Trump said he’ll block U.S. Steel sale if elected
Former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump said Wednesday he will block U.S. Steel’s sale to the Japanese Nippon Steel Corporation, if elected president, reports Bloomberg. The sale was announced in December, with Nippon acquiring the iconic Pittsburgh-based steelmaker for about $14 billion in a deal that would keep U.S....
First of back-to-back atmospheric rivers pushes into California. Officials urge storm preparationsVideo
LOS ANGELES — The first of two back-to-back atmospheric rivers slowly pushed into California on Wednesday, triggering statewide storm preparations and calls for people to get ready for potential flooding, heavy snow and damaging wind. Known as a “Pineapple Express” because its long plume of moisture stretched back across the...
Federal judge dismisses Disney’s free speech lawsuit against Ron DeSantis
ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed Disney’s free speech lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, leaving the company’s remaining hopes of regaining control of the district that governs Walt Disney World to a separate state court challenge. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee said in his...
Building empathy, understanding: Pitt Greensburg reading initiative sparks community discussion
When Sheila Confer finished reading “Rising Out of Hatred” by Eli Saslow, she wanted everyone to experience the book. Confer, an instructor for Pitt’s Greensburg campus, gathered about 400 students and 100 community members to read the book in 2022 through a program dubbed Westmoreland Reads. Saslow, a writer for...
Russia, Ukraine swap scores of POWs despite tensions over plane crash last week
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia and Ukraine have exchanged about 200 prisoners of war each, the countries said Wednesday, despite tensions stemming from last week’s crash of a military transport plane that Moscow claimed was carrying Ukrainian POWs and was shot down by Kyiv’s forces. After the Jan. 24 crash of...
Laser strikes against aircraft including airline planes have surged to a new record, the FAA says
WASHINGTON — Laser strikes aimed at aircraft including airline planes surged 41% last year to a record high, according to federal officials. The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that it received 13,304 reports from pilots about laser strikes last year, erasing a record set in 2021. “Aiming a laser at...
Walmart to build or convert 150-plus stores in next 5 years. It hasn’t opened new stores in 3 years
NEW YORK — Walmart plans to build or convert more than 150 stores in the next five years, while continuing to remodel existing stores. The plan, announced Wednesday, marks a big change for the discounter. In 2016, Walmart announced it was slowing its new store opening s and instead investing...
Meta, TikTok and other social media CEOs testify in heated Senate hearing on child exploitation
Sexual predators. Addictive features. Suicide and eating disorders. Unrealistic beauty standards. Bullying. These are just some of the issues young people are dealing with on social media — and children’s advocates and lawmakers say companies are not doing enough to protect them. On Wednesday, the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, X...
IUP eyes potential location for medical school, state announces ‘investment’ in project
The state will invest $2 million in startup funds toward developing a College of Osteopathic Medicine at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman announced Wednesday night. Pittman, R-Indiana, delivered the news at a public reception welcoming the proposed college’s recently named founding dean, Miko Rose. It...
‘Traitor’: After bitter primary, DeSantis may struggle to win over Trump supporters if he runs again
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Before launching his ill-fated campaign for the White House, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was a star. Again and again, Republican voters said they saw him as the future of the party — a potential vice president who, after serving four years alongside Donald Trump, could become the...
Elon Musk says the first human has received an implant from Neuralink, but other details are scant
NEW YORK — According to Elon Musk, the first human received an implant from his computer-brain interface company Neuralink over the weekend. In a Monday post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Musk said that the patient received the implant the day prior and was “recovering well.” He...
Man accused of beheading his father in suburban Philadelphia home, posting gruesome video onlineVideo
LEVITTOWN — A man accused of beheading his father in suburban Philadelphia and posting a gruesome video on social media that shows him holding up the severed head has been charged with first-degree murder and abusing a corpse, authorities said Wednesday. Justin Mohn was armed and had jumped a fence...
