Shooting in Duquesne leaves 1 dead
A Duquesne man died after being shot early Saturday morning, according to police. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as James Earl Robinson II, 34. Allegheny County police were dispatched to the intersection of South 5th Street and Viola Way in Duquesne for a shooting around 5:10...
Senate passes Social Security benefits boost for many public service retirees
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed legislation early Saturday to boost Social Security payments for millions of people, pushing a longtime priority for former public employees through Congress in one of its last acts for the year. The bipartisan bill, which next heads to President Joe Biden, will eliminate longtime reductions...
What’s next for the man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO?
NEW YORK — The man accused of gunning down United Healthcare’s CEO outside a Manhattan hotel is now jailed in New York, awaiting arraignment Monday on a state murder indictment after he was returned to the city in dramatic fashion to face charges in multiple courts. Shackled and wearing an...
Senate approves 235th judge of Biden’s term, beating Trump’s tally
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden secured the 235th judicial confirmation of his presidency Friday, an accomplishment that exceeds his predecessor’s total by one after Democrats put extra emphasis on the federal courts following Donald Trump’s far-reaching first term, when he filled three seats on the Supreme Court. Senate Majority Leader...
NORAD’s Santa tracker was a Cold War morale boost. Now it attracts millions of kids
The Christmas tradition has become nearly global in scope: Children from around the world track Santa Claus as he sweeps across the earth, delivering presents and defying time. Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command to inquire about Santa’s location. Millions more follow...
Take the TribLive weekly news quiz: Dec. 20
The following is a regular feature from TribLive: A weekly news quiz:...
At least 2 dead and 60 hurt after a car drives into a German Christmas market in a suspected attack
MAGDEBURG, Germany — A car plowed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday, killing at least two people and injuring at least 60 others in what authorities believe was an attack. The driver was arrested shortly after the car barreled into the...
Trump was poised to inherit a strong economy. Then things got rocky and he added to the uncertainty
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The smooth economy that Donald Trump was poised to inherit suddenly looks a bit rockier — with critics saying the president-elect is contributing to the uncertainty. The Dow Jones stock index essentially ended Thursday flat after having posted 10 days of losses. The Federal Reserve...
White House starts scrapping pending regulations on transgender athletes and student debt
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is abandoning his efforts to provide some protections for transgender student athletes and cancel student loans for more than 38 million Americans, the first steps in an administration-wide plan to jettison pending regulations to prevent President-elect Donald Trump from retooling them to achieve his own...
Government funding bill clears Congress and heads to President Biden, averting a shutdown
WASHINGTON — Facing a government shutdown deadline, the Senate rushed through final passage early Saturday of a bipartisan plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, dropping President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year. House Speaker Mike Johnson had insisted Congress would...
US proposes voluntary guidelines for self-driving vehicles in waning days of Biden administration
DETROIT — In the waning days of President Joe Biden’s administration, the government’s highway safety agency is proposing voluntary safety guidelines for self-driving vehicles. But a rule from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration putting the plan in place won’t be approved before the end of Biden’s term in January...
International students urged to return to U.S. campuses before Trump inauguration
CONCORD, N.H. — A growing number of U.S. colleges and universities are advising international students to return to campus before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, over concerns that he might impose travel bans like he did during his first administration. More than a dozen schools have issued advisories, even though...
Closures, Social Security checks, furloughs: What a government shutdown might mean
Congress has until midnight Friday to come up with a way to fund the government or federal agencies will shut down, meaning hundreds of thousands of federal employees could be sent home — or stay on the job without pay — just ahead of the holidays. Republicans abandoned a bipartisan...
It’s beginning to look like another record for holiday travel
Drivers and airline passengers without reindeer and sleighs better make a dash for it: it’s beginning to look like another record for holiday travel in the U.S. The auto club AAA predicts that more than 119 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Saturday and New...
For thousands of Jews, Israel still doesn’t feel safe after the Oct. 7 attacks. So they’re leaving
LONDON — Leaving Israel is easier, Shira Z. Carmel thinks, by saying it’s just for now. But she knows better. For the Israeli-born singer and an increasing number of relatively well-off Israelis, the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack shattered any sense of safety and along with it, Israel’s founding promise:...
Malaysia agrees to resume ‘no find, no fee’ hunt for flight MH370, 10 years after plane disappeared
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s government has agreed in principle to accept a second “no find, no fee” proposal from a U.S. company to renew the hunt for flight MH370, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean more than 10 years ago, Transport Minister Anthony Loke...
What to know about Vanuatu, the Pacific island nation struggling to recover from a massive quake
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A search expanded on Thursday for those killed or trapped alive by an earthquake in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, as rescue workers arriving from abroad fanned out through the capital, Port Vila, encountering flattened buildings that had not yet been searched. Three days after...
Russian bombardment targets Kyiv after Ukraine fires U.S.-made missiles across border
KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv early Friday killed at least one person and injured 12 others, officials said. Moscow claimed it was in response to a Ukrainian strike on Russian soil using American-made weapons. At least three loud blasts were heard in Kyiv...
Steelers, snakes and crime make Top 10 most-read stories of 2024
Sports, crime and nostalgia resonated with TribLive’s readers in 2024. From Mason Rudolph’s departure to the last Ponderosa restaurant in Pennsylvania, here are the Top 10 most-read stories on our website from this year. Remains found in Fayette County identified as missing 17-year-old girl April 23, 2024. Skeletal remains found...
2 killed, 3 injured when freight train derails in small West Texas city after collisionVideo
Two Union Pacific employees were killed and three people were injured when a freight train collided with a tractor-trailer and derailed in a small West Texas city, authorities said Thursday. The train derailed around 5 p.m. Wednesday in Pecos after the collision at a railway crossing, authorities said. Union Pacific,...
Gisèle Pelicot thanks backers after her ex-husband, his co-defendants are convicted in rape trialVideo
AVIGNON, France — Gisèle Pelicot spoke of her “very difficult ordeal” after 51 men were convicted Thursday in the drugging-and-rape trial that riveted France and turned her into an icon, expressing support for other victims whose cases don’t get such attention and “whose stories remain untold.” “I want you to...
FBI: Knife-wielding man shot at federal courthouse in Harrisburg was on parole in 1988 murder
HARRISBURG — A man who attempted to stab security guards at the federal courthouse in Harrisburg was released on parole just seven months ago, after serving decades in prison for third-degree murder, authorities said Thursday. Joseph Camino, who was shot and wounded in Monday’s attack, was charged with assault of...
FBI investigates passenger’s death on L.A.-docked Royal Caribbean cruise ship
LOS ANGELES — A 35-year-old man’s death is being investigated by the FBI after he was reportedly bound by crew members while aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that docked in Los Angeles. According to a passenger who spoke with Fox 11, the man was bound with zip ties and...
Former Uvalde schools police chief loses bid to toss criminal charges related to 2022 shooting
UVALDE, Texas — A Texas judge on Thursday refused to throw out criminal charges accusing the former Uvalde schools police chief of putting children at risk during the slow response to the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting, while a lawyer for his co-defendant said they want to move the upcoming...
Oklahoma man dies by lethal injection in the nation’s final execution of 2024
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma man who killed a 10-year-old girl in a cannibalistic fantasy died by lethal injection Thursday in the nation’s 25th and final execution of the year. Kevin Ray Underwood was pronounced dead at 10:14 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. It was Oklahoma’s fourth...
