Top Russian, U.S. officials discuss improving ties and ending Ukraine war — without Kyiv
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The top diplomats from Russia and the U.S. met Tuesday in Saudi Arabia to discuss improving ties and negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine — talks that reflected a major and rapid change in American foreign policy under President Donald Trump. No Ukrainian officials...
Republicans consider cuts and work requirements for Medicaid, jeopardizing care for millions
WASHINGTON — Republicans are weighing billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, threatening health care coverage for some of the 80 million U.S. adults and children enrolled in the safety net program. The signing up of millions of additional Americans for taxpayer-funded health care coverage like Medicaid and the Affordable...
‘No kings on Presidents Day’ rings out from protests against Trump, Musk
BOSTON — Protesters against President Donald Trump and his policies braved frigid temperatures to demonstrate Monday at rallies corresponding with the Presidents Day holiday. Dubbed “No Kings on Presidents Day” by the 50501 Movement, the latest protests came less than two weeks after a similar nationwide event on Feb. 5...
All 80 aboard Delta flight survive after jet flips upon arrival in TorontoVideo
TORONTO — A Delta Air Lines jet flipped on its roof while landing Monday at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, but all 80 people on board survived and those hurt had relatively minor injuries, the airport’s chief executive said. Snow blown by winds gusting to 40 mph swirled when the flight from...
Colleges, K-12 schools ordered by Trump administration to abolish DEI or face funding cuts
The U.S. Department of Education has given colleges and schools with race-specific programs — including financial aid and racially themed dormitory floors and graduation ceremonies — until the end of the month to abolish them or risk losing federal funding as educators scrambled over the holiday weekend to interpret the...
Mexico awaits new response from Google on dispute over Gulf of Mexico name before filing lawsuit
MEXICO CITY — Mexico said Monday it’s awaiting a new response from Google to its request that the tech company fully restore the name Gulf of Mexico to its Google Maps service before filing a lawsuit. President Claudia Sheinbaum shared a letter addressed to her government from Cris Turner, Google’s...
Top Russian and American officials will hold talks on ending the Ukraine war without Kyiv
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Senior American and Russian officials, including the countries’ top diplomats, will hold talks on improving their ties and negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, officials said Monday, in what would be the most significant meeting between the sides since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its...
Pope will remain hospitalized as doctors treat a complex respiratory tract infection, Vatican says
ROME — Pope Francis’ respiratory infection is presenting a “complex clinical picture” that will require further hospitalization, the Vatican said Monday, as concerns grew about the increasingly frail health of the 88-year-old pontiff. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the results of tests conducted in recent days and Monday indicate the...
4 top New York City officials resign as turmoil ripples over Mayor Adams’ corruption case
NEW YORK — Four top deputies to New York City Mayor Eric Adams are resigning in the latest fallout from the Justice Department’s push to end a corruption case against Adams and ensure his cooperation in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown — a bargain that has raised questions about the...
Trump nominates Ed Martin, an ally who defended Jan. 6 rioters, to stay as top D.C. federal prosecutor
WASHINGTON — Conservative activist Ed Martin, who echoed Donald Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen 2020 election and defended Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol rioters, was nominated by the president on Monday to be the top federal prosecutor in Washington on a permanent basis. Martin had been serving as U.S....
‘Life-threatening cold’ expected as polar vortex stretches across U.S. after deadly weekend floodingVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Harsh weather moved west on Monday as a polar vortex was expected to grip the Rockies and the northern Plains after winter storms pummeled the eastern U.S. over the weekend, killing at least 10 people, including nine victims in Kentucky who died during flooding from heavy rain....
Trump begins firings of FAA air traffic control staff just weeks after fatal D.C. plane crash
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has begun firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees, upending staff on a busy air travel weekend and just weeks after a January fatal mid-air collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Probationary workers were targeted in late night emails Friday notifying them they had...
Trump’s tariffs expose Ukraine’s steel industry to another war
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — The steel mill in a partially occupied region of Ukraine is a dystopian maze of flames, chutes and tentacled pipes, vast enough to be a small city. Thunderous blazes of sparks flash above the open furnaces where workers smelt iron ore into streams of molten metal day...
Investigators find 3rd victim from fiery Wyoming highway tunnel crash
GREEN RIVER, Wyo. — A third victim was found Sunday in the wreckage from a fiery crash inside a Wyoming highway tunnel that involved 26 cars and trucks, officials said. At least five people were seriously injured in Friday’s accident along Interstate 80 near the small town of Green River,...
Justice Department’s independence threatened as Trump’s team asserts power over cases, staff
WASHINGTON — Pam Bondi had insisted at her Senate confirmation hearing that as attorney general, her Justice Department would not “play politics.” Yet in the month since the Trump administration took over the building, a succession of actions has raised concerns the department is doing exactly that. Top officials have...
Ukraine, Europe worry about being sidelined as Trump pushes direct talks with Russia on war’s endVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s approach to ending Russia’s war against Ukraine has left European allies and Ukrainian officials worried they are being largely sidelined by the new U.S. administration as Washington and Moscow plan direct negotiations. With the three-year war grinding on, Trump is sending Secretary of State Marco...
Fired nuclear bomb specialists recalled by Energy Department
WASHINGTON — The Energy Department is seeking to bring back nuclear energy specialists after abruptly telling hundreds of workers that their jobs were eliminated, according to two people familiar with the matter. The employees, responsible for designing and maintaining the nation’s cache of nuclear weapons at the National Nuclear Safety...
Trump administration wants Supreme Court to permit the firing of whistleblower agency head
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to permit the firing of the head of the federal agency dedicated to protecting whistleblowers, according to documents obtained Sunday that would mark the first appeal to the justices since President Donald Trump took office. The emergency appeal is the start...
Trump administration cuts reach FDA employees in food safety, medical devices and tobacco products
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s effort to slash the size of the federal workforce reached the Food and Drug Administration this weekend, as recently hired employees who review the safety of food ingredients, medical devices and other products were fired. Probationary employees across the FDA received notices Saturday evening that...
At least 9 people are dead, including 8 in Kentucky, in latest blast of winter weatherVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — At least nine people have died in the most recent round of harsh weather to pummel the U.S., including eight people in Kentucky who died as creeks swelled from heavy rain and water covered roads. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday that hundreds of people stranded by...
Manor couple aims to create pet-finding app after death of 16-year-old goat
When Penny Layne ventured into the woods behind her Manor home on an icy January night, only one objective was on her mind: to find her missing 16-year-old goat, Patrick. Armed with a flashlight and a cellphone battery life near zero, Layne climbed over downed trees and trudged through the...
IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season
WASHINGTON — The IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season, according to two sources familiar with the agency’s plans, and cuts could happen as soon as next week. This comes as the Trump administration intensified sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the...
Defiant Canadians mark their flag’s anniversary as Trump hopes to make their country a state
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Canadians on Saturday marked the 60th anniversary of the inauguration of their flag with a defiant sense of patriotism that people said was prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs and suggestions that the country become the 51st U.S. state. Deborah Weismiller said she...
23-year-old man stabbed 5 people in Austria, killing 1 in what police described as a random attack
VIENNA — A 23-year-old man stabbed five passersby in southern Austria on Saturday in what police said was a random attack that left a 14-year-old dead and four others injured. The suspect was detained in the city of Villach, where the attack took place, police said. He is a Syrian...
Hungary’s transformation into an ‘electoral autocracy’ has parallels to Trump’s second term
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hours before President Donald Trump was sworn in to begin his second term, promising a “golden age” for America, the leader of a Central European country was describing the years ahead in strikingly similar terms. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Trump’s return would usher in Hungary’s own...
