Illegal immigration hit a record-high of 14 million in the U.S. in 2023, Pew report finds
The number of people in the United States illegally surged to an all-time high of 14 million in 2023, a research group said Thursday, a major increase that still falls well short of estimates from President Donald Trump and some critics of immigration. The Pew Research Center’s closely watched gauge...
Why the Federal Reserve’s independence matters
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump this week called on a Federal Reserve governor to resign over an accusation of mortgage fraud, the latest effort by his administration to exert greater control over one of the few remaining independent agencies in Washington. Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook says she won’t leave...
Gallery: Photos from Aug. 21, 2025
Embark on a visual journey around the Western Pennsylvania region with TribLive’s latest collection of captivating images for Thursday, August 21, 2025. From the rustic landscapes of Western Pa. to diverse corners of the globe, experience the shared moments of humanity....
Appeals court throws out massive civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump
NEW YORK — A New York appeals court on Thursday threw out President Donald Trump’s massive civil fraud penalty while upholding a judge’s finding that he exaggerated his wealth for decades. The ruling spares Trump from a potential half-billion-dollar fine but bans him and his two eldest sons from serving...
Former top aide to NYC mayor among 7 facing new charges in City Hall corruption probe
NEW YORK — A former top aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams is among seven people facing new charges in the corruption investigation that has swirled around City Hall for two years, prosecutors in Manhattan announced Thursday. Adams himself has not been charged, but the case will thrust...
Uganda agrees to deal with U.S. to take deported migrants if they don’t have criminal records
KAMPALA, Uganda — Uganda has agreed a deal with the United States to take deported migrants on condition that the deportees should not have criminal records and not be unaccompanied minors, officials said Thursday. The Ugandan foreign affairs ministry in a statement said the “two parties are working out the...
China races to build world’s largest solar farm, which would be the size of Chicago
TALATAN, China — Chinese government officials last month showed off what they say will be the world’s largest solar farm when completed high on a Tibetan plateau. It will cover 235 square miles, which is the size of Chicago. China has been installing solar panels far faster than anywhere else...
Russian attack on western Ukraine hits American factory during the U.S.-led push for peace
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched a rare drone and missile attack on western Ukraine overnight, officials said Thursday, striking targets including an American-owned electronics plant and injecting further uncertainty into the U.S.-led efforts to end the three-year-old war. The aerial assault on a part of Ukraine that has largely avoided...
China and Pakistan foreign ministers agree to launch new economic corridor projects
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan and China pledged to expand economic cooperation and investment under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship program of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, officials said. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad on Thursday....
Hurricane Erin stirs up strong winds and floods part of a N.C. highway as it slowly moves out to sea
RODANTHE, N.C. — Hurricane Erin battered North Carolina’s Outer Banks with strong winds and waves that flooded part of the main highway and surged under beachfront homes as the monster storm slowly began to move away from the East Coast on Thursday. Forecasters predicted the storm would peak Thursday and...
Students face new cellphone restrictions in 17 states as school year begins
Jamel Bishop is seeing a big change in his classrooms as he begins his senior year at Doss High School in Louisville, Kentucky, where cellphones are now banned during instructional time. In previous years, students often weren’t paying attention and wasted class time by repeating questions, the teenager said. Now,...
Fox News hosts were determined to help Trump stay in office after 2020 election, legal filing says
The 2020 presidential election is history, but a legal dispute over Fox News’ reporting on President Trump’s false claims of voter fraud is heating up. A motion for summary judgment by voting equipment company Smartmatic filed Tuesday in New York Supreme Court laid out in detail how phony allegations that...
Top White House officials turn to public appearances with troops as a tense Washington watches
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s law-enforcement crackdown on Washington expanded Wednesday and top administration officials visited National Guard troops to support a deployment that has left parts of the U.S. capital looking like occupied territory. Anger and frustration dotted the city as the vice president lauded an operation that he...
Rhode Island Judge Frank Caprio, whose empathy in court earned him fame online, dies at 88
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Frank Caprio, a retired municipal judge in Rhode Island who found online fame as a caring jurist and host of ” Caught in Providence,” died. He was 88. His official social media accounts said Wednesday he “passed away peacefully” after “a long and courageous battle with pancreatic...
Trump weaponization czar urged New York Attorney General James to resign over mortgage probe
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s political weaponization czar sent a letter urging New York Attorney General Letitia James to resign from office “as an act of good faith” four days after starting his mortgage fraud investigation of her. Then he showed up outside her house. Ed Martin, the director...
Texas House approves redrawn maps sought by Trump ahead of 2026 elections
AUSTIN — The Texas House on Wednesday approved redrawn congressional maps that would give Republicans a bigger edge in 2026, muscling through a partisan gerrymander that launched weeks of protests by Democrats and a widening national battle over redistricting. The approval came at the urging of President Donald Trump, who...
At least 600 CDC employees are getting final termination notices, union says
NEW YORK — At least 600 employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are receiving permanent termination notices in the wake of a recent court decision that protected some CDC employees from layoffs but not others. The notices went out this week and many people have not yet...
2 more beachfront homes near collapse as Hurricane Erin’s waves pound North Carolina’s Outer BanksVideo
Two homes on the North Carolina Outer Banks sit precariously in the high waves with their days seemingly numbered. Since 2020, 11 neighboring homes have fallen into the Atlantic Ocean. While the swells from storms like Hurricane Erin make things worse, the conditions threatening the houses are always present —...
Longtime ‘All Things Considered’ host Ari Shapiro leaving NPR after Trump cuts
Veteran NPR host Ari Shapiro is saying goodbye to the network and All Things Considered, the latest high-profile departure following the move by President Donald Trump administration’s to defund public media. But the move to kill federal funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting isn’t the reason Shapiro said he...
Tulsi Gabbard slashing intelligence office workforce by 40%, cutting budget by more than $700 million
WASHINGTON — The Office of the Director of National Intelligence will dramatically reduce its workforce and cut its budget by more than $700 million annually, the Trump administration announced Wednesday. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in a statement, “Over the last 20 years, ODNI has become bloated and...
Hurricane Erin picking up steam as it edges along the East Coast
RODANTHE, N.C. — Hurricane Erin began strengthening again Wednesday while creeping toward the mid-Atlantic coast and churning up menacing waves that have closed beaches from the Carolinas to New York City. Forecasters expect the storm to peak going into Thursday and say it could re-intensify into a major hurricane. While...
Judge denies Justice Department request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts
NEW YORK — A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epstein ’s sex trafficking case, joining two other judges in denying the public release of material from investigations into the late financier’s decades-long sexual abuse of young women and girls....
Mississippi Supreme Court map violates Voting Rights Act, judge rules
JACKSON, Miss. — A federal judge has ordered Mississippi to redraw its Supreme Court electoral map, after finding the map dilutes the power of Black voters. U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock ruled the map, which was enacted in 1987, violates the Voting Rights Act and cannot be used in future...
Rhode Island prosecutor under review after warning ‘you’re gonna regret this’ during arrestVideo
A Rhode Island prosecutor is under review after police body camera footage recorded her warning officers “you’re gonna regret this” while she was being arrested. Devon Flanagan, a special assistant attorney general, was arrested outside a restaurant by Newport police Aug. 14 for trespassing, according to law enforcement. Body camera...
Target CEO to step down amid company struggles
NEW YORK — Target named an insider as its next chief executive officer Wednesday, a decision that comes as the discount retailer tries to reverse a persistent sales malaise and to revive its reputation as the place to go for affordable but stylish products. Minneapolis-based Target said CEO Brian Cornell,...
