Pope Leo XIV rejects claims that God justifies war in Palm Sunday Mass message
ROME — Pope Leo XIV said Sunday that God doesn’t listen to the prayers of those who make war or cite God to justify their violence, as he prayed especially for Christians in the Middle East during a Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square. With the U.S.-Israeli war on...
North Korea conducts engine test for missile capable of targeting U.S. mainland
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed a test of an upgraded solid-fuel engine for weapons capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, and called it a significant development boosting his country’s strategic military arsenal, state media reported Sunday. While the test was in line with Kim’s...
Pakistan says it will host U.S.-Iran talks, while Iran warns U.S. ground troops would be ‘set on fire’
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan announced Sunday that it will soon host talks between the U.S. and Iran, though there was no immediate word from Washington or Tehran, and it was unclear whether the talks on the monthlong war would be direct or indirect. “Pakistan is very happy that both Iran...
North Korea conducts engine test for missile capable of targeting US mainland
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed a test of a high-thrust, solid-fuel engine for weapons and hailed it as a development to boost the country’s strategic military capability, state media reported Sunday. The test likely indicates Kim is intent on enlarging and modernizing an arsenal...
TSA pay may be coming, but airport delays could persist and ICE agents may not leave soon
Even after President Donald Trump ordered emergency pay for Transportation Security Administration agents to ease long security lines, major U.S. airports on Sunday were still urging travelers to arrive hours early — and federal immigration officers brought in to help may not be leaving anytime soon. Trump’s executive order on...
Bills to pay FAA and TSA workers during shutdowns get introduced but keep stalling in Congress
The Aviation Funding Solvency Act. The Keep America Flying Act. The Keep Air Travel Safe Act. The Aviation Funding Stability Act. Again and again, members of Congress have dusted off the same idea: ensuring the federal employees who control air traffic and screen passengers and bags at U.S. airports get...
A judge dismisses DOJ lawsuit over Minnesota in-state tuition for students without legal status
Minnesota public universities can continue to offer in-state tuition and scholarships to some immigrants in the country without legal status, a federal judge ruled on Friday, dismissing a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice last summer that attempted to halt the programs. The decision follows a series of clashes...
TSA workers might get paid Monday, but their worries and airport woes could linger for longer
NEW YORK— Transportation Security Administration officers could get their first full paychecks in more than six weeks as early as Monday after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday instructing the Homeland Security secretary to pay them immediately. But travel experts and labor leaders said the mammoth security...
Pro-Iranian group claims credit for hack of FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal account
WASHINGTON — A pro-Iranian hacking group claimed Friday to have hacked an account of FBI Director Kash Patel and posted online what appear to be years-old photographs of him, along with a work resume and other personal documents dating back more than a decade. “Kash Patel, the current head of...
He suddenly couldn’t speak in space. Pittsburgh astronaut says his medical scare remains a mystery
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The astronaut who prompted NASA’s first medical evacuation earlier this year said Friday that doctors still don’t know why he suddenly fell sick at the International Space Station. NASA astronaut and Pittsburgh area native Mike Fincke said he was eating dinner Jan. 7 after prepping for...
Georgia’s Fulton County and the Trump administration square off in court over seized 2020 ballots
ATLANTA — Attorneys for Georgia’s Fulton County and President Donald Trump’s administration squared off in court Friday over the county’s demand that the FBI return seized ballots and other materials from the 2020 election. Abbe Lowell, representing Fulton County, noted that the January raid was “unusual” because it involved an...
Pa. child advocates demand independent watchdog after Renesmay Eutsey death
Nearly 20 years after a grand jury first demanded it, advocates returned to Harrisburg this week with a haunting reminder of why Pennsylvania still needs an independent watchdog for its children: the death of 9-year-old Renesmay Eutsey. Child advocates, young people and survivors joined community leaders in calling on state...
