Supreme Court takes the bench with ghost guns, a capital case and transgender rights on the docket
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court took the bench again Monday, ready to hear cases on ghost guns, a death sentence and transgender rights. Seated in front of the courtroom’s sweeping marble columns, Chief Justice John Roberts announced the formal end of the court’s previous term, when a series of blockbuster...
Supreme Court rejects appeal from ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Martin Shkreli, who was once dubbed “Pharma Bro” after jacking up the price of a lifesaving drug. Shkreli appealed an order to return $64.6 million in profits he and his former company reaped after monopolizing the market for the...
Supreme Court won’t hear appeal from Elon Musk’s X platform over warrant in Trump case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Monday it won’t hear an appeal from the social media platform X over a search warrant prosecutors obtained in the election-interference case against former President Donald Trump. The justices did not explain their reasoning, and there were no noted dissents. The company, known as...
Supreme Court declines Biden administration appeal in Texas emergency abortion case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a decision barring emergency abortions that violate the law in Texas, which has one of the country’s strictest abortion bans. The justices did not detail their reasoning for keeping in place a lower court order that said hospitals cannot be required...
A spacecraft is on its way to a harmless asteroid slammed by NASA in a previous save-the-Earth test
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A spacecraft blasted off Monday to investigate the scene of a cosmic crash. The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft rocketed away on a two-year journey to the small, harmless asteroid rammed by NASA two years ago in a dress rehearsal for the day a killer space...
Gallery: Photos from Oct. 7, 2024
Embark on a visual journey around the Western Pennsylvania region — and the world — with TribLive’s latest collection of captivating images for Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. From the rustic landscapes of Western Pa. to diverse corners of the globe, experience the shared moments of humanity....
‘This isn’t the worst thing’: Western Pa. students, teachers adapt to cellphone restrictions
When Plum Senior High School announced in August it would require students to turn in their cellphones at the start of each class, Dhruv Thakkar could not have been more opposed to the change. “Me and my friends immediately jumped to the fact that our senior year was going to...
Hurricane Milton is a Category 5. Florida orders evacuations and scrambles to clear Helene’s debrisVideo
BELLEAIR BEACH, Fla. — Florida’s storm-battered Gulf Coast raced against a Category 5 hurricane Monday as workers sprinted to pick up heaps of appliances and other street debris left over from Helene two weeks ago and highways were clogged with people fleeing ahead of the storm. The center of Hurricane...
Nobel Prize in medicine honors American duo for their discovery of microRNA
STOCKHOLM — The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was awarded Monday to Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA, tiny pieces of genetic material that alter how genes work at the cellular level and could lead to new ways of treating cancer. The Nobel Assembly...
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...
