(File Photo of the Welcome to Aliquippa Sign in Aliquippa)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Aliquippa, PA) Two festivals, one hosted by the San Rocco Cultural Committee and another hosted by the San Rocco Cultural Foundation, will take place in Aliquippa. The first will happen on August 8th starting at 4 p.m. on the campus of St. Frances Cabrini Church. The second will be at St. Elijah Serbian Orthodox Church starting on August 9th at 5 p.m. There will be free admission for those twelve years old or younger with an adult that is paying. The three-day celebration between August 8th through August 10th will feature events like entertainment for all ages, Italian food and wine tastings. You can visit the link below for the schedule of these two festivals as well as more information.

Click here for the link: San Rocco Foundation

(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) On Thursday, a former missionary was arrested in Pittsburgh after he was accused of allegedly sexually abusing several minors in Tonga. Twenty-eight-year-old William James Purdy of West Valley, Utah got indicted on July 16th, 2025 on charges involving exploitation of minors outside the United States. According to a media release from the Department of Justice, Purdy allegedly abused multiple underage boys. This allegedly occurred during a 2017 mission from Purdy with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Purdy also allegedly groomed “numerous” male students over several years along with their alleged sexual abuse. According to authorities, Purdy allegedly provided gifts, including electronic devices and internet access, food, toys, and money in exchange for performing sexual acts. Purdy is also alleged of recording underage boys without them knowing in his bathroom at his various apartments in Tonga. This case is still under investigation.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shake hands after reaching a trade deal at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland Sunday, July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — The United States and the European Union agreed on Sunday to a trade framework setting a 15% tariff on most goods, staving off — at least for now — far higher import duties on both sides that might have sent shock waves through economies around the globe.

The sweeping announcement came after President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen met briefly at Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland. Their private sit-down culminated months of bargaining, with the White House deadline Friday nearing for imposing punishing tariffs on the EU’s 27 member countries.

“It was a very interesting negotiation. I think it’s going to be great for both parties,” Trump said. The agreement, he said, was “a good deal for everybody” and “a giant deal with lots of countries.”

Von der Leyen said the deal “will bring stability, it will bring predictability, that’s very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Many facets will require more work

As with other, recent tariff agreements that Trump announced with countries including Japan and the United Kingdom, some major details remain pending in this one.

Trump said the EU had agreed to buy some $750 billion worth of U.S. energy and invest $600 billion more than it already is in America — as well as make a major military equipment purchase. He said tariffs “for automobiles and everything else will be a straight across tariff of 15%” and meant that U.S. exporters ”have the opening up of all of the European countries.”

Von der Leyen said the 15% tariffs were “across the board, all inclusive” and that “indeed, basically the European market is open.”

At a later news conference away from Turnberry, she said the $750 billion in additional U.S. energy purchases was actually over the next three years — and would help ease the dependence on natural gas from Russia among the bloc’s countries.

“When the European Union and the United States work together as partners, the benefits are tangible,” Von der Leyen said, noting that the agreement “stabilized on a single, 15% tariff rate for the vast majority of EU exports” including cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.

“15% is a clear ceiling,” she said.

But von der Leyen also clarified that such a rate wouldn’t apply to everything, saying that both sides agreed on “zero for zero tariffs on a number of strategic products,” like all aircraft and component parts, certain chemicals, certain generic drugs, semiconductor equipment, some agricultural products, natural resources and critical raw materials.

It is unclear if alcohol will be included in that list.

“And we will keep working to add more products to this list,” she said, while also stressing that the “framework means the figures we have just explained to the public, but, of course, details have to be sorted out. And that will happen over the next weeks.”

Further EU approval needed

In the meantime, there will be work to do on other fronts. Von der Leyen had a mandate to negotiate because the European Commission handles trade for member countries. But the Commission must now present the deal to member states and EU lawmakers, who will ultimately decide whether or not to approve it.

Before their meeting began, Trump pledged to change what he characterized as “a very one-sided transaction, very unfair to the United States.”

“I think both sides want to see fairness,” the Republican president told reporters.

Von der Leyen said the U.S. and EU combined have the world’s largest trade volume, encompassing hundreds of millions of people and trillions of dollars and added that Trump was “known as a tough negotiator and dealmaker.”

“But fair,” Trump said.

Trump has spent months threatening most of the world with large tariffs in hopes of shrinking major U.S. trade deficits with many key trading partners. More recently, he had hinted that any deal with the EU would have to “buy down” a tariff rate of 30% that had been set to take effect.

But during his comments before the agreement was announced, the president was asked if he’d be willing to accept tariff rates lower than 15%, and he said “no.”

First golf, then trade talk

Their meeting came after Trump played golf for the second straight day at Turnberry, this time with a group that included sons Eric and Donald Jr. In addition to negotiating deals, Trump’s five-day visit to Scotland is built around golf and promoting properties bearing his name.

A small group of demonstrators at the course waved American flags and raised a sign criticizing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who plans his own Turnberry meeting with Trump on Monday.

Other voices could be heard cheering and chanting “Trump! Trump!” as he played nearby.