Plot to firebomb Palestinian activist’s home disrupted by FBI and NYPD
NEW YORK — Law enforcement officials disrupted a plot to firebomb the New York City home of a prominent Palestinian activist, according to a criminal complaint and an interview with the targeted activist. Nerdeen Kiswani, co-founder of the group Within Our Lifetime, said she was informed by an FBI official...
Analysis: 1 month into war, Iran is using insurgent tactics and holding the world economy hostage
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — One month into their war with Iran, the United States and Israel find themselves confronting an opponent that fights more like an insurgency than a nation — using increasingly limited resources to inflict maximum pain. Despite being battered daily by airstrikes from two of the...
Innamorato issues order to improve restaurant permit process following Health Department changes
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato on Monday signed an executive order aimed at streamlining the county’s restaurant permitting process. The effort will engage multiple departments to assess where the food permitting process could be improved while maintaining public health and safety. A news release from her office states the order...
Catholic churches see a surge of new converts
People are joining the Catholic Church in surprising numbers. This Easter, the Archdiocese of Detroit will receive 1,428 new Catholics into the church, its highest number in 21 years. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston will have its most in 15 years. In the Diocese of Des Moines, the count is jumping...
Arctic sea ice hits lowest winter level as unprecedented heat hits smashes records all over Earth
WASHINGTON — Vital Arctic sea ice shrank to tie its lowest measured level for the winter, the season when ice grows, as a warming Earth shattered records across the continents. Arctic sea ice levels, especially in the summer, are crucial to Earth’s climate because without the ice reflecting sunlight, more...
Hegseth strikes 2 black and 2 female officers from promotion list
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is blocking the promotion of four Army officers to be one-star generals, a highly unusual move that has prompted some senior military officials to question whether the officers are being singled out because of their race or gender. Two of the officers targeted by...
Costa Rica to accept more than 2 dozen ‘3rd country’ deportees from U.S. every week
SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica — Costa Rica said Thursday that it would accept 25 migrants deported from the United States per week as part of an agreement to help the Trump administration’s latest policy of deporting immigrants to “third countries.” The Central American nation joins a growing number of countries...
Dietary supplement makers push the FDA to allow peptides and other new ingredients
WASHINGTON — Makers of dietary supplements are pushing the Food and Drug Administration to expand the types of ingredients they can put in their products, a change that could open the door to more marketing of peptides, probiotics and other trendy wellness offerings. The FDA was holding a public meeting...
3 killed in tourist helicopter crash off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai
HANALEI, Hawaii — A tourist helicopter crashed near a remote beach off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai, killing three people and injuring two others, authorities said. The helicopter was carrying one pilot and four passengers when it crashed Thursday afternoon at Kalalau Beach, the Kauai Fire Department...
A 14-year-old running for governor is the 1st teen to get on Vermont’s general election ballot
STOWE, Vt. — Looking back, gubernatorial candidate Dean Roy says his political ambitions started in the eighth grade. And by that he means, last year. After working as a legislative page at the Vermont Statehouse, the 14-year-old freshman at Stowe High School now has his sights set on the corner...
The war in Iran sparks a global fertilizer shortage and threatens food prices
HANOI, Vietnam — Farmers around the world are feeling the squeeze of the Iran war. Gas prices have shot up and fertilizer supplies are waning due to Tehran’s near shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli bombing. The fertilizer shortage is putting the livelihood of...
G7 meets on the Iran war as Rubio tries to sell U.S. strategy to skeptical allies insulted by Trump
VAUX-DE-CERNAY, France — Group of Seven foreign ministers met on Friday in France to discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with deep divisions apparent over the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated complaints that America’s allies have ignored or rejected requests for help in the military operation and...
Israel hits Tehran with wave of strikes and warns attacks on Iran ‘will escalate and expand’
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel threatened to “escalate and expand” its attacks on Iran on Friday even as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that talks on ending the war were going well and gave Tehran more time to open the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, meanwhile, gave no signs of...
