National News

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans early Thursday unveiled a new, stripped-down spending bill to prevent a government shutdown this weekend and allow quarreling lawmakers to punt most of their unfinished business into the new year. The bill would stave off a government shutdown through Jan. 19 and permit lawmakers to head…

By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — It was a victory lap so irresistible that Speaker Paul Ryan did it twice. When the House approved the $1.5 trillion Republican tax bill Tuesday and again Wednesday with minor changes, it was a beaming Ryan who emphatically pounded the gavel, announced the vote and applauded his bellowing…

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER and MARCY GORDON, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Jubilant Republicans pushed on early Wednesday to the verge of the most sweeping rewrite of the nation's tax laws in more than three decades, a deeply unpopular bill they insist Americans will learn to love when they see their paychecks in the new year. President…

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A man convicted of leading an Islamic State-inspired plot to behead a conservative blogger who upset muslims when she organized a prophet muhammad cartoon contest was sentenced on Tuesday to 28 years in prison. David Wright sobbed as he apologized to blogger Pamela Geller, law enforcement and…

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER and MARCY GORDON, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Gleeful Republicans on Tuesday muscled the most sweeping rewrite of the nation's tax laws in more than three decades through the House. House Speaker Paul Ryan dismissed criticism of the widely unpopular package and insisted "results are what's going to make this popular." The vote,…