Haiti probes U.S. men detained with weapons, no license plates
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Authorities in Haiti say five U.S. citizens are among eight men who have been detained with automatic weapons and other arms, and they are investigating whether anyone authorized their entry into the country. Prosecutor Paul Eronce Villard said Tuesday that the seven foreigners and one Haitian are...
Petition floats idea of selling Montana to Canada for $1 trillion
A person poked a little fun at Montana by proposing to sell the state to Canada for $1 trillion to pay off the U.S. national debt. Wait, maybe they’re on to something … Nah. The Change.org petition was started by a user named Ian Hammond for a group called “Christian...
Swiss rescue teams pull several people out after avalanche
GENEVA — Swiss mountain rescue teams pulled out several people who were buried in a mid-afternoon avalanche Tuesday at the popular ski resort of Crans-Montana and were searching for others, police said. Rescuers using helicopters “saved several people” after a search involving helicopters, according to spokesman Steve Leger of the...
3 men fatally shot at home in gated Los Angeles community
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police interviewed neighbors Tuesday as they investigated the shooting deaths of three men inside a home in a gated community. Firefighters responding to a 911 call found the gunshot victims at about 4 p.m. Monday and called police to the residence in the affluent Porter...
Scientists fine-tune method to save rhinos
CHORZOW, Poland (AP) — Only two northern white rhinos exist in the world: both are female and neither can bear calves. But scientists have not given up hope of saving the species from extinction. They succeeded last year in creating hybrid embryos using frozen northern white rhino sperm and eggs...
7 Syrian refugee children die in Canadian house fire
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Seven children, all members of a Syrian family who arrived in Canada about two years ago, died in an early morning fire Tuesday that witnesses said quickly engulfed a home in a Halifax suburb. A woman who lives next door said the children ranged in age...
Judge orders Roger Stone to court over Instagram post
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Roger Stone to appear in court to consider whether to revoke his bail after the Trump confidant posted a photo on Instagram of the judge with what appeared to be crosshairs of a gun. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Stone,...
IUP professor working with former Gov. Ridge on Homeland Security book
A political science professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania is collaborating with former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge on a new book on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “The third-largest federal agency was created in 14 months. That’s just a little mentally overwhelming,” Dr. Aleea Lynn Perry told The Penn,...
Public hearing set on Conneaut Lake Park’s proposed Camperland expansion
SUMMIT TOWNSHIP — A proposed expansion of Conneaut Lake Park’s Camperland campground is set for a public hearing later this month. Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park, the nonprofit corporation that oversees the amusement park’s operations, proposes to expand the campground by adding 57 recreational vehicle full hookup campsites amenities. Currently,...
Dog shoots man: German court rules owner not fit for license
BERLIN — A German court has ruled that a dog owner isn’t fit to carry a firearms license after his dog shot him with a rifle. The Munich administrative court on Tuesday dismissed the man’s appeal against an earlier decision by Bavarian authorities to withdraw his license to own a...
Poll: Rural/urban political divisions also split the suburbs
DENVER — America’s suburbs are today’s great political battleground, long seen as an independent pivot between the country’s liberal cities and conservative small towns and rural expanse. But it’s not that simple. It turns out that these places in-between may be the most politically polarized of all — and when...
Religious orders apologize for abuse cover-up before summit
VATICAN CITY — Catholic religious orders from around the world apologized Tuesday for having failed to respond when their priests raped children, acknowledging that their family-like communities blinded them to sexual abuse and led to misplaced loyalties, denial and cover-ups. The two umbrella organizations representing the world’s religious orders issued...
French rally against anti-Semitism; Macron visits cemetery
PARIS — In Paris and dozens of other French cities, ordinary citizens and officials across the political spectrum geared up Tuesday to march and rally against anti-Semitism, following a series of anti-Semitic acts that shocked the nation. Just hours ahead of Tuesday’s gatherings, French President Emmanuel Macron headed to a...
