Republished May 30, 2025 - 8:04 PM
Original Publication Date May 29, 2025 - 9:06 PM
Trump tells US steelworkers he’s going to double tariffs on foreign steel to 50%
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday told Pennsylvania steelworkers he’s doubling the tariff on steel imports to 50% to protect their industry, a dramatic increase that could further push up prices for a metal used to make housing, autos and other goods.
In a post later on his Truth Social platform, he added that aluminum tariffs would also be doubled to 50%. He said both tariff hikes would go into effect Wednesday.
Trump spoke at U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant in suburban Pittsburgh, where he also discussed a details-to-come deal under which Japan’s Nippon Steel will invest in the iconic American steelmaker.
Trump told reporters after he arrived back in Washington that he still has to approve the deal.
“I have to approve the final deal with Nippon and we haven't seen that final deal yet, but they've made a very big commitment and it's a very big investment,” he said.
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Loretta Swit, Emmy-winner who played Maj. Houlihan on pioneering series 'M.A.S.H.,' has died at 87
NEW YORK (AP) — Loretta Swit, who won two Emmy Awards playing Maj. Margaret Houlihan, the demanding head nurse of a behind-the-lines surgical unit during the Korean War on the pioneering hit TV series “M.A.S.H.,” has died. She was 87.
Publicist Harlan Boll says Swit died Friday at her home in New York City, likely from natural causes.
Swit and Alan Alda were the longest-serving cast members on “M.A.S.H.,” which was based on Robert Altman’s 1970 film, which was itself based on a novel by Richard Hooker, the pseudonym of H. Richard Hornberger.
The CBS show aired for 11 years from 1972 to 1983, revolving around life at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, which gave the show its name. The two-and-a-half-hour finale on Feb. 28, 1983, lured over 100 million viewers, the most-watched episode of any scripted series ever.
Rolling Stone magazine put “M.A.S.H.” at No. 25 of the best TV shows of all time, while Time Out put it at No. 34. It won the Impact Award at the 2009 TV Land annual awards. It won a Peabody Award in 1975 “for the depth of its humor and the manner in which comedy is used to lift the spirit and, as well, to offer a profound statement on the nature of war.”
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Floods kill at least 111 as northern Nigeria battles climate change, dry spells and heavy rainfall
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Torrents of predawn rain unleashed flooding that killed at least 111 people in a market town where northern Nigerian farmers sell their wares to traders from the south, officials said Friday, predicting the death toll would grow.
The Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency did not immediately say how much rain fell after midnight Thursday in the town of Mokwa in the state of Niger more than 180 miles (300 kilometers) west of Abuja, the capital of Africa's most populous nation.
Communities in northern Nigeria have been experiencing prolonged dry spells worsened by climate change and excessive rainfall that leads to severe flooding during the brief wet season.
In videos and photos on social media, floodwaters covered neighborhoods and homes were submerged, with their roofs barely visible above the brown colored waters. Waist-deep in water, residents tried to salvage what they could, or rescue others.
“We lost many lives, and the properties, our farm produce. Those that have their storage have lost it,” Kazeem Muhammed, a Mokwa resident, said.
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Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lawyers say ex-assistant’s social media posts undercut her rape allegation
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs ' lawyers confronted his rape-alleging former personal assistant on Friday with her social media posts praising the hip-hop mogul as a mentor, “my brother” and “friend for life” for years after she says he assaulted her.
Defense attorney Brian Steel quizzed the woman about some of the dozens of posts she made about Combs in the wake of the alleged rape, portraying the warm messages as contradictory to her claims that working for him was often toxic and terrifying.
The woman, testifying under the pseudonym “Mia" for a second day at Combs’ federal sex trafficking trial, read some of the messages aloud as they were displayed for jurors.
Mia told the jury that the posts were a facade: “Instagram was a place to show how great your life was, even if it was not true.”
Steel highlighted a post from 2013 celebrating Combs' 44th birthday, showing a still image from a comedy video featuring Combs as a doctor helping Mia give birth to a fake baby. Below it, Mia wrote: “Shout out to my mentor. Thank you for always letting me give birth to my dreams.”
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Supreme Court lets Trump end legal protections for 500,000 migrants, exposing more to deportation
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday again cleared the way for the Trump administration to strip temporary legal protections from hundreds of thousands of immigrants for now, pushing the total number of people who could be newly exposed to deportation to nearly 1 million.
The justices lifted a lower-court order that kept humanitarian parole protections in place for more than 500,000 migrants from four countries: Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The decision comes after the court allowed the administration to revoke temporary legal status from about 350,000 Venezuelan migrants in another case.
The court did not explain its reasoning in the brief order, as is typical on its emergency docket. Two justices publicly dissented.
The administration filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court after a federal judge in Boston blocked the administration’s push to end the program. The Justice Department argues that the protections for people fleeing turmoil in their home countries were always meant to be temporary, and the Department of Homeland Security has the power to revoke them without court interference.
