News category, Page 7

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Friday said he expects more flights to be delayed, with air traffic controllers set to miss their first paycheck as a federal government shutdown enters its 24th day. Some 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers must work without pay...

LONDON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday urged the United States to expand sanctions on Russian oil from two companies to the whole sector, and appealed for long-range missiles to hit back at Russia. Zelenskyy was in London for talks with two dozen European leaders who have pledged military...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump dramatically escalated a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean on Friday by deploying the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier group to Latin America, a show of force that far exceeds any past counter-narcotics need and represents Washington’s most muscular move yet in the Latin America region....

PARIS — A painting by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, believed to be depicting his muse and partner Dora Maar, fetched $31.49 million — 27 million euros — at a Paris auction Friday. The work, titled “Bust of a Woman with a Flowered Hat (Dora Maar) 1943”, was acquired by a...

NORFOLK, Va. — New York Attorney General Letitia James pleaded not guilty in federal court Friday to charges related to allegedly lying on mortgage documents. James, a Democrat who last year secured a $450 million civil fraud judgment against President Donald Trump, is one of three perceived enemies that the...

ZAGREB, Croatia — Croatia’s parliament on Friday voted to reintroduce compulsory military service in the European Union and NATO member country. The move comes amid heightened tensions in Europe following the Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as an apparent arms race and military buildup in the Balkans, which went...

TORONTO — The leader of Canada’s most populous province posted remarks by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan on social media on Friday showing Reagan opposed tariffs, hours after President Donald Trump announced he’s ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada because of a television ad that Trump said misstates Reagan’s opposition...

WASHINGTON — Three separate controversies involving leaked text messages from private online group chats have rocked U.S. political circles this month, revealing racist, antisemitic and violent statements from figures across the ideological spectrum. The messages — sent privately but now public — include racial slurs, praise for Nazis, and threats...

WASHINGTON — Defense startup Castelion said on Friday it has won contracts to integrate its Blackbeard hypersonic strike weapon with current U.S. Army systems, the first step toward allowing the military to place the powerful and nearly unstoppable weapons around the world. The U.S. and China are engaged in an...

ROME — Nearly 4,400 people have been abused by Catholic priests in Italy in cases reported since 2020, a victims’ group alleged on Friday, renewing pressure on bishops to confront a crisis that has long plagued the world’s largest Christian faith. The unofficial tally by Rete l’Abuso, Italy’s largest church...

University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg communications professor Jessica Ghilani likens the design of social media platforms to casinos without windows. The introduction of algorithmic sorting to Facebook in 2009 paved the way for social media platforms to generate endless streams of content for users — a system Ghilani describes as...

LOS ANGELES — The man accused of deliberately setting the blaze that grew into one of the most devastating wildfires in Los Angeles history, killing 12 people and incinerating thousands of homes, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to three federal arson-related charges. Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, is charged with “maliciously” starting...

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy late Thursday warned that the department could soon force a Pennsylvania transit agency to stop using a fleet of railcars due to fire risks as he raised broad safety and financial concerns. The Federal Railroad Administration on October 1 issued an emergency order requiring...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has often touted his experience as a real estate builder who is good at building things “on budget and on time,” as he did when he hosted a dinner last week for donors to his long-championed White House ballroom. Then, exactly a week later, on...

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Democrats are taking steps to redraw their state’s U.S. House districts, hoping to boost their party’s chances in next year’s midterm elections and counter President Donald Trump’s push for more partisan districts in Republican-run states. Virginia House Speaker Don Scott sent a letter Thursday to members...

CHICAGO — A top U.S. Border Patrol official violated a court order limiting the use of tear gas during demonstrations against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Chicago, a group of protesters, journalists and clergy members told a U.S. judge on Thursday. The group said in a court filing that...

WASHINGTON — New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday said her legal team plans to ask a federal judge to dismiss the criminal charges against her on the grounds that the U.S. Attorney in Eastern Virginia who obtained the indictment was unlawfully appointed, according to a court filing. James’...

The Trump administration on Thursday announced a series of steps to open up Alaskan wilderness to energy and infrastructure development, including by allowing oil and gas drilling in the remote Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The administration has announced a string of policy swings involving the sprawling refuge for polar bears,...

The state Ethics Commission ordered Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams to pay a $912.70 fine for instructing city employees to deliver a city-owned dumpster to her home in 2022 for her personal use. Williams agreed to pay the fine instead of going through a hearing, which the commission said would have...

A Philadelphia woman last seen nearly three weeks ago was shot to death, health officials have confirmed. Kada Scott, 23, died of a gunshot wound to the head, and her death has been declared a homicide, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health told USA Today on Thursday. Human remains, later...

Donald Trump will not deploy federal agents to San Francisco, the U.S. president and the California city’s mayor said in separate social media posts on Thursday, a surprising stand-down as Trump pressures Democratic-led cities around the country to step up enforcement against crime and illegal immigration. San Francisco Mayor Daniel...

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. As federal vaccine policies and messaging shift under the Trump administration, pediatricians across Pennsylvania are working to maintain proven...

WASHINGTON — A group representing mayors of more than 1,000 U.S. cities has urged the Agriculture Department to use emergency funds to pay for food assistance benefits threatened by the ongoing federal government shutdown. Tens of millions of Americans might not receive food stamps and other food aid in November...