Prosecutors say Kohberger’s defense will argue evidence was planted in Idaho student murders case
BOISE, Idaho — Prosecutors say Bryan Kohberger’s defense team will argue at his murder trial that someone else could have planted a knife sheath with Kohberger’s DNA at the home where four University of Idaho students were killed in 2022. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson made the claim in a...
What’s behind the surge in attacks and train hijacking in Pakistan’s restive southwest?
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s neglected southwestern province of Balochistan has been the scene of a yearslong insurgency, with a dramatic uptick in attacks in recent years underscoring the struggles the government in Islamabad faces in dealing with myriad security threats. The seizure Tuesday of a passenger train by the outlawed Baluch...
They crossed the world to reach the U.S.. Now deported under Trump, they’re stuck in Panama
PANAMA CITY — They crossed oceans to get to the U.S., fleeing conflict, religious persecution, poverty and government crackdowns in countries such as Afghanistan, Somalia, Cameroon, China, Pakistan and Iran. After flying to Central and South America, they bused through countries where they didn’t speak the language and walked through...
Wisconsin clerk who failed to count almost 200 ballots is suspended
MADISON, Wis. — The mayor of Wisconsin’s capital city said Wednesday she has placed the municipal clerk on leave as investigators work to determine how she failed to count almost 200 absentee ballots in the November election. Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said in a statement that the city has launched...
Baldwin-Whitehall will rename district offices to honor former superintendent
Baldwin-Whitehall school directors will rename the district’s administration building to honor longtime superintendent Charles H. Faust, who filled the role from 1986-2004. Current Superintendent Randal Lutz said Faust, a native of Ruffs Dale in Westmoreland County, was fully dedicated to his job at Baldwin-Whitehall, and even recalled seeing Faust sit...
Trump wants to dismantle U.S. Education Department. Here’s what it does
President Donald Trump has said he wants his education chief, Linda McMahon, to “put herself out of a job” and close the Education Department. McMahon, after being confirmed by the Senate on March 3, told employees it was the department’s “final mission” to eliminate bureaucratic bloat and turn over the...
Columbia grad student’s detention will continue as lawyers spar over Trump’s plan to deport himVideo
NEW YORK —Mahmoud Khalil will remain detained in Louisiana until at least next week following an initial court hearing on Wednesday in New York over the Trump administration’s plans to deport the Columbia University graduate student for his role in campus protests against Israel. The brief hearing, which focused on...
U.S. factories likely to feel the pain from Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is again lashing out at three of his biggest irritants: foreign steel, foreign aluminum and Canada. The Trump administration on Wednesday will effectively plaster 25% taxes — tariffs — on all steel and aluminum imports. The president said on Tuesday that the U.S. would double...
Inside the government study trying to understand the health effects of ultraprocessed foods
BETHESDA, Md. — Sam Srisatta, a 20-year-old Florida college student, spent a month living inside a government hospital here last fall, playing video games and allowing scientists to document every morsel of food that went into his mouth. From big bowls of salad to platters of meatballs and spaghetti sauce,...
Gallery: Photos from March 12, 2025
Embark on a visual journey around the Western Pennsylvania region with TribLive’s latest collection of captivating images for Wednesday, March 12, 2025. From the rustic landscapes of Western Pa. to diverse corners of the globe, experience the shared moments of humanity....
Court records say a passenger attacked a flight attendant, swallowed rosary beads on plane to Miami
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Court records say a passenger on a small regional flight to Miami attacked a flight attendant, kicked and punched the seat of the person in front of him and swallowed rosary beads as pilots returned to the airport in Savannah, Georgia. The passenger was traveling with his...
Trump administration halts $1 billion program that keeps aging affordable housing livable
The Trump administration is halting a $1 billion program that helps preserve affordable housing, threatening projects that keep tens of thousands of units livable for low-income Americans, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press. The action is part of a slew of cuts and funding freezes at the...
