WASHINGTON D.C. (AP) — Facebook’s ambitious plan to create a financial eco-system based on a digital currency faces questions from lawmakers, as it’s shadowed by negative comments from President Donald Trump, his treasury secretary and the head of the Federal Reserve. Congress begins two days of hearings Tuesday on the currency planned by Facebook, to…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s racist tweets about four lawmakers of color (all times local): 2:25 p.m. The only black Republican in the U.S. Senate is criticizing President Donald Trump for tweets directed at four Democratic congresswomen of color. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said Monday that Trump had “interjected with unacceptable…
NEW ORLEANS, LA (AP) — Even though Tropical Depression Barry did not unleash catastrophic flooding in Louisiana, many across the Gulf Coast were urged to take heed of tornado and flash-flood warnings Monday as the storm moved north. Barry was downgraded from a tropical storm on Sunday afternoon but continued to pose a threat. Much…
New Orleans, LA (AP) Even as Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the Mississippi River’s levees held up when those in other parts of the city did not. But as Tropical Storm Barry threatened New Orleans with torrential rains that will test the city’s flood defenses this weekend, the height of the city’s river levees was the U.S.…
WASHINGTON D.C. (AP) — Some are watching old video of his previous testimony. Others are closely re-reading his 448-page report. And almost all are worrying about how they’ll make the most of the short time they’ll have for questioning. Robert Mueller, the Democrats know, will be tough to crack. The stern, reticent former FBI director…
RICHMOND, VA (AP) — Deep-pocketed interest groups and activists on both sides of the long-running fight over gun laws are gearing up for a major clash in Virginia, now a key election battleground in the issue after Republicans on Tuesday adjourned a special legislative session called by the governor to consider gun-control measures in the wake…
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — In a musty basement hall of an unassuming building nestled among modern high-rises in the heart of Tel Aviv, a few hundred spectators are kindly requested to turn off their cellphones. What makes the typical scene surreal is that they are asked to do so in Yiddish — the playful,…
NEW YORK, NY (AP) — Eleven years after letting Jeffrey Epstein off lightly with a once-secret plea deal, the U.S. government is taking another run at putting the wealthy sex offender behind bars with new sex-trafficking charges that law enforcement officials say involve allegations dating to the early 2000s. Epstein, arrested over the weekend, is…
LOS ANGELES, CA (AP) — A quake with a magnitude as large as 7.1 jolted much of California, cracked buildings, set fires, broke roads and caused several injuries, authorities and residents said. The quake — preceded by Thursday’s 6.4-magnitude temblor in the Mojave Desert — was the largest Southern California temblor in at least 20…
WASHINGTON D.C. (AP) — U.S. employers sharply stepped up their hiring in June, adding a robust 224,000 jobs, an indication of the economy’s durability after more than a decade of expansion. The strength of the jobs report the Labor Department issued Friday could complicate a decision for the Federal Reserve late this month on whether…