Tips, overtime, Social Security: A look at Donald Trump’s no-tax pledges and what they might cost
Donald Trump has pledged to end taxes on everything from tips to Social Security and overtime pay if he’s elected to the White House again. But he hasn’t detailed how he would fund those ideas and avoid creating a huge budget shortfall, beyond arguing he will usher in an economic...
New analysis suggests national debt could increase under Harris, but it would surge under Trump
WASHINGTON — No one is likely to be happy with the projected higher deficits laid out in a new analysis of Kamala Harris’ and Donald Trump’s economic plans. The analysis released Monday by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget suggests a Harris presidency could increase the national debt...
Gaza is in ruins after Israel’s yearlong offensive. Rebuilding may take decadesVideo
The Gaza Strip is in ruins. There are hills of rubble where apartment blocks stood, and pools of sewage-tainted water spreading disease. City streets have been churned into dirt canyons and, in many places, the air is filled with the stench of unrecovered corpses. Israel’s yearlong offensive against Hamas, one...
Mideast violence is spiraling a year since the Gaza war began
JERUSALEM — A year after Hamas’ fateful attack on southern Israel, the Middle East is embroiled in a war that shows no signs of ending and seems to be getting worse. Israel’s retaliatory offensive was initially centered on the Gaza Strip. But the focus has shifted in recent weeks to...
Israelis, scarred and battling on multiple fronts, mark a year since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack
RE’IM, Israel — Israelis held somber ceremonies on Monday to mark a year since the deadliest attack in the country’s history, a Hamas-led raid that shattered its sense of security and ignited wars on two fronts with no end in sight. Hamas marked the anniversary of its Oct. 7, 2023,...
U.S. disaster relief chief blasts false claims about Helene response as a ‘truly dangerous narrative’
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government’s top disaster relief official said Sunday that false claims and conspiracy theories about the federal response to Hurricane Helene — spread most prominently by Donald Trump — are “demoralizing” aid workers and creating fear in people who need recovery assistance. “It’s frankly ridiculous, and just...
Pennsylvania high court declines to decide mail-in ballot issues before election
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has declined to step in and immediately decide issues related to mail-in ballots in the commonwealth with early voting already under way in the few weeks before the Nov. 5 election. The commonwealth’s highest court on Saturday night rejected a request by voting rights...
A massive blast outside Karachi Airport in Pakistan injures at least 8
KARACHI, Pakistan — A massive blast outside Karachi Airport in Pakistan on Sunday injured at least eight people and destroyed several vehicles, officials said. Police and the provincial government said a tanker exploded outside the airport, which is Pakistan’s biggest. But the provincial home minister, Zia Ul Hassan, told local...
Authorities are investigating after a Frontier Airlines plane lands with fire in 1 engine
LAS VEGAS — Federal authorities said Sunday that they are investigating the emergency landing of a Frontier Airlines plane in Las Vegas. The Federal Aviation Administration said Frontier Flight 1326 from San Diego with 190 passengers aboard was in the process of landing Saturday afternoon at Las Vegas’ Harry Reid...
Pope names 21 new cardinals, significantly increasing the pool who will one day elect his successor
ROME — Pope Francis named 21 new cardinals Sunday, significantly increasing the size of the College of Cardinals and further cementing his mark on the group of prelates who will one day elect his successor. They include a man who will be the oldest cardinal — Monsignor Angelo Acerbi, a...
A strike on a mosque kills 19 as Israel bombards northern Gaza and southern Lebanon
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike on a mosque in the Gaza Strip early Sunday killed at least 19 people, Palestinian officials said, as Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Lebanon in a widening war with Iran-allied militant groups across the region. Israel is still...
Hurricane Milton growing stronger as it blows toward Florida’s Tampa Bay region
MIAMI — People across Florida were given notice Sunday that Hurricane Milton is intensifying rapidly and will likely be a major hurricane before slamming midweek into the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast. While forecast models vary widely, the most likely path suggests Milton could make landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area...
A year into the Israel-Hamas war, students say a chill on free speech has reached college classrooms
WASHINGTON — As a junior at George Washington University, Ty Lindia meets new students every day. But with the shadow of the Israel-Hamas war hanging over the Washington, D.C., campus, where everyone has a political opinion, each new encounter is fraught. “This idea that I might say the wrong thing...