On Tuesday, Trump will be in Aberdeen, in northeastern Scotland, where his family has another golf course and is opening a third next month. The president and his sons plan to help cut the ribbon on the new course.

The U.S. and EU seemed close to a deal earlier this month, but Trump instead threatened the 30% tariff rate. The deadline for the Trump administration to begin imposing tariffs has shifted in recent weeks but is now firm and coming Friday, the administration insists.

“No extensions, no more grace periods. Aug. 1, the tariffs are set, they’ll go into place, Customs will start collecting the money and off we go,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told “Fox News Sunday” before the EU deal was announced. He added, however, that even after that “people can still talk to President Trump. I mean, he’s always willing to listen.”

Without an agreement, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.

If Trump eventually followed through on his threat of tariffs against Europe, meanwhile, it could have made everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the United States.

“I think it’s great that we made a deal today, instead of playing games and maybe not making a deal at all,” Trump said. “I think it’s the biggest deal ever made.”

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Walmart employees and customers wait outside while law enforcement investigates the scene after a stabbing incident in Traverse City, Mich., Saturday July 26, 2025. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle via AP)

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A man accused of entering a Walmart in Michigan and randomly stabbing 11 shoppers before being detained by bystanders in the store parking lot is expected to face terrorism and multiple assault charges, authorities said Sunday.

Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea said a motive behind the attack by Bradford Gille, 42, of Afton, Michigan, remains unclear. Gille, who Shea said had “prior assaultive incidents as well as controlled substance violations,” said very little as he was arrested. The man is expected to be charged with one count of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder.

Shea praised the quick response by law officers who arrived within three minutes of receiving the call about the stabbing — as well as a group of bystanders who intervened and detained Gille in the parking lot of the store in Traverse City. The community of about 16,000 people is along Lake Michigan.

Gille entered the store at 4:10 p.m. and remained there for some time before the attack began, authorities said. Calls began coming in to authorities at 4:43 p.m. on Saturday and a sheriff’s deputy arrived at 4:46 p.m.

He said the “remarkable” efforts likely prevented others from being harmed, adding a 3 and 1/2 inch (nearly 9-centimeter) cutting blade was used in the attack.

“I cannot commend everyone that was involved enough,” Shea said at a news conference. “When you stop and look from the time of call to the time of actual custody, the individual was detained within one minute.”

Terrorism charges

Gille remained jailed and his name did not appear Sunday in Michigan’s online jail records. Messages left Sunday with phone numbers and an email listed for Gille were not immediately returned. His previous court cases did not have an attorney’s name listed in public records.

Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg told reporters that the terrorism charge will be brought due to the fact that the attack impacted the community, rather than one individual.

“It’s something that is done not to individual people, not to those individual victims — obviously they are most affected — but it is, we believe, in some ways done to affect the entire community, to put fear in the entire community and to change how maybe we operate on a daily basis,” Moeggenberg said. “So that is why we are looking at that terrorism charge.”

Shea said the 11 victims were both men and women and they ranged in age from 29 to 84 and included one Walmart employee. Munson Medical Center Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tom Schermerhorn, speaking at Sunday’s news conference, said one patient was treated and released; two were in serious condition; and the rest are in fair condition. All were expected to survive.

Witness accounts

Steven Carter was loading his truck in the Walmart parking lot when he saw a man with a knife stab a woman in the throat.

About five minutes later, he said, the attacker was surrounded by shoppers in the parking lot, including one who was holding a gun. The group of five or six people kept yelling to the man to “drop the knife,” he said, and the man responded: “I don’t care, I don’t care.” He kept backing away from the crowd, before someone tackled and subdued him.

“At first, it was disbelief. I thought maybe it was like a terror attack,” said Carter, who delivers customer orders from Walmart. “And then it was fear, disbelief, shock. And that was, it was just amazing. And it all happened fast. Like he was totally subdued on the ground by the time police arrived.”

Emergency vehicles and uniformed first responders gathered in the parking lot of the shopping center that houses several other retail stores. Authorities also were seen interviewing employees, still wearing blue uniform vests and name tags as the investigation unfolded.

Tiffany DeFell, 36, who lives in Honor, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Traverse City, said she was in the store’s parking lot when she saw chaos erupt around her.

“It was really scary. Me and my sister were just freaking out,” she said. “This is something you see out of the movies. It’s not what you expect to see where you’re living.”

Shea said the weapon involved appeared to be a folding-style knife, adding that the stabbing started near the checkout counter of the store and that his victims were “not predetermined.”

Walmart said in a statement that it would continue to work closely with law enforcement in the investigation. It said store associates would be paid while the store remains closed and that counseling services would be made available to them. It wasn’t known when the store would reopen.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a social media post that bureau officials were responding to “provide any necessary support.”

Traverse City is a popular vacation spot. It is known for its cherry festival, wineries and lighthouses and is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: An Israeli soldier directs a tank at a staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military Sunday began limited pauses in fighting in three populated areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day, part of measures including airdrops as concerns grow over surging hunger and as Israel faces criticism over its conduct in the 21-month war.

The military said the “tactical pause” from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Muwasi, all with large populations, would increase humanitarian aid entering the territory.

