Gallery: Photos from Oct. 16, 2025
Take a trip through Western Pennsylvania — and beyond! Join TribLive’s photo adventure, where every snapshot tells a story. From the rolling hills and rustic charm of Western Pa. to far-flung corners of the world, this collection captures the little sparks of humanity that connect us all. Think of it...
Trump diverts anti-terror funds from Democratic strongholds to Republican states
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration plans to shift terrorism prevention funding from Democratic-led states toward those led by Republicans, government records show, as it overhauls a $1 billion program created after the 9/11 attacks. Twelve Democratic-led states are suing to block the cuts, alleging that the Trump administration is trying...
Shutdown could cost U.S. economy $15 billion a week, Treasury says
Washington - The two-week-old federal government shutdown may cost the U.S. economy as much as $15 billion a week in lost output, a Treasury official said late on Wednesday, correcting an earlier statement from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that put the cost at up to $15 billion per day. Bessent...
French PM faces day of reckoning, but likely to survive no-confidence votes
PARIS - French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu appears likely to survive two no-confidence votes in parliament on Thursday after offering to suspend President Emmanuel Macron’s landmark pension reform to win support from the left. Lecornu, already France’s shortest-serving prime minister in modern times before he was re-appointed last week, had...
Diane Keaton’s cause of death released by her family
Diane Keaton’s cause of death has reportedly been released days after news of her death became public. The 79-year-old Hollywood staple died Oct. 11 from pneumonia, her family said in a statement to People magazine on Oct. 15. “The Keaton family are very grateful for the extraordinary messages of love...
Dozens still missing days after Mexico’s mass flood
MEXICO CITY - Five days after historic floods that killed at least 66 people and affected 100,000 homes, Mexico is still scrambling to get help to the worst-hit communities and locate 75 missing people amid criticism of the government’s handling of the crisis. After a year of meteoric approval ratings,...
U.S. judge blocks Trump’s plan to lay off thousands of government workers
A federal judge in California on Wednesday ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to halt mass layoffs of federal workers during a partial government shutdown while she considers claims by unions that the job cuts are illegal. During a hearing in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a request...
Why a Supreme Court case from Louisiana will matter for the future of the Voting Rights Act
WASHINGTON — Voting rights activists were relieved in 2023 when, in a surprise to some, the Supreme Court upheld the most important remaining element of the Voting Rights Act. The ruling forced Alabama and later Louisiana to redraw their congressional maps to give Black residents greater representation, moves that eventually...
UN agency says C02 levels hit record high last year, causing more extreme weather
GENEVA — Heat-trapping carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere jumped by the highest amount on record last year, soaring to a level not seen in human civilization and “turbo-charging” the Earth’s climate and causing more extreme weather, the United Nations weather agency said Wednesday. The World Meteorological Organization said in...
Doctors Without Borders permanently closes its emergency center in Haiti’s capital
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Doctors Without Borders said Wednesday that ongoing violence in the capital of Haiti has forced it to permanently close its Port-au-Prince emergency care center, which had been a key lifeline in a city now 90% controlled by gangs. More than 60% of the capital’s health facilities, including...
News outlets reject Pentagon press access policy
WASHINGTON — At least 30 news organizations declined to sign a new Pentagon access policy for journalists, warning of the potential for less comprehensive coverage of the world’s most powerful military ahead of a Tuesday deadline to accept new restrictions. The policy requires journalists to acknowledge new rules on press...
Aid trucks roll into Gaza as dispute over hostage bodies is paused
JERUSALEM/CAIRO — Aid trucks rolled into Gaza on Wednesday and Israel resumed preparations to open the main Rafah crossing after a dispute over the return of the bodies of dead hostages that had threatened to derail the fragile ceasefire deal with Hamas. Israel had threatened to keep Rafah shut and...
Far-right U.S. influencer Candace Owens loses legal fight to enter Australia
SYDNEY — Far-right U.S. influencer Candace Owens has lost her bid to enter Australia after the country’s highest court on Wednesday backed the government’s decision to deny her a visa over concerns she could “incite discord” in the community. Owens, who has built a large online following for her controversial...
Assad government secretly moved mass grave to cover up killings, Reuters investigation finds
DHUMAIR, Syria — The Assad government carried out a two-year clandestine operation to truck thousands of bodies from one of Syria’s largest known mass graves to a secret location more than an hour away in the remote desert, a Reuters investigation has found. The conspiracy by President Bashar al-Assad’s military...
U.S. Supreme Court conservatives appear willing to blunt key Voting Rights Act provision
WASHINGTON — Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled their willingness on Wednesday during arguments in a case involving Louisiana electoral districts to undercut a key section of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark 1965 federal law enacted by Congress to prevent racial discrimination in voting. Arguments in the case focused...
Marjorie Taylor Greene said she hasn’t changed, despite recent breaks from the GOP
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has been making life uncomfortable for some members of her own party in Congress. Greene, a conservative firebrand who has been a staunch supporter of President Trump, has been critical of how Republicans have dealt with several key issues in recent weeks and months....
Supreme Court rejects Alex Jones’ challenge to $1.4 billion defamation judgment
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to hear a challenge by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to a $1.4 billion judgment awarded to families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in Connecticut over the Infowars website founder’s false statements that the 2012 incident...
Meta tightens teen safeguards on Instagram with PG-13-style content filters
Instagram will limit what users under 18 can see on the platform using filters inspired by the PG-13 movie rating system, in the latest step by its parent Meta to address criticism that it has not done enough to protect teenagers online. Modeled on the Motion Picture Association’s ratings, the...
Gallery: Photos from Oct. 14, 2025
Take a trip through Western Pennsylvania — and beyond! Join TribLive’s photo adventure, where every snapshot tells a story. From the rolling hills and rustic charm of Western Pa. to far-flung corners of the world, this collection captures the little sparks of humanity that connect us all. Think of it...
Government shutdown is impacting Social Security. Details on payments, offices, more
As the government shutdown nears the two-week mark, several federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration (SSA), remain impacted by furloughs and cannot operate as usual. Thousands of SSA employees have been furloughed, in turn limiting the agency’s available services during the shutdown. However, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income...
Education Department layoffs threaten special ed system, advocates warn
WASHINGTON — Families and educators across the country were plunged into a state of uncertainty over the weekend after the federal Education Department laid off practically every staffer in the government’s special education division. Nearly the entire Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, including the Office of Special Education...
Pennsylvania man pleads guilty in arson attack at governor’s mansion while Shapiro’s family slept
HARRISBURG — A man who scaled an iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded police and used beer bottles filled with gasoline to ignite the occupied Pennsylvania governor’s mansion pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted murder and other charges. Cody Balmer, 38, also entered pleas to terrorism, 22...
Scientists to explore bottom of Lake Erie off eastern Erie County
Do treasure chests full of gold and jewels rest beneath the Pennsylvania waters of Lake Erie off eastern Erie County? Probably not. But scientists, who are using an uncrewed surface vehicle to explore and map nearly 100 square miles of lakebed along the Pennsylvania, New York and Canadian borders, are...
Government shutdown hits Day 14, White House says more layoffs to come
Day 14 of the government shutdown is upon us, and the stalemate continues, with Congress still at an impasse over spending proposals. The main bone of contention is a deadlock over healthcare funding and the tax credits for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace that expires at the end of...
Trump to award Charlie Kirk top honor amid crackdown on left-wing groups
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is set to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a White House ceremony on Tuesday. Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot on Sept. 10 while speaking at an event at...
