Emergency closure planned for Herron Avenue Bridge in Pittsburgh
An emergency closure of a bridge in Pittsburgh is planned for Wednesday.
The Herron Avenue Bridge, which falls in Polish hill and Lawrenceville, has been deemed 'deficient,' according to Pittsburgh Regional Transit.
PRT stated that the City of Pittsburgh's Department of Mobility and Infrastructure notified them that the bridge will be closed entirely from Ruthven Street to Liberty Avenue and will remain closed indefinitely.
A time for the closure was not provided.
For PRT riders, this impacts the North Side, Oakland and South Side routes.
The stops at the Herron busway station will be discontinued.
For more information on the PRT stops impacted, click here.
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Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'Hurt': Ukrainians in Poland worried by rise of nationalists
For several months, Halyna Muliar watched Poland's presidential campaign from home in Poznan, worried as candidates swerved further to the right and increasingly aimed nationalist slogans at Poland's 1.5 million Ukrainians -- war refugees and economic migrants. The 58-year-old arrived in Poland weeks before Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and recalled, with emotion, the huge solidarity from Poles when an evacuation train from her hometown of Mykolaiv arrived with her daughter and other refugees. But three years later, anti-Ukrainian rhetoric is part of mainstream Polish politics. This weekend, Poles elected as president nationalist Karol Nawrocki, who throughout his campaign questioned the rights of Ukrainians in Poland. "So much has changed," Muliar told AFP in Warsaw, where she had come from Poznan in the west to pick up a residency card. "I'm worried by everything that was said during the campaign." Nawrocki claimed Ukrainians "cause problems in hospital queues" and "should not live better than Poles", also accusing Kyiv of being ungrateful to its allies -- all arguments often used by the Polish far right. His rival, Rafal Trzaskowski, the pro-EU presidential candidate, had urged people not to give into "Russian narratives" about Ukraine. But -- in a failed bid to win far-right votes -- he still said some benefits paid out to Ukrainian refugees should be cut. For Muliar, the mood in Poland has seriously worsened. "First, it started with the documents, with the waits getting much longer," she told AFP. Many Ukrainians have experienced longer bureaucratic procedures to obtain documents legalising their presence in Poland. Then, she noticed social media was so full of anti-Ukrainian content she preferred not to open it. Before long, she was the victim of xenophobic comments in shops "to which I just close my eyes". She is not alone. Ukrainians in Warsaw who AFP spoke to -- refugees and migrants who have been living in Poland for years -- were alarmed by the unprecedented hard-right tone of the campaign. "The damage has been done," said Olena Babakova, a longtime observer of Polish-Ukrainian relations and of Poland's Ukrainian community. - 'Took away hope' - While the theme of migrants has dominated election campaigns in the conservative Catholic country for years, Babakova said this "for the first time became strictly directed against Ukrainians". Nationalist Nawrocki has often raised 20th-century grievances between Poland and Ukraine. The pro-EU camp also flirted with that rhetoric, which Babakova said "took away hope". She predicted the people worst affected by the trend would be Ukrainians working in the service sector -- mostly women who have the most contact with Poles and "paradoxically, really want to integrate in Polish society". Olga Klymenko is one of them. She is one of the one million Ukrainian refugees in Poland and works in a hotel. She fled Russian occupation in 2022, escaping Ukraine's city of Izyum under fire through Russia before obtaining asylum in Poland. "It hurts and worries me," she told AFP. "It's hard to know what tomorrow will bring." Like many, she worries about her status in Poland. There is much uncertainty among refugees over the future of legalisation processes. "My house is destroyed. If there is some pressure from Poland, I have nowhere to return to," Klymenko explained. Se said she was waiting to see what kind of president Nawrocki would turn out to be. The role of head of state is largely ceremonial in Poland but the president can veto government law. Nawrocki's victory has boosted the chances of a far-right win in the 2027 parliamentary elections. "If there are some laws and the president's programme is not in favour of Ukrainians, then I don't know what we'll do," Klymenko said. - 'From the top' - Poland's economy and ageing population are heavily reliant on a Ukrainian workforce. But Ukrainians who have been living in Poland for years have also been unnerved by the election campaign. Yulia Melnyk, who has been in Warsaw for seven years, was convinced the negative sentiment had been whipped up "from the top". "It's convenient for politicians to use this kind of topic," the transport worker said. She said she had seen "a lot of hate" on the internet but not, so far, "in real life". But she admitted: "I am worried, and my family in Ukraine is worried that there will be hate towards Ukraine from the authorities themselves." Ukrainian cook Serhiy, who has lived in Warsaw for six years, hoped the rhetoric was limited to a heated pre-election period. The 28-year-old is also waiting to see what Nawrocki would be like in power. "I hope he will focus less on populism and more on real problems," he said. oc/mmp/giv
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück's Story of Resistance
