At least 100 people killed in attacks on famine-hit camps in Sudan’s Darfur, UN official says
CAIRO — Sudan’s notorious paramilitary group launched a two-day attack on famine-hit camps for displaced people that left more than 100 dead, including 20 children and nine aid workers, in the Darfur region, a U.N. official said Saturday. The Rapid Support Forces and allied militias launched an offensive on the...
Iran and U.S. envoys hold 1st negotiation — face to face — over Tehran’s nuclear program
MUSCAT, Oman — Iran and the United States will hold more negotiations next week over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, Iranian state television reported Saturday at the end of the first round of talks between the two countries since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. American officials offered...
Hempfield’s High Park, West Point fire stations aim to ‘continue what was started’ through merger
Hempfield’s High Park Volunteer Fire Department is coming out of retirement and merging with the West Point station on the opposite side of the township. Westmoreland County Orphan’s Court approved the merger this week, according to court documents. The joint station will be operate under West Point’s name and location...
Israel cuts off Gaza’s southern city of Rafah and vows to ‘vigorously’ expand in the territory
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel announced Saturday it had completed construction of a new security corridor cutting off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, and the military said it would soon expand “vigorously” in most of the small coastal territory. Palestinians were further squeezed into shrinking...
Trump proclaims himself ‘in good shape,’ but the results of his physical aren’t immediately released
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump had an annual physical on Friday and concluded, “I did well,” praising his own heart, soul and cognitive ability while noting medical reports from White House doctors may not be ready until the weekend. The 78-year-old, who in January became the oldest in U.S. history...
April ‘pink moon’ returns this weekend as micromoon
The annual April “pink moon” is set to rise this weekend — and this year, it’s going to be a micromoon. The pink moon will reach peal illumination at 8:22 p.m. EDT Saturday in the United States, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. April’s full moon will rise when its...
Immigration judge rules that Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil can be deported
JENA, La. — Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil can be deported as a national security risk, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled Friday during a hearing over the legality of kicking the activist who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations out of the U.S. Immigration Judge Jamee E. Comans said at...
Trump wants Congress to end changing of clocks and keep country on daylight saving time
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday urged Congress to “push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day” in his latest dig at the semiannual changing of clocks. Trump, in a post on his Truth Social media network, said it would be “Very popular and, most importantly,...
Trump reaches deals with 5 law firms, allowing them to avoid prospect of punishing executive orders
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced deals Friday with five law firms that will allow them to avoid the prospect of a punishing executive order and require them to together provide hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of free legal services for causes his administration supports. The resolutions reflect the...
Emails between Pa. lawmakers, lobbyists will remain hidden from public after court ruling
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — Emails and other communications between Pennsylvania lawmakers and the lobbyists who try to influence them will remain hidden from the public, an appellate...
Convicted killer who was mistakenly released from jail is caught 2 weeks later, U.S. Marshals say
JONESBORO, Ga. — A convicted killer who was mistakenly released from a Georgia jail has been caught two weeks later in Florida, the U.S. Marshals Service said Friday. Kathan Guzman was apprehended Friday by the U.S. Marshals Service in Florida, spokesman Brady McCarron told The Associated Press. Guzman admitted to...
Judge refuses to dismiss Central Park Five’s defamation case against President Trump
HARRISBURG — A federal judge has rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to dismiss a defamation lawsuit against him filed by the men formerly known as the Central Park Five who were exonerated after spending more than a decade in prison for the 1989 rape and beating of a woman who...
Sen. Dave McCormick joins Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in calling for term limits for members of Congress
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick has joined forces with U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in calling for changes to the Constitution to impose term limits on members of Congress — a concept that continues to be an off-and-on debate on Capitol Hill. McCormick’s resolution, introduced Thursday, proposes capping term limits...
Mayor: Family was to celebrate child’s birthday when NYC sightseeing helicopter crashed, killing 6
NEW YORK — A family from Spain was about to celebrate the ninth birthday of one of their children when their sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair and crashed into the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey, killing all six people aboard in the latest U.S. aviation...
Australian woman unknowingly gives birth to stranger’s baby after IVF clinic error
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A woman in Australia unknowingly gave birth to a stranger’s baby after she received another patient’s embryo from her in vitro fertilization clinic due to “human error,” the clinic said. The mix-up was discovered in February when the clinic in the city of Brisbane found that...
Local administrators give job interview practice to Pitt-Greensburg education students amid statewide teacher shortage
A smile still comes to Alex Murray’s face when he recalls the words his Beaver County high school art teacher told him two days out from summer vacation. Murray spent four weeks creating a face mask inspired by characters from book-turned-film “Pan’s Labyrinth” — a task his teacher once told...
Hunting clubs ask Pa. Supreme Court to ban warrantless searches by game officials
In the summer of 2013, a state wildlife officer confronted a member of the Pitch Pine Hunting Club, accusing him of feeding bears outside a house on the club’s property. Wildlife Officer Mark Gritzer told club member Jon Mikesell that he had been watching Mikesell and his guests for several...
Senate confirms Trump nominee Caine for chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff in overnight vote
WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday, filling the position almost two months after President Donald Trump fired his predecessor. Trump nominated Caine to become the top U.S. military officer in...
Judge directs Trump administration to ‘take all available steps’ for return of mistakenly deported man
GREENBELT, Md. — A federal judge directed the Trump administration to “take all available steps to facilitate the return” of a Maryland man who was mistakenly sent to a notorious El Salvador prison and set a status conference in the case for Friday. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’ order comes...
European countries vow to send billions in military support to Ukraine as Russian and U.S. envoys meet
BRUSSELS — European countries vowed Friday to sends billions of dollars in further funding to help Ukraine keep fighting Russia’s invasion, as a U.S. envoy pursued peace efforts in a trip to Russia amid growing questions about the Kremlin’s willingness to stop the more than three-year war. After chairing a...
Sheriff: Walmart employee kills co-worker in Georgia store, woman at nearby home, wounds another
COVINGTON, Ga. — A Walmart employee shot and killed a co-worker inside a Georgia store and critically wounded another worker outside early Friday while the business was closed to the public, authorities said. After leaving the store, the gunman forced his way into a nearby home nearby and fatally shot...
Israelis mark another Passover hoping for Gaza captives to be freed
NAHAL OZ, Israel — Relatives of hostages in Gaza say they feel the absence of their loved ones acutely during Passover, which commemorates the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and their liberation from slavery. Jews around the world will mark the beginning of the weeklong holiday Saturday night, gathering...
Italy sends rejected migrants to detention centers in Albania
ROME — Italian authorities said Friday they were transferring 40 migrants with no permission to remain in the country to Italian-run migration detention centers in Albania. It appeared to be the first time a European Union country was sending rejected migrants to a nation outside the EU that is neither...
China hits back at U.S. and will raise tariffs on American goods from 84% to 125%
BEIJING — China announced Friday that it will raise tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown. While U.S. President Donald Trump paused import...
Trump nominee for public lands post withdraws after her criticism of Jan. 6 attack surfaces
BILLINGS, Mont. — President Donald Trump’s nominee to oversee an agency that manages a quarter-billion acres of public land has withdrawn her nomination following revelations that she criticized the Republican president in 2021 for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The withdrawal of Kathleen Sgamma to lead...