Conservative opposition wins German election and the far right is 2nd with strongest postwar result
BERLIN — Germany’s conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz won a lackluster victory in a national election Sunday, while Alternative for Germany doubled its support in the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II, projections showed. Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat for his center-left Social Democrats after what...
Israel sends tanks into West Bank for 1st time in decades, says fleeing Palestinians can’t returnVideo
JENIN, West Bank — Israeli tanks moved into the occupied West Bank on Sunday for the first time in decades in what Palestinian authorities called a “dangerous escalation,” after the defense minister said troops will remain in parts of the territory for a year and tens of thousands of Palestinians...
Zelenskyy says progress made on reaching an agreement with the U.S. on rare minerals deal
KYIV, Ukraine — A contentious Trump administration proposal to give the U.S. $500 billion worth of profits from Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as compensation for its wartime assistance to Kyiv has been taken off the table, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday, indicating a more equitable deal is in the works....
Pete Hegseth defends Trump’s firings of Pentagon leaders and says there may be more dismissals
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insists President Donald Trump ‘s abrupt firing of the nation’s senior military officer amid a wave of dismissals at the Pentagon wasn’t unusual, brushing aside outcry that the new administration is openly seeking to inject politics into the military. He also suggested more firings...
Trump administration is firing 2,000 USAID workers and putting thousands of others on leave
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Sunday that it was placing all but a fraction of staffers at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave worldwide and eliminating 2,000 U.S.-based staff positions. The move was the latest and one of the biggest steps yet toward what President Donald Trump...
Motive in Pennsylvania hospital shooting unclear, but officials say man had recent contact with ICUVideo
YORK — The man who authorities say entered a Pennsylvania hospital with zip ties and a pistol over the weekend had recent contact with the hospital’s intensive care unit, where he took staff members hostage and was killed in a shootout that left a police officer dead and others injured....
Kathy Hochul says she made a case to Trump for NYC’s congestion pricing, yet predicts courts will decide
NEW YORK — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says she told President Donald Trump in a private meeting at the White House that congestion pricing tolls in New York City are necessary and working, yet the Democrat predicted the courts will likely decide the matter. Last week Trump withdrew federal...
Key agencies, including some led by Trump loyalists, refuse to comply with Musk’s latest demand
NEW YORK — Key U.S. agencies, including the FBI, State Department and the Pentagon, have instructed their employees not to comply with cost-cutting chief Elon Musk’s demand that federal workers explain what they accomplished last week — or risk losing their jobs. That resistance has intensified a pervasive sense of...
American Airlines flight from New York to New Delhi lands safely in Rome after security concern
ROME — An American Airlines flight from New York to New Delhi, India, landed safely on Sunday afternoon in Rome after it was diverted due to a security concern, which later proved to be “non-credible,” the airline said. American Airlines said Flight 292 “was inspected by law enforcement” after landing...
Trump and Musk aren’t the first to make deep cuts, Clinton-era Reinventing Government saved billions
DENVER — A new administration swept into Washington and announced plans to shake it up, using corporate know-how and new technology to streamline the federal bureaucracy. It offered millions of government employees buyouts and slashed costs to balance the budget. It might sound like the controversial cost-cutting push led by...
Hegseth defends Trump’s firings of Pentagon leaders and says there may be more dismissals
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is defending President Donald Trump ‘s firing of the nation’s senior military officer and a wave of dismissals at the Pentagon, insisting that they weren’t unusual despite accusations that the new administration is injecting politics into the military. “Nothing about this is unprecedented,” Hegseth...
What happens to the leadership of the Catholic Church when a pope becomes sick or incapacitated?
VATICAN CITY — While the Vatican has detailed laws and rituals to ensure the transfer of power when a pope dies or resigns, they do not apply if he is sick or even unconscious. And there are no specific norms outlining what happens to the leadership of the Catholic Church...
