Fed projects 1 rate cut this year as Powell vows to stay on until DOJ investigation is finished
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve officials expect the Iran war will worsen inflation this year while having little impact on economic growth, but they still expect to cut their key rate once in 2026. For now, Fed policymakers left short-term interest rates unchanged Wednesday for the second straight meeting at about...
U.S. says Anthropic is an ‘unacceptable’ national security risk
SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. government said Tuesday that it had deemed the artificial intelligence company Anthropic an “unacceptable risk” to national security because the startup could disable or alter its technology to suit its own interests, rather than the country’s priorities, in a time of war. In a 40-page...
What to know about the Jones Act as the Trump administration unveils a 60-day waiver
NEW YORK — As the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran continues to upend energy markets and supply chains worldwide, the Trump administration says it will temporarily waive maritime shipping requirements under a more than century-old law known as the Jones Act. The Jones Act requires that goods hauled between...
U.S. eases Venezuela oil sanctions as Trump seeks to boost world oil supply during Iran war
WASHINGTON — U.S. companies will be allowed to do business with Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company after the Treasury Department eased sanctions, with some limitations, on Wednesday as the Trump administration looks for ways to boost world oil supplies during the Iran war. The Treasury issued a broad authorization...
Gallery: Around the world or close to home, the world in focus on March 18, 2026
Every photograph tells a story. From the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania to far-flung corners of the globe, TribLive’s gallery brings those stories to life — moments of connection, place and the quiet beauty of everyday life. It’s more than a look at Western Pennsylvania. It’s a view of the...
Greensburg Bloodhound Team adds new member
Lou Battistella, commander of the Greensburg Bloodhound Team, had no intention of bringing another dog on board after the death of Darcy, a 10-year-old canine who worked more than a decade with the team. “Sometimes, things happen for a reason,” Battistella said via email. Battistella took in Demi, a 10-week-old...
Jeannette American Legion to host fundraiser in honor of father, 4 children killed in 2024 fire
Two years after five Jeannette residents were killed in a house fire on Guy Street, a fundraiser will be held to support a foundation created in memory of the victims. Tyler J. King, 27, and four of his children — Kyson, 7; Kinzleigh, 6; Keagan, 3; and Korbyn, 1 month...
Inside Jeffrey Epstein’s push to cleanse his past online
An email sent to Jeffrey Epstein in September 2010 presented an intriguing opportunity. “Would you be interested,” it read, “in having all that crap that comes up on Google search on your name basically disappear?” Epstein had been released from jail about a year earlier after a conviction for sex...
Westmoreland Sale for Kids approaches 2 decades under Hunker owner
With a 9-month-old and another baby on the way, Gen Mellott was looking for deals to outfit her children when she first attended the Westmoreland Sale for Kids in 2005. At the time, the consignment sale was housed in one building on the Westmoreland Fairgrounds. The sale — next slated...
Can the keto diet really improve mental health?
Maya Schumer, 32, a neuroscientist in Belmont, Massachusetts, was living with bipolar disorder for more than a decade. She had tried nearly every treatment — therapy, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anticonvulsants — to help control her symptoms. But her panic attacks, mania, depression and brain fog still lingered. By 2024, she...
What to know about the resignation of Joe Kent as Trump’s counterterrorism chief
The U.S. counterterrorism official who resigned Tuesday had been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump through his 2020 election defeat, the Jan. 6 riots and years of conservative media advocacy and failed congressional bids. But Trump’s war in Iran and his alliance with Israel against the Islamic clerics who...
Iran war has U.S. farmers worried about the cost and availability of fertilizer
BISMARCK, N.D. — Tennessee farmer Todd Littleton expects to pay $100,000 more for fertilizer this season, a 40% spike from his bill last year thanks to the war in Iran — and he is scrambling to cover that extra cost. “The problem is, is we’re so strained financially coming into...
