UN agency says C02 levels hit record high last year, causing more extreme weather
GENEVA — Heat-trapping carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere jumped by the highest amount on record last year, soaring to a level not seen in human civilization and “turbo-charging” the Earth’s climate and causing more extreme weather, the United Nations weather agency said Wednesday. The World Meteorological Organization said in...
Doctors Without Borders permanently closes its emergency center in Haiti’s capital
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Doctors Without Borders said Wednesday that ongoing violence in the capital of Haiti has forced it to permanently close its Port-au-Prince emergency care center, which had been a key lifeline in a city now 90% controlled by gangs. More than 60% of the capital’s health facilities, including...
News outlets reject Pentagon press access policy
WASHINGTON — At least 30 news organizations declined to sign a new Pentagon access policy for journalists, warning of the potential for less comprehensive coverage of the world’s most powerful military ahead of a Tuesday deadline to accept new restrictions. The policy requires journalists to acknowledge new rules on press...
Aid trucks roll into Gaza as dispute over hostage bodies is paused
JERUSALEM/CAIRO — Aid trucks rolled into Gaza on Wednesday and Israel resumed preparations to open the main Rafah crossing after a dispute over the return of the bodies of dead hostages that had threatened to derail the fragile ceasefire deal with Hamas. Israel had threatened to keep Rafah shut and...
Far-right U.S. influencer Candace Owens loses legal fight to enter Australia
SYDNEY — Far-right U.S. influencer Candace Owens has lost her bid to enter Australia after the country’s highest court on Wednesday backed the government’s decision to deny her a visa over concerns she could “incite discord” in the community. Owens, who has built a large online following for her controversial...
Assad government secretly moved mass grave to cover up killings, Reuters investigation finds
DHUMAIR, Syria — The Assad government carried out a two-year clandestine operation to truck thousands of bodies from one of Syria’s largest known mass graves to a secret location more than an hour away in the remote desert, a Reuters investigation has found. The conspiracy by President Bashar al-Assad’s military...
U.S. Supreme Court conservatives appear willing to blunt key Voting Rights Act provision
WASHINGTON — Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled their willingness on Wednesday during arguments in a case involving Louisiana electoral districts to undercut a key section of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark 1965 federal law enacted by Congress to prevent racial discrimination in voting. Arguments in the case focused...
Marjorie Taylor Greene said she hasn’t changed, despite recent breaks from the GOP
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has been making life uncomfortable for some members of her own party in Congress. Greene, a conservative firebrand who has been a staunch supporter of President Trump, has been critical of how Republicans have dealt with several key issues in recent weeks and months....
Supreme Court rejects Alex Jones’ challenge to $1.4 billion defamation judgment
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to hear a challenge by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to a $1.4 billion judgment awarded to families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in Connecticut over the Infowars website founder’s false statements that the 2012 incident...
Meta tightens teen safeguards on Instagram with PG-13-style content filters
Instagram will limit what users under 18 can see on the platform using filters inspired by the PG-13 movie rating system, in the latest step by its parent Meta to address criticism that it has not done enough to protect teenagers online. Modeled on the Motion Picture Association’s ratings, the...
Gallery: Photos from Oct. 14, 2025
Take a trip through Western Pennsylvania — and beyond! Join TribLive’s photo adventure, where every snapshot tells a story. From the rolling hills and rustic charm of Western Pa. to far-flung corners of the world, this collection captures the little sparks of humanity that connect us all. Think of it...
Government shutdown is impacting Social Security. Details on payments, offices, more
As the government shutdown nears the two-week mark, several federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration (SSA), remain impacted by furloughs and cannot operate as usual. Thousands of SSA employees have been furloughed, in turn limiting the agency’s available services during the shutdown. However, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income...
Education Department layoffs threaten special ed system, advocates warn
WASHINGTON — Families and educators across the country were plunged into a state of uncertainty over the weekend after the federal Education Department laid off practically every staffer in the government’s special education division. Nearly the entire Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, including the Office of Special Education...
Pennsylvania man pleads guilty in arson attack at governor’s mansion while Shapiro’s family slept
HARRISBURG — A man who scaled an iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded police and used beer bottles filled with gasoline to ignite the occupied Pennsylvania governor’s mansion pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted murder and other charges. Cody Balmer, 38, also entered pleas to terrorism, 22...
Scientists to explore bottom of Lake Erie off eastern Erie County
Do treasure chests full of gold and jewels rest beneath the Pennsylvania waters of Lake Erie off eastern Erie County? Probably not. But scientists, who are using an uncrewed surface vehicle to explore and map nearly 100 square miles of lakebed along the Pennsylvania, New York and Canadian borders, are...
Government shutdown hits Day 14, White House says more layoffs to come
Day 14 of the government shutdown is upon us, and the stalemate continues, with Congress still at an impasse over spending proposals. The main bone of contention is a deadlock over healthcare funding and the tax credits for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace that expires at the end of...
Trump to award Charlie Kirk top honor amid crackdown on left-wing groups
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is set to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a White House ceremony on Tuesday. Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot on Sept. 10 while speaking at an event at...
Trump convinced Netanyahu to take a deal. Can he keep him onboard?
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, a self-proclaimed peacemaker who has campaigned for a Nobel Prize, finally got a camera-ready diplomatic victory on Monday as world leaders flew to Egypt for the signing of the ceasefire and hostage-release deal he brokered between Israel and Hamas. But if lasting peace is to...
Voting Rights Act faces pivotal test at U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court is set on Wednesday to hear a Republican-led challenge to the Voting Rights Act, giving its conservative majority a chance to deal another blow to the landmark federal law enacted 60 years ago to prevent racial discrimination in voting. The case involves electoral districts...
New covid guidelines add confusion, complications for Americans seeking shots
NEW YORK — Americans headed to pharmacies for covid-19 vaccines are running into roadblocks and confusion due to new U.S. guidance that abandoned broad support for the shots, contributing to the lowest vaccination rates since they were introduced. For the four-week period ended Oct. 3, covid immunizations were down about...
Clans and armed groups challenging Hamas in Gaza
GAZA — As the Gaza war dragged on, a diminished Hamas faced growing internal challenges to its control of Gaza from long-standing rivals, many of them affiliated with powerful local clans. Since Friday’s ceasefire took hold, Hamas has sought to reassert itself, killing dozens of opponents in a crackdown after...
Gaza ceasefire outlook darkens as Israel delays aid and Hamas tightens grip
CAIRO/JERUSALEM — Israel delayed aid into Gaza and kept the enclave’s border shut on Tuesday, while re-emergent Hamas fighters demonstrated their grip by executing men in the street, darkening the outlook for President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war. Three Israeli officials said Israel had decided to restrict aid...
Thousands of Pa. college students wait for key financial aid due to state budget impasse
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. HARRISBURG — Financial aid for thousands of Pennsylvania college students is on hold as a result of the state...
U.S. revokes visas of over 50 Mexican politicians in new drug war front
MEXICO CITY — The U.S. government has revoked the visas of at least 50 politicians and government officials in Mexico amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on drug cartels and their suspected political allies, two Mexican officials told Reuters. A handful of these cases have been publicized, but Reuters reporting shows...
Government shutdown could be the longest ever, Speaker Johnson warns
WASHINGTON — Republican Speaker Mike Johnson predicted Monday the federal government shutdown may become the longest in history, saying he “won’t negotiate” with Democrats until they hit pause on their health care demands and reopen. Standing alone at the Capitol on the 13th day of the shutdown, the speaker said...
