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...
Aircraft down near Washington’s Reagan Airport, and takeoffs and landings are halted
ARLINGTON, Va. — An aircraft went down on Wednesday night near Ronald Reagan National Airport, and all takeoffs and landings have been halted, according to the airport and law enforcement. Multiple helicopters, including those from the U.S. Park Police and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. military, were flying...
Fact focus: No evidence that $50 million was designated by the U.S. to buy condoms for Hamas
During a signing ceremony Wednesday for the Laken Riley Act, President Donald Trump claimed that his administration had “identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas.” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, made a similar claim on Tuesday during her debut press briefing,...
Meta agrees to pay $25 million to settle lawsuit from Trump after Jan. 6 suspension
WASHINGTON — Meta has agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against the company after it suspended his accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, according to three people familiar with the matter. It’s the latest instance of a large...
West Virginia couple convicted of forced labor, human trafficking of adopted kids
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia jury has convicted a couple who were accused of neglect and forced labor involving their adopted children, including locking some of them in a shed, forcing them to sleep on the floor and use buckets as toilets. The jury deliberated for eight hours before...
Pentagon agency pauses celebrations for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Black History Month and more
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department’s intelligence agency has paused observances of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Pride Month, Holocaust Days of Remembrance and other cultural or historical annual events in response to President Donald Trump’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal workplace. The instructions were published...
Senate confirms Lee Zeldin to lead Environmental Protection Agency as Trump vows to cut climate rules
WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday confirmed Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, a key role to help President Donald Trump fulfill his pledge to roll back major environmental regulations, including those aimed at slowing climate change and encouraging use of electric vehicles. The vote was 56-42...
Temple student hurt while celebrating Philadelphia Eagles win dies from his injuries
PHILADELPHIA — A college student who was hurt when he climbed a street pole and fell while Philadelphia Eagles fans celebrated the team’s victory in Sunday’s NFC championship game has died from his injuries. Temple University announced the death of Tyler Sabapathy, 18, in a statement posted Tuesday night on...
Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez gets 11 years in prison for taking bribes and acting as agent of Egypt
NEW YORK — Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes of gold and cash and acting as an agent of Egypt — crimes his own lawyer said earned him the nickname “Gold Bar Bob.” U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein in...
Bishop’s sermon falls on deaf ears as Trump sets new tone in D.C.
President Donald Trump made his return to the White House when he was sworn in last week. In his first week, he signed more executive orders than any other president. These swift actions signaled the beginnings of the second Trump administration’s attempts to make good on promises made during campaign...
‘Remarkably poor judgment’: Wall Street Journal takes a critical eye to start of Trump’s 2nd term
Amid all of the enthusiasm in conservative media for President Donald Trump’s first week back in office, the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal has notably applied some brakes. The Journal has editorialized against Trump’s pardons of Jan. 6 rioters, called presidential appointee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “dangerous to public health,”...
While signing Laken Riley Act, Trump says he’ll send ‘worst’ criminal migrants to Guantanamo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the Laken Riley Act into law, giving federal authorities broader power to deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have been accused of crimes. He also announced at the ceremony that his administration planned to send the “worst criminal aliens” to a...
Trump’s orders take aim at critical race theory and antisemitism on college campuses
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is ordering U.S. schools to stop teaching what he views as “critical race theory” and other material dealing with race and sexuality or risk losing their federal money. A separate plan announced Wednesday calls for aggressive action to fight antisemitism on college campuses, promising to...
What is the Office of Personnel Management? Trump is relying on this agency to reshape government
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s new tool for reshaping the federal government is a relatively obscure agency, the Office of Personnel Management. The agency has offered millions of federal workers eight months of salary if they voluntarily choose to leave their jobs by Feb. 6. The unconventional plan shows both...
Trump White House rescinds memo freezing federal grants after widespread confusion
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s budget office on Wednesday rescinded a memo freezing spending on federal grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country. The Monday evening memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget sparked uncertainty over a crucial...
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. struggles to answer questions on Medicare, Medicaid at confirmation hearingVideo
WASHINGTON — In a contentious confirmation hearing to become the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. struggled to answer questions about Medicare and Medicaid, programs that affect tens of millions of Americans, or to provide details about how he would work to drive down health care costs. Kennedy...
Are we all aliens? NASA’s returned asteroid samples hold the ingredients of life from a watery world
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Asteroid samples fetched by NASA hold not only the pristine building blocks for life but also the salty remains of an ancient water world, scientists reported Wednesday. The findings provide the strongest evidence yet that asteroids may have planted the seeds of life on Earth and...
