Lawyers question legality of Alligator Alcatraz, ask federal judge to intervene
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A federal judge in Miami is expected to hear arguments Monday from attorneys who say the Trump and DeSantis administrations are holding detainees at Alligator Alcatraz without charges and without access to immigration courts in violation of their constitutional rights. Questioning the very legality of the state-run...
Paramilitary-backed coalition declares new government in Sudan
A coalition led by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan declared its own government on Saturday, a decision that raised concerns the north African nation was headed toward partition and continued war. The government to be led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo was announced in Nyala in the western...
Suspect arrested after University of New Mexico dorm shooting leaves 1 dead
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A shooting early Friday at a University of New Mexico dormitory killed a 14-year-old boy, wounded a 19-year-old and prompted the evacuation of hundreds of students and a campuswide search for the suspect, who has since been taken into custody. University officials lifted a shelter in place...
Glacial floods alert issued for northwest Pakistan with more heavy rain forecast
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan on Saturday warned of glacial flooding in the northwest with more rain forecast for the area in the coming week. Downpours are heavier in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province than the same period last year, prompting weather advisories and alerts for flooding from glacial lake outbursts, said Anwar...
The House is looking into the Epstein investigation. Here’s what could happen next
WASHINGTON — A key House committee is looking into the investigation of the late Jeffrey Epstein for sex trafficking crimes, working to subpoena President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice for files in the case as well as hold a deposition of Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. The Republican-led House Oversight...
Shocking plunge by Southwest flight departing L.A. was to avoid another aircraft
LAS VEGAS — Passengers aboard a Southwest Airline jet that took a dramatic plunge to avoid an oncoming aircraft were told by the pilot that they nearly struck another plane before landing safely in Las Vegas. The Boeing 737 jet dropped hundreds of feet in a little over 30 seconds...
Immigration judges fired by Trump administration say they will fight back
CHICAGO — Federal immigration judges fired by the Trump administration are filing appeals, pursuing legal action and speaking out in an unusually public campaign to fight back. More than 50 immigration judges — from senior leaders to new appointees — have been fired since Donald Trump assumed the presidency for...
Company involved in Coldplay KissCam drama hires Gwyneth Paltrow as spokesperson
BOSTON — Astronomer — the company whose CEO resigned after being caught on a KissCam at a Coldplay rock concert embracing a woman who was not his wife — is trying to move on from the drama with someone who knows the band pretty well. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who was...
Families of Americans slain in the West Bank lose hope for justice
BIDDU, West Bank — When Sayfollah Musallet of Tampa, Florida, was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the West Bank two weeks ago, he became the fourth Palestinian-American killed in the occupied territory since the war in Gaza began. No one has been arrested or charged in Musallet’s slaying...
Israeli gunfire and strikes kill at least 25 in Gaza as many of the dead sought aid
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes and gunshots killed at least 25 people overnight into Saturday, according to Palestinian health officials and the local ambulance service, as ceasefire talks appear to have stalled and Gaza faces famine. Gunfire killed the majority of people as they waited for aid trucks...
Trump plays golf in Scotland while protesters take to the streets and decry his visit
EDINBURGH, Scotland — President Donald Trump played golf Saturday at his course on Scotland’s coast while protesters around the country took to the streets to decry his visit and accuse United Kingdom leaders of pandering to the American. Trump and his son Eric played with the U.S. ambassador to Britain,...
Israel’s military says airdrops of aid will begin in Gaza as hunger grows
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel’s military announced that airdrops of aid would begin Saturday night in Gaza, and humanitarian corridors will be established for United Nations convoys, after increasing accounts of starvation-related deaths. The statement late Saturday followed months of experts’ warnings of famine amid Israeli restrictions on aid....
With Columbia as a model, White House seeks fines in potential deals with Harvard and others
WASHINGTON — The White House is pursuing heavy fines from Harvard and other universities as part of potential settlements to end investigations into campus antisemitism, using the deal it struck with Columbia University as a template, according to an administration official familiar with the matter. Fines have become a staple...
In Epstein furor, Trump struggles to shake off a controversy his allies once stoked
WASHINGTON — Despite the sun bearing down on him and the sweat beading across his face, President Donald Trump still lingered with reporters lined up outside the White House on Friday. He was leaving on a trip to Scotland, where he would visit his golf courses, and he wanted to...
Education Department says it will release billions in remaining withheld grant money for schools
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is releasing billions of dollars in withheld grants for schools, the Education Department said Friday, ending weeks of uncertainty for educators around the country who rely on the money for English language instruction, adult literacy, and other programs. President Donald Trump’s administration had suspended more...
The challenges facing Pa.’s huge, old road system, and what it means for the budget
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. HARRISBURG — Public transit is a key issue holding up Pennsylvania’s budget, but top Republicans have said they don’t want to spend more money on...
Rep. Mike Kelly reprimanded by House ethics panel over wife’s stock purchase tied to steel company
The House Ethics Committee issued a formal reproval Friday of Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., following a yearslong investigation into an insider-trading allegation over his wife’s purchase of stock in a steel company in his Butler-area congressional district. The panel also said Kelly and his wife, Victoria Kelly, should divest of...
Trump’s trip to Scotland as his new golf course opens blurs politics and the family’s business
EDINBURGH, Scotland — Lashed by cold winds and overlooking choppy, steel-gray North Sea waters, the breathtaking sand dunes of Scotland’s northeastern coast rank among Donald Trump’s favorite spots on earth. “At some point, maybe in my very old age, I’ll go there and do the most beautiful thing you’ve ever...
Netanyahu says Israel considering alternatives to ceasefire talks with Hamas, deepening uncertainty
CAIRO — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks with Hamas after Israel and the U.S. recalled their negotiating teams, throwing the future of the negotiations into further uncertainty. Netanyahu’s statement came as a Hamas official said negotiations were expected to...
Deportation flights from Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention center have begun, DeSantis says
OCHOPEE, Fla. — Deportation flights from the remote Everglades immigration lockup known as ” Alligator Alcatraz ″ began in the past few days, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday. The flights operated by the Department of Homeland Security have transferred about 100 detainees from the immigration detention center to other...
UK, French and German leaders hold call on Gaza after Macron backs a Palestinian state
LONDON — The leaders of Britain, France and Germany will hold an emergency call Friday about the growing hunger crisis in Gaza, after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country will become the first major Western power to recognize a Palestinian state. The surprise announcement exposes differences among the...
Female HR exec caught on Coldplay cam resigns after embrace with CEO went viral
The female executive who was caught on camera embracing the CEO of her company at a Coldplay concert in a moment that went viral has resigned, according to news reports. Multiple news outlets reported that Kristin Cabot, the executive in charge of human resources at tech company Astronomer, has resigned....
A man is halted climbing the U.S.-Mexico border wall. Under new Trump rules, U.S. troops sound the alarm
NOGALES, Ariz. — Inside an armored vehicle, an Army scout uses a joystick to direct a long-range optical scope toward a man perched atop the U.S.-Mexico border wall cutting across the hills of this Arizona frontier community. The man lowers himself toward U.S. soil between coils of concertina wire. Shouts...
Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos to begin serving 7-year fraud sentence
NEW YORK — Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos is expected to begin serving a seven-year prison sentence on Friday for the fraud charges that got him ousted from Congress. The New York Republican pleaded guilty last summer to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges for deceiving donors...
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says defenses are holding firm against Russia’s summer push
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces are holding back Russia’s concerted summer push to break through defenses along parts of the front line, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says. “They are not advancing. It’s very tough for our guys out there. And it’s tough everywhere,” Zelenskyy told reporters on Thursday, in comments...