May 31, 2025 5:10 am
SINGAPORE (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reassured allies in the Indo-Pacific that they will not be left alone to face increasing military and economic pressure from China. Hegseth spoke on Saturday at the Asian Defense Summit in Singapore. He said Washington will bolster its defenses overseas to counter what the Pentagon sees as rapidly developing threats by Beijing. Hegseth said China is no longer just building up its military forces to be able to take Taiwan by 2027, it’s “actively training for it, every day.” He said the threat China poses “is real — and it could be imminent.”
May 31, 2025 5:02 am
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’s doubling the tariff rate on steel to 50%, a dramatic increase that could further push up prices for a metal used to make housing, autos and other goods. Trump made the announcement Friday at U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, where he announced investments by Japan’s Nippon Steel. The price of steel products has increased roughly 16% since Trump became president in January, according to the government’s producer price index. Trump later added that aluminum tariffs would also be doubled to 50% and said both tariff hikes would go into effect Wednesday.
May 30, 2025 8:15 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. – (WPXI) – The man who police believe is responsible for the deadly shooting of Nasstylejah Wilkerson near an elementary has been arrested. Trevon McCrary, 30, was picked up by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and McKeesport Police in McKeesport Friday morning. McCrary is charged with criminal homicide, recklessly endangering another person and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The City of Washington police filed charges against McCrary in April and an arrest warrant was granted. Chief Steve Devenney says that while processing the crime scene for evidence, investigators identified and found a vehicle of interest. The “amount of evidence collected” in the first 24 hours after the crime is why police felt they had “enough information” to apply for an arrest warrant. (Photo: WPXI)
May 30, 2025 4:42 am
(AP) — President Donald Trump held a rally in West Mifflin on Friday to celebrate a details-to-come deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel, which he says will keep the iconic American steelmaker under U.S.-control. Though Trump initially vowed to block the Japanese steelmaker’s bid to buy Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, he changed course and announced an agreement last week for what he described as “partial ownership” by Nippon. It’s not clear, though, if the deal his administration helped broker has been finalized or how ownership would be structured. Trump stressed the deal would maintain American control of the storied company, which is seen as both a political symbol and an important matter for the country’s supply chain, industries like auto manufacturing and national security. Trump, who has been eager to strike deals and announce new investments in the U.S. since retaking the White House, is also trying to satisfy voters, including blue-collar workers, who elected him as he called to protect U.S. manufacturing. U.S. Steel has not publicly communicated any details of a revamped deal to investors. Nippon Steel issued a statement approving of the proposed “partnership” but also has not disclosed terms of the arrangement. In the absence of clear details or affirmation from the companies involved, the United Steelworkers union, which has long opposed the deal, this week questioned whether the new arrangement makes “any meaningful change” from the initial proposal.
May 30, 2025 4:44 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The Trump administration is dropping plans to terminate leases for 34 offices in the Mine Safety and Health Administration. A Department of Labor spokesperson confirmed the move Thursday within the agency responsible for enforcing mine safety laws. Earlier this year, the Department of Government Efficiency, created by President Donald Trump, had targeted federal agencies for spending cuts. That included terminating leases for three dozen MSHA offices. Some MSHA offices are still listed on the chopping block on the DOGE website, but the Labor Department statement did not indicate whether those closings will move forward. MSHA is required to inspect underground mines quarterly and surface mines twice a year.
May 30, 2025 4:54 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has audaciously claimed virtually unlimited power to bypass Congress and impose sweeping taxes on foreign products. Now a federal court has said: Not so fast. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Wednesday that Trump overstepped his authority when he invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to declare a national emergency and plaster taxes – tariffs – on imports from almost every country in the world. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday allowed the president to temporarily continue collecting the tariffs under the emergency powers law while he appeals the trade court’s decision.
