Blinken faces GOP critics in Congress who say Afghanistan withdrawal ‘lit the world on fire’
WASHINGTON — Under fire from congressional Republicans about one of the darkest moments of Joe Biden’s presidency, Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the administration’s handling of the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying Democrats struggled to make the best of a bad pullout deal struck by Donald Trump. Blinken...
Trump and Biden teams insist they’re working hand in glove on foreign crises
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump doesn’t think much of Joe Biden’s foreign policy record. The Republican president-elect frequently casts the outgoing Democratic president as a feckless leader who shredded American credibility around the world during his four-year term. But a funny thing happened on Trump’s way back to the White House:...
Donald Trump will ring the New York Stock Exchange bell. It’ll be a first for him
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, the ceremonial start of the day’s trading, according to four people with knowledge of his plans. It will be a notable moment of recognition for Trump, a born-and-bred New...
Homeland Security shares new details of mysterious drone flights over New Jersey
The large mysterious drones reported flying over parts of New Jersey in recent weeks appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio, according to a state lawmaker briefed Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security. In a post on the social media platform X, Assemblywoman Dawn...
Britain indefinitely bans puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria
LONDON — The British government on Wednesday indefinitely banned puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria after independent experts found there was an unacceptable safety risk in prescribing the medication. The decision, which will be revisited in 2027, effectively bans a common approach to medical gender transitions for youths. It...
Rape allegation against Jay-Z won’t impact NFL’s relationship with music mogul, AP sources say
IRVING, Texas — A rape allegation against rapper Jay-Z, whose company Roc Nation has produced some of the NFL’s entertainment presentations including the Super Bowl halftime show, won’t impact the league’s relationship with the music mogul, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “With the...
House approves $895B defense bill with military pay raise, ban on transgender care for minors
WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday passed a $895 billion measure that authorizes a 1% increase in defense spending this fiscal year and would give a double-digit pay raise to about half of the enlisted service members in the military. The bill is traditionally strongly bipartisan, but some Democratic lawmakers...
U.S. warns Russia may be ready to use new lethal missile against Ukraine again in ‘coming days’
WASHINGTON — A U.S. intelligence assessment has concluded that Russia may use its lethal new intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine again soon, two U.S. officials said Wednesday. The Oreshnik missile, which was used for the first time last month, is seen more as an attempt at intimidation than as a...
Wisconsin kayaker who faked his death and fled the country is charged after returning to U.S.
GREEN LAKE, Wis. — A Wisconsin man who faked his own drowning and left his wife and three children for Eastern Europe willingly returned to the U.S. after four months and was charged Wednesday with obstructing an intense lake search for his body. The criminal complaint charging Ryan Borgwardt with...
Alex Jones keeps Infowars for now after judge rejects The Onion’s winning auction bid
A federal judge in Texas rejected the auction sale of Alex Jones’ Infowars to The Onion satirical news outlet, criticizing the bidding for the conspiracy theory platform as flawed as well as how much money families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting stood to receive. The decision late Tuesday...
Gallery: Photos from Dec. 11, 2024
Embark on a visual journey around the Western Pennsylvania region with TribLive’s latest collection of captivating images for Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024....
Explosion in Afghan capital kills the Taliban refugee minister
ISLAMABAD — A suicide bombing in the Afghan capital on Wednesday killed the Taliban refugee minister and two others, officials said, in the most brazen attack on a member of the Taliban inner circle since they returned to power three years ago. The explosion struck inside the ministry, killing Khalil...
U.K. spy agency releases annual Christmas card puzzle to uncover future codebreakers
LONDON — What does a spy agency give for Christmas? How about a riddle wrapped in an enigma inside a mystery. GCHQ, Britain’s electronic and cyber-intelligence agency, on Wednesday published its annual Christmas Challenge — a seasonal greeting card that doubles as a set of fiendishly difficult puzzles designed to...
Haiti’s main international airport reopens 1 month after gang violence forced it to close
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s main international airport reopened on Wednesday to commercial flights, one month after it closed for the second time this year because of gang violence. Haitian soldiers and police, bolstered by Kenyan police leading a U.N.-backed mission to quell gang violence, boosted security in the area, and...
Gun found on suspect in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO matches shell casings at scene, police say
ALTOONA — The gun found on the suspect in the killing of United Healthcare’s CEO matched shell casings found at the site of the shooting, New York City’s police commissioner said Wednesday. Suspect Luigi Mangione ‘s fingerprints also matched a water bottle and a snack bar wrapper that police found...
Atmospheric river brings weather whiplash to East Coast as bomb cyclone develops
PORTLAND, Maine — The U.S. East Coast was beginning a whiplash-inducing stretch of weather on Wednesday that was rainy, windy and potentially dangerous, due in part to an atmospheric river and developing bomb cyclone. Parts of Maine experienced freezing rain that caused vehicles to slide off roads followed by a...
Trump says he’ll name Andrew Ferguson head of FTC and Kimberly Guilfoyle as ambassador to Greece
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump made another flurry of job announcements on Tuesday, selecting Andrew Ferguson as the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Kimberly Guilfoyle as the ambassador to Greece and Tom Barrack as the ambassador to Turkey. Ferguson, who is already one of the FTC’s five commissioners,...
Donald Trump is returning to the world stage. So is his trolling
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump’s recent dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his visit to Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral were not just exercises in policy and diplomacy. They were also prime trolling opportunities for Trump. Throughout his first term in the White...
South Korea’s national police chief and Seoul’s top officer detained over enforcement of martial law
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s national police chief and top police officer for the capital, Seoul, were detained for their roles in enforcing President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law decree last week, police said Wednesday. The development comes hours before the main liberal opposition Democratic Party submits a...
Deadly chocolate factory blast caused by faulty gas fitting, safety board finds
Cascading failures involving a corroded steam pipe and a defective natural gas fitting caused a powerful explosion in 2023 at a Pennsylvania chocolate factory, killing seven workers when the company failed to evacuate, a federal safety board said Tuesday. About 70 production workers and 35 office staff at R.M. Palmer...
From wealth and success to murder suspect, the life of Luigi Mangione took a hard turn
Luigi Nicholas Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a healthcare executive in New York City, apparently was living a charmed life: the grandson of a wealthy real estate developer, valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and with degrees from one of the nation’s top private universities. Friends...
Woman killed in crash as officer responds to threat at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s home
ROME, Ga. — A motorist was killed as police responded to a bomb threat at the Georgia home of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, authorities said. A police officer on the local bomb squad was traveling to the scene when he collided with another car on Monday, Rome police said...
Justice Department ignored some policies when seizing reporters’ phone records, watchdog finds
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors sidestepped some Justice Department rules when they seized the phone records or emails of reporters as part of media leak investigations during the Trump administration, according to a new watchdog report being released as the aggressive practice of hunting for journalists’ sources could again be resurrected....
McConnell falls and sprains wrist after GOP luncheon, colleague says he is ‘fine’
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell fell and sprained his wrist while walking out of a GOP luncheon on Tuesday, the latest in a series of medical incidents for him in recent years. McConnell, who is stepping down from his leadership post at the end of the year, was...
Trump launches fragrance line featuring photo of Jill Biden
President-elect Donald Trump has launched a new fragrance line titled “Fight, Fight, Fight” — for men and women. Selling for $199 each, Trump announced the line on Sunday in a Truth Social post, USA Today reported. “A fragrance your enemies can’t resist!” the post reads, on top of a photo...
