Trump’s 200% tariff threat would be ‘a real disaster’ for Europe’s wine industry
CHAMPAGNE, France — Across wine country in France, Italy and Spain one number is top of mind: 200%. That’s because last week U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a tariff of that amount on European wine, Champagne and other spirits if the European Union went ahead with retaliatory tariffs on some...
Military leaders to discuss Ukraine peacekeeping force as partial ceasefire plans are worked out
KYIV, Ukraine — Senior officers from countries across Europe and beyond will meet Thursday at a military headquarters on the outskirts of London to flesh out plans for an international peacekeeping force for Ukraine as details of a partial ceasefire are worked out. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the...
Hempfield Area collaborates with local schools, businesses to raise money for Westmoreland Food Bank
Hempfield Area High School is hosting an Empty Bowl event on April 6 to raise money for the Westmoreland Food Bank. Community members will be able to purchase tickets online or in person. Admission comes with food provided by local businesses and a ceramic bowl attendees can take home. The...
Israeli strikes across Gaza hit multiple homes, killing at least 85 Palestinians
DEIR-AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes killed at least 85 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Thursday, according to local health officials. The strikes hit multiple homes in the middle of the night, killing men, women and children as they slept. The Israeli military said it struck militant...
Finland is again ranked the happiest country in the world. The U.S. falls to its lowest-ever position
Finland is named the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 published Thursday. Other Nordic countries are also once again at the top of the happiness rankings in the annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at...
Encrypted messaging apps promise privacy. Government transparency is often the price
As a devastating wildfire burned through a Maui town, killing more than 100 people, emergency management employees traded dozens of text messages, creating a record that would later help investigators piece together the government’s response to the 2023 tragedy. One text exchange hinted officials might also be using a second,...
Trump’s bluntness powered a White House comeback. Now his words are getting him in trouble in court
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s shoot-from-the-lip style kept Americans on the edge of their seats during last year’s campaign. But now that he’s speaking as a president and not as a candidate, his words are being used against him in court in the blizzard of litigation challenging his agenda. The spontaneity...
Trump will order a plan to dismantle the Education Department, advancing a campaign promise
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Education Department, advancing a campaign promise to eliminate an agency that’s been a longtime target of conservatives. Trump has derided the Education Department as wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology. However,...
American believed to be last person to see missing Pitt student has left Dominican Republic
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Joshua Riibe, a senior at St. Cloud University in Minnesota who is believed to be the last person to see missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki in the Dominican Republic, left the Caribbean country on Wednesday, his lawyers said. Following a trial exceeding five...
Newly released JFK assassination files reveal more about CIA but don’t yet point to conspiracies
DALLAS — Newly released documents related to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 gave curious readers more details Wednesday into Cold War-era covert U.S. operations in other nations but didn’t initially lend credence to long-circulating conspiracy theories about who killed JFK. Assessments of the roughly 2,200 files posted by...
How will the universe end? A changing understanding of dark energy may provide a new answer
NEW YORK — Scientists are homing in on the nature of a mysterious force called dark energy, and nothing short of the fate of the universe hangs in the balance. The force is enormous — it makes up nearly 70% of the universe. And it is powerful — it is...
Israeli troops advance in Gaza to retake part of corridor dividing north from south
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel said Wednesday its troops retook part of a corridor that bisects Gaza, and its defense minister warned that attacks would intensify until Hamas frees dozens of hostages and gives up control of the territory. The military said it had retaken part of the Netzarim...
Canada in talks with EU to reduce U.S. defense reliance
TORONTO — Canada is in discussions with the European Union to join an EU drive to break its security dependency on the United States, with a focus on buying more defense equipment, including fighter jets, in Europe, a senior Canadian government official confirmed Wednesday. The official, who spoke on condition...
What you need to know about Social Security policy changes
Several significant policy changes affecting Social Security recipients and applicants get underway this month. One of the changes is designed to help the Social Security Administration more quickly recover money from people it overpaid. Another aims to limit fraudulent claims. A third could speed up the time it takes to...
Zelenskyy agrees to limited ceasefire as Trump floats U.S. ownership of Ukraine’s power plants
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed Wednesday to a limited ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, as U.S. President Donald Trump suggested during a call with the embattled country’s leader that he consider American ownership of Ukraine’s power plants to ensure their long-term security. Trump told Zelenskyy that the...
Trump administration suspends $175 million in federal funding for Penn over transgender swimmer
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has suspended approximately $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania over the participation of a transgender athlete in its swimming program, the White House said Wednesday. The Ivy League school has been facing an Education Department investigation focusing on in its swimming...
Miami Beach mayor withdraws call to end lease of theater that screened Israeli-Palestinian documentary
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — The mayor of Miami Beach, Florida, is backing off a proposal to terminate an independent theater’s lease and financial support after it screened an Oscar-winning documentary about the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. Mayor Steven Meiner introduced a resolution last week describing the film “No Other...
Appeals court blocks Ohio’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors is unconstitutional and must be permanently blocked from being enforced, a three-judge panel of appellate judges ruled Tuesday. The law also banned trans women and girls from participating in female sports. The state attorney general vowed an immediate appeal. On...
A judge has moved the Columbia student activist’s detention challenge to New Jersey
NEW YORK — A Columbia University student activist detained by the U.S. government over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations can challenge the legality of his detention, but the case should be heard in New Jersey, rather than in New York or Louisiana, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Mahmoud Khalil, 30,...
California has a $6.2 billion Medicaid funding gap partly due to expanding immigrant coverage
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California faces a $6.2 billion budget gap in the state’s Medicaid services, which could force Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers to reevaluate future coverage for some of the 15 million people who receive health care through the program, including immigrants. The shortfall comes a year...
Fishermen want to go green but say DOGE cuts prevent that
BREMEN, Maine — Commercial fishermen and seafood processors and distributors looking to switch to new, lower-carbon emission systems say the federal funding they relied on for this work is either frozen or unavailable due to significant budget cuts promoted by President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. The changes are...
Social Security in-person identity checks opposed by advocates and retirees alike
WASHINGTON — The Social Security Administration’s plan to require in-person identity checks for millions of new and existing recipients while simultaneously closing government offices has sparked a furor among lawmakers, advocacy groups and program recipients who are worried that the government is placing unnecessary barriers in front of an already...
Legal showdown as Justice Department resists judge’s demand for more details on deportation flights
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is resisting a federal judge’s demand for more information about flights that took deportees to El Salvador, arguing on Wednesday that the court should end its “continued intrusions” into the authority of the executive branch. It’s the latest development in a showdown between the Trump...
This cutting edge hair loss treatment is a repurposed drug from the 1990s
WASHINGTON — The latest trend in treating hair loss may sound familiar — essentially, it’s a repurposed drug first popularized in the 1990s. Back then, TV viewers were inundated with ads for Rogaine, a sticky topical solution that could help treat thinning hair when applied to the scalp. Now dermatologists...
Dispute between parents’ group, Ohio school district over gender pronoun policy goes before judges
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati will hear arguments Wednesday in a legal dispute that pits a suburban Ohio school district’s policy requiring use of students’ preferred pronouns against the free speech rights of classmates who believe there are only two genders. The lawsuit...
