Flush with cash? Fully functional, solid gold toilet sells for $12.1M at auction
NEW YORK — A Gustav Klimt portrait painting sold Tuesday for $236 million, a record for a modern art piece, at an auction where a solid gold, fully functional toilet satirizing the ultrarich also fetched $12.1 million. The toilet, by Maurizio Cattelan — the provocative Italian artist known for taping...
Bipartisan bill aims to pay air traffic controllers during future shutdowns
The flight disruptions during the record government shutdown that ended last week inspired a rare act of bipartisanship in Washington on Tuesday, when congressional representatives from both parties introduced legislation that would allow air traffic controllers to get paid during future shutdowns. The bill proposes funding salaries, operating expenses and...
Final resting place set for the historic SS United States to become an artificial reef off Florida
A historic ocean liner will become the world’s largest artificial reef after it’s sunk off Florida’s Gulf Coast early next year. Okaloosa County officials announced Tuesday that they expect to sink the SS United States in early 2026 about 22 nautical miles southwest of Destin and 32 nautical miles southeast...
Fear spreads as federal immigration crackdown in North Carolina expands to Raleigh
RALEIGH — Federal agents expanded their North Carolina immigration crackdown to the area around the state capital of Raleigh on Tuesday, with fear spreading in at least one immigrant-heavy suburb where restaurants closed and many people stayed home. The North Carolina operation began over the weekend in the state’s largest...
Energy Department loans $1B to help finance the restart of nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island
HARRISBURG — The U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday that it will loan $1 billion to help finance the restart of the nuclear power plant on Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island that is under contract to supply power to data centers for tech giant Microsoft. The loan is in line with...
Trump attacks ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce in angry response to sharp questionsVideo
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump denounced ABC News’ Mary Bruce as a “terrible reporter” Tuesday and threatened the network’s license to broadcast after she asked him three sharp questions at the White House. The network’s chief White House correspondent was among reporters let into the Oval Office to question...
Long-sought Pa. tax credit for some workers to be ready for filing season
A new tax credit for lower-income workers in Pennsylvania will be ready for tax time this spring, Gov. Josh Shapiro ‘s administration said, calling it the most significant tax change for the state’s working class in over half a century. The new program — called the Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit...
Meet Clay Higgins, the only House Republican to vote against releasing the Epstein files
U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., was the lone House member to vote against a bill that would force the Justice Department to release its files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “I have been a principled ‘NO’ on this bill from the beginning. What was wrong with the bill...
DHS plans to deploy 250 border agents to Louisiana in major immigration sweep
NEW ORLEANS — Around 250 federal border agents are set to descend on New Orleans in the coming weeks for a two-month immigration crackdown dubbed “Swamp Sweep” that aims to arrest roughly 5,000 people across southeast Louisiana and into Mississippi, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press and three...
The Education Department is dismantling. Here’s what that means
WASHINGTON — The Education Department is breaking off several of its main offices and giving their responsibilities to other federal agencies, an early look at how President Donald Trump could fulfill his campaign pledge to close the department entirely. Offices that serve the nation’s schools and colleges would go to...
Southwestern Pa.’s congressional delegation unanimously supports Epstein files bill
Southwestern Pennsylvania’s four members of the U.S. House all voted Tuesday afternoon in favor of a bill that would force the Justice Department to release its files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The U.S. Senate later agreed by unanimous consent to approve the bill. The procedural move does...
Court settlement calls for NPR to get $36M in government funds to operate U.S. public radio system
WASHINGTON — National Public Radio will receive approximately $36 million in grant money to operate the nation’s public radio interconnection system under the terms of a court settlement with the federal government’s steward of funding for public broadcasting stations. The settlement, announced late Monday, partially resolves a legal dispute in...
NTSB finds 2 blackouts struck huge cargo ship before it crashed into Baltimore bridge
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Two electrical blackouts, one caused by a loose wire and another by problems with a fuel pump, disabled the controls of a huge cargo ship before it crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse last year and kill six construction workers, National Transportation...
Federal judges block Texas from using its new U.S. House map in 2026 midterms
A federal court on Tuesday blocked Texas from using a redrawn U.S. House map that touched off a nationwide redistricting battle and is a major piece of President Donald Trump’s efforts to preserve a slim Republican majority ahead of the 2026 elections. The ruling is a blow to Trump’s rush...
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers steps down from public commitments after Epstein emails
BOSTON — Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard University who once served as U.S. treasury secretary, says he will step back from public commitments after the release of emails showing he maintained a friendly relationship with Jeffrey Epstein long after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from an...
Federal judges block Texas from using its new U.S. House map in the 2026 midterms
EL PASO, Texas — Texas cannot use a new congressional map drawn by Republicans in hopes of securing the party additional U.S. House seats, a panel of three federal judges ruled Tuesday. The ruling was a blow to President Donald Trump’s efforts to have GOP lawmakers in multiple states redraw...
Meta prevails in historic FTC antitrust case, won’t have to break off WhatsApp, Instagram
SAN FRANCISCO — Meta has prevailed over an existential challenge to its business that could have forced the tech giant to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp after a judge ruled that the company does not hold a monopoly in social networking. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued his ruling Tuesday...
Trump administration to divert billions of dollars from homeless housing programs
The Trump administration is moving forward with plans to divert billions of dollars in homelessness funding earmarked for permanent housing, a decision state and local officials warn could push thousands of formerly homeless Californians back to the street. The plans redirect the funds toward shorter-term housing and outreach efforts, prioritizing...
Judge approves opioid settlement for Purdue Pharma and Sackler family members who own the company
A federal bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday formally approved OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the harms of opioids. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane was set to give his reasoning Tuesday for approving the plan, which requires members of the Sackler family who own the...
Cloudflare outage disrupts ChatGPT, X, other internet services
A widely used Internet infrastructure company said that it has largely resolved an issue that led to outages impacting users of everything from ChatGPT and the online game, “League of Legends,” to the New Jersey Transit system to even TribLive’s own site early Tuesday. At 10:40 a.m., Cloudflare said its...
Trump dismisses US intelligence that Saudi prince was likely aware of 2018 killing of journalist
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed U.S. intelligence findings that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman likely had some culpability in the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi as Trump warmly welcomed the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia on his first White House visit in seven...
Congress acts swiftly to force release of Epstein files, and Trump agrees to sign bill
WASHINGTON — The House and Senate acted decisively Tuesday to pass a bill to force the Justice Department to publicly release its files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a remarkable display of approval for an effort that had struggled for months to overcome opposition from President Donald Trump...
Netanyahu applauds UN adoption of U.S. Gaza plan, Hamas rejects it
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday applauded the United Nations’ approval of the Trump administration’s blueprint to secure and govern Gaza, while Hamas rejected the plan as a foreign instrument of control. The resolution that passed the U.N. Security Council on Monday authorizes an international stabilization force...
Capitol Police arrest 18 at protest against lax Pa. campaign finance laws
More than 100 people rallied Monday inside the Capitol rotunda, demanding a ban on gifts and outside employment for state lawmakers, protesting what they called legislators’ unchecked private interests. Activists with March on Harrisburg delivered speeches criticizing Pennsylvania’s lax campaign finance laws, with one speaker noting that 35 fundraisers are...
Trump hails McDonald’s Extra Value Meals in affordability pitch
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump argued his administration was making process on lowering prices as he faces new political headwinds, pushing back on criticism from Democrats who blame his tariffs for high costs. Trump touted economic policies he said have drawn trillions in new investments to fuel private-sector job growth...
