Puerto Rico bans hormone therapy and gender surgery for transgender youth
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico’s governor has signed a bill that prohibits hormone therapy or gender-affirming surgeries for transgender youth, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from activists in the largely conservative U.S. territory. The law approved late Wednesday applies to those younger than 21 and calls...
Senate passes $9B in spending cuts to public broadcasting, foreign aid requested by Trump
WASHINGTON — The Senate has passed about $9 billion in federal spending cuts requested by President Donald Trump, including deep reductions to public broadcasting and foreign aid, moving forward on one of the president’s top priorities despite concerns from several Republican senators. The legislation, which now moves to the House,...
1.4M of the nation’s poorest renters risk losing their homes with Trump’s proposed HUD time limit
WOODINVILLE, Wash. — Havalah Hopkins rarely says no to the chain restaurant catering gigs that send her out to Seattle-area events — from church potlucks to office lunches and graduation parties. The delivery fees and tips she earns on top of $18 an hour mean it’s better than minimum-wage shift...
Zelenskyy shakes up Ukrainian Cabinet, appointing a new prime minister to reinvigorate war effort
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s economy minister and the key negotiator in the mineral deal with the U.S, Yuliia Svyrydenko, was appointed as its new prime minister Thursday, becoming the country’s first new head of government since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Svyrydenko is one of a group...
2 killed and several injured in Israeli strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli shell slammed into the compound of Gaza’s only Catholic church on Wednesday, killing two people and wounding several others, according to witnesses and church officials. Among the injured was the parish’s priest, who became a close friend of Pope Francis in the final...
Britain will lower its voting age to 16 in a bid to strengthen democracy
LONDON — Britain will lower the voting age from 18 to 16 by the next national election as part of measures to increase democratic participation, the government announced Thursday. The center-left Labour Party pledged before it was elected in July 2024 to lower the voting age for elections to Britain’s...
Army veteran and American citizen arrested in California immigration raid warns it could happen to anyone
A U.S. Army veteran who was arrested during an immigration raid at a Southern California marijuana farm last week said Wednesday he was sprayed with tear gas and pepper spray before being dragged from his vehicle and pinned down by federal agents who arrested him. George Retes, 25, who works...
Justice Department fires Maurene Comey, prosecutor on Epstein case and daughter of ex-FBI director
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has fired Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey and a federal prosecutor in Manhattan who worked on the cases against Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jeffrey Epstein, three people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday. There was no...
Judge won’t rule this week on releasing Kilmar Abrego Garcia from jail
NASHVILLE — Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Wednesday tried to poke holes in the human smuggling case the government is pursuing against him in Tennessee, while a federal judge said he won’t rule this week on freeing Abrego Garcia from jail, a decision that could precipitate his deportation. Abrego...
Astronomers capture the birth of planets around a baby sun outside our solar system
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronomers have discovered the earliest seeds of rocky planets forming in the gas around a baby sun-like star, providing a precious peek into the dawn of our own solar system. It’s an unprecedented snapshot of “time zero,” scientists reported Wednesday, when new worlds begin to gel....
Trump says Coca-Cola will use real sugar in its U.S. flagship drink. The company isn’t confirming that
WASHINGTON — Make American Coke Great Again? President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Coca-Cola has agreed to use real cane sugar in its flagship soft drink in the U.S. at his suggestion — though the company didn’t confirm such a move. Any switch from high-fructose corn syrup in Coke sold...
Fetterman says deals announced at Pittsburgh summit are ‘huge wins and investments’ in Pa.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman described the flurry of development deals announced at Tuesday’s Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh as “huge wins and investments” in the state. Companies attending the summit at Carnegie Mellon University, organized by U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, announced plans to invest more than $90...
Alaska tsunami warning had residents scrambling for high ground after 7.3 magnitude earthquake
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Communities along a 700-mile stretch of Alaska’s southern coast ordered residents to higher ground after a powerful offshore earthquake Wednesday, but officials quickly downgraded and then canceled a tsunami warning for the region. There were no reports of significant damage. The earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of...
