October 23, 2025 5:07 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who created the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Zhao served prison time after failing to stop criminals from using the platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism. The pardon announced Thursday caps a monthslong effort by Zhao, a billionaire commonly known as CZ in the crypto world. He and Binance have been key supporters of some of the Trump family’s crypto enterprises. Zhao said in a social media post that he was “deeply grateful” to Trump. The president said he didn’t believe he’d ever met Zhao, but that “a lot of people say that he wasn’t guilty of anything.”
October 23, 2025 5:04 am
CHICAGO (AP) – National Guard troops won’t be deploying in the Chicago area anytime soon unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes. A judge in the case extended her temporary restraining order indefinitely. In Portland, Oregon, it will be at least days. And federal appeals judges are weighing whether hundreds of California National Guard members should remain under federal control. President Donald Trump’s push to send the military into Democratic-run cities – despite fierce resistance from mayors and governors – has unleashed a whirlwind of lawsuits and overlapping court rulings.
October 23, 2025 5:01 am
(AP) – The Pentagon says a “new press corps” of 60 journalists who had agreed to follow a new media policy will be welcomed into the building to cover the U.S. military. Defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s staff wouldn’t say who the reporters were, although several smaller conservative outlets like Gateway Pundit and the National Pulse were among them. Podcaster Tim Pool will also join. Virtually all mainstream journalism outlets last week refused to sign Hegseth’s new policy, which they said would restrict them to only soliciting news he had approved. They turned in their access badges.
October 23, 2025 4:59 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has launched its ninth strike against an alleged drug-carrying vessel, killing three people in the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the strike on social media Wednesday night. It further expands the Trump administration’s campaign against drug trafficking in South America. Wednesday’s strike followed a strike Tuesday night, also in the eastern Pacific, that killed two people. The attacks were departures from the seven previous U.S. strikes that had targeted vessels in the Caribbean. They bring the death toll to at least 37 from attacks that began last month.
October 23, 2025 4:48 am
BULLSKIN TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A winning Cash 5 lottery ticket was sold in Fayette County. Pennsylvania Lottery officials say the ticket with Quick Cash matched all five balls drawn, 23-34-36-37-39, to win $300,000 in Tuesday’s drawing. Honey Bear Mart in Bullskin Township will earn a $500 bonus for selling the winning ticket. Officials urge anyone with a jackpot-winning Cash 5 with Quick Cash ticket to contact the nearest Pennsylvania Lottery office for further instructions or call 1-800-692-7481. More than 7,300 other Cash 5 with Quick Cash tickets won lower-tier prizes in Tuesday’s drawing.
October 23, 2025 4:45 am
Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services says it’s pushing back the start of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, by a month. The move is the result of the federal government shutdown. The LIHEAP program helps more than 300,000 Pennsylvania families during the colder months. Applications are now expected to open in December. “I urge Congress and the White House to recognize the serious consequences that limiting heating assistance will have on the health and safety of people in Pennsylvania. Congress must come together for a solution that protects people most at risk,” said Secretary of the Department of Human Services Dr. Val Arkoosh. If you need immediate help, many utility companies offer their own assistance programs.
October 22, 2025 5:23 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The most widely used COVID-19 vaccines may offer a surprise benefit for some cancer patients by boosting their immune systems to help fight tumors. Research reported Wednesday in the journal Nature found that people with advanced lung or skin cancer lived longer if they received a Pfizer or Moderna shot within 100 days of starting a type of immunotherapy. The mRNA in these vaccines appears to enhance the immune system’s response. Now the research team is preparing a more rigorous study of the potential connection, to see if mRNA vaccines should be deliberately paired with cancer drugs called checkpoint inhibitors. (Photo: AP)
October 22, 2025 5:02 am
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s plan to cut record beef prices by importing more meat from Argentina is running into heated opposition from U.S. ranchers who are enjoying some rare profitable years and skepticism from experts who say the president’s move probably wouldn’t lead to cheaper prices at grocery stores. Major ranching and farming groups all criticized Trump’s idea because it would likely hurt American ranchers and feedlot operators. And agricultural economists say that Argentine beef accounts for such a small slice of beef imports that even doubling that wouldn’t change prices much.
October 22, 2025 4:57 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Frontrunner Zohran Mamdani was attacked over his thin resume. Republican Curtis Sliwa strove to prove his seriousness as a candidate. And former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was pressed on the sexual harassment allegations that drove him from office in a contentious final debate in New York City’s mayoral race. They candidates met just days before early voting begins in the country’s largest city. While Mamdani began the debate accusing his rivals of being too consumed by fighting, he quickly joined the fray, including inviting one of Cuomo’s accusers to appear in the studio audience. Cuomo is now running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani.
October 22, 2025 4:56 am
(AP) – North Carolina lawmakers have given final approval to a new U.S. House map backed by President Donald Trump. The map adopted Wednesday could help Republicans win an additional seat by reshaping a swing district currently held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis. The previous map already helped the GOP win 10 of the 14 House districts in North Carolina, which Trump won with 51% of the vote last year. North Carolina is the latest state to join Trump’s mid-decade redistricting push to avoid losing control of Congress. Texas and Missouri lawmakers already redrew their maps, and California lawmakers countered by asking voters to approve a map to help Democrats.