Pakistani forces in a standoff as militants hold about 250 hostages on a hijacked train
QUETTA, Pakistan — Pakistani forces were in a tense standoff Wednesday with hundreds of militants holding about 250 people hostage on a train they had hijacked in the remote southwest the day before, officials said. The security forces held off from full-out battles as militants wearing vests loaded with explosives...
U.S. arms flow to Ukraine again as the Kremlin mulls a ceasefire proposal
KYIV, Ukraine — U.S. arms deliveries to Ukraine resumed Wednesday, officials said, a day after the Trump administration lifted its suspension of military aid for Kyiv in its war against Russia, and Ukrainian officials signaled that they were open to a 30-day ceasefire backed by Washington. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov...
New Pa. bill would relieve debt from childbirth, other medical care
This story first appeared in How We Care, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring original reporting and perspectives on how we care for one another at all stages of life. Medical debt harms people in different ways. It can lead them to seek payday loans, take money out of...
Court asked to intervene after email tells USAID workers to destroy classified documents
WASHINGTON — A union for U.S. Agency for International Development contractors asked a federal judge Tuesday to intervene in any destruction of classified documents after an email ordered staffers to help burn and shred agency records. Judge Carl Nichols set a Wednesday morning deadline for the plaintiffs and the government...
Education Department plans to lay off 1,300 employees as Trump vows to wind the agency down
WASHINGTON — The Education Department plans to lay off over 1,300 of its more than 4,000 employees as part of a reorganization that’s seen as a prelude to President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the agency. Department officials announced the cuts Tuesday, raising questions about the agency’s ability to continue...
Agency that monitors weather will cut another 1,000 jobs
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is starting another round of job cuts — this one more than 1,000 — at the nation’s weather, ocean and fisheries agency, four people familiar with the matter tell The Associated Press. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday began plans to lay off...
Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry co-sponsors bill to abolish Federal Reserve
A bill in the U.S. House to repeal the 112-year-old Federal Reserve Act and abolish the nation’s central bank has attracted several co-sponsors, including York County Republican Rep. Scott Perry. Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie introduced the bill on March 5 and Perry is one of 10 co-sponsors, all Republicans,...
NTSB urges ban on some helicopter flights at Washington airport where 67 people died in midair crash
WASHINGTON — Federal investigators looking into the cause of the January collision between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people recommended a ban on some helicopter flights Tuesday, saying the current setup “poses an intolerable risk.” National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy...
4 charged in death of 5-year-old boy ‘incinerated’ in hyperbaric chamber explosion
Four people have been charged in the death of a 5-year-old boy who was “incinerated” inside a pressurized oxygen chamber that exploded at a suburban Detroit medical facility, Michigan’s attorney general said Tuesday. Thomas Cooper from Royal Oak, Michigan, was pronounced dead at the scene on Jan. 31 at the...
EU wants to increase deportations and supports ‘return hubs’ in 3rd countries
BRUSSELS — The European Union wants to increase deportations and is opening the way for “return hubs” to be set up in third countries for rejected asylum-seekers, according to a new migration proposal unveiled Tuesday. Only 20% of people with a return order are effectively removed from EU territory, according...
A man torches Tesla chargers in South Carolina and catches his clothes on fire
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — A man burned three Tesla chargers in a South Carolina parking lot and also apparently inadvertently set his clothes on fire, police said. The man spray-painted “long live the Ukraine” and a crude reference to President Donald Trump on the pavement next to the charging stations...
$30K in counterfeit Estee Lauder, Sharpie markers headed to Pa. seized by customs agents
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized nearly $30,000 in counterfeit cosmetics and Sharpie markers headed to addresses in the Lehigh Valley and Berks County over the past month. The agency said in a news release Tuesday that four shipments of counterfeit objects valued at roughly $28,550, had been seized...
15 injured when school bus overturns on Garden State Parkway in New Jersey
MONTVALE, N.J. — A school bus carrying 31 people overturned on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey, sending more than a dozen people to hospitals, officials said. New Jersey State Police said 15 people, including the driver and 14 young people, were treated for injuries from the Monday night...
