Democrats pour millions of dollars into 2 special elections in Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Democrats, with few electoral outlets for their outrage at President Donald Trump’s dramatic restructuring of the federal government, are pouring millions of dollars into two special elections in Florida. That’s where Democratic candidates are trying to accomplish the improbable by flipping a pair of Trump-friendly congressional seats...
King Charles III seen in public 1 day after hospitalization for cancer treatment side effects
LONDON — King Charles III smiled and waved to members of the public Friday as he left his home in London, the day after a brief hospitalization for the side effects from his cancer treatment. The king’s appointments for the day were canceled following his “short period of observation in...
Colleges rely on federal research funding. Under Trump, its future is in doubt
After decades of partnership with the U.S. government, colleges are facing new doubts about the future of their federal funding. President Donald Trump’s administration has been using the funding spigot to seek compliance with his agenda, cutting off money to schools including Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. All...
Cargo ship that collided with U.S. tanker in North Sea towed to Scottish port of Aberdeen
LONDON — A badly damaged cargo ship which collided with a U.S. tanker in the North Sea earlier this month arrived in the Scottish port of Aberdeen Friday, following a fire that lasted for nearly a week. Following a tug-assisted journey that lasted a few days, the Portugal-flagged Solong docked...
Israel strikes Beirut for 1st time since a ceasefire ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Israel has launched an attack on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, for the first time since a ceasefire ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. Associated Press reporters in Beirut heard a loud boom and witnessed smoke rising from the area that Israel’s military had vowed to strike....
Trump executive order on Smithsonian targets funding for programs with ‘improper ideology’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday revealed his intention to force changes at the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order that targets funding for programs that advance “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology,” the latest step in a broadside against culture he deems too liberal. Trump claimed there has been...
Hegseth tells Philippines the Trump administration will ramp up deterrence against China threat
MANILA, Philippines — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that the Trump administration would work with allies to ramp up deterrence against threats across the world, including China’s aggression in the South China Sea. Hegseth, who was visiting the Philippines, blamed the previous Biden administration for insufficient actions that...
Powerful earthquake rocks Thailand and Myanmar, killing at least 3 in Bangkok high-rise collapse
BANGKOK — A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand on Friday, destroying buildings, bridges and a monastery. At least 144 people were killed in Myanmar, where photos and video from two hard-hit cities showed extensive damage. At least 10 died in the Thai capital, where a high-rise under construction...
Take the TribLive weekly news quiz: March 28
The following is a regular feature from TribLive: A weekly news quiz:...
Putin suggests putting Ukraine under U.N.-sponsored external governance, boasts battlefield gains
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed Friday to put Ukraine under external governance under the U.N. aegis as part of efforts to reach a peaceful settlement, a blustery statement that reflected the Kremlin leader’s determination to achieve his war goals. Speaking to the crew of a Russian nuclear submarine in televised...
Deadly, drug-resistant fungus CDC calls ‘urgent threat’ is spreading in hospitals
A deadly, drug-resistant fungus that preys on the sick and old is continuing to spread in hospitals and senior care facilities across the country, killing more than 1 in 3 infected. Candida auris, a type of yeast that can cause life-threatening illness, was first identified in the U.S. in 2016...
Another federal judge blocks Trump policy banning transgender troops in the military
TACOMA, Wash. — A U.S. judge in Washington state has blocked enforcement of President Donald Trump’s order banning transgender people from serving in the military, the second nationwide injunction against the policy in as many weeks. The order Thursday from U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma came in...
EPA offers industrial polluters a way to avoid rules on mercury, arsenic and other toxic chemicals
WASHINGTON — As part of a push to roll back dozens of environmental regulations, the Trump administration is offering coal-fired power plants and other industrial polluters a chance for exemptions from requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene. The Environmental Protection Agency has set...
Top Florida lawmaker has ‘personal concerns’ about a push to loosen child labor laws
TALLAHASSEE — Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez says he has “personal concerns” about a proposal that would loosen the state’s child labor laws and allow many teenagers to work overnight jobs on school days without a meal break. The proposal — which is moving in the Florida Senate but has...
Michigan patient dies after contracting rabies from organ transplant
A Michigan resident died earlier this year after contracting rabies from an organ transplant, health officials said. The patient had the organ transplanted at a hospital in Ohio in December and died in January, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Lynn Sutfin said. A subsequent investigation that also...
Man accused of setting fire to Tesla vehicles in Las Vegas arrested, police say
LAS VEGAS — A man who set fire to Tesla vehicles in Las Vegas and who painted the word “resist” for authorities to find at the scene has been arrested, police announced Thursday. Paul Hyon Kim, 36, faces charges in connection with the March 18 attack in both state and...
Judge says he will order government to preserve Signal messages about Houthi military strike
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Thursday said he will order the Trump administration to preserve records of a text message chat in which senior national security officials discussed sensitive details of plans for a U.S. military strike against Yemen’s Houthis. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said during a hearing...
5 Westmoreland teams leave Western Pa. Youth Football League to form their own
Pennsylvania’s largest youth football league got a little smaller this week, as five Westmoreland County teams opted to leave and form a league of their own in the wake of a police investigation. The Western Pennsylvania Youth Football League, in which the Westmoreland teams had been playing, is under scrutiny...
Trump withdraws Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination for U.N. ambassador, citing tight GOP House margin
UNITED NATIONS — President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he was pulling Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a stunning turnaround for his Cabinet pick after her confirmation had been stalled for months over concerns about Republicans’ tight margins in the House. Trump confirmed...
Turkish student at Tufts University is latest Palestinian supporter swept up in U.S. crackdown
BOSTON — A Turkish student ambushed by federal police as she walked on the streets of a Boston suburb is the latest supporter of Palestinian causes to be swept up in the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants who have expressed their political views. Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, a doctoral student at...
Bondi signals criminal probe into Signal chat is unlikely, despite long history of similar inquiries
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel was not part of a Signal chat in which other Trump administration national security officials discussed detailed attack plans, but that didn’t spare him from being questioned by lawmakers this week about whether the nation’s premier law enforcement agency would investigate. Patel made no...
Congress questions the FAA, U.S. Army and NTSB over deadly midair collision in D.C.
If investigators were able to quickly find alarming data about the number of close calls in the years before the midair collision over the nation’s capital that killed 67 people in January, then aviation safety regulators should have seen the problem, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board told...
Senators overseeing the military request an investigation at the Pentagon into use of the Signal app
WASHINGTON — The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee requested an investigation Thursday into how Trump national security officials used the Signal app to discuss military strikes, ensuring at least some bipartisan scrutiny on an episode President Donald Trump has dismissed as frivolous. Sen. Roger Wicker,...
At least 6 dead after submarine carrying tourists on a reef tour in Red Sea sinks off Egypt
CAIRO — A recreational submarine taking 45 tourists on an underwater cruise of coral reefs in the Red Sea sank off the Egyptian resort town of Hurghada on Thursday, leaving six Russians dead, the provincial governor said. The remaining tourists, more than two dozen of whom were injured, were rescued,...
Health and Human Services to lay off 10,000 workers, close agencies in a major restructuring
WASHINGTON — In a major overhaul, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will lay off 10,000 workers and shut down entire agencies, including ones that oversee billions of dollars in funds for addiction services and community health centers across the country. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized...