Gulf Coast braces for flooding as storm system builds into possible tropical depression
The weather system moving across the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday was showing a greater chance of becoming a tropical depression as it moves toward the northern Gulf Coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. The system has a 40% chance of becoming a tropical depression as it moves west over...
First the shoes went back on. Now, at airport security, more liquid in carry-ons may be at hand
WASHINGTON — Travelers giddy about being able to keep their shoes on while walking through TSA checkpoints at the airport again may have something else to look forward to: changes to how much liquid they can carry. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday during a conference hosted by “The...
20 states sue FEMA for canceling grant program that guards against natural disasters
Twenty Democratic-led states filed suit Wednesday against the Federal Emergency Management Agency, challenging the elimination of a long-running grant program that helps communities guard against damage from natural disasters. The lawsuit contends President Donald Trump’s administration acted illegally when it announced in April that it was ending the Building Resilient...
Jill Biden aide invokes Fifth to decline testimony in Republican investigation
WASHINGTON — A former senior aide to Jill Biden on Wednesday became the second person to invoke the Fifth Amendment and decline to answer questions from House Republicans who are investigating President Joe Biden’s mental state and use of the autopen while in office. Anthony Bernal, who previously served as...
JD Vance touts tax breaks in Pennsylvania as he makes White House’s 1st big pitch on Trump’s new law
WEST PITTSTON — Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday made the Trump administration’s first big pitch to sell the public on President Donald Trump’s sweeping budget-and-policy package in the swing political turf of northeastern Pennsylvania. The vice president, whose tiebreaking vote got the bill through the Senate, touted the legislation’s...
Feds charge 5 in Louisiana, including 3 current or ex-police chiefs, over alleged visa fraud scheme
BATON ROUGE, La. — Three current or former Louisiana police chiefs were arrested following a federal investigation into an alleged scheme that involved false police reports being sold to immigrants lacking permanent legal status and used to try to secure a visa, authorities said Tuesday. The forged police reports would...
U.S. deports immigrants from Jamaica, Cuba, and other countries to African kingdom of Eswatini
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The United States sent five immigrants it describes as “barbaric” criminals to the African nation of Eswatini in an expansion of the Trump administration’s largely secretive third-country deportation program, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday. The U.S. has already deported eight men to...
Trump slams his own supporters as ‘weaklings’ for falling for what he now calls the Epstein ‘hoax’
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump is lashing out at his own supporters, accusing them of being duped by Democrats, as he tries to clamp down on criticism over his administration’s handling of much-hyped records in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation, which Trump now calls a “Hoax.” “Their new...
Gallery: Photos from July 16, 2025
Embark on a visual journey around the Western Pennsylvania region with TribLive’s latest collection of captivating images for Wednesday, July 16, 2025. From the rustic landscapes of Western Pa. to diverse corners of the globe, experience the shared moments of humanity....
A look inside a lab making the advanced fuel to power growing U.S. nuclear energy ambitions
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Near signs that warn of radioactive risk at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a half-dozen workers from the nuclear power company X-energy are making what appear to be gray billiard balls. Inside, they’re packed with thousands of tiny black spheres that each contain a speck of uranium...
Russian attack targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure injures at least 15
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia pounded four Ukrainian cities overnight into Wednesday, injuring at least 15 people in an attack that mostly targeted energy infrastructure, officials said. The latest bombardment in Russia’s escalating aerial campaign against civilian areas came ahead of a Sept. 2 deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump...
‘American Idol’ music supervisor and husband both found dead at L.A. home
LOS ANGELES — An “American Idol” music supervisor and her husband were both found dead in their Los Angeles home Monday afternoon. Officers were conducting a welfare check at a home in the Encino neighborhood when they found the bodies of a man and woman with gunshot wounds. An “American...