United Nations humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher welcomed Israel’s decision to support a “one-week scale-up of aid” and said “some movement restrictions appear to have been eased.” But he said action needs to be sustained, vast and fast.

“Whichever path we choose, we will have to continue to allow the entry of minimal humanitarian supplies,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Images of emaciated children have fanned criticism of Israel, including by allies who call for the war’s end. Israel has restricted aid to Gaza’s population of over 2 million because it says Hamas siphons it off to bolster its rule, without providing evidence. Much of the population, squeezed into ever-smaller patches of land, now relies on aid.

As the military had warned, combat operations continued otherwise. Health officials in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 41 Palestinians from late Saturday into Sunday, including 26 seeking aid.

Aid for some, none for others

“I came to get flour for my children because they have not tasted flour for more than a week, and thank God, God provided me with a kilo of rice with difficulty,” said Sabreen Hassona, as other Palestinians trudged along a dusty road carrying sacks of food from the Zikim crossing.

But aid came slowly for others, if at all. “We saw the planes, but we didn’t see what they dropped,” Samira Yahya said in Zawaida in central Gaza. “They said trucks would pass, but we didn’t see the trucks.”

Some people feared going out and having a box of aid fall on their children, Ahmed al-Sumairi said.

‘Every delay is measured by another funeral’

Israel’s military said 28 aid packages containing food were airdropped, and said it would put in place secure routes for aid delivery. It said the steps were made in coordination with the U.N. and other humanitarian groups.

The U.N. World Food Program said it had enough food in, or on its way, to feed all of Gaza for nearly three months. It has said nearly half a million people were enduring famine-like conditions.

Antoine Renard, WFP’s country director for the occupied Palestinian territories, said around 80 WFP trucks entered Gaza, while another over 130 trucks arrived via Jordan, Ashdod and Egypt. He said other aid was moving through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings.

He stressed it was not enough to counter the “current starvation.”

Gaza saw 63 malnutrition-related deaths in July, including 24 children underage 5, the World Health Organization said.

Dr. Muneer al-Boursh, Gaza Health Ministry’s director-general, called for a flood of medical supplies to treat child malnutrition.

“This (humanitarian) truce will mean nothing if it doesn’t turn into a real opportunity to save lives,” he said. “Every delay is measured by another funeral.”

Questions over ceasefire talks

Ceasefire efforts appeared to be in doubt. Israel and the U.S. recalled negotiating teams from Qatar on Thursday, blaming Hamas, and Israel said it was considering “alternative options” to talks.

Israel says it is prepared to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something the group has refused. Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas’ negotiating delegation, said the group had displayed “maximum flexibility.”

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawi said Israel’s change of approach on the humanitarian crisis amounted to an acknowledgment of Palestinians starving in Gaza, and asserted that it was meant to improve Israel’s international standing and not save lives.

Troubles with aid delivery

After ending the latest ceasefire in March, Israel cut off the entry of food, medicine, fuel and other supplies to Gaza for 2 ½ months, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages. Fifty of them remain in Gaza, over half of them believed to be dead.

Under international pressure, Israel slightly eased the blockade in May. Since then, the average of 69 trucks a day has been far below the 500 to 600 trucks the U.N. says are needed. The U.N. says it has been unable to distribute much aid because hungry crowds and gangs take most of it from trucks.

In an attempt to divert aid delivery from U.N. control, Israel has backed the U.S.-registered Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which in May opened four distribution centers. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food, mostly near those sites, the U.N. human rights office says.

Israel asserts the U.N. system allows Hamas to steal aid. The U.N. denies it.

“Gaza is not a remote island. The infrastructure and resources exist to prevent starvation; we just need safe, sustained access,” Mercy Corps’ vice president of global policy and advocacy, Kate Phillips-Barrasso, said in a statement.

Killed while seeking aid

Awda Hospital in Nuseirat said Israeli forces killed at least 13 people, including four children and a woman, and wounded 101 as they headed toward a GHF aid distribution site in central Gaza.

Israel’s military said it fired warning shots to prevent a “gathering of suspects” from approaching, hundreds of meters from the site before opening hours. GHF said there were no incidents at or near its sites.

Thirteen others were killed seeking aid elsewhere, including northwestern Gaza City, where over 50 people were wounded, and near the Zikim crossing where over 90 were wounded, hospital officials and medics said.

Israel’s military said two soldiers were killed in Gaza, bringing the total to 898 since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that sparked the war. Hamas killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in that attack, and took 251 hostages.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 59,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says over half of the dead are women and children. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called the images of emaciated and malnourished children in Gaza “terrible.”

(File Photo of Handcuffs)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) On Sunday morning, SWAT units got called to a neighborhood in Pittsburgh. According to a Pittsburgh public safety spokesperson, SWAT units were called to the 5100 block of Broad Street in the city’s Garfield neighborhood around 5:15 a.m. The same spokesperson confirms that a man reportedly got barricaded in a home following a domestic situation. That man got taken to the Allegheny County Jail with upcoming charges after he surrendered to police. In addition, a woman was taken to the hospital from the scene because this woman had head injuries. WPXI was told that the woman that got injured is in stable condition.