Trump returns to Butler in front of 20,000, reflecting on the assassination attempt and honoring Comperatore
Former President Donald Trump returned to Butler County on Saturday, fulfilling a pledge and providing over 20,000 of his supporters with a spectacle of patriotism and showmanship, as well as honoring the victims of the Trump rally shooting that occurred on that same ground less than three months earlier. Security...
2 Westmoreland schools recognized by Special Olympics for inclusive programming
Two Westmoreland County schools were recognized by the Special Olympics for offering inclusive programming for students of all abilities. Mt. Pleasant and Hempfield Area high schools are two of 11 schools in the state to receive national recognition for their Unified Champion Schools programs — where students in special and...
Biden pledged to campaign hard for Harris. So far, he’s been mostly a no-show
WASHINGTON — On the last day of August, President Joe Biden was asked about his fall campaign plans. He promised a Labor Day appearance in Pittsburgh and said he would be “on the road from there on.” Biden did campaign with Vice President Kamala Harris on Labor Day, but he...
Don’t fall for fake dentists offering veneers and other dental work on social media
WASHINGTON — If you have stained or chipped teeth, you might be considering veneers, customized teeth coverings that can restore a photogenic smile without more extensive dental work. But dentists warn that these pricey cosmetic enhancements are at the center of a worrisome online trend: unlicensed practitioners without proper training...
A week after Helene hit, thousands still without water struggle to find enough
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Nearly a week after Hurricane Helene brought devastation to western North Carolina, a shiny stainless steel tanker truck in downtown Asheville attracted residents carrying 5-gallon containers, milk jugs and buckets to fill with what has become a desperately scare resource — drinking water. Flooding tore through the...
Tropical Storm Milton forms in Gulf of Mexico, could intensify as a hurricane threatening Florida
MIAMI — A storm system that was brewing in the Gulf of Mexico earlier Saturday has strengthened into Tropical Storm Milton, with forecasters warning it could intensify into a hurricane headed to Florida next week. Tropical Storm Milton is about 220 miles (355 kilometers) north-northeast of Veracruz, Mexico, the National...
Israel expands its bombardment in Lebanon as thousands flee widening war
MASNAA BORDER CROSSING, Lebanon — Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon on Saturday, hitting Beirut’s southern suburbs with a dozen airstrikes and striking a Palestinian refugee camp deep in the north for the first time as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters. Thousands of people in Lebanon, including Palestinian...
Attempts to cross the English Channel on small boats leave 4 migrants, including a child, dead
PARIS — French authorities said four migrants, including a 2-year-old child, died Saturday in two separate incidents as they attempted to cross the English Channel toward Britain. France’s Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau deplored a “terrible tragedy” on X, saying that the child “was trampled to death in a boat.” “The...
Harris heads to North Carolina to survey Helene’s aftermath 1 day after Trump visited
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris visited North Carolina on Saturday as the state recovers from Hurricane Helene, arriving there one day after a stop in the state by Republican Donald Trump, who is spreading false claims about the federal response to the disaster. The vice president was greeted...
Exiting chancellor of Pa.’s state-owned universities encouraged by enrollment numbers
Enrollment across Pennsylvania’s 10 state-owned universities appears essentially flat this fall versus last — an elusive milestone for a system now 30% smaller after 13 consecutive yearly declines since 2010, Chancellor Daniel Greenstein said. The State System of Higher Education expects to release official numbers early next week. Greenstein told...
Colorado judge who sentenced election denier Tina Peters to prison receives threats
A rural Colorado county courthouse beefed up security Friday after threats were made against staff and a judge who sentenced former county clerk Tina Peters to nearly nine years behind bars and admonished her for her role in a data breach scheme catalyzed by the lie that the 2020 election...
Man fatally shoots 81-year-old wife at a Conn. nursing home
CROMWELL, Conn. — A man fatally shot his 81-year-old wife and then took his own life at a Connecticut nursing home Friday, according to a company official. The woman, who had been a resident of Apple Rehab in Cromwell for three years, was shot in her room, said Michael Landi,...
