White House budget chief says government job cuts have begun
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump’s administration has begun laying off federal workers on Friday during the government shutdown, with a White House budget office spokesperson characterizing the layoffs as “substantial” in number. The U.S. health agency confirmed that some of its workers have received layoff notices. “The RIFs have begun,”...
Trump sees no reason to meet China’s Xi, threatens tariffs in new rift
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs on Chinese exports and cancel a meeting with President Xi Jinping, in a broadside against Beijing on Friday that sent markets and relations between the world’s largest economies into a spiral. Trump, due to meet Xi in about three weeks in...
Age 62, 67 or 70? Here’s the best time to claim Social Security
Some older Americans, staring down potential Social Security benefit cuts, might look to access the program as soon as possible. Experts say that could be a mistake. Instead, potential beneficiaries should consider their health and life expectancy, what buckets of money they can pull from, if they’re done working for...
Trump didn’t win the Nobel prize he coveted, but prizewinner dedicated it, in part, to him
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s dream of becoming a Nobel laureate did not come true this year, although the prizewinner dedicated the honor to him, in part, for supporting her cause. The Norwegian committee that determines the winner of the prestigious awards passed Trump over for the peace prize he...
Trump administration airs video at airports blaming Democrats for government shutdown
WASHINGTON -President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday began airing a video at airports across the country that blames Democrats for a nine-day-old government shutdown that has prompted significant flight delays. Some 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers must still turn up for work during the...
Trump proposes barring Chinese airlines from flying over Russia on U.S. routes
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday proposed banning Chinese airlines from flying over Russia on routes to and from the United States, saying the reduced flight time this practice enables puts American carriers at a disadvantage. The proposal is another escalation of the trade war between the world’s two...
White House says Nobel Committee places ‘politics over peace’
The White House responded to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a Venezuelan opposition activist María Corina Machado by saying the prize committee was playing politics by not giving it to President Donald Trump. “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace,” White House Communications Director Steven...
Federal government shutdown: White House says mass layoffs of federal workers have begun
WASHINGTON – The federal government shutdown rolled on to Day 10 on Friday after senators the day before voted down dueling funding bills for the seventh time. With both sides not budging from their positions, it appears increasingly likely the shutdown will crash into the weekend and the next week....
Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Venezuela’s opposition leader Machado
OSLO — Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for promoting democratic rights and fighting dictatorship, receiving the award despite President Donald Trump’s repeated statements he deserved it. Machado, a 58-year-old industrial engineer who lives in hiding, was blocked in 2024 by Venezuela’s courts...
Killing of man who shot 2 troopers ‘100% justified,’ Franklin County DA says
The commissioner of Pennsylvania State Police said it was “fierce gunfight” that left two Pennsylvania State Police troopers injured and a suspect dead in Franklin County on Wednesday. The shooting that followed a retail theft report and pursuit from outside Chambersburg to south of Greencastle on Interstate 81 was detailed...
U.S. to deploy 200 troops for Gaza task force with no operations on ground in Gaza
WASHINGTON — The United States will deploy 200 troops as part of a joint task force for Gaza stability, with no Americans on the ground in the Palestinian enclave, two senior U.S. officials said Thursday. The officials, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, said the 200 would be the...
U.S. judge blocks Trump’s deployment of National Guard in Illinois
CHICAGO — A federal judge in Chicago on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s deployment of hundreds of National Guard soldiers in Illinois, five days after another U.S. judge blocked a similar deployment in Portland, Oregon. U.S. District Judge April Perry said that permitting Guard troops in the state would...
Shapiro joins states in legal action against Trump’s National Guard deployments
Pennsylvania has joined nearly two dozen states in taking legal action in an attempt to stop President Donald Trump from deploying National Guard troops to U.S. cities. The multistate amicus brief argues that the deployment of National Guard troops in Oregon was “unlawful, unconstitutional and undemocratic,” according to Gov. Josh...
U.S. could fire air traffic controllers who fail to work during shutdown, transportation secretary saysVideo
WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Thursday that the government could dismiss air traffic controllers who repeatedly fail to show up for work during the government shutdown, saying a spike in absences is causing significant air disruptions. “If we have a continual small subset of controllers that don’t...
Health Secretary Kennedy, Trump link circumcision to autism through TylenolVideo
WASHINGTON – Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expanded his crusade against using Tylenol with a cutting-edge warning: boys who were circumcised were twice as likely to be diagnosed with autism later. “There are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism,” Kennedy...
U.S. buys Argentine pesos, finalizes $20 billion currency swap
The U.S. government purchased Argentine pesos and finalized a $20 billion currency swap framework with Argentina’s central bank, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday, sending the peso and Argentine dollar bonds sharply higher. “The U.S. Treasury is prepared, immediately, to take whatever exceptional measures are warranted to provide stability...
New York AG Letitia James criminally charged in Trump’s latest effort to punish rivalsVideo
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a longtime foe of President Donald Trump, was indicted on charges of lying on a mortgage application on Thursday, the Justice Department said, as the administration seeks to use government power against those who have pursued investigations into him or publicly resisted his agenda....
Fetterman breaks with Dems on reining in Trump’s strikes on alleged drug boats; approval rating up among Republicans
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman went against the Democratic grain again. Fetterman on Wednesday was the lone Democrat in the Senate to vote against a measure to prevent President Donald Trump from using military force against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean without congressional authorization. Even with the support of two...
A Democratic rep.-elect isn’t being sworn in. Is it because she’d force an Epstein vote?
A Democrat from Arizona who won a special election for a seat in Congress on Sept. 23 is still waiting to be sworn in to the House of Representatives. Adelita Grijalva says the first thing she’ll do is sign the paperwork that would let the House vote on a bill...
Astronomers spot young rogue planet gobbling up its surroundings
WASHINGTON - Just as Earth orbits the sun, most planets discovered beyond our solar system orbit a host star. But some are out there all by themselves, called rogue planets. While their origins are poorly understood, astronomers have now spotted a voracious one in its infancy that offers new insight...
What’s next legally for James Comey? His team plans to argue for dismissing the charges.
A series of legal motions aimed at dismissing charges against former FBI Director James Comey could be coming quickly from his defense team. Comey pleaded not guilty in a Virginia federal court Oct. 8 to charges pushed by President Donald Trump. One of Comey’s defense lawyers, former Justice Department senior...
Trump’s war on the left: Inside the plan to investigate liberal groups
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump’s threatened crackdown on the finances and activities of liberal non-profits and groups opposed to his agenda is a multi-agency effort with top White House aide Stephen Miller playing a central role, according to officials. The Trump administration plans to deploy America’s counter-terrorism apparatus - including...
China outlines more controls on exports of rare earths and technology
HONG KONG — China outlined new curbs on exports of rare earths and related technologies on Thursday, extending controls over use of the elements critical for many high-tech and military products ahead of a meeting in about three weeks between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The regulations...
Putin says Russian air defenses were to blame for Azerbaijani jet’s crash last year, killing 38
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia’s air defense was to blame for downing an Azerbaijani jetliner in December that killed 38 people, his first admission of responsibility for the crash in an effort to ease tensions between the neighbors. Putin said the missiles fired by Russian air...
Kremlin denies that Russia-U.S. efforts to end Ukraine war are exhausted
MOSCOW — Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday that efforts by Russia and the United States to end the conflict in Ukraine were still alive, state news agency TASS reported, appearing to contradict remarks from a top Russian diplomat a day earlier. On Wednesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov...
