May 17, 2025 4:41 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are in the final rounds of negotiations over a sweeping budget plan that has been significantly influenced by President Donald Trump’s priorities. Many GOP lawmakers expect the bill will only make it through the finish line if Trump personally weighs with members. It is not unusual in the modern era for a president to direct the legislative priorities in Congress, but many House Republicans see Trump’s role as singular and decisive as they aim to pass the bill before Memorial Day.
May 17, 2025 4:39 am
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal judge has told the Trump administration that its explanation for state secrets privilege in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case is “inadequate.” U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis made those remarks Friday afternoon in a Maryland courtroom. She had ordered Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador in April after he was mistakenly deported. She has since directed the Trump administration to provide information about what it’s done to bring him back. Government lawyers say those details are protected state secrets and shouldn’t be released. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys say the U.S. has done nothing to bring him back.
May 17, 2025 4:37 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Authorities say 10 men broke out of a New Orleans jail by fleeing through a hole behind a toilet. Seven of them are still on the lam. One was caught soon after the Friday morning escape. Two others were caught later. Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson says there are indications that the men received help in their escape from people in the department. Authorities say the lone guard assigned to their cell pod was away getting food at the time. Jail officials first noticed the men were missing during a Friday morning headcount. Three employees have been placed on suspension pending the outcome of an investigation.
May 17, 2025 4:34 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone has struck a passenger bus in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, killing nine people and injuring four others. Ukrainian officials said the attack happened on Saturday, just hours after Moscow and Kyiv held their first direct peace talks in years which failed to yield a ceasefire. The Sumy regional administration said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that “this is another war crime by Russia — a deliberate strike on civilian transport that posed no threat.” The peace talks ended after less than two hours on Friday, with both sides agreeing on a large prisoner swap while a ceasefire remained elusive.
May 17, 2025 4:12 am
Pennsylvania’s two largest cities will hold primaries Tuesday for high-profile municipal offices. Voters across the commonwealth will choose nominees for statewide appellate court judgeships. The election is a prelude to November, when voters could scramble partisan control of the state Supreme Court. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner faces a Democratic primary challenge from former Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Pat Dugan. Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey faces a Democratic primary challenge from Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor. In both contests, the eventual Democratic nominees will be heavily favored in the general election.
May 17, 2025 4:09 am
Significant rainfall and flooding this week forced the closure of the Mason-Dixon Highway Bridge in Boynton, Somerset County. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll, along with several PennDot officials visited the site to lay out the department’s plan to quickly restore traffic flow on highway U.S. 219. Inspection of the bridge after water receded revealed that the bridge sustained significant damage and needed to be replaced. According to Carroll, “The department will install a temporary bridge to quickly get people and local commerce moving through here again, and then we will replace the bridge.” Work has begun to install the temporary bridge. Detours have been posted for traffic to navigate around the damaged structure. An average of 4700 vehicles cross the 80 foot bridge daily.
May 16, 2025 4:22 am
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump has used the first major foreign trip of his second term to outline a vision for restoring global stability that is grounded in pragmatism and self-interest rather than values. His four-day swing through Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates puts a spotlight on Trump’s transactional approach to foreign affairs as he was feted by autocratic rulers. His trip played out against the backdrop of stubborn global conflicts that showed the limits of his influence. But Trump insisted he was turning the page on American “interventionalism” as he moved to recognize the new government in Syria for the first time and prodded Iran to engage on nuclear talks.
May 16, 2025 4:20 am
A federal judge in Maryland will hear arguments over whether the Trump administration can invoke the state secrets privilege in the court case involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The judge had ordered Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador in April after he was mistakenly deported. She has since directed the administration to provide information about what it’s done to bring him back. Government lawyers say those details are protected state secrets. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys disagree. They note that President Donald Trump and his administration have repeatedly discussed the case publicly and said Abrego Garcia won’t return. The judge’s hearing was set to begin Friday afternoon.
May 16, 2025 4:17 am
ATLANTA (AP) — A hospital is using a breathing tube and other measures to keep a brain-dead Georgia woman’s body functioning because she is pregnant. Her family says it should have the option to stop the life-support devices but that they’ve been told state law removes that choice. Georgia bars abortion in most cases after cardiac activity can be detected, which is usually around six weeks into pregnancy. One expert says whether states can force measures to preserve the life of a fetus are murky in the aftermath of the 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door to state abortion bans.
May 16, 2025 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seems intent on keeping a block on President Donald Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship while looking for a way to scale back nationwide court orders. It’s unclear what such a decision might look like. But a majority of the court expressed concerns Thursday about what would happen if the Trump administration were allowed, even temporarily, to deny citizenship to the children born of some immigrants. The justices heard arguments in Trump’s emergency appeals over lower court orders that have kept the restrictions on hold nationwide while lawsuits go forward. Nationwide injunctions have emerged as a check on Trump’s efforts to remake the government and a source of frustration to the Republican president.
