February 27, 2025 5:49 pm
ROME (AP) — The Vatican says that Pope Francis continues to improve from double pneumonia Thursday, though doctors say he needs more days of “clinical stability” before they revise their guarded prognosis. The 88-year-old pope was able to begin alternating high-flow supplemental oxygen, delivered by a nasal tube, with a mask in a sign of his improved respiratory condition, the Vatican said in a late update. For the second day in a row, doctors did not say Francis was in critical condition. But they said that given the complexity of his lung infection, “further days of clinical stability are needed” before they declare he is out of danger. Francis has been in Rome’s Gemelli hospital since Feb. 14.
February 27, 2025 5:47 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — A grassroots organization is encouraging U.S. residents not to spend any money on Friday. The People’s Union USA describes it as an act of “economic resistance” to protest what the group’s founder sees as the malign influence of billionaires, big corporations and both major political parties on the lives of working Americans. The group calls the 24 hours of spending abstinence set to start at midnight an “economic blackout,” a term that has since been shared and debated on social media. Other activists and faith-based leaders are organizing boycotts to protest companies that have scaled back their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and to oppose President Donald Trump’s moves to abolish all federal DEI programs and policies.
February 27, 2025 10:16 am
(AP) – President Donald Trump says he plans to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting next Tuesday, in addition to doubling the 10% universal tariff charged on imports from China. Meanwhile, federal agencies must develop plans to eliminate employee positions, according to a memo distributed by Trump’s administration. Thousands of probationary employees have already been fired, and now his administration is turning its attention to career officials with civil service protection.
February 27, 2025 5:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration says federal agencies should begin planning to eliminate employee positions. The process is known as a reduction in force. Agency leaders must submit their plans by March 13. Trump is setting the stage for what could become a dramatic realignment of the federal government. He’s already downsized the workforce by laying off probationary employees. Now the administration is turning its attention to career officials with civil service protection. Trump foreshadowed this goal in an executive order that he signed with Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who’s advising the Republican president on overhauling the government.
February 27, 2025 5:09 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Three senior Ukrainian officials say that Ukraine and the U.S. have reached an agreement on a framework for a broad economic deal that would include access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals. The officials, who were familiar with the matter, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. One of them said that Kyiv hopes that signing the agreement will ensure the continued flow of U.S. military support that the country urgently needs. President Trump called it “a very big deal,” adding that it could be worth a trillion dollars.
February 27, 2025 5:08 am
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli official says the military will not withdraw from a strategic corridor in the Gaza Strip. The pullout was part of the ceasefire, and Israel’s refusal could spark a crisis with Hamas and key mediator Egypt at a sensitive moment for the fragile truce. The official says Israeli forces needed to remain in the so-called Philadelphi corridor, on the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, to prevent weapons smuggling. The official spoke hours after Hamas released the remains of four hostages in exchange for over 600 Palestinian prisoners, the last planned exchange of the ceasefire’s first phase, which ends this weekend.
February 27, 2025 5:07 am
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A search warrant shows that Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs had been dead for some time when a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple’s Santa Fe, New Mexico, home. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that Hackman was found dead Wednesday in a mudroom and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found in a bathroom next to a space heater. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on the countertop near Arakawa. Authorities say foul play isn’t suspected, but they are not ruling it out. The search warrant affidavit suggests that police appear to have a working theory that “some kind of gas poisoning” happened, but that they don’t know yet and aren’t ruling anything out, Loyola Marymount University law professor Laurie Levenson said. “They don’t have clear evidence that it’s any type of homicide, but they’re asking for blunt instruments or other weapons that could be used,” said Levenson, who has no connection to the investigation. “It doesn’t also look like some kind of planned double-suicide.” They haven’t disclosed how the couple died and say the investigation is ongoing.
February 27, 2025 5:04 am
BULLSKIN TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI)- A woman is accused of trying to keep a wild deer as a pet in Fayette County. According to a criminal complaint, a Pennsylvania Game Warden officer received a call about a white-tailed deer buck with a dog collar and ear tags in the area of Breakneck Road in Bullskin Township on Tuesday. A woman was in her vehicle, driving next to the animal, and trying to escort it back to a nearby house. Officers learned that the woman was Tamara Shiery, 64, and said she was keeping the deer as a pet illegally in a fenced-in area around her house. The Pennsylvania Game Commission said the animal had been castrated and altered to prevent its antlers from growing. It was being kept in a fenced-in area around Shiery’s house. Police said Shiery refused to open the fence and allow them access to the animal multiple times and she was placed under arrest for interfering with a valid search warrant. The deer was taken into custody per the search warrant.
February 27, 2025 5:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is using a visit to Washington to press President Donald Trump not to abandon Ukraine as he looks to find a quick endgame to Russia’s bloody invasion of its neighbor. With a mix of flattery and frank talk, the center-left Starmer made the case to the Republican president to remain cautious as he goes about ending the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II. The British premier started the visit by delivering an invitation from King Charles III to come to Scotland for a “historic” state visit — noting it was an “unprecedented” honor since Trump already had been given the royal treatment by Queen Elizabeth II during his first term.
February 27, 2025 4:59 am
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has sent infamous drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero to the United States along with 28 other prisoners requested by the U.S. government. Caro Quintero was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985. Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that the 29 prisoners removed to the U.S. Thursday faced charges related to drug trafficking among other crimes. The unprecedented show of security cooperation comes as top Mexican officials are in Washington trying to head off the Trump administration’s threat of imposing 25% tariffs on all Mexican imports.