Imprisoned ex-Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan convicted again, another blow days ahead of vote
ISLAMABAD — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was found guilty of corruption on Wednesday and sentenced to 14 years, yet another blow to the imprisoned populist leader days before his political movement attempts a return to power in parliamentary elections. It was his second conviction in as many days...
Nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize end Wednesday. Not all of them are secret
STAVANGER, Norway — The doors close Wednesday on nominations for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, with peace activists connected to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine among the known entries. The Norwegian Nobel Committee keeps the nominations secret, but those with nomination rights sometimes make their picks public. Attempts to...
Biden will visit East Palestine which was devastated by a fiery train derailment a year ago
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will visit the eastern Ohio community that was devastated by a fiery train derailment in February 2023 that displaced thousands of residents and left many fearing potential health effects from the toxic chemicals that spilled when a Norfolk Southern train went off the tracks. A...
Islamic Resistance in Iraq group is to blame for Jordan drone strike that killed 3 troops, U.S. says
WASHINGTON — The United States on Wednesday attributed the drone attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, as President Joe Biden weighs his response options to the strike. The attribution comes as Iran threatened on Wednesday...
House GOP takes party-line vote toward Mayorkas impeachment as border becomes 2024 campaign issueVideo
WASHINGTON — House Republicans voted along party lines after midnight Wednesday to move toward impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for a “willful and systematic” refusal to enforce immigration laws as border security becomes a top 2024 election issue. The Homeland Security Committee debated all day Tuesday and well into...
Rap lyrics can’t be used against artist charged with killing Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay, judge rules
New York — The man accused of killing Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay can’t have his rap lyrics used against him at trial, a Brooklyn judge decided Tuesday in a ruling that doubled as a history-filled paean to hip-hop as “a platform for expression to many who had largely been voiceless.”...
Missouri Senate Republicans filibuster in hopes of making it harder for voters to amend constitution
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A faction of the Missouri Senate ended a roughly 16-hour filibuster Tuesday that was meant to pressure their fellow Republicans into fast-tracking legislation that would make it harder for voters to amend the state constitution. The Freedom Caucus’ push comes as abortion-rights supporters are trying to...
China and U.S. start working group to combat fentanyl
Chinese and American officials held the first meeting of a working group that aims to curb the flow of illegal drugs like fentanyl to the U.S. and the chemicals used to make them. “We reached common understanding,” China’s Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong said Tuesday, describing the talks in...
Are insects drawn to light? New research shows it’s confusion, not fatal attraction
WASHINGTON — Like a moth to flame, many scientists and poets have long assumed that flying insects were simply, inexorably drawn to bright lights. But that’s not exactly what’s going on, a new study suggests. Rather than being attracted to light, researchers believe artificial lights at night may actually scramble...
Nearly 400 Ethiopians have died of starvation recently. Millions more need food aid
KAMPALA, Uganda — Nearly 400 people have died of starvation in Ethiopia’s Tigray and Amhara regions in recent months, the national ombudsman said Tuesday, a rare admission of hunger-related deaths by a federal body. Local officials previously have reported starvation deaths in their districts, but Ethiopia’s federal government has insisted...
Protesting farmers have France’s government in a bind
PARIS — Farmers have captured France’s attention by showering government offices with manure and besieging Paris with traffic-snarling barricades of tractors and hay bales. The farmers say their protests aren’t a moment too soon. Grievances have long been brewing in the European Union’s leading agricultural power. The Russian invasion of...
London police fatally shoot a suspect reportedly armed with a crossbow as he broke into a home
LONDON — A man reportedly armed with a crossbow was fatally shot by an officer in London on Tuesday as he broke into a home where he had threatened the occupants, the Metropolitan Police said. The suspect, believed to be in his 30s, was reportedly armed and threatened people in...
France’s National Assembly approves bill meant to enshrine right to abortion in French Constitution
PARIS — France’s National Assembly on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill meant to enshrine a woman’s right to an abortion in the French Constitution, the first key step in a legislative process that also requires a vote in the Senate. The measure has been promised by President Emmanuel Macron following...