Pope Francis in critical condition with early kidney failure but remains alert as prayers pour in
ROME — Pope Francis remained in critical condition Sunday and blood tests showed early kidney failure but he remains alert, responsive and attended Mass, the Vatican said, as the 88-year-old pontiff battles pneumonia and a complex lung infection. In a late update, the Vatican said Francis hadn’t had any more...
Michigan state lawmaker beats out loyal Trump ally charged in fake elector case for GOP party chair
DETROIT — Michigan Republicans gathered in Detroit on Saturday to elect a new chair who will lead the party into the 2026 midterms in the battleground state, when several key races will be decided including a critical U.S. Senate seat. A state lawmaker beat out two other candidates, including a...
Trump revels in mass federal firings and jeers at Biden before adoring conservative crowd
OXON HILL, Md. — President Donald Trump said Saturday that “nobody has ever seen anything” like his administration’s sweeping effort to fire thousands of federal employees and shrink the size of government, congratulating himself for “dominating” Washington and sending bureaucrats “packing.” Addressing an adoring crowd at the Conservative Political Action...
2 police officers killed during traffic stop in Virginia Beach
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Two police officers in Virginia were shot and killed during a traffic stop late Friday night, authorities said. Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate said at a news conference on Saturday that officers Cameron Girvin and Christopher Reece were killed after stopping a vehicle for expired...
A decades-old rocket-propelled grenade kills 2 toddlers who found it in the Cambodian countryside
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A rocket-propelled grenade believed to be more than 25 years old killed two cousins, a girl and a boy both 2 years old, when it blew up Saturday near their homes in rural northwestern Cambodia, officials said. The accident happened in Siem Reap province’s Svay Leu...
Thieves used a stolen card to buy a $523,000 French lottery ticket. The victim wants to share the winnings
PARIS — Thieves used a stolen card to buy a winning French lottery ticket worth $523,000. But they vanished before cashing in — and now they’re among France’s most famous fugitives. The man whose card was stolen, identified in police documents as Jean-David E., is offering to split the cash...
Pope Francis in critical condition after long respiratory crisis, requiring oxygen at high flow
ROME — Pope Francis was in critical condition Saturday after he suffered a long asthmatic respiratory crisis that required high flows of oxygen, the Vatican said. The 88-year-old Francis, who has been hospitalized for a week with pneumonia and a complex lung infection, also received blood transfusions after tests showed...
Israel delays the release of Palestinian prisoners after Hamas frees 6 hostages
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel delayed the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners without explanation Saturday after Hamas released the last six living hostages expected under the ceasefire ‘s first phase, with a week remaining in the initial stage. Freed were three Israeli men seized from the Nova music festival...
Shooting at Air Force Base in New Mexico kills airman, wounds another
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A shooting at a U.S. Air Force base in New Mexico early Saturday morning left one airman dead and another wounded, authorities said, adding that it was not an act of terrorism or an attack by an outsider. Officials at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque said...
Officer killed after a gunman took hostages at UPMC hospital in York
YORK — A man armed with a pistol and carrying zip ties entered a Pennsylvania hospital’s intensive care unit on Saturday and took staff members hostage before he was killed by police in a shootout that also left an officer dead, authorities said. Three staffers at UPMC Memorial Hospital, including...
Source: White House, Ukraine nearing rare earth elements deal that would tighten relationship
WASHINGTON — The White House and Ukraine have made significant progress toward reaching an agreement that would provide the U.S. with access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals and tighten the long-term relationship between Kyiv and Washington, according to a person familiar with the matter. The progress in talks comes after...
Trump fires chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump abruptly fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday, sidelining a history-making fighter pilot and respected officer as part of a campaign to rid the military of leaders who support diversity and equity in the ranks....
Kash Patel sworn in at White House as new FBI director, calls it the ‘greatest honor’
WASHINGTON — Kash Patel was sworn in Friday as the FBI director, calling the opportunity to lead the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency the “greatest honor” of his life. Patel was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday by a 51-49 margin, with two Republican lawmakers, Susan Collins of Maine...