China, Iran meet amid efforts to preserve nuclear deal
BEIJING — The Iranian foreign minister’s passionate defense of his country’s interests at the Munich Security Conference has made him “a famous person” in China, his Chinese counterpart told him Tuesday, as the sides met amid efforts to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif...
Police: More than a dozen people rescued from SeaWorld ride
SAN DIEGO — Police say more than a dozen people trapped on a ride at SeaWorld in San Diego have been rescued. San Diego police tell FOX5 News that around six gondolas stopped functioning Monday night after a big gust of wind tripped a circuit breaker on “Bayside Skyride.” Authorities...
Understanding the depression gender gap
Women are nearly twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with depression and it can occur at any age. Some mood changes and depressed feelings occur with normal hormonal changes, but hormonal changes alone don’t cause depression. Other biological factors, inherited traits and personal life circumstances and experiences are...
Health happenings in Westmoreland County
Blood drives • American Red Cross blood drives: — 12:30-6 p.m. Friday ,
Norwin Christian Church, 9610 Barnes Lake Road, Irwin —9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday , St. Michael’s Orthodox Church, 1182 Ashland St., Greensburg — 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday, First Commonwealth,
111 S. Main St., Greensburg Appointments: 800-733-2767 or redcrossblood.org;...
Sen. Bernie Sanders says he’s running for president in 2020
WASHINGTON — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose insurgent 2016 presidential campaign reshaped Democratic politics, announced Tuesday that he is running for president in 2020. “Our campaign is not only about defeating Donald Trump,” the 77-year-old self-described democratic socialist said in an email to supporters. “Our campaign is about transforming our...
Latrobe man knew how to bring Compass Inn Museum’s history to life
Regular visitors at Ligonier’s Compass Inn Museum knew to look for James Koontz’s signature top hat. “Everybody loved his tours because his way of presenting the information was so wonderful,” said Theresa Gay Rohall, executive director of the Ligonier Valley Historical Society. Museum attendees, and even tour bus drivers, would...
Coalition of states sues Trump over national-emergency declaration to build border wall
WASHINGTON — A coalition of 16 states filed a federal lawsuit Monday to block President Trump’s plan to build a border wall without permission from Congress, arguing that the president’s decision to declare a national emergency is unconstitutional. The lawsuit, brought by states with Democratic governors — except for one,...
North Carolina elections head says ballots handled illegally
RALEIGH — A Republican operative conducted an illegal and well-funded ballot-harvesting operation, North Carolina’s elections director said Monday, but the first session of a days-long hearing produced scant evidence that the GOP congressional candidate he worked for knew about it or even benefited. The director’s testimony came at the opening...
West Virginia teachers’ unions call for strike over education bill
CHARLESTON — West Virginia teachers’ unions on Monday called a statewide strike over an education bill that they view as lacking their input and as retaliation for a walkout last year. The strike is scheduled to start Tuesday, leaders of three unions for teachers and school service workers said at...
Trump sees ‘new day’ for Latin America at Miami rally
MIAMI — President Trump said Monday that “a new day is coming in Latin America,” as he sought to rally support among the largest Venezuelan community in the United States for opposition leader Juan Guaido. Speaking at Florida International University in Miami before large American and Venezuelan flags, Trump said...
Japan’s Shinzo Abe declines to say if he backed Trump for Nobel prize
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declined to say whether he nominated Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize while praising the U.S. president for “decisive” efforts to resolve the problems of a nuclear-armed North Korea. Abe, who has worked hard to build a personal rapport with Trump, walked a fine line...
Philly man returns wallet (and $600) to a Patriots fan
Alla Kotlyar gets tired of all the “doom and gloom” in the news. That’s why she watches football. “Being a Patriots fan, it’s almost always good news,” said Kotlyar, who runs a gravestone company in Massachusetts. But on Valentine’s Day, while visiting her daughter and 5-month-old granddaughter in Center City,...
