(File Photo: Source for Photo: Smoke rises to the sky in an area near Beaufort Castle following an Israeli military strike in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group agreed Friday to halt the heavy fighting in southern Lebanon that had threatened to unravel an interim peace agreement between the United States and Iran, officials said. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah immediately confirmed the truce.

It came after a heavy exchange of fire killed 47 people in Lebanon and four Israeli soldiers.

Hezbollah and Israel went to war shortly after the outbreak of the wider conflict, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at civilian communities in northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon.

The agreement to end the Iran war calls for a halt to military operations in Lebanon and for its sovereignty to be respected. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a party to the deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until the threat is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon, which Iran says is also a condition of the wider agreement.

The deal aims to end the war between the U.S. and Iran, open the Strait of Hormuz to relieve the world economy, and relaunch talks on Iran’s nuclear program with a 60-day deadline for a final accord. But it already faces threats, chiefly from Lebanon, with the fighting there leading to a delay in the start of talks planned for Friday in Switzerland.

(Credit for Photo: Luigi Mangione appears for a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, Pool)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Manhattan, NY) Luigi Mangione’s attorneys informed the judge in his New York state murder case yesterday that they would withdraw their plan to argue at trial that he killed UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive officer Brian Thompson while suffering an extreme emotional disturbance. The notice came in a court filing one day after a hearing in which the attorneys of Mangione had indicated they would argue psychiatric defense. His lawyers could not be reached for comment immediately and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office did not comment. Judge Gregory Carro said at a hearing on Wednesday that he planned to unseal records related to an affirmative defense available to New York state criminal defendants charged with murder, in which the accused admits to the charged conduct but argues they should not be held fully criminally liable because he or she acted while experiencing a mental health episode. However, in light of the defense’s withdrawal, Carro commented yesterday that he would keep those records sealed. If a jury finds that a defendant has proved by a preponderance of evidence they acted because of an extreme emotional disturbance, the crime is reduced from murder to manslaughter, which carries far less time in jail. Mangione’s next court date is August 11th, which is before his state trial begins in September.

(Credit for Photo: Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) voted 5-0 yesterday in Harrisburg to approve a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) which would strengthen cybersecurity requirements for regulated utilities. This will continue the PUC’s efforts to help protect utility infrastructure that is critical and maintain reliable and safe service for consumers in Pennsylvania. These proposed regulations would modernize and expand the PUC’s existing cybersecurity framework and would also establish updated standards for utility cybersecurity programs, enhance cybersecurity incident reporting requirements and require annual certifications of compliance by jurisdictional utilities.

(File Photo of Handcuffs)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Lawrence County, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in New Castle reported today that an unidentified thirty-one-year-old woman from Enon Valley was taken into custody after driving under the influence of alcohol in Lawrence County on June 7th. Police initiated a traffic stop along the 2000 block of Churchill Road in Mahoning Township at 12:35 a.m. An investigation determined that the female suspect was operating her vehicle under the influence of alcoholic beverages. Charges will be filed against her. 

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of the Allegheny County Police Department, Posted on Facebook on June 18th, 2026)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A Texas man is facing charges after police said he brought a gun to the Pittsburgh International Airport. 

According to Allegheny County Police, charges were filed against twenty-three-year-old Liam Grant of Royse City, Texas yesterday. 

TSA agents reported finding a handgun in his carry-on bag at 10:08 a.m. It was found at the security checkpoint. Police stated that Grant did not have a valid carry permit. The FBI was also brought in to investigate this incident. 

Grant and anybody else that is charged with bringing a gun into an airport security checkpoint will face up to $10,000 fines.  

Repeat offenders can be fined up to $13,910. 

(File Photo of a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Car)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Allegheny County, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Pittsburgh reported yesterday that a thirty-four-year-old York man was charged after a two-vehicle crash occurred in Allegheny County on June 2nd. Delando Belton was driving on I-376 East in Green Tree Borough at 7:11 p.m. and hit the vehicle driven by forty-seven-year-old Nicholas Seemann of Imperial. According to police, Belton was trying to merge his vehicle into the right east bound lane before hitting Seemann’s vehicle and Belton was charged with a summary traffic violation. There were no reported injuries. 

(File Photo of a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Car)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Robinson Township, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Pittsburgh reported today that a sixteen-year-old boy from Pittsburgh was charged after a two-vehicle crash occurred in Robinson Township on April 8th. The teenage driver was traveling on I-79 North at 5:18 p.m. and hit the vehicle driven by fifty-two-year-old Anil Siew of Ambridge. There were no reported injuries.  

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of the Ambridge Borough Police Department, Posted on Facebook on June 17th, 2026)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Ambridge, PA) Beaver County Police Academy graduates Anthony Carter and Jacob Weiman recently completed countless hours of training, physical conditioning and studying to make their way into the Ambridge Borough Police Department. 

Both of them are now police officers and they were honored in a graduation ceremony. 

Ambridge Police Chief John DeLuca and K9 Patrolman Michael Longo also attended the graduation ceremony to welcome them into that department.

They will now serve the citizens of Ambridge Borough as police officers.