February 25, 2025 4:41 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro says President Donald Trump’s administration has freed up billions in federal aid that the Democrat had accused it of withholding unconstitutionally. Shapiro said in a news conference Monday that more than $2 billion that his administration had identified as either frozen or held up by an unspecified review was now accessible to state agencies. Shapiro sued in federal court on Feb. 13. That was after federal courts had repeatedly rejected the Trump administration’s sweeping pause on federal funding. Trump administration lawyers have argued that the government’s move to freeze funds was legal and characterized it as a “pause” to consider how best to use federal funds.
February 25, 2025 4:53 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says his tariffs on Canada and Mexico are starting next month. The comment Monday indicates the end of a monthlong suspension on planned import taxes that could potentially hurt growth and worsen inflation. Trump said Monday at a White House news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron that “the tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule.” While Trump was answering a specific question about the taxes to be charged on America’s two largest trading partners, the U.S. president also stressed that his intended “reciprocal” tariffs were on schedule to begin as soon as April.
February 25, 2025 4:52 am
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — In a dramatic shift in transatlantic relations under President Donald Trump, the United States has split with its European allies by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in votes on three U.N. resolutions seeking an end to the three-year war. In the U.N. General Assembly, the U.S. joined Russia in voting against a Europe-backed Ukrainian resolution that calls out Moscow’s aggression and demands an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops. The U.S. then abstained from voting on its own competing resolution after Europeans. led by France, succeeded in amending it to make clear Russia was the aggressor. The voting was taking place as Trump was hosting French President Emmanuel Macron in Washington. A third vote took place in the U.N. Security Council.
February 25, 2025 4:54 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he is replacing the top lawyers for the military services because he doesn’t think they are “well-suited” to provide recommendations when lawful orders are given. He spoke at the start of a meeting Monday with Saudi Arabia’s defense minister. Also, he refused to answer a question about why the Trump administration has selected a retired general to be the next Joint Chiefs chairman, when he doesn’t meet the legal qualifications for the job. President Donald Trump fired the chairman, Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., and Hegseth followed that by firing the Navy chief of operations, the Air Force vice chief, and the judge advocate general for the services.
February 25, 2025 4:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has refused to immediately order the White House to restore The Associated Press’ access to presidential events, saying the news organization had not shown it had suffered irreparable harm in the matter. But he urged the government to reconsider its two-week-old ban. He said that case law “is uniformly unhelpful to the White House.” U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden told attorneys for the Trump administration and the AP that the issue required more exploration before ruling. The AP filed a lawsuit Friday saying that its First Amendment rights were being violated. President Donald Trump said it was punishment for the agency’s decision not to entirely follow his executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
February 25, 2025 4:49 am
Nearly 40% of the federal contracts that the Trump administration claims to have canceled as part of its signature cost-cutting program aren’t expected to save any money. The Department of Government Efficiency run by Elon Musk published last week an initial list of 1,125 contracts that it terminated in recent weeks across the federal government. Data published on DOGE’s “Wall of Receipts” shows that more than one-third of the contract cancellations, 417 in all, are expected to yield no savings. That’s usually because the government has a legal requirement to spend the funds for the goods or services it purchased and in many cases has already done so.
February 25, 2025 4:38 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A funeral service will be held later this week for a Pennsylvania police officer who was killed last weekend while responding to a gunman inside a hospital intensive care unit. West York Patrolman Andrew Duarte was shot on Saturday at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York. Authorities say the gunman had shot and wounded three hospital employees and taken staff members hostage before responding officers shot and killed him. Duarte’s funeral is to be held Friday at a church in Red Lion, Pennsylvania. An autopsy on Monday concluded that Duarte died from being shot in the torso.
February 25, 2025 4:51 am
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Thousands of people have gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray for an ailing Pope Francis, expressing sorrow for his suffering, hope for his recovery and gratitude for his efforts to steer the Catholic Church in new directions. The 88-year-old Francis has pneumonia in both lungs and remains in critical condition despite showing a slight improvement after 11 days in the hospital. Still, the mood was mostly grim in the monumental square on Monday evening, with many understanding they may be in Rome for Francis’ final days. Crowds sat under umbrellas on folding chairs or stood by the vast colonnades as they reflected fondly on the pontiff’s legacy.
February 24, 2025 5:46 pm
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine is marking the bleakest anniversary yet of its war against the Russia invasion. The country’s forces are under severe pressure on the battlefield, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration apparently embracing the Kremlin in a reversal of U.S. policy. The three-year milestone drew more than a dozen Western leaders to Kyiv for commemorative events in a conspicuous show of support. Hours after the anniversary observances, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept European peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of a potential deal to end the war. Separately, Putin suggested that European countries could be part of a settlement, but he also said that he has not discussed resolving the conflict in detail with Trump.
February 24, 2025 12:45 pm
(WPXI) – Three people, including a child, are dead after a duplex fire in Kittanning early Monday. The fire in the 1400 block of North Grant Avenue in Kittanning broke out shortly before 4 a.m Kittanning Hose Co. No. 6 Chief Scott Kline said that a man, woman and 3-year-old child were killed in the fire. Two other children, 5 and 7 years old, made it out. The Armstrong County Coroner’s Office identified the victims as Kayla Whittaker, 28, Ryland Whittaker, 3, and Jason C. Blystone Jr., 26. All three were found in a bedroom, per the coroner’s office. Two firefighters were hurt after falling through the floor from the second level to the first. They were taken to Armstrong County Memorial Hospital and are expected to be Okay. The fire is under investigation by the PSP Fire Marshall and Kittanning Police.
