapid, sustained firing was heard near the military headquarters, with white smoke rising from the area. Residents hunkering down in their homes reported power outages and incidents of looting. The clashes are part of a power struggle between the armed forces chief and the leader of a paramilitary force. The generals are former allies who jointly orchestrated a 2021 military coup that derailed Sudan’s short-lived transition to democracy.
April 17, 2023 4:21 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The Delaware judge overseeing a voting machine company’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News says he is delaying the start of the trial until Tuesday. He did not cite a reason Sunday night. The trial, which had drawn international interest, had been scheduled to start Monday morning with jury selection and opening statements. The case centers on whether Fox defamed Dominion Voting Systems by spreading false claims that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election to prevent former President Donald Trump’s re-election.
April 17, 2023 4:20 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Republicans upset with Donald Trump’s indictment are escalating their war on the prosecutor who charged him, trying to embarrass him on his home turf. The House Judiciary Committee is holding a field hearing Monday near the offices of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The committee’s Republican majority is billing it as an examination of the Democrat’s “pro-crime, anti-victim” policies. Democrats say the hearing is a partisan stunt aimed at amplifying conservative anger at Bragg, Manhattan’s first Black district attorney. The hearing is the latest effort by Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan’s to use his congressional powers to defend Trump from what he says is a politically motivated prosecution. Trump is charged in Manhattan with falsifying business records.
