Supreme Court rejects GOP-backed Montana case based on controversial election law theory
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned back an election law case out of Montana that relied on a controversial legal theory with the potential to change the way elections are run across the country. The high court declined to hear the case in a brief order without explaining...
Pennsylvania row officers sworn in, marking 1st time Republicans hold all 3 offices
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s three statewide row officers were sworn in to new four-year terms on Tuesday, joining Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro in Harrisburg and marking the first time that all three offices were filled at the same time by elected Republicans. Treasurer Stacy Garrity and Auditor General Tim DeFoor embarked...
Frigid storm drops rare snow on Houston and New Orleans as Florida readies plows in the PanhandleVideo
NEW ORLEANS — A rare frigid storm charged through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast on Tuesday, blanketing New Orleans and Houston with snow, closing highways, grounding nearly all flights and canceling school for millions of students more used to hurricane dismissals than snow days. The storm prompted the first...
Trump wants to pull the U.S. out of the World Health Organization again. Here’s what may happen next
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump used one of the flurry of executive actions that he issued on his first day back in the White House to begin the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization for the second time in less than five years — a...
Palestinians confront a landscape of destruction in Gaza’s ‘ghost towns’
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinians in Gaza are confronting an apocalyptic landscape of devastation after a ceasefire paused more than 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Across the tiny coastal enclave, where built-up refugee camps are interspersed between cities, drone footage captured by The Associated Press shows mounds...
Trump orders federal agencies to recognize only 2 sexes that are ‘not changeable’
President Donald Trump signed executive orders Monday asserting that the U.S. government recognizes only two sexes that are “not changeable,” and reversing Biden administration directives on LGBTQ+ rights. One of the new orders says that “male” and “female” are defined based on reproductive cells and at the point when a...
Elon Musk salute at inauguration interpreted by some as Nazi gesture
Elon Musk’s salute at a Monday inauguration party for President Donald Trump was interpreted by many observers online as a “Heil Hitler” gesture. Musk, 53, spoke to a crowd of Trump supporters at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., after Trump was sworn in at the U.S. Capitol. While thanking...
Israel’s top general resigns over Oct. 7 attack as it launches major military operation in West Bank
JERUSALEM — Israel’s top general resigned Tuesday, citing the security and intelligence failures related to Hamas’ surprise attack that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. Israel meanwhile launched a large military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday that the Palestinian Health Ministry said had...
Israeli troops kill 6 and wound 35 in West Bank operation, Palestinian officials say
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israel launched a large military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday that the Palestinian Health Ministry said had killed at least six people and wounded 35. Israel announced a “significant and broad military operation” against Palestinian militants in the city. Jenin...
Authorities say a U.S. border patrol agent was fatally shot in Vermont south of border
COVENTRY, Vt. — A U.S. Border Patrol agent was fatally shot Monday on a highway in northern Vermont south of the Canadian border, authorities said. The death was confirmed by the FBI and Benjamine Huffman, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in Washington. In a statement, the FBI...
Vice President Vance swears in Marco Rubio as secretary of state, Trump’s 1st Cabinet member
WASHINGTON — Marco Rubio was sworn in as secretary of state Tuesday, by newly inaugurated Vice President JD Vance. Vance, who served as a senator alongside Rubio, called him a “bipartisan solutions seeker.” Rubio said Trump’s primary priority will be furthering the United States’ interests and that anything the government...
At least 66 dead, 51 injured in hotel fire at a ski resort in northwestern Turkey
ANKARA, Turkey — A fire raged through a 12-story hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey early Tuesday during a school holiday, killing at least 66 people — at least two of them when they jumped from the building to escape the flames, officials said. At least 51...
Russia’s Putin and China’s Xi emphasize close relations, a day after Trump is sworn in
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin had a call Tuesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing the two countries’ close ties, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president. The two leaders have developed strong personal ties that helped boost relations between Moscow and Beijing,...
Trump White House celebrates release of 2 Americans freed in a swap with Taliban brokered by Biden
WASHINGTON — A prisoner swap between the United States and Afghanistan’s Taliban freed two Americans in exchange for a Taliban figure imprisoned for life in California on drug trafficking and terrorism charges, officials said Tuesday. The two Americans freed in the swap, Ryan Corbett and William McKenty, was brokered before...
Rundown of President Trump’s executive orders on Day 1 — from pardons to TikTok
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has begun his promised flurry of executive action on Day 1. With his opening rounds of memoranda and executive orders, Trump repealed dozens of former President Joe Biden’s actions, began his immigration crackdown, withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate accords and sought to keep...
Trump issues pardons for participants in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump issued pardons for participants in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, including those convicted of assaulting police, in his first official action after returning to the White House as the country’s 47th president on Monday. The pardons of about 1,500 people fulfilled Trump’s promise...
Allegheny County Judge Joseph K. Williams III, POISE Foundation honored at MLK Prayer Breakfast
For Kellie Ware, Martin Luther King Jr. Day seemed to carry added significance this year because it fell on the same day as the presidential inauguration. Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in last year’s venomous campaign. Along the way, Trump narrowly survived a deadly assassination attempt at a...
Senators are working into the evening hoping to confirm Trump’s 1st Cabinet nominees
WASHINGTON — Senators returned to the Capitol Monday for a late-evening session pushing ahead on President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, with voting possible to confirm Sen. Marco Rubio as the nation’s secretary of state on Inauguration Day. Rubio is among the least controversial of Trump’s nominees and the Florida Republican...
Canada relieved Trump doesn’t impose tariffs on the major American trading partner on 1st day
TORONTO — Canadian leaders expressed relief Monday that broad tariffs were not applied to Canadian products on the first day of Donald Trump’s presidency and that he did not mention America’s major trading partner during his inaugural speech. Trump had threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and other...
Ramaswamy won’t serve on Trump’s efficiency commission; he’s mulling run for Ohio governor
Vivek Ramaswamy is no longer part of the government efficiency commission that President Donald Trump selected him to lead alongside billionaire Elon Musk. Ramaswamy’s departure from the Department of Government Efficiency was confirmed hours after Trump took office Monday. Ramaswamy, who sought the 2024 Republican nomination for president, has signaled...
Trump vows to change the name of North America’s tallest peak from Denali to Mount McKinley
JUNEAU, Alaska — President Donald Trump on Monday vowed to rename North America’s tallest peak, Denali in Alaska, as Mount McKinley — reviving an idea he’d floated years ago that at that time saw strong pushback from state political leaders. Trump, who took office for a second time Monday, said...
Do U.S. adults support Trump’s Day 1 actions? Here’s what polling shows
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s second term is beginning with efforts to deliver on his promise to crack down on immigration and restore ” energy dominance.” Some of these moves are likely to be popular with the public. Most Americans think increasing security at the U.S.-Mexico border should be at...
Trump says he’s withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement again
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he will again withdraw the United States, a top carbon polluting nation, from the landmark Paris climate agreement, dealing a blow to worldwide efforts to combat global warming and once again distancing the U.S. from its closest allies. The White House announcement, which came...
Transcript: Trump’s inaugural address declaring ‘golden age of America begins right now’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump delivered a 30-minute speech from the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, his second inaugural address to the American people. Here is a transcript: Vice President Vance, Speaker Johnson, Senator Thune, Chief Justice Roberts, justices of the United States Supreme Court, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, President...
Teen pleads guilty to murder in stabbings at Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England
LONDON — A British teen pleaded guilty Monday to murdering three girls and attempting to kill 10 other people in what a prosecutor said was a “meticulously planned” stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer. The crime shocked Britain, and misinformation about the attacker sparked...
