Trump convinced Netanyahu to take a deal. Can he keep him onboard?
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, a self-proclaimed peacemaker who has campaigned for a Nobel Prize, finally got a camera-ready diplomatic victory on Monday as world leaders flew to Egypt for the signing of the ceasefire and hostage-release deal he brokered between Israel and Hamas. But if lasting peace is to...
Voting Rights Act faces pivotal test at U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court is set on Wednesday to hear a Republican-led challenge to the Voting Rights Act, giving its conservative majority a chance to deal another blow to the landmark federal law enacted 60 years ago to prevent racial discrimination in voting. The case involves electoral districts...
New covid guidelines add confusion, complications for Americans seeking shots
NEW YORK — Americans headed to pharmacies for covid-19 vaccines are running into roadblocks and confusion due to new U.S. guidance that abandoned broad support for the shots, contributing to the lowest vaccination rates since they were introduced. For the four-week period ended Oct. 3, covid immunizations were down about...
Clans and armed groups challenging Hamas in Gaza
GAZA — As the Gaza war dragged on, a diminished Hamas faced growing internal challenges to its control of Gaza from long-standing rivals, many of them affiliated with powerful local clans. Since Friday’s ceasefire took hold, Hamas has sought to reassert itself, killing dozens of opponents in a crackdown after...
Gaza ceasefire outlook darkens as Israel delays aid and Hamas tightens grip
CAIRO/JERUSALEM — Israel delayed aid into Gaza and kept the enclave’s border shut on Tuesday, while re-emergent Hamas fighters demonstrated their grip by executing men in the street, darkening the outlook for President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war. Three Israeli officials said Israel had decided to restrict aid...
Thousands of Pa. college students wait for key financial aid due to state budget impasse
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Financial aid for thousands of Pennsylvania college students is on hold as a result of the state...
U.S. revokes visas of over 50 Mexican politicians in new drug war front
MEXICO CITY — The U.S. government has revoked the visas of at least 50 politicians and government officials in Mexico amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on drug cartels and their suspected political allies, two Mexican officials told Reuters. A handful of these cases have been publicized, but Reuters reporting shows...
Government shutdown could be the longest ever, Speaker Johnson warns
WASHINGTON — Republican Speaker Mike Johnson predicted Monday the federal government shutdown may become the longest in history, saying he “won’t negotiate” with Democrats until they hit pause on their health care demands and reopen. Standing alone at the Capitol on the 13th day of the shutdown, the speaker said...
Pennsylvania State Police trooper shot in Franklin County out of hospital
The second Pennsylvania State Police trooper shot last week in Franklin County was released from WellSpan York Hospital on Monday. Lucas Amarose, 31, is one of two troopers injured in the incident that began with the pursuit of retail theft suspects near Chambersburg and ended with a shootout at Exit...
North Carolina GOP announce plans to vote on new House map amid nationwide redistricting battle
RALEIGH — North Carolina Republican legislative leaders announced plans Monday to vote next week on redrawing the state’s U.S. House district map, with a likely aim to secure another GOP seat within already right-leaning boundaries. The move comes amid an emerging mid-decade battle nationally between Republicans and Democrats seeking advantage...
Treasury chief says government shutdown is hitting economy
The U.S. federal government shutdown is starting to impact the nation’s economy, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday as the closure entered its 13th day. “This is getting serious. It’s starting to affect the real economy,” he told Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria” program, without offering more...
Nor’easter slams the East Coast as more rain, strong wind expectedVideo
A nor’easter along the Mid-Atlantic coast is expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds to a large chunk of the East Coast from northeastern North Carolina to southern New England on Monday. The National Weather Service said in its Monday forecast that the storm will move northeastward along the...
Trump says Holy Land at peace as last Israeli hostages swapped for Palestinian detainees
Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza on Monday under a ceasefire deal and Israel sent home busloads of Palestinian detainees, as U.S. President Donald Trump told Israel’s parliament that peace had arrived in the Holy Land. The Israeli military said it had received all 20 hostages confirmed...
Explosion kills all 16 people inside Tennessee explosives plant, sheriff says
There are no survivors of the blast that rocked a Tennessee explosives plant, authorities said as investigators work to determine the cause. All 16 people inside the building that exploded at Accurate Energetic Systems are dead, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said at an Oct. 11 press conference. Residents from...
WGN-TV producer detained during ICE enforcement action in Lincoln Square
CHICAGO — A WGN-TV video editor and producer was roughly detained by two Border Patrol agents during a highly visible rush hour enforcement action in Lincoln Square. Debbie Brockman, who has worked as a producer for WGN since 2011, according to her LinkedIn profile, was taken to the ground face...
Trump warns Russia that U.S. may provide Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine
President Donald Trump said he is considering providing Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia in their three-year-old war, a move the Kremlin has warned would increase tensions with the West. Trump said he had a good conversation on Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who asked for...
New Jersey declares state of emergency as nor’easter approachesVideo
A nor’easter churned its way up the East Coast on Sunday, washing out roads and prompting air travel delays as heavily populated areas of the Northeast braced for excessive rain, lashing winds and coastal flooding. “The greatest effects are going to be the coastal flooding potential, especially for areas from...
JD Vance says ACA credits fuel fraud as Democrats push for extension to end shutdownVideo
WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance criticized Affordable Care Act tax credits on Sunday, labeling them vehicles for fraud and calling for regulatory reform, even as Democratic lawmakers seek to extend healthcare subsidies in the standoff over the government shutdown. “The tax credits go to some people deservedly, and we...
4 dead, at least 20 injured in South Carolina island shooting
Four people were killed and at least 20 injured in a shooting at a restaurant in a South Carolina island town on Sunday, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said. Deputies were called to Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island just before 1 a.m. and found several people suffering...
Madagascar president warns of coup attempt as more soldiers join protests
ANTANANARIVO — Madagascar’s presidency said on Sunday that an attempt to grab power by force was underway in the African nation as more soldiers joined a youth-led protest movement that has rocked the former French colony for more than two weeks. Troops from the elite CAPSAT unit that helped President...
Beijing blames U.S. for raising trade tensions, defends rare earth curbs
BEIJING/HONG KONG — China called President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs on Chinese goods hypocritical on Sunday and defended its curbs on exports of rare earth elements and equipment, but stopped short of imposing new levies on U.S. products. Trump on Friday responded to Beijing’s most recent export controls by imposing...
Dozens killed in Pakistan-Afghanistan clashes, border closed
ISLAMABAD — Dozens of fighters were killed in overnight border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, both sides said on Sunday, in the most serious fighting between the neighbours since the Taliban came to power in Kabul. The Pakistan military said that 23 of its soldiers were killed in the clashes....
Partisan shutdown standoff ignores key risk to U.S. stability: rising national debt
WASHINGTON — The ongoing shutdown debate between Democrats and President Donald Trump’s Republicans is largely avoiding the difficult fiscal issues clouding the country’s future — the rising national debt and the long-term financial health of Social Security and Medicare. The fifteenth partial federal government shutdown since 1981 has been sparked...
Ceasefire holds in Gaza ahead of hostage release and Trump’s visit to IsraelVideo
CAIRO/JERUSALEM — A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas held in Gaza for a third day on Sunday ahead of the expected release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and an address by U.S. President Donald Trump to Israel’s parliament. Thousands of Palestinians continued to travel north towards Gaza City, the...
Appeals court rejects Trump request to deploy National Guard in Chicago area
A federal appeals court on Saturday rejected the Trump administration’s request to immediately allow the deployment of National Guard troops to Illinois, leaving in place a lower court’s order that blocked the mobilization temporarily. In a brief order, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the federal government remains...
