ICE agents wait in hallways of immigration court as Trump seeks to deliver on mass arrest pledge
MIAMI — Juan Serrano, a 28-year-old Colombian migrant with no criminal record, attended a hearing in immigration court in Miami on Wednesday for what he thought would be a quick check-in. The musty, glass-paneled courthouse sees hundreds of such hearings every day. Most last less than five minutes and end...
House Republicans pass Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and program cuts after all-night session
WASHINGTON — House Republicans stayed up all night to pass their multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package, with Speaker Mike Johnson defying the skeptics and unifying his ranks to muscle President Donald Trump’s priority bill to approval Thursday. With last-minute concessions and stark warnings from Trump, the Republican holdouts largely dropped their...
2 staff members of Israeli Embassy killed in shooting near Jewish museum in DC
WASHINGTON — Two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington were shot and killed Wednesday evening while leaving an event at a Jewish museum, and the suspect yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested, police said. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky and...
Penn Township Ambulance ‘overwhelmed, gratified’ by statewide EMS award
Overwhelming. Gratifying. Those were the words Operations Director Ed Grant used to quantify his emotions May 8 as Penn Township Ambulance was named the EMS Agency of the Year by a statewide organization. The Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council, an advisory board with more than 200 members, recognized the ambulance...
Federal cuts would eliminate program that directly benefits Pa. farmers, millions of residents
The federal Local Food Purchase Assistance program has provided more than $28 million to Pennsylvania farmers since 2022 and delivered nearly 26 million pounds of local produce to food banks and organizations. The program has helped feed more than 5 million state residents over the past three years, but it...
Canada is talking to the U.S. about joining its ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense system, Carney says
TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday his government is talking to the U.S. about joining President Donald Trump’s future Golden Dome missile defense program. The multilayered, $175 billion system would for the first time put U.S. weapons in space. Trump said the previous day he expected the...
New North Korea warship is damaged at its launch ceremony attended by Kim Jong Un
SEOUL, South Korea — A new 5,000-ton destroyer key to North Korea’s naval advancement was damaged during its launching ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un, state media reported Thursday. The ship slid off the ramp and became stuck after the flatcar failed to move alongside it, throwing off its...
1 person was rescued and a search is underway for 3 others after a boat sinks north of Seattle
SEATTLE — One person was rescued by a good Samaritan and authorities were looking for three others after a boat took on water and sank in waters north of Seattle, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday. The vessel was a 20-foot (6-meter) long cuddy cabin boat, Coast Guard Petty Officer...
Institute of Peace reclaims its headquarters after court win over Musk’s cost-cutting team
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Institute of Peace retook control of its headquarters Wednesday, two days after a federal judge said the firing of its board and employees by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency was illegal. The institute’s acting president, George Moose, entered the organization’s headquarters with private security and...
$365M slated for solar projects in Puerto Rico will be diverted to power grid, sparking outcry
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The U.S. Department of Energy announced Wednesday that $365 million originally slated for solar projects in Puerto Rico will be diverted to improve the island’s crumbling power grid, sparking an outcry just days before the Atlantic hurricane season starts. The funds had been in limbo...
A Texas bill to clarify exceptions to the state’s abortion ban clears a key hurdle after rocky path
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday to clarify medical exceptions under one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the U.S., putting the GOP-backed proposal on the brink of reaching Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. The changes would not expand abortion access in Texas or list specific...
2 major newspapers unknowingly publish AI book list with imaginary book titles
An AI-generated book list with imaginary book titles and nonexistent plots was published by two renowned newspapers — the Chicago Sun-Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer. The articles were published in the papers’ “Heat Index” special sections, a multipage insert filled with tips, advice and articles on summertime activities, The Washington...
Defense Department accepts Boeing 747 from Qatar for Trump’s use
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted a gifted Boeing 747 aircraft from Qatar for President Donald Trump to use as Air Force One, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The Defense Department will “work to ensure proper security measures” on the aircraft to make it safe for use by the...
Trump used a White House meeting to confront South African president over killing of white farmers
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump used a White House meeting to confront South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing his country of failing to address the killing of white farmers. “People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety,” said Trump, who at one point dimmed the lights in the Oval...
Chris Brown freed on $6.7 million bail in assault case, allowing him to start world tour
LONDON — Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown was released on 5 million-pound ($6.7 million) bail Wednesday while facing allegations he beat and seriously injured a music producer with a bottle in a London nightclub in 2023. The decision by a London judge to grant bail will allow Brown to launch a...
Suicide car bomber strikes a school bus in southwestern Pakistan, killing 5 people
QUETTA, Pakistan — A suicide car bomber struck a school bus in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing five people — including three children — and wounding 38 others, officials said, the latest attack in tense Balochistan province. The province has been the scene of a long-running insurgency, with an array...
Pope Leo XIV calls for humanitarian aid in war-torn Gaza in 1st general audience
VATICAN CITY — Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV called for humanitarian aid to be allowed into war-torn Gaza, decrying the violence and suffering in the Middle East during his first general audience as pope Wednesday in St. Peter’s Square. “I renew my appeal to allow the entry of dignified humanitarian aid...
‘Unquestionably in violation’: Judge says U.S. government didn’t follow court order on deportations
WASHINGTON — The White House violated a court order on deportations to third countries with a flight linked to the chaotic African nation of South Sudan, a federal judge said Wednesday, hours after the Trump administration said it had expelled eight immigrants convicted of violent crimes but refused to reveal...
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to block watchdog access to DOGE documents
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to block court orders requiring Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to turn over documents about its operations to a government watchdog group. The Justice Department’s latest emergency appeal to the high court concerns whether DOGE, which has been...
Trump’s ‘beautiful’ bill spans more than 1,000 pages. Here’s what’s in it
WASHINGTON — House Republicans are getting closer to passing President Donald Trump’s tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up border security as Speaker Mike Johnson attempts to pass the package over unified Democratic opposition by Memorial Day. House committees have labored for months on the legislation, which exceeds 1,000 pages and...
Justice Department moves to cancel police reform settlements reached with Minneapolis and Louisville
MINNEAPOLIS — The Justice Department moved Wednesday to cancel settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville that called for an overhaul of their police departments following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor that became the catalyst for nationwide racial injustice protests in the summer of 2020. The Trump administration also...
Kristi Noem says habeas corpus lets Trump ‘remove people from this country’
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says the constitutional provision that allows people to legally challenge their detention by the government is actually a tool the Trump administration can use in its broader crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border. She called habeas corpus “a constitutional right that the president has to be...
What to know about the battle for Russia’s Kursk region
President Vladimir Putin visited Russia’s Kursk region for the first time since Moscow claimed that it drove Ukrainian forces out of the area, the Kremlin said Wednesday. The Russian military announced that its troops have fully reclaimed the border territory in late April — nearly nine months after losing chunks...
Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense plan was inspired by Israel’s multitiered defenses
JERUSALEM — U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for a “Golden Dome” to protect the United States from long-range missiles was at least partly inspired by Israel’s multitiered missile defenses. Trump announced the $175 billion concept in the Oval Office on Tuesday, saying it would put U.S. weapons in space for...
82 are killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza as desperately needed aid fails to reach Palestinians
DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA — Israeli strikes continued to pound the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, despite a surge in international anger at Israel’s widening offensive, killing at least 82 people, including several women and a week-old infant, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and area hospitals. Israel began allowing dozens of...
