3 people are still missing from deadly July 4 floods in Texas county, down from nearly 100
KERRVILLE, Texas — Just three people remain missing — down from nearly 100 at last count — since the Texas Hill Country was pounded by massive flooding on July 4, officials said Saturday. Officials praised rescuers for the sharp reduction in the number of people on the missing list: Just...
Texas Republicans aim to redraw House districts at Trump’s urging, but there’s a risk
AUSTIN, Texas — U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat who represents a slice of the Rio Grande Valley along the border with Mexico, won his last congressional election by just over 5,000 votes. That makes him a tempting target for Republicans, who are poised to redraw the state’s congressional...
D-Day veteran and TikTok star ‘Papa Jake’ Larson dies at 102Video
PARIS — D-Day veteran ″Papa Jake″ Larson, who survived German gunfire on Normandy’s bluffs in 1944 and then garnered 1.2 million followers on TikTok late in life by sharing stories to commemorate World War II and his fallen comrades, has died at 102. An animated speaker who charmed strangers young...
Pope Leo XIV renews his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy — Pope Leo XIV renewed his call on Sunday for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, asking the international community to respect international laws and the obligation to protect civilians. “I once again call for an immediate end to the barbarity of this war and for a peaceful...
Officials say 85 Palestinians seeking aid are killed in Gaza as Israel widens evacuation orders
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — At least 85 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach food at locations across Gaza on Sunday, the territory’s Health Ministry said, on the deadliest day yet for aid-seekers in over 21 months of war. There was new alarm as Israel’s military issued evacuation orders...
EPA eliminates research and development office, begins layoffs
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it is eliminating its research and development arm and reducing agency staff by thousands of employees. The agency’s Office of Research and Development has long provided the scientific underpinnings for EPA’s mission to protect the environment and human health. The EPA said...
Family of a man crushed at an Atlanta homeless encampment sues the city
ATLANTA — The family of a homeless man who died after a bulldozer crushed his tent during an encampment sweep sued the city of Atlanta on Friday over his death, calling it “tragic and preventable.” The lawsuit filed by Cornelius Taylor’s sister and son alleges that city employees failed to...
Man whose car struck crowd outside Los Angeles club, injuring 30, was shot, attacked by crowd
LOS ANGELES — A vehicle rammed into a crowd of people waiting to enter a nightclub along a busy boulevard in Los Angeles early Saturday, injuring 30 people and leading bystanders to attack the driver, authorities said. The driver was later found to have been shot, according to Los Angeles...
New report lauds Pittsburgh region for AI talent, innovation
A new report appears to support what many political and business leaders asserted at Tuesday’s Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit: The state is well-positioned to be a key player in the growing artificial intelligence economy. The Brookings Institution report, released Wednesday, rated Pittsburgh as one of 14 “emerging centers” in...
What to know about chronic venous insufficiency — President Trump’s health diagnosis
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, or CVI, after he noted mild swelling in his lower legs. White House physician Dr. Sean P. Barbabella in a memo July 17 said the swelling prompted a full medical evaluation, including ultrasound tests and bloodwork. Those confirmed...
U.S. envoy: Syria, Israel agree to ceasefire
MAZRAA, Syria — U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said early Saturday that Israel and Syria agreed to a ceasefire following Israel’s intervention this week in fighting between Syrian government forces and Bedouin tribes and armed groups from the Druze minority. The announcement came as renewed clashes continued between Druze...
Trump sues Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over reporting on Epstein ties
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch Friday, a day after the newspaper published a story reporting on his ties to wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein. The move came shortly after the Justice Department asked a federal court...
Immigration activists protest ICE arrests at Philly courthouse
PHILADELPHIA — Crowds stood outside the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice chanting “say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here.” The Friday morning rally organized by Juntos, a community-led immigrant organization in South Philadelphia, follows a string of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainments outside courthouses, including...
Justice Department asks judge to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration asked a federal court to unseal grand jury transcripts related to the case of late, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein following a torrent of criticism that government officials are hiding documents and information. Justice Department lawyers made the requests to a federal court in Manhattan on...
Judge limits small part of a court order blocking Trump’s election overhaul
NEW YORK — A federal judge on Friday modified part of a previous ruling that blocked much of President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order seeking to overhaul elections in the U.S. The minor change affects just one aspect of a preliminary injunction that U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper...
Trump appointees pushed more marble in Fed building renovation White House now attacks
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has looked to the marble finishes and hefty price tag of the Federal Reserve headquarters to claim grounds to fire Chair Jerome Powell, with whom he has tussled for years over interest rates. But the extensive use of marble in the building is, at least...
Man accused of stockpiling bombs, using Biden photo for target practice, pleads guilty
NORFOLK, Va. — A Virginia man pleaded guilty Friday in a federal case that accused him of stockpiling the largest number of finished explosives in FBI history and of using then-President Joe Biden’s photo for target practice. Brad Spafford pleaded guilty in federal court in Norfolk to possession of an...
Education Department will release some frozen grants supporting after-school and summer programs
WASHINGTON — The Education Department will release some previously withheld grant money for after-school programs, days after 10 Republican senators sent a letter imploring the Office of Management and Budget to allow the funds to be sent to states. President Donald Trump’s administration on July 1 withheld more than $6...
Judge restores Democrat to Federal Trade Commission, ruling her firing by Trump was illegal
A federal judge has restored a Democrat to the Federal Trade Commission, ruling that President Donald Trump illegally fired her earlier this year in his efforts to exert control over independent agencies across the government. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan ruled late Thursday that federal law protects FTC commissioners from...
Trump administration seeks release of Epstein grand jury records but not Justice Department files
WASHINGTON — Under intense pressure from President Donald Trump’s own supporters, his administration now says it will push a court to unseal secret documents related to Jeffrey Epstein’s case in an effort to put to rest for good a political crisis largely of its own making. But even if those...
Baltzer Meyer launches restoration work at 1881 schoolhouse
Robert Reintgen and his crew of contractors spent the better part of Friday removing eight large glass windows from the Baltzer Meyer Historical Society’s Hempfield schoolhouse. He had one goal in mind, maintaining the integrity of the 1881 structure. “You don’t want to embarrass the building,” said Reintgen, a Derry...
Wisconsin elections officials find clerk broke laws over uncounted ballots
MADISON, Wis . — Wisconsin elections officials declared Thursday that the former clerk of the state’s capital city broke several laws related to not counting nearly 200 absentee ballots in the November presidential election, but they stopped short of recommending criminal charges be brought. The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission voted...
Germany deports 81 Afghan nationals to their homeland in 2nd flight since the Taliban’s return
BERLIN — Germany deported dozens of Afghan men to their homeland on Friday, the second time it has done so since the Taliban returned to power and the first since a new government pledging a tougher line on migration took office in Berlin. German authorities said a flight took off...
Civil rights work is slowing as Trump dismantles the Education Department, agency data shows
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration insists it hasn’t wavered in its duty to protect the civil rights of America’s children even as it dismantles the Education Department. Yet its own data shows the agency has resolved far fewer civil rights cases than in past years despite families filing more complaints....
House Republicans grasp for response to demands for transparency in Epstein case
WASHINGTON — House Republicans were grasping late Thursday to formulate a response to the Trump administration’s handling of records in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case, ultimately putting forward a resolution that carries no legal weight but nodded to the growing demand for greater transparency. The House resolution, which could...
