A night of baseball turned tragic on Wednesday after 21-year-old Kavan Markwood fell from the 21-foot-high Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park during a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. The fall left him critically injured and fighting for his life, according to officials and community members. The incident occurred during a moment of celebration when Pirates veteran Andrew McCutchen hit a double. Markwood, reportedly cheering with friends, lost his balance and fell from the bleachers, landing on the warning track below. Pittsburgh Public Safety is treating the incident as accidental. Markwood, a standout athlete…
Author: Elizabeth Jenrola Oso
Jill Sobule, the trailblazing singer-songwriter best known for her witty pop anthem Supermodel and the pioneering LGBTQ hit I Kissed a Girl, has died in a tragic house fire. She was 66. Sobule’s body was discovered on Thursday in a home in Woodbury, Minnesota. Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the blaze. Her longtime manager, John Porter, confirmed her passing in a statement to The Minnesota Star Tribune, describing Sobule as “a force of nature and human rights advocate whose music is woven into our culture.” “I lost a client and a friend today,” Porter said in a separate…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a “national emergency” on Wednesday as fast-moving wildfires scorched areas west of Jerusalem, prompting mass evacuations, injuring several civilians, and threatening to engulf the capital itself. Thick plumes of smoke rose above highways as firefighters, soldiers, and emergency personnel rushed to combat the fires, described as the worst Israel has seen in over a decade. Blazes broke out in multiple forested areas near the cities of Modiin, Latrun, and Bet Shemesh, spurred by high temperatures and fierce western winds. “We are now in a national emergency, not just a local one,” Netanyahu said in…
A Palestinian student at Columbia University who was detained by immigration authorities earlier this month was released on Wednesday following a federal judge’s order, amid growing concerns over free speech and political retaliation. Mohsen Mahdawi, a lawful U.S. permanent resident, was taken into custody on April 16 while attending a U.S. citizenship interview. His case drew national attention after his attorneys argued that the Trump administration sought to deport him in retaliation for his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University during the early stages of the Israel-Hamas war. Speaking outside the courthouse in Burlington, Vermont, shortly after his release,…
A night meant for baseball and celebration turned tragic Wednesday at PNC Park when a fan fell over the outfield wall and landed on the warning track during the seventh inning of the Pirates-Cubs game. The incident occurred just moments after Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen hit an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh to give Pittsburgh a 4-3 lead. Witnesses say the man tumbled from the right-field bleachers above the iconic 21 foot Clemente Wall and hit the ground hard near the field of play. Emergency personnel rushed onto the field as stunned fans and players looked on.…
Former Vice President Kamala Harris made a powerful return to the political spotlight Wednesday night, delivering a keynote speech that doubled as a searing critique of President Donald Trump’s administration and policies. Speaking at the 20th anniversary gala for Emerge America, a group dedicated to empowering Democratic women to run for office, Harris addressed a packed room in the city where her political journey began. It marked her first major address since her 2024 election defeat to Trump. Without formally announcing a political comeback, Harris didn’t hold back as she accused the Trump administration of abandoning American ideals and weaponizing…
A federal judge in Maryland has slammed the Trump administration for its continued refusal to cooperate in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident wrongfully deported to El Salvador in what the government admits was an “administrative error.” U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis rejected a fresh request from the administration for more time to respond to discovery demands, ordering government officials to fully comply by Monday and setting strict new deadlines. She also cleared the way for depositions of four federal officials, to be completed by May 9. The case has ignited national debate over due process, executive…
One of Japan’s busiest transportation lifelines came to a dramatic halt on Wednesday evening after a metre-long snake slithered onto a power line along the Tokaido Shinkansen route, shorting the system and bringing all train services between Tokyo and Osaka to a standstill. The unusual reptilian disruption occurred at approximately 5:25 p.m. between Maibara and Gifu-Hashima stations, coinciding with the start of Golden Week, a string of national holidays when millions of Japanese citizens travel across the country to visit family and enjoy vacation time. Passengers were left stranded for nearly two hours as engineers worked to restore power, which…
A Turkish court on Wednesday handed Swedish journalist Joakim Medin an 11 month suspended sentence for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan but the reporter remains imprisoned as he awaits trial on a more serious charge of terrorism. Medin, who reports for Swedish newspaper Dagens ETC, was detained on March 27 upon arrival at Istanbul Airport, where he had flown in to cover the widespread protests sweeping the country. He was subsequently charged with insulting the president and belonging to a terrorist organization. The following day, he was incarcerated at the high-security Silivri prison outside Istanbul. While the court has…
In a historic world first, scientists in Britain have successfully used living human brain tissue to mimic the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, marking a major step forward in the urgent quest for a cure. A research team at the University of Edinburgh, working in partnership with NHS surgeons, exposed healthy brain tissue from living patients to toxic forms of amyloid beta, a protein heavily linked to Alzheimer’s. By doing so, they were able to observe in real-time how the disease attacks and disrupts critical brain cell connections. The method offers a rare and powerful opportunity to watch Alzheimer’s develop…
