National News

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…