September 15, 2026 2:41 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Pennsylvania officials are reporting a fourth measles-associated death. An 18-year-old from Mifflin County died from a severe neurological complication of the virus. None of the four who died were vaccinated. The U.S. is experiencing its worst measles year since 1991, with seven deaths in two years. Pennsylvania’s outbreak includes nearly 700 illnesses across 38 counties. These are the first measles-associated deaths in the state in 35 years. Health officials emphasize the importance of the MMR vaccine to prevent outbreaks. International health officials will meet in November to assess the U.S. and Mexico’s measles-free status.
September 15, 2026 2:19 am
CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Western Pennsylvania man accused of buying a gun and ammunition with intent to commit terrorism was arrested outside of a local hotel over the weekend. Federal agents arrested Jonathan Kramer, 21, of Valencia, Butler County, on Saturday in Cranberry Township. After Kramer was released from a juvenile detention facility in March of this year, someone submitted an anonymous online tip to the FBI, saying Kramer was ordering “mysterious” packages and “talking to his friends from before” his juvenile adjudication. Authorities said they confirmed he had been using an online persona who claimed affiliation with ISIS. He allegedly offered to share explosive manuals with others and expressed his intent to prepare for his “mission” and that he was just missing a “weapon.” The FBI executed search warrants on Kramer’s person, his hotel room and his home. According to court documents, agents seized a semiautomatic rifle, five rifle magazines (two loaded and the other three each offering a 30-round capacity), a rifle bipod and scope, a total of 190 rounds of rifle ammunition, an entrenchment tool, a prayer rug, pepper spray, and approximately 30 knives, along with a handwritten note stating “DoNt look For me[.] IDK what I did buT I cant live In constant Fear[.]”
September 15, 2026 4:45 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Officials say a news helicopter for NBC and Telemundo 52 crashed in Los Angeles and killed at least three people. NBC4 Los Angeles anchor Colleen Williams confirmed during live broadcasts Tuesday that the station’s chopper went down just before 7 p.m. She identified two people on the helicopter who were killed as reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw. An official says one person outside in a parking lot was killed. The helicopter was covering a fatal bus accident. Officials say two people were killed and six others were injured after an SUV crashed into a city bus. Photos and videos online showed around half an SUV lodged into the side of an MTA bus.
September 15, 2026 2:42 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The board of the Kennedy Center has voted to close the facility over financial issues and a dispute over putting President Donald Trump’s name on the iconic performing arts venue. That’s according to people familiar with the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting. Prior to Tuesday’s board meeting, a federal judge blocked the Kennedy Center board from adding Trump’s name to the structure or grounds, saying it would violate an earlier ruling that his name was illegally added to the building. Trump says the Justice Department will appeal the judge’s ruling.
September 15, 2026 4:50 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Barely four months into the job, Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is stuck between two strong but opposing forces: Financial markets that anticipate the central bank will raise interest rates, and President Donald Trump, who wants the Fed to cut them or leave them unchanged. Economists expect that on Wednesday, Warsh and his fellow policymakers will side with the markets. Warsh, many Fed-watchers say, has largely boxed himself into a rate hike after delivering a high-profile speech last month warning that inflation remains too far above the Fed’s 2% target and might require higher borrowing costs to bring it down.
September 15, 2026 4:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Kash Patel is defending the bureau’s loosening of hiring requirements regarding prostitution and bestiality, saying the changes were meant to enable victims of those acts to apply for employment without fear of automatic disqualification. The subject arose during a contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which Patel clashed with Democrats over his firing of agents who participated in investigations of President Donald Trump, a spate of media leak probes, and whether employees would be dispatched to the polls on Election Day in light of the bureau’s ongoing election-related investigations and Trump’s repeated and false claims about the existence of pervasive voter fraud.
September 15, 2026 4:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats have blocked legislation to create a new regulatory framework for cryptocurrency. In doing so, they are stalling an industry-backed effort to place new guardrails around digital assets after demanding more limits on President Donald Trump’s investments. Tuesday’s vote was a pivotal election-year test for the $2.3 trillion cryptocurrency market and came as Trump has amassed significant crypto wealth while in office. While some Democrats are friendly toward the industry and support the idea of regulation, they have been adamant that the bill include strong ethics safeguards to prevent Trump and his family from enriching themselves in office.
September 15, 2026 4:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is planning to deliver powerful 2,000-pound bombs to Israel as part of an upcoming arms deal. The $2.8 billion package includes 40,000 of the bombs, made up of 20,000 Mk84s and 20,000 BLU-117s. That’s according to two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the plan who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss the package, which is not yet final. Such weapons prompted such concerns about the possibility of mass casualties in Gaza that the Biden administration paused their delivery two years ago. Congress has been informally notified about the pending deal.
September 16, 2026 4:50 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Small business owners in the United States and Canada say a trade war between their countries is hurting sales while they are also dealing with rising expenses from higher fuel costs. Canada imposed reciprocal tariffs on about $20 billion worth of U.S. goods last week after President Donald Trump placed import taxes on Canadian goods worth the same amount. Trump said the U.S. also would ban imports of wine, whiskey, selected motorcycles and the cheese-derived protein additive whey from Canada. The conflict between the economically entwined neighbors affects only about 5% of total exports and imports, but it is having a big impact on small businesses that depend on cross-border sales.
September 16, 2026 4:49 am
Leading voices in AI, including Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, agree that AI development needs to slow down. This consensus follows a former researcher’s warning about AI’s threats to humanity. But implementing a slowdown faces challenges like global competition, profit motives and pushback from the Trump administration. Amodei suggests independent evaluators for safety monitoring and calls for government regulation. Critics question the feasibility of these measures. President Donald Trump opposes limiting AI, viewing regulation as an obstacle for progress and beating China in the AI race. Industry experts are hopeful but uncertain about achieving a more safety-focused approach.
