Top health agency makes $25,000 buyout offer to most of its employees
WASHINGTON — Most of the 80,000 federal workers responsible for researching diseases, inspecting food and administering Medicare and Medicaid under the auspices of the Health and Human Services Department were emailed an offer to leave their job for as much as a $25,000 payment as part of President Donald Trump’s...
Israel cuts off electricity supply to Gaza, affecting a desalination plant producing drinking water
JERUSALEM — Israel cut off the electricity supply to Gaza, officials said Sunday, affecting a desalination plant producing drinking water for part of the arid territory. Hamas called it part of Israel’s “starvation policy.” Israel last week suspended supplies of goods to the territory of more than 2 million Palestinians,...
Syria’s neighboring foreign ministers call for lifting sanctions and reconciliation
AMMAN, Jordan — Syria’s top diplomat and his counterparts from neighboring countries Sunday called for the lifting of Western-led sanctions on Syria and post-war reconciliation. The foreign ministers of Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon made their remarks alongside Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani following a meeting in the Jordanian...
5 years after covid struck, Pennsylvanians assess pandemic’s impact
...
North Korea unveils nuclear-powered submarine for the 1st time
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea unveiled for the first time a nuclear-powered submarine under construction, a weapons system that can pose a major security threat to South Korea and the U.S. The state media agency on Saturday released photos showing what it called “a nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine,”...
12 people injured by 3 men shooting randomly at Toronto pub customers
TORONTO — A dozen people were injured in a shooting at an eastern Toronto pub in what police called a reckless act of violence by three men who entered the bar and fired randomly without warning. Superintendent Paul MacIntyre of the Toronto Police Service said that authorities received numerous emergency...
Russian strikes on Ukraine kill over 20 as Polish president warns against appeasement
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched heavy aerial attacks on Ukraine for a second night Saturday after the United States stopped sharing satellite images with the Ukrainian government, officials said. At least 22 people have been killed. The U.S. decision to withhold intelligence and military aid came on the heels of...
House Republicans unveil bill to avoid shutdown and they’re daring Democrats to oppose it
WASHINGTON — House Republicans unveiled a spending bill Saturday that would keep federal agencies funded through Sept. 30, pushing ahead with a go-it-alone strategy that seems certain to spark a major confrontation with Democrats over the contours of government spending. The 99-page bill would provide a slight boost to defense...
New Jersey police officer killed, 2nd officer wounded in shooting by 14-year-old, authorities say
NEWARK, N.J. — A 14-year-old shot and killed a police officer and wounded another Friday evening in New Jersey, authorities said, in a chaotic scene that witnesses described as seeing officers running down a busy street before they heard a volley of a dozen or more gunshots. The slain officer,...
Muslim nations reject Trump’s call to empty Gaza of its Palestinian population
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Foreign ministers from Muslim nations on Saturday rejected President Donald Trump’s calls to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population and backed a plan for an administrative committee to govern the territory to allow reconstruction to go ahead. Meanwhile, Hamas reported “positive signals” in...
Iran’s top leader rejects talks with the U.S. over missile range, regional influence
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he rejects a U.S. push for talks between the two countries because they would be aimed at imposing restrictions on Iranian missile range and its influence in the region. Speaking to a group of officials on Saturday, Khamenei did not...
Activists vandalize Trump golf resort in Scotland over his comments on emptying out Gaza
LONDON — Pro-Palestinian activists said Saturday they have vandalized one of President Donald Trump’s golf resorts in Scotland in response to his proposal to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population. Activists targeted Trump’s Turnberry golf course and hotel in southwest Scotland overnight, painting “Gaza Is Not For Sale”...
An Israeli woman and her Indian host were gang raped in southern India, police say
NEW DELHI — Police in southern India said Saturday that they arrested two men in connection with allegations of gang rape of an Israeli and a local woman. The Israeli and her homestay operator were stargazing along with three male travelers, an American and two Indian, in Koppal town in...
Unions ask court to stop DOGE from accessing Social Security data of millions of Americans
WASHINGTON — A group of labor unions are asking a federal court for an emergency order to stop Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the sensitive Social Security data of millions of Americans. The motion for emergency relief was filed late Friday in federal court in Maryland by...
Man with a Palestinian flag climbs London’s Big Ben and is surrounded by emergency services
LONDON — Roads around the Palace of Westminster in London were closed on Saturday as emergency services tried to reach a man who climbed the Big Ben tower holding a Palestinian flag. Photos show the barefoot man, who appeared to be staging a protest, standing on a ledge several feet...
Protesters on International Women’s Day demand equal rights, end to discrimination, sexual violence
ISTANBUL — Women took to the streets of cities across Europe, Africa, South America and elsewhere to mark International Women’s Day with demands for ending inequality and gender-based violence. On the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city Istanbul, a rally in Kadikoy saw members of dozens of women’s groups listen...
A South Carolina man executed by firing squad is 1st U.S. prisoner killed this way in 15 years
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina man convicted of murder was executed by firing squad Friday, the first U.S. prisoner to die by that method in 15 years. Brad Sigmon, 67, was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. after being shot by three volunteer prison employees wielding rifles loaded with live...
Oklahoma schools chief seeks donations to put Bibles in classrooms
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s top education official said he’s teaming with country music singer Lee Greenwood in seeking donations to get $59.99 leather-bound “God Bless the USA” Bibles into classrooms throughout the state after a legislative panel rejected his $3 million request to fund the effort. State Superintendent Ryan Walters...
Panama to allow 112 migrants deported from U.S. to move about freely in country
PANAMA CITY — Panama announced Friday that it will allow 112 migrants deported from the United States who have been held in a remote camp in the Darien region since last month to move about the country freely until they decide on their next course of action. The government cited...
More elder abuse transparency, accountability is coming as Shapiro administration denies ‘crisis’
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — The public will soon have easy access to critical information about whether county protective services agencies are keeping at-risk older adults safe from...
Deluzio urges fellow Democrats to rethink stance on tariffs
A Democratic congressman from Western Pennsylvania has found some common ground — albeit, a small patch of it — with Republican President Donald Trump on the issue of tariffs. In an op-ed published Friday in The New York Times, U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Fox Chapel, said members of his party...
Out of the lab and into the streets, researchers and doctors rally for science against Trump cuts
WASHINGTON — Researchers, doctors, their patients and supporters ventured out of labs, hospitals and offices Friday to stand up to what they call a blitz on life-saving science by the Trump administration. In the nation’s capital, several hundred people gathered at the Stand Up for Science rally. Organizers said similar...
Homeland Security ends TSA collective bargaining agreement, in effort to dismantle union protections
WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that it is ending the collective bargaining agreement with the tens of thousands of frontline employees at the Transportation Security Administration, marking a major effort to dismantle union protections under the Trump administration. The TSA union called it on “unprovoked attack”...
What to know about Social Security office closures driven by Musk’s DOGE
Across-the-board cuts at the Social Security Administration are prompting questions about how the benefits of millions of recipients may be affected. Among the potential changes are layoffs for more than 10% of the agency’s workforce and the closure of dozens of offices throughout the U.S. It’s all part of the...
Bragg to Liberty and back again: Ceremony to rechristen Army post once named for a Confederate
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The short-lived existence of Fort Liberty came to an end Friday when the nation’s largest Army installation officially returned to its former name: Fort Bragg. Christened a century ago in honor of Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, the post in North Carolina was renamed in 2023 amid...
