Medical plane’s voice recorder likely wasn’t working for years before Philadelphia crash
PHILADELPHIA — The cockpit voice recorder was not working on a medical transport plane that killed seven people when it plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood in January and likely had not been functional for several years, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report Thursday. The NTSB also...
Trudeau expects trade war between Canada and U.S. for the ‘foreseeable future’
TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday he welcomed indications that the U.S. would delay substantial tariffs on Canadian products for a month, but said Canada’s retaliatory tariffs would remain in place for now. U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has postponed 25% tariffs on most goods...
Without U.S. intelligence, Ukraine will struggle to strike targets inside Russia
KYIV, Ukraine — The U.S. decision to stop sharing military intelligence with Ukraine hobbles its ability to strike and defend against the Russian army, and increases the pressure on it to accept a peace deal being pushed by the Trump administration. Earlier in the week, the U.S. suspended weapons shipments...
Trump changes course and delays some tariffs on Mexico, Canada
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday postponed 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month amid widespread fears of the economic fallout from a broader trade war. The White House insists its tariffs are about stopping the smuggling of fentanyl, but the...
Second federal judge extends block preventing the Trump administration from freezing funding
BOSTON — A second federal judge on Thursday extended a block barring the Trump administration from freezing grants and loans potentially totaling trillions of dollars. U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island granted the preliminary injunction in the lawsuit filed by nearly two dozen Democratic states after a...
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits falls as labor market remains sturdy
Applications for U.S. jobless benefits fell last week as the labor market remains sturdy ahead of an expected purge of federal government employees. The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits fell by 21,000 to 221,000 for the week ending March 1, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s significantly fewer...
Gallery: Photos from March 6, 2025
Embark on a visual journey around the Western Pennsylvania region with TribLive’s latest collection of captivating images for Thursday, March 6, 2025. From the rustic landscapes of Western Pa. to diverse corners of the globe, experience the shared moments of humanity....
Federal judge blocks NIH funding cuts to medical research, including at CMU
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from drastically cutting medical research funding that many scientists say will endanger patients and cost jobs. The new National Institutes of Health policy would strip research groups of hundreds of millions of dollars to cover so-called indirect expenses of studying Alzheimer’s, cancer,...
Ancient humans made tools from animal bones 1.5 million years ago
WASHINGTON — Early humans were regularly using animal bones to make cutting tools 1.5 million years ago. A newly discovered cache of 27 carved and sharpened bones from elephants and hippos found in Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge site pushes back the date for ancient bone tool use by around 1 million...
Hamas brushes off Trump’s threat and says it will only free hostages in return for lasting truce
CAIRO — The Hamas militant group on Thursday brushed off President Donald Trump’s latest threat and reiterated that it will only free the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Hamas accused Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to back out...
2.3M birds culled in Pa. this year as flu spreads in commercial, backyard flocks
Ken Pounds has a coop full of turkeys, and with justifiable concerns about bird flu, that’s all he wants in there. No flies if he can help it. Definitely no people who don’t need to be there. And certainly no other birds. “The biggest thing you can do is have...
Facing Trump’s threats, Columbia investigates students critical of Israel
NEW YORK — Columbia University senior Maryam Alwan was visiting family in Jordan over winter break when she received an email from the school accusing her of harassment. Her supposed top offense: writing an op-ed in the student newspaper calling for divestment from Israel. The probe is part of a...
How Trump justifies his tariffs — from budget balancing to protecting ‘the soul’ of America
WASHINGTON — To President Donald Trump, “tariff” is more than “the most beautiful word in the dictionary,” something he says often. Tariffs, in Trump’s view, are also a cure for a number of the nation’s ills and the tool to reach new heights. Most economists see taxes paid on imports...
At the Voice of America, the Trump administration is moving swiftly to assert its vision
As it has with other government agencies, the Trump administration is moving swiftly to assert its vision at the Voice of America. As it does so, a question hangs in the air: Is the news organization’s journalistic mission, which dates to World War II, in for some fundamental changes? Within...
The House censures Democratic Rep. Al Green for disrupting Trump’s joint address to Congress
WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday voted to censure an unrepentant Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, for disrupting President Donald Trump’s address to Congress. Green was joined in the well of the House by more than 20 fellow Democrats as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., read the censure resolution. Green and some...
Veterans fired from federal jobs say they feel betrayed, including some who voted for Trump
Nathan Hooven is a disabled Air Force veteran who voted for Donald Trump in November. Barely three months later, he’s now unemployed and says he feels betrayed by the president’s dramatic downsizing of the federal government that cost him his job. “I think a lot of other veterans voted the...
Cracker plant in Beaver County could be sold as Shell looks to offload chemical assets
Shell is considering a sale of its chemical assets in the U.S. and Europe, including the cracker plant in Beaver County. The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, has reported one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies could offload its less-profitable chemicals division as part...
Attempted homicide suspect back in custody after accidental release from Washington County Jail
An attempted homicide suspect is back in custody after being mistakenly released from the Washington County Jail. Samuel Valle, 20, of Monessen, missed a court appearance last week, alerting the district attorney’s office he was no longer behind bars, TribLive news partner WTAE reported. District Attorney Jason Walsh told WTAE...
Trump’s address to Congress draws 36.6 million viewers, down from 1st term
President Donald Trump delivered the longest-ever presidential address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, but the TV ratings fell short of his previous outings. The speech averaged 36.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen data, an increase of nearly 14% from former President Joe Biden’s 2024 State of the...
Appeals court allows removal of watchdog agency head as legal battle rages over Trump firing
WASHINGTON — An appeals court in Washington removed the head of a federal watchdog agency on Wednesday in the latest twist in a legal fight over Republican President Donald Trump’s authority to fire the special counsel. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sided...
House Speaker Johnson’s top aide is arrested on charge of driving under the influence, police say
WASHINGTON — The chief of staff to House Speaker Mike Johnson was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing into a police vehicle following President Donald Trump’s address to Congress. Hayden Haynes was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence and later released....
Fetterman calls out Democrats for ‘unhinged petulance’ during Trump address
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, called out members of his own party for their protests during President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday night. “A sad cavalcade of self-owns and unhinged petulance. It only makes Trump look more presidential and restrained,” Fetterman wrote Wednesday afternoon on the social media...
Trump issues ‘last warning’ to Hamas to release all remaining hostages held in Gaza
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued what he called a “last warning” to Hamas to release all remaining hostages held in Gaza, directing a sharply worded message after the White House confirmed that he had recently dispatched an envoy for unprecedented direct talks with the militant group. Trump,...
Pennsylvania to spend $10 million on new voter registration system
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is spending more than $10 million to replace its electronic voter registration database with an election management system that will also provide election night results and handle campaign finance filings and lobbyist registration. Secretary of State Al Schmidt announced Wednesday the Civix system should be fully in...
‘Read this e-mail immediately’: CDC tells about 180 fired employees to come back to work
NEW YORK — The nation’s top public health agency says about 180 employees who were laid off two weeks ago can come back to work. Emails went out Tuesday to some Centers for Disease Control and Prevention probationary employees who got termination notices last month, according to current and former...