Trump’s tariffs are hurting American manufacturers instead of helping them
WASHINGTON — Jay Allen is a fan of President Donald Trump, and voted for him on the belief that the Republican would cut taxes and trim regulations, helping his manufacturing business in northeast Arkansas. But the tariffs at the core of Trump’s economic agenda have wreaked havoc on his company,...
Israel claims another top Iranian official killed while Iran’s attacks kill 2 near Tel Aviv
/ DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel said Wednesday it killed another top Iranian official, the third in two days, while Iran lashed out with attacks on its Persian Gulf neighbors and Israel, using some of its latest missiles to evade air defenses and killing two people near Tel Aviv...
Pa. House Republicans hold on to key seats in special elections
Pennsylvania Republicans held on to two state House seats, critical to keeping them within striking range of majority control, in special elections Tuesday. Preliminary counts showed Catherine Wallen of York Springs had prevailed over Todd Crawley in the 193rd House District, covering parts of Adams and Cumberland counties. In Blair...
Former Illinois Republican Party chairman Don Tracy wins GOP primary for U.S. Senate seat
CHICAGO — Illinois voters decided primaries Tuesday for six open U.S. House and Senate seats in contests that became a testing ground for issues shaping the Democratic Party’s future. From questions about the cryptocurrency and AI industries to immigration enforcement to fracturing U.S. support for Israel, the state’s voters confronted...
Afghan man who worked with U.S. military dies after taken into ICE custody
HOUSTON — An Afghan immigrant whose family said had worked with U.S. forces in his home country died at a Texas hospital after having been detained by immigration authorities, according to officials. Mohommad Nazeer Paktyawal, 41, died Saturday at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, a day after having been taken into...
Trump’s next decision: Whether to retrieve Iran’s nuclear fuel, whatever the risk
WASHINGTON — Repeatedly over the past two days, President Donald Trump returned to his central argument for his decision to attack Iran, and to do it at this moment in history. Tehran was on the verge of getting a nuclear weapon, the president insists, and would use it first on...
Judge orders restoration of Voice of America, putting hundreds of journalists back to work
NEW YORK — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to restore the government-run Voice of America’s operations after it had effectively been shut down a year ago, putting hundreds of employees who have been on administrative leave back to work. U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth...
Summer Lee moves to impeach Attorney General Pam Bondi as GOP-led committee subpoenas her
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee and five Democratic colleagues on Tuesday introduced articles of impeachment against Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of files related to the late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and what the lawmakers described as the politicization of the Justice Department. Separately Tuesday, the GOP-controlled House...
Pa. Senate passes bill to protect children, others by mandating safeguards for AI ‘friend’ bots
The state Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would require AI chatbot operators to implement guardrails against self-harm and sexually explicit material, putting near-unanimous bipartisan support behind an idea that has also been endorsed by Gov. Josh Shapiro. The bill comes as polls show a growing public pushback to...
New York transit officials sue Trump administration to restore subway project funding
NEW YORK — The transit agency in charge of New York City’s subway system sued the Trump administration Tuesday, accusing it of breach of contract for withholding almost $60 million in federal funding that was supposed to help build new stations in Manhattan. The suit from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority...
Chief Justice Roberts says personal criticism of judges is dangerous and has ‘got to stop’
WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John Roberts warned Tuesday that personal criticism of federal judges is dangerous and “it’s got to stop,” two days after President Donald Trump called a federal judge who ruled against the administration “wacky, nasty, crooked and totally out of control.” As he has done before, Roberts...
Ohio jury deliberating in corruption trial of ex-FirstEnergy executives accused of $4.3 million bribe
COLUMBUS — Jurors in Akron began deliberating Tuesday in the corruption trial of two fired FirstEnergy Corp. executives charged for their alleged roles in a sweeping $60 million bribery scheme that resulted in a lucrative bailout of two affiliated nuclear plants. Former CEO Chuck Jones and ex-senior vice president Michael...
Trump fumes at NATO for refusing to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, and embraces going it alone
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday NATO and most other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, grousing that he has been unable to rally support behind his war of choice in Iran that he insists he’s conducting for the good of the world,...