A circa 1941 photo of Germaine Tillion, French ethnologist and member of the French resistance. Credit - adoc-photos/Corbis--Getty Images A new book aims to preserve the stories of the prisoners at an all-female Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust, who resisted their captors as much as possible. Lynne Olson's The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück: How an Intrepid Band of Frenchwomen Resisted the Nazis in Hitler's All-Female Concentration Camp looks at a labor camp about 50 miles north of Berlin where an estimated 130,000 female inmates were members of resistance movements across Nazi-occupied Europe. They sabotaged any assignments to help with the war effort, hid Polish prisoners who were the subjects of medical experiments, and even wrote and shared an opera to keep their spirits up. For her book, Olson drew on memoirs that the prisoners wrote, past interviews that they conducted, and conversations with their families and the people that knew them. She details horrific conditions in the camp, such as the Nazi officers who hurled scissors at inmates forced to sew Nazi uniforms and the Nazi's so-called doctors who cut open Polish inmates and inserted gangrene bacteria, dirt, and glass into their wounds to see what would happen. As many as 40,000 Ravensbrück inmates died of starvation, disease, torture, shooting, lethal injections, medical experiments, and from lethal gas. Here, Olson discusses the most shocking stories about the all-female Nazi concentration camp. TIME: Why isn't the history of Ravensbrück better known? OLSON: It was liberated by the Soviets, rather than the Americans. When the Soviets liberated camps, there were no Western journalists, so there are no photos, no footage of the liberation of the camp. Ravensbrück was also liberated very late in the game. Most of the other camps had been liberated. There had been so much publicity about the other camps, and then nobody knew anything at all about Ravensbrück. A shocking revelation in the book details how one of the prisoners at Ravensbrück was Geneviève, the niece of Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the French resistance movement and future President of France. Before she got caught by the Gestapo, she was a major figure in persuading resistance leaders that De Gaulle would help lead France out of this horrendous situation that they found themselves in. Geneviève would go around to the various barracks—something that was totally forbidden—and speak to the other French women about him and his plans for France after the war. He gave those women something to believe in and to fight for, to believe that maybe actually they would survive and that France would survive. She was incredibly important in keeping up the spirits of the French women there. What are some of the most surprising stories you learned about what happened in the camp? One of the most horrible ones is the medical experiments that the Nazis conducted on the young Polish prisoners, most of whom were in their late teens and early 20s. He would break their legs and see if they grow back. He inserted bacilli, tetanus and germs [into them], cut their legs to ribbons. Most of them were crippled for the rest of their lives. The records show that basically all of them survived. As the war grew to a close, the Nazis were going to execute all of the survivors of these experiments to do away with the evidence of what they had done. In the last month of the war, Ravensbrück got tens of thousands of women who had been in other camps, and it was not clear exactly who was who, so it was much easier to get away with things. Women dug little caves under the barracks and hid the Poles there. Some [inmates] managed to smuggle the Poles into convoys that were going out. It's fascinating to see that one of the inmates composed an operetta about life in the camp, as her form of resistance. I assume that did not get performed in the camp? That's my favorite story in the entire book. It was written down, and it was circulated among French women. Germaine Tillion came up with it late one night in 1944. At the time that she wrote it, the women of Ravensbrück were beginning to think that they were not going to get liberated, that they were going to get killed before the end of the war. Tillion spent 10 days writing this operetta to boost their spirit—complete with dances, music, and songs that she remembered. Every night after work, she would gather secretly with the French women in her barracks, and she would teach them the songs and the dance. They would sing these songs on their way to work, guarded by German guards. The Germans didn't understand French, and these women would basically be making fun of them as they walked along. More than 60 years later, it was performed in Paris, very close to Germane Tillion's 100th birthday. It was a huge success, and it's being performed to this day, mostly in France, but it's been performed in the US and other countries. Were there any other key ways that these women resisted or stood up to the Nazis in the camp? One of the most important ways was to try not to do anything that would help the Germans in their war effort. They would actually hide to avoid being sent to munitions factories. Those who couldn't get out of it did their best to sabotage whatever they were doing. If they were making parts for guns, they would do their best to make sure that those guns didn't work. They stole supplies. They were constantly trying to come up with ways to defy the Germans. What happened to these women after Ravensbrück was liberated? Germaine Tillion became known as one of the top French intellectuals in France after the war, and Geneviève de Gaulle set up an international organization to help the poor and the homeless. When she saw the poor and the homeless in France after the war, they reminded her of herself and the other inmates in Ravensbrück. Basically, the French overall wanted to forget the war. They wanted to forget the fact that, as a country, France had capitulated to the Germans and then collaborated with the Germans. They didn't really want to face what their country had done. They were determined to make it very clear to the country—and also to the men who were taking credit for the resistance—that women had sought to keep their country free. What did you find in your research that strikes you as particularly timely in 2025? In this evil place that was designed to dehumanize you, these women created this sisterhood and refused to allow that to happen. [The resistance in] Ravensbrück shows the incredible power of individuals when they come together to overcome evil in the worst of situations. Authoritarianism is back, and this book is a lesson: You're not powerless. You're not powerless if you join in the community and work together to do something. Write to Olivia B. Waxman at
