Japan assesses damage from 7.5 magnitude quake that injured 34
TOKYO — Japan was assessing damage Tuesday and cautioning people of potential aftershocks after a late-night 7.5 magnitude earthquake caused injuries, light damage and a tsunami in Pacific coastal communities. At least 34 people were injured, one seriously, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said. Most of them were hit...
Justice Department can unseal Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking case records, judge says
NEW YORK — A federal judge on Tuesday granted the Justice Department’s request to publicly release grand jury transcripts and other material from Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking case, citing a new law that requires the government to open its files on Jeffrey Epstein and his longtime confidant, but he cautioned...
How to watch one of the year’s best meteor showers, the Geminids
NEW YORK — It’s time for one of the strongest meteor showers of the year. The Geminids peak this weekend and are visible through mid-December, according to the American Meteor Society. The meteors tend to be yellow in color and can be seen across the globe, but the best viewing...
How a rare drug made from scientists’ blood saves babies from botulism
When Alessandro Barbera was rushed to a California hospital with infant botulism in October, his father had barely heard of the disease, never mind the rare and costly treatment that likely saved the newborn’s life. Now, however, Tony Barbera is deeply grateful for BabyBIG, the sole antidote to the paralyzing...
Federal Reserve set to cut rate but may signal a pause to come
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve faces an unusually contentious meeting this week that will test Chair Jerome Powell’s ability to corral the necessary support from fellow policymakers for a third straight interest rate cut. The Fed’s 19-member rate-setting committee is sharply divided over whether to lower borrowing costs again. The...
Takeover bid of parent company means limbo for CNN, some fellow cable networks
Paramount Skydance’s hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery, announced Monday, places CNN and its sister cable networks squarely back into what is likely to be an extended period of management limbo. There was some relief at CNN with last Friday’s announcement that Netflix was buying Warner’s studio and streaming...
Trump says he’s fixing affordability problems. He’ll test out that message at a Pennsylvania rally
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will road-test his claims that he’s tackling Americans’ affordability woes at a Tuesday rally in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania — shifting an argument made in Oval Office appearances and social media posts to a campaign-style event. The trip comes as polling consistently shows that public trust...
Judge orders the release of an immigrant with ties to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt
CONCORD, N.H. — A Brazilian woman with family ties to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will be released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody while she fights potential deportation, an immigration judge ruled Monday. Bruna Ferreira, 33, a longtime Massachusetts resident, was previously engaged to Leavitt’s brother, Michael....
Supreme Court appears likely to back Trump’s power to fire independent agency board members
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday seemed likely to expand presidential control over independent federal agencies, signaling support for President Donald Trump’s firing of board members. The court’s conservative majority suggested it would overturn a unanimous 90-year-old decision that has limited when presidents can fire agencies’ board members —...
Redistricting in Indiana faces ultimate test in state Senate
A proposal to redraw Indiana’s congressional boundaries faced its first public test in the state Senate on Monday, with no clear indication it can win a final vote later in the week despite months of pressure from President Donald Trump. Senators will take action on a bill designed to favor...
Federal judge throws out Trump order blocking development of wind energy
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking wind energy projects, saying the effort to halt virtually all leasing of wind farms on federal lands and waters was “arbitrary and capricious” and violates U.S. law. Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court...
Trump says survivors of scrutinized U.S. strike were trying to right boat before 2nd missile was fired
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday justified the U.S. military’s decision to fire a second missile in a heavily scrutinized attack on a boat in the Caribbean Sea by claiming that two suspected drug smugglers were trying to right the vessel after it had capsized in the initial strike....
Former Colorado clerk Tina Peters will remain in state prison after a federal judge rejected her bid for freedom
DENVER — A federal magistrate judge on Monday rejected a bid by a former Colorado county clerk to be released from prison while she appeals her state conviction for orchestrating a data breach scheme driven by false claims about voting machine fraud in the 2020 presidential race. Former Mesa County...
Trump approves sale of more advanced Nvidia computer chips used in AI to China
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that he would allow Nvidia to sell an advanced type of computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. There have been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips to be sold to China as it could help...
ICEBlock app maker sues Trump administration over its pressure on Apple to remove it
The maker of an iPhone app that flagged sightings of U.S. immigration agents sued the Trump administration for free speech violations on Monday, alleging that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi used her “state power” to force Apple to remove the app. Apple in October removed ICEBlock and other apps from...
Bullets in Luigi Mangione’s bag convinced police that he was UnitedHealthcare CEO killing suspect
NEW YORK — Moments after Luigi Mangione was put in handcuffs at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, a police officer searching his backpack found a loaded gun magazine wrapped in a pair of underwear. The discovery, recounted in court Monday as Mangione fights to exclude evidence from his New York murder case,...
Jasmine Crockett files to run for U.S. Senate seat held by John Cornyn
DALLAS — U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett on Monday launched a Senate bid that will dramatically reshape the race for the seat held by Republican John Cornyn. Crockett, who officially filed for candidacy on Monday, joins state Rep. James Talarico in the March 3 Democratic primary. Colin Allred, who ran for...
12 FBI agents fired for kneeling during racial justice protest sue to get their jobs back
WASHINGTON — Twelve former FBI agents fired after kneeling during a 2020 racial justice protest in Washington sued Monday to get their jobs back, saying their action had been intended to de-escalate a volatile situation and was not meant as a political gesture. The agents say in their lawsuit that...
Trump’s former lawyer Alina Habba resigns as top federal prosecutor in New Jersey
President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, Alina Habba, resigned Monday as the top federal prosecutor for New Jersey, leaving the job after an appeals court said she had been serving in the post unlawfully. In a statement posted on social media, Habba assailed the court’s ruling as political, but said...
Pa. transgender health leader’s name changed on federal portrait in act of ‘bigotry’
Among the portraits of agency leaders that line the hallways at the federal Department of Health and Human Services is one of Admiral Rachel Levine, who served as Pennsylvania secretary of health and physician general before being named President’s Biden’s assistant secretary of health. Levine was the first transgender person...
Military required not to follow unlawful orders, Pam Bondi said in past court filing
The Trump administration’s top law enforcement official and legal adviser said in a brief filed last year in the Supreme Court that service members are required not to carry out illegal orders from a president. News of the resurfaced brief, first reported on by The New York Times, comes as...
Massachusetts court hears arguments in lawsuit alleging Meta designed apps to be addictive to kids
BOSTON — Massachusetts’ highest court heard oral arguments Friday in the state’s lawsuit arguing that Meta designed features on Facebook and Instagram to make them addictive to young users. The lawsuit, filed in 2024 by Attorney General Andrea Campbell, alleges that Meta did this to make a profit and that...
A year after Bashar Assad fled, Syria struggles to heal
HOMS, Syria — A year ago, Mohammad Marwan found himself stumbling, barefoot and dazed, out of Syria’s notorious Saydnaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus as rebel forces pushing toward the capital threw open its doors to release the prisoners. Arrested in 2018 for fleeing compulsory military service, the father...
Gallery: Photos from Dec. 8, 2025
From the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania to distant corners of the globe, TribLive’s Photo Adventure captures the world in motion — one frame at a time. Through the lenses of photographers near and far, these images tell stories of place, connection, and the beauty found in everyday life. It’s...
Trump hosts Kennedy Center Honors, a touchstone in his attack against what he calls ‘woke’ culture
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Sunday hosted the Kennedy Center Honors and praised Sylvester Stallone, Kiss, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Crawford and George Strait, the slate of honorees he helped choose, as being “legendary in so many ways.” “Billions and billions of people have watched them over the years,” Trump,...