May 29, 2025 11:32 am
(WPXI) WASHINGTON — (AP) — The government is investigating after elected officials, business executives and other prominent figures in recent weeks received messages from someone impersonating Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump’s chief of staff. A White House official said Friday the matter is under investigation and the White House takes cybersecurity of its staff seriously. ,The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The FBI did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that senators, governors, business leaders and others began receiving text messages and phone calls from someone who seemed to have gained access to the contacts in Wiles’ personal cellphone. The messages and calls were not coming from Wiles number, the newspaper reported. It is unclear how the person gained access to Wiles’ phone, but the intrusion is the latest security breach for Trump staffers. Last year, Iran hacked into Trump’s campaign and sensitive internal documents were stolen and distributed, including a dossier on Vice President JD Vance, created before he was selected as Trump’s running mate. Wiles, who served as a co-manager of Trump’s campaign before taking on the lynchpin role in his new administration, has amassed a powerful network of contacts. Some of those who received calls heard a voice that sounded like Wiles that may have been generated by artificial intelligence, according to the report. Some received text messages that they initially thought were official White House requests but some people reported the messages did not sound like Wiles.
May 30, 2025 4:52 am
BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday extended an order blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to bar Harvard University from enrolling foreign students. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs extended the block she imposed last week with a temporary restraining order on the government action. Harvard sued the Department of Homeland Security on Friday after Secretary Kristi Noem revoked its ability to host foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Harvard sued the Department of Homeland Security after Noem revoked its ability to host foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced a new effort to revoke Harvard’s certification to enroll foreign students.
May 30, 2025 4:50 am
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Harvard graduates are celebrating commencement at a pivotal time for the Ivy League school. The cap and gown-clad students cheered speakers Wednesday who stressed the importance of maintaining a diverse and international student body while standing up for the truth at a time the esteemed university is under threat by the Trump administration. Harvard’s battles with President Donald Trump over funding and restrictions on teaching and admissions are just the latest challenge for graduates who began school as the world was emerging from the pandemic. Yurong Luanna Jiang, a Chinese graduate who studied international development, told attendees she grew up believing the “world was becoming a small village.” Now, though, she wonders if that worldview is under threat.
May 29, 2025 11:27 am
(WPXI) NEW YORK — (AP) — New York City police are investigating two detectives who worked security at an upscale Manhattan townhouse where a man says he was kidnapped and tortured for weeks by two crypto investors who wanted to steal his Bitcoin, a city official said Thursday. One of the detectives serves on Mayor Eric Adams’ security detail and is believed to have picked up the victim from a local airport and brought him to the townhouse, the official said. It’s not immediately clear if the other detective, who is a narcotics officer, has any connection to the incident. The detectives have been placed on modified leave pending the outcome of the inquiry, according to the official, who was briefed on the case and spoke anonymously to The Associated Press because they are not authorized to discuss the internal investigation. It is not uncommon for members of the NYPD to do private security work outside of their city jobs but they need to receive prior approval. At this point, the official said, the department is looking into whether the officers received that approval. Adams’ office confirmed one of the detectives provides security detail for the Democrat, but said the mayor has no knowledge of what the officer does on his personal time. “Every city employee is expected to follow the law, including our officers, both on and off duty,” the mayor’s office said in an emailed statement. “We are disturbed by these allegations.” In response to an emailed inquiry, an NYPD spokesperson confirmed two members were placed on modified duty Wednesday. A spokesperson for the labor union representing NYPD detectives didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday. Crypto investors John Woeltz and William Duplessie have been charged in the case. Their lawyers have declined to comment. Authorities allege that on May 6, the two men lured the victim, who they knew personally, to a posh townhouse in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood by threatening to kill his family. The man, a 28-year-old Italian national who has not been named by officials, said he was then held captive for 17 days, as the two investors tormented him with electrical wires, forced him to smoke from a crack pipe and at one point dangled him from a staircase five stories high. He eventually agreed to hand over his computer password Friday morning, then managed to flee the home as his captors went to retrieve the device. The investigation into the officers began, incidentally, on the same day Adams headlined a crypto convention in Las Vegas, where he described New York as the Bitcoin capital of the country.