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Opinion - Instead of nuclear weapons, give Poland a nuclear umbrella
As the Polish electorate picks the country's next president, questions about its nuclear future persist. Russia's nuclear threats and insertion of nuclear arms into Belarus could create the impression that Poland is more exposed. In response, Poland could seek its own nuclear weapons, become a host for NATO weapons or turn to France and the United Kingdom for protection. In March, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland must pursue 'capabilities' related to nuclear weapons, and Andrzej Duda, the current president, has urged that U.S. nuclear arms be based in the country. Poland's seeking to become nuclear armed would upset the West, but the other two options could be viable. For over a decade, President Vladimir Putin has heightened nuclear threats to Europe. In 2014, when Russia first invaded Ukraine, he said he was 'ready' to bring nuclear arms into play. In 2018, Putin displayed on large video screens a simulated nuclear attack on Florida and a 'super torpedo' that could render coastal cities uninhabitable. In 2019, a new Russian ground-launched cruise missile led the U.S. to withdraw from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, with the support of NATO allies. In 2023, Russia began moving Iskander missiles into Belarus, and last June, the two states conducted joint nuclear exercises. In November, Putin said he had lowered the threshold for nuclear use. NATO has called Russia's nuclear rhetoric 'dangerous' and said it was considering whether to put more stored missiles on standby. (The U.S. has no nuclear-armed missiles in Europe.) These modest responses could lead the Kremlin to wonder about the strength of the nuclear umbrella over NATO allies. U.S. nuclear bombs in Europe are a visible expression of the umbrella. They are stored in five NATO states: Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. Under the alliance's 'nuclear sharing' program, the bombs would be delivered by allied aircraft (stealthy F-35s, except F-16s for Turkey). Only the U.S. could authorize nuclear release. Like West Germany in the Cold War, Poland today is the main NATO ally on the Central Front. In the Soviet era, NATO judged that U.S. nuclear-armed forces in West Germany were vital to deterring and defending against potential aggression. Similar logic is relevant to Poland today. Poland and its nuclear-armed allies might choose among three options. It could try to acquire its own nuclear arms. Poland might join NATO's nuclear sharing program as a basing country. And Warsaw might seek nuclear protection from France and the U.K. The West would oppose Poland obtaining its own nuclear weapons. This would violate its obligations as a non-nuclear weapon state under the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. With 191 adherents, it is a centerpiece of the global security order. Thus, the West assisted Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine in eliminating their leftover Soviet strategic arms and associated infrastructure, and the international community has condemned Iran and North Korea's nuclear quests. Polish acquisition of its own nuclear forces could also spur other states in complex security environments to seek nuclear arsenals. This could increase dangers to them, from deficiencies in warning, command and control, or survivable basing, and to neighbors through collateral damage. The second option, becoming a basing country in NATO's nuclear sharing program, has much to recommend it. Most importantly, it could reduce the risks that Russian leaders might misperceive Poland as vulnerable or unprotected. Poland flies F-35s, which could be configured to deliver B-61 bombs. Unrefueled, Poland's F-35s could penetrate deeper into Russia than aircraft from some other allies. Poland has sufficient geographic expanse for a survivable force. Russia's nuclear threats and full-scale war on Ukraine justify NATO's suspending its 1997 assurance of no 'intention, plan, or reason' to place nuclear arms in new member states. At that time, NATO said it and Russia did 'not consider each other adversaries.' The security environment today is far different. A third option has been gaining attention, in part because of uncertainty about the U.S. nuclear umbrella. Duda has voiced a recurring interest in a French nuclear umbrella. The new German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has called for nuclear talks with France and the U.K. Past French attempts to develop concerted deterrence with Germany have been challenging. Unlike France, the UK participates in NATO's Nuclear Planning Group and has 'assigned' its nuclear forces to the defense of the alliance. Poland benefits from this. France has a more ambiguous role in Europe's nuclear deterrence. While France has long made clear that its vital interests have a European dimension, Paris is not interested in offering a nuclear sharing program similar to NATO's. Providing nuclear reassurance to Poland could boost financial costs. Perhaps Poland could assist the French nuclear aviation mission, such as with training, refueling, or post-attack recovery. Given these obstacles, some have suggested the creation of a French-U.K. joint venture to reassure Poland. A foundation exists. Since the Chequers Declaration of 1995, France and the U.K. have deepened nuclear cooperation. Poland could decide to pursue both NATO nuclear sharing and protection from France and the U.K. From a military perspective, combined efforts might complicate Russian targeting and be a hedge against political disruptions. William Courtney is an adjunct senior fellow at RAND and professor of policy analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy. In a career in the foreign service, he was deputy U.S. negotiator in U.S.-Soviet Defense and Space talks in Geneva and ambassador in negotiations there to implement the Threshold Test Ban Treaty. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
