Roommate charged with 2 counts of murder in death, disappearance of 2 USF students
TAMPA, Fla. — A former University of South Florida student has been charged with killing his roommate and the roommate’s girlfriend — two doctoral students from Bangladesh who disappeared earlier this month, authorities said Saturday. Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, is facing two counts of premeditated murder in the first degree with...
How conspiracy theories about missing or dead scientists went from online forums to the White House
Speculation about links among a handful U.S. scientists who have died or disappeared in recent years was largely confined to niche online communities less than two months ago. As of Friday, the number had grown to at least 12 and was at the epicenter of U.S. government, with both the...
Justice Department to allow firing squads for executions in move to ramp up capital punishment
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department will adopt firing squads as a permitted method of execution as the Trump administration moves to ramp up and expedite capital punishment cases, officials said Friday. The Justice Department is also reauthorizing the use of single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital that were used to carry...
U.S. imposes sanctions on a China-based oil refinery and 40 shippers over Iranian oil
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil. The move, announced Friday and first reported by The Associated Press, makes good on the Trump administration’s threat to impose secondary sanctions on...
Appeals court rules that Trump’s asylum ban at the border is illegal
WASHINGTON — An appeals court on Friday blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order suspending asylum access at the southern border of the U.S., a key pillar of the Republican president’s plan to crack down on migration. A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia...
Justice Department drops criminal probe of Fed chair Powell, likely clearing the way for Kevin Warsh
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has ended its investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, clearing a major roadblock to the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as his successor. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said on X Friday that her office was ending its probe into the...
Palestinians mourn 3rd teenager killed in occupied West Bank this week
TELL, West Bank — Three Palestinian teenagers have been killed in the occupied West Bank this week in a spike of renewed violence, the latest shot dead by Israeli forces during a mid-week raid. Palestinians in the northern West Bank village of Tell mourned the death of Youssef Shtayyeh on...
After last year’s fighting with Thailand, Cambodia readies new conscription law for men aged 18-25
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A law requiring Cambodian males aged 18 to 25 to serve in the military for two years has gained Cabinet approval following two spates of deadly combat last year with neighboring Thailand. The new draft law on conscription will replace an existing law dating from 2006...
‘2 ways of calculating’: Trump defends his mathematically impossible calculations on drug prices
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, who helped push the term “fake news” into the mainstream, now seems to have a new favorite subject: fake math. During a Thursday event announcing a deal with drugmaker Regeneron to lower the cost of its pharmaceutical products, Trump defended his past claims that prices...
Congress keeps holding all-nighters, creating dysfunction after dark
WASHINGTON — Just as the Senate prepared to launch into a late-night vote series, Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana went to the floor to vent. Frustrated and seemingly exhausted Wednesday, Kennedy said he wanted more time to debate his amendments to a budget resolution to fund immigration enforcement agencies....
Violent tornado tears through Oklahoma town, damaging 40 homes but sparing livesVideo
ENID, Okla. — Raeann Hunt scrambled to her cellar as a tornado bore down on her Oklahoma community. “It is headed right for us,” she recalled thinking, as she peeked outside, unable to contain her curiosity. Huddled inside the dark 8-by-8 foot concrete shelter with her husband, brother-in-law and a...
Trump dispatches Witkoff and Kushner to Pakistan for new talks with Iran’s foreign minister
ISLAMABAD — President Donald Trump is sending his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan to meet with Iran’s foreign minister, the White House said Friday, as officials in the South Asian nation pushed to revive ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran. The talks planned for Saturday come...
Trump’s ‘gold card’ visa starting at $1 million granted to just 1 person so far, White House says
President Donald Trump’s “gold card” visa, where a foreigner can shell out at least $1 million to legally live and work in the U.S., has been approved for one person, said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Thursday — appearing to fall a bit short of an earlier claim. After it launched...
Cuban diplomat denies that releasing political prisoners is part of U.S. negotiationsVideo
UNITED NATIONS — Havana will not abide by any American “ultimatums” to release political prisoners as part of new talks, a Cuban diplomat said Thursday, while asserting that leaders are “preparing for all scenarios” if U.S. President Donald Trump makes good on threats to intervene in the island nation. In...
Federal officials charge U.S. soldier with using classified intel to win over $400K bet on Maduro raid
WASHINGTON — A U.S. soldier involved in the military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been charged with using classified information about the mission to win more than $400,000 in an online betting market, federal officials announced Thursday. Gannon Ken Van Dyk was part of the operation to...
Trump says Lebanon, Israel agree to extend Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire by 3 weeks
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House on Thursday. Trump said the meeting between the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon to the United States went “very well.” The meeting...
Justice Department’s watchdog is reviewing compliance with the law mandating Epstein files release
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s internal watchdog announced a review Thursday of the department’s compliance with the law mandating the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, stepping into a politically sensitive saga that has shadowed the Trump administration for the past year. The review from the inspector general’s office will...
Pennsylvania treasurer says ‘no’ to taxpayers footing $1M in security upgrades at Shapiro’s home
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s treasurer refused Thursday to approve payments for more than $1 million in security systems and other upgrades to the private home of Gov. Josh Shapiro, changes that were made after an intruder set fire to the state-owned governor’s residence last year in an attempt to kill the...
Exchange of gunfire inside Mall of Louisiana leaves 1 person dead and 5 wounded
BATON ROUGE, La. — An exchange of gunfire at a food court inside a Louisiana mall on Thursday killed one person and wounded five others and sent workers and shoppers scrambling for safety, police and witnesses said. Authorities described the shooting inside the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge as...
Federal authorities arrest 2 dozen Mexican Mafia members and associates in California
SANTA ANA, Calif. — More than two dozen members and associates of the Mexican Mafia were arrested Thursday during an early morning crackdown across Southern California, federal authorities said. The FBI and other federal and local agencies executed search and arrest warrants at about 30 locations mostly in Orange County,...
Ex-officer planned to kill Black people in mass shooting at a New Orleans festival, authorities say
NEW ORLEANS — Authorities say a former North Carolina law enforcement officer planned to kill Black people in a mass shooting at a major New Orleans festival but was arrested at a Florida hotel with a handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Authorities in several states did not name...
Why the European Union’s wartime loan is a vital lifeline for cash-strapped Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Cash-strapped Ukraine has secured a crucial European Union loan that will provide a vital lifeline to sustain its wartime efforts this year. The $106 billion package was formally approved on Thursday, days after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline had been...
The Gates Foundation is reviewing its Epstein ties as released emails raise questions for funders
NEW YORK — The Gates Foundation is reviewing its ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the organization confirmed Wednesday, as chairman Bill Gates faces mounting scrutiny over his appearances in Justice Department documents related to its investigation of the disgraced financier. Gates, who founded Microsoft, reportedly spoke “candidly” about...
Nuclear energy is having a global revival 40 years after Chernobyl
The 1986 Chernobyl disaster fueled global fears about nuclear power and slowed its development in Europe and elsewhere. Four decades later, however, there’s a revival around the world, a trend that has been given a big boost by war in the Middle East. Over 400 nuclear reactors are operational in...
Trump reclassifies state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug in a historic shift
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s acting attorney general on Thursday signed an order reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug, a major policy shift long sought by advocates who said cannabis should never have been treated like heroin by the federal government. The order signed by Todd Blanche does...