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said the Biden-era policies weren’t in line with immigration law. “We are confident in the legality of our actions to protect the American people and look forward to further action from the Supreme Court to vindicate us,” she said.
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US measles cases rise slightly as Colorado reports a new outbreak
Measles cases inched up slightly in the U.S. this past week, with a new county impacted in Texas and Colorado reporting a new outbreak.
There are 1,088 confirmed measles cases in the U.S., up 42 from last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Texas, where the nation's biggest outbreak raged during the late winter and spring, reported 10 additional cases this week for a total of 738.
There are three other major outbreaks in North America.
One in Ontario, Canada, has resulted in 1,888 cases from mid-October through May 27. Another in Alberta, Canada, has sickened 628 as of Thursday. And the Mexican state of Chihuahua had 1,693 measles cases and three deaths as of Wednesday, according to data from the state health ministry.
Since the outbreak in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma began, two elementary school-aged children in the epicenter in West Texas and an adult in New Mexico have died of measles. All were unvaccinated.
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Wall Street glides to the end of its best month since 2023
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street closed its winning week and month with a quiet Friday following a mixed set of profit reports from Gap, Ulta Beauty and other companies navigating the challenges created by President Donald Trump’s on-and-off tariffs.
The S&P 500 finished the day nearly unchanged after edging down by less than 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 54 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3%.
Gap weighed on the market even though the retailer reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
The company behind Banana Republic and Old Navy fell 20.2% after saying tariffs on imports from China and other countries could add up to $300 million to its costs this fiscal year. It has strategies set to mitigate up to half of that before it hits its profits.
This week and month on Wall Street have been dominated by questions about what will happen with Trump’s tariffs, which investors worry could grind the economy into a recession, slash companies’ profits and layer even more challenges on households already sick of inflation.
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Hamas says it is still reviewing a US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas said Friday it was still reviewing a U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where 27 people were killed in new Israeli airstrikes, according to hospital officials.
The ceasefire plan, which has been approved by Israeli officials, won a cool initial reaction Thursday from the militant group. But President Donald Trump said Friday negotiators were nearing a deal.
“They’re very close to an agreement on Gaza, and we’ll let you know about it during the day or maybe tomorrow,” Trump told reporters in Washington. Late in the evening, asked if he was confident Hamas would approve the deal, he told reporters: “They’re in a big mess. I think they want to get out of it.”
U.S. negotiators have not publicized the terms of the proposal. But a Hamas official and an Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, said Thursday that it called for a 60-day pause in fighting, guarantees of serious negotiations leading to a long-term truce and assurances that Israel will not resume hostilities after the release of hostages, as it did in March.
In a terse statement issued a few hours before Trump spoke, Hamas said it is holding consultations with Palestinian factions over the proposal it had received from U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.
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Bloodhounds hunting 'Devil in the Ozarks' fugitive are seen as key part of manhunt
A bloodhound picked up the scent shortly after the “ Devil in the Ozarks ” escaped from a lockup in northern Arkansas. The hound didn't have to go far to begin the hunt — it lives at the prison as part of a specialized unit that uses man's best friend to help track fugitives.
Although the scent of convicted killer Grant Hardin was lost because of heavy rain, experts say that even days after Sunday's escape, the animal's highly developed sense of smell can still pick up a fresh trail.
That’s partly due to about 300 million cells in their nose that supercharges their sense of smell, said Terri Heck, a Bloodhound handler and trainer who works with the Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney’s Office.
They’ve got wide nostrils to scoop up smells, and their long ears often work to stir up scents as they drag along the ground. Even their drool plays a role, as that wetness wakes up scents, Heck said.
Bloodhounds are known for being tenacious trackers, said Brian Tierney, president of the National Police Bloodhound Association. They're playing a key role in the search for Hardin, now in its sixth day.
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Smokey Robinson was investigated for sexual assault allegation in 2015 but no charges were filed
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities investigated a previous sexual assault allegation against Smokey Robinson in 2015, but no charges were filed because of insufficient evidence, prosecutors said Friday.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office confirmed the decade-old investigation and its decision to decline charges in a statement on Friday. The office said no details could be provided because of the current investigation of Robinson.
Four former housekeepers of the singer-songwriter and Motown music luminary have alleged that he raped and sexually assaulted them between 2007 and 2024. The women filed a lawsuit on May 6, then the following week the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department revealed that its Special Victims Bureau was “actively investigating criminal allegations” against Robinson.
Robinson's attorney Christopher Frost said in a statement Friday that they are “pleased" that the district attorney “confirmed there was no basis to file charges a decade ago.”
"One unfortunate aspect of celebrity is that it is not uncommon to be the target of spurious and unsubstantiated allegations," Frost said. "Mr. Robinson looks forward to the conclusion of the current investigation, and has no doubt that a similar determination will be reached here.”
News from © The Associated Press, 2025