Conspiracies, espionage, an enemies list: Takeaways from a wild day of confirmation hearings
WASHINGTON — Conspiracy theories about vaccines. Secret meetings with dictators. An enemies list. President Donald Trump’ s most controversial Cabinet nominees — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel — flooded the zone Thursday in back-to-back-to-back confirmation hearings that were like nothing the Senate has seen in modern...
FDA approves painkiller designed to eliminate the risk of addiction associated with opioids
WASHINGTON — Federal officials on Thursday approved a new type of pain pill designed to eliminate the risks of addiction and overdose associated with opioid medications like Vicodin and OxyContin. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Journavx for short-term pain that often follows surgery or...
Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick to oversee U.S. spy agencies, grilled about Snowden, Syria and Russia
WASHINGTON — Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump’s pick to be director of national intelligence, faced sharp criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike Thursday during a fiery confirmation hearing focused on her past comments sympathetic to Russia, a meeting with Syria’s now-deposed leader and her past support for government leaker Edward...
Police: Snowmobilers said they were trying to run over fox they chased through Lebanon County field
A Lebanon County man and teenager admitted they were trying to run over a fox when they chased the animal on snowmobiles through a field earlier this month, newly filed court documents show. Myerstown resident Jeffrey S. Horst, 20, was charged Thursday with six offenses, including animal cruelty, court records...
2 aircraft that collided over Washington are both workhorses in use around world
The Army helicopter and regional American Airlines jet that collided over Washington are both workhorse aircraft that operate around the world on a daily basis. There were 60 passengers and four crew members on the jet, a Bombardier CRJ-700, officials said. Three service members were on a training flight on...
Trump consoles crash victims then dives into politics with attack on diversity initiatives
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday questioned the actions of the army helicopter pilot and air traffic controller ahead of a deadly midair collision in Washington and quickly veered into politics to speculate that Democrats and diversity initiatives shared blame for the deaths of 67 people. As Trump spoke,...
Video appears to show American Airlines flight’s collision with a U.S. Army helicopter near D.C.Video
A grainy snippet of video footage taken in the dark of night, seemingly by an airport CCTV camera, appears to show the fatal mid-air collision of an American Airlines passenger plane and a military Black Hawk helicopter. American Airlines Flight 5342 was on approach at Ronald Reagan National Airport near...
Trump’s FBI chief pick, Kash Patel, insists he has no ‘enemies list’ and won’t seek retributionVideo
WASHINGTON — Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, insisted to deeply skeptical Democrats on Thursday that he did not have an “enemies list” and that the bureau under his leadership would not seek retribution against the president’s adversaries or launch investigations for political purposes. “I have...
Justice Department sues to block $14 billion Juniper buyout by Hewlett Packard Enterprise
The Justice Department sued to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of rival Juniper Networks on Thursday, the first attempt to stop a merger by a new Trump administration that is expected to take a softer approach to mergers. The Justice complaint alleges that Hewlett Packer Enterprise, under increased...
Shapiro rolls out plan to fast-track and subsidize power plants, hydrogen projects
HARRISBURG — Gov. Josh Shapiro said Thursday that he wants to fast-track the construction of big power plants in Pennsylvania and offer hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks for projects that provide electricity to the grid and use hydrogen. Shapiro’s announcement comes a few days before he delivers...
Russian drone strikes apartment building in Ukraine, killing at least 6
KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian drone blasted a hole in an apartment building in northeastern Ukraine during a nighttime attack, killing at least six people and wounding nine others, officials said Thursday. The Shahed drone blew out a wall and surrounding windows in the building in Sumy, a major city,...
Who are the hostages released as part of the Hamas-Israel ceasefire in Gaza?
JERUSALEM — Hamas-led militants released eight hostages on Thursday after more than 15 months in captivity, including an Israeli soldier, bringing to 15 the number of captives freed since the start of a ceasefire in Gaza more than a week ago. Agam Berger, 20, was among five young, female soldiers...
Japan tries to rescue man stuck in sinkholeVideo
TOKYO — A truck that fell into a sinkhole that suddenly opened on a road near Tokyo has captured national attention as attempts to rescue the elderly driver drag on. Residents near the hole have taken shelter at a local school, and there were worries Thursday about flooding and leaking...
6 members of Boston skating club are among those killed in plane crash
NORWOOD, Mass. — Two teenage figure skaters, their mothers and two world champion coaches from Boston were among the 14 members of the skating community killed when an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday night and crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River. Skating Club...
Gallery: Photos from Jan. 30, 2025
Embark on a visual journey around the Western Pennsylvania region with TribLive’s latest collection of captivating images for Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. From the rustic landscapes of Western Pa. to diverse corners of the globe, experience the shared moments of humanity....
President Trump sounds the same. His White House — so far — couldn’t be more different
NEW YORK — The marathon Q&A sessions are back, along with the cream Oval Office rug and the Diet Coke button on the Resolute Desk. So, too, are the late-night social media posts that ricochet across the globe and the barrage of executive orders. But in 10 days, Donald Trump...
Hamas frees 8 more hostages. Israel begins releasing Palestinian prisoners after delay
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israel began releasing 110 Palestinian prisoners on Thursday after eight hostages in the Gaza Strip were freed by militants earlier in the day in a sometimes chaotic process that briefly called the exchange into question and underscored the fragility of a ceasefire that began this...
Here are some of the deadliest plane crashes in U.S. history
An American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided Wednesday with an Army helicopter while coming in for a landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington and multiple people were killed. Fatal crashes of commercial aircraft in the U.S. have become a rarity. The last...
What is known about the collision between a passenger jet and Army helicopter near D.C.
A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., sending the two aircraft plummeting into the Potomac River and killing everyone on board. The collision occurred at around 9 p.m. Wednesday in one of the world’s...
NASA’s 2 stuck astronauts take their first spacewalk together
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s two stuck astronauts took their first spacewalk together Thursday, exiting the International Space Station almost eight months after moving in. Commander Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore removed a broken antenna and wiped the station’s exterior for evidence of any microbes that might still be alive...
Teens from a Boston skating club, their mothers, and coaches among passengers killed in air crash
WASHINGTON — A crash between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter has killed teen figure skaters returning from a national meet with their mothers and coaches, as well as a group of union steamfitters from the Washington, D.C. area. They were among 60 travelers and four crew members...
Pa. student scores on national testing lower than pre-pandemic, results show
Pennsylvania public schools still may be grappling with the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, according to a national report on reading and math proficiency among fourth grade and eighth grade students. The 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress — released Wednesday by the National Center for Education Statistics — shows...
Donald Trump talks so much that even his White House stenographers are struggling to keep up
WASHINGTON — The White House stenographers have a problem. Donald Trump is talking so much, the people responsible for transcribing his public remarks are struggling to keep up with all the words. There were more than 22,000 on Inauguration Day, then another 17,000 when Trump visited disaster sites in North...
Bethel Park Police officer serving arrest warrant shoots man holding firearm
A Bethel Park man shot by a police officer serving an arrest warrant Wednesday night is charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest, according to Allegheny County Police. Officers went to an apartment complex along Dorchester Drive at 10 p.m. Wednesday to serve William Adam, 45, an arrest warrant related...
Midair collision kills 67 people in the deadliest U.S. air disaster in almost a quarter centuryVideo
ARLINGTON, Va. — A midair collision between an Army helicopter and a jetliner killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft, officials said Thursday, as they scrutinized the actions of the military pilot in the country’s deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century. At least 28 bodies were pulled...
