KARANGASEM, Indonesia (AP) — A volcano on the Indonesian island of Bali has rumbled to life with eruptions that dusted nearby resorts and villages with ash and forced the closure of the small international airport on neighboring Lombok island as towering gray plumes drifted east. Mount Agung erupted on Saturday evening and three times early … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Michigan Rep. John Conyers, under investigation over allegations he sexually harassed female staff members, said Sunday he will step aside as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee while fiercely denying he acted inappropriately during his long tenure in Congress. In a statement, the 88-year-old lawmaker made clear he would prefer … Continue reading
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — No kicker, no problem for the Philadelphia Eagles. Carson Wentz threw for two touchdowns and three 2-point conversions after Philadelphia lost kicker Jake Elliott to a head injury, and the Eagles all but wrapped up the NFC East with a 37-9 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night. The Eagles … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — In summer 1969, a scruffy ex-convict with a magnetic hold on young women sent some of his disciples into the night to carry out a series of gruesome killings in Los Angeles. In so doing, Charles Manson became the leering face of evil on front pages across America and rewrote the … Continue reading
ATLANTA (AP) — One of the nation’s largest domed stadiums collapsed Monday into a pile of jagged concrete and a vast cloud of dust in a scheduled implosion in downtown Atlanta. Nearly 5,000 pounds (2,270 kilograms) of explosives were used to blast the Georgia Dome in Atlanta to smithereens at 7:30 a.m. Onlookers gathered at … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday promised a tax overhaul by Christmas, a day after the White House signaled its willingness to strike a health care provision from Senate tax legislation if it’s an impediment to passing the tax bill. Speaking before a Cabinet meeting, Trump said: “We’re going to give the American … Continue reading
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Disguised Russian agents on Twitter rushed to deflect scandalous news about Donald Trump just before last year’s presidential election while straining to refocus criticism on the mainstream media and Hillary Clinton’s campaign, according to an Associated Press analysis of since-deleted accounts. Tweets by Russia-backed accounts such as “America_1st_” and “BatonRougeVoice” on … Continue reading
BEIJING (AP) — President Donald Trump set aside his blistering rhetoric in favor of friendly overtures to China on Thursday, trying to flatter his hosts into establishing a more balanced trade relationship and doing more to blunt North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. Winding down his two days in Beijing, Trump suggested that if the U.S. and … Continue reading
GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s weather and climate agency says 2017 is set to become the hottest year on record aside from those impacted by the El Nino phenomenon. The World Meteorological Organization says this year is already on track to be one of the three hottest years of all time, after 2015 and 2016, … Continue reading
TOKYO (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday refused to rule out eventual military action against North Korea and declared that the United States “will not stand” for Pyongyang menacing America or its allies. In his first stop of an extended trip in Asia, Trump stood with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a news … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — For years, Republican Rep. Mary Bono endured the increasingly suggestive comments from a fellow lawmaker in the House. But when the congressman approached her on the House floor and told her he’d been thinking about her in the shower, she’d had enough. She confronted the man, who she said still serves in … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Republican tax bill is meant to send trillions in corporate profits overseas pouring back home and, in the process, give the U.S. economy a healthy boost. It may be more likely to land with an economic thud and provide a windfall to tax attorneys scouring the Byzantine bill for tax … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — In ringing and personal terms, President Donald Trump on Thursday pledged that “we will overcome addiction in America,” declaring opioid abuse a national public health emergency and announcing new steps to combat what he described as the worst drug crisis in U.S. history. Trump’s declaration, which will be effective for 90 days … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump blocked the release of hundreds of records on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, bending to CIA and FBI appeals, while the National Archives came out Thursday night with a hefty cache of others. “I have no choice,” Trump said in a memo, citing “potentially irreversible harm” to … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped pay for political research into Donald Trump that ultimately produced a dossier of allegations about his ties to Russia, The Associated Press has learned. Trump has called the material “phony stuff,” and on Wednesday he portrayed himself as the aggrieved party. The … Continue reading
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The last two of eight prototypes for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall took shape Thursday at a construction site in San Diego. The prototypes form a tightly packed row of imposing concrete and metal panels, including one with sharp metal edges on top. Another has a surface resembling an expensive … Continue reading
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The death toll from a truck bombing in Somalia’s capital has risen above 300, the director of an ambulance service said Monday, as the fragile Horn of Africa nation reeled from the deadliest single attack it’s ever experienced. More people died of their wounds in the past few hours, said … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s executive order on health care (all times local): 11:15 p.m. Congressional Democratic leaders say it will be an act of “vast, pointless sabotage” if President Donald Trump halts payments to insurers under “Obamacare.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi reacted Thursday … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration’s new birth control rule is raising questions among some doctors and researchers, who say it overlooks known benefits of contraception while selectively citing data that raise doubts about effectiveness and safety. “This rule is listing things that are not scientifically validated, and in some cases things that are wrong, … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Each year, taxpayers subsidize America’s homeowners by roughly $70 billion, with the benefits flowing disproportionately to coastal areas with high incomes and pricey homes, from New York and Washington to Los Angeles and San Francisco. The subsidy for homeowners comes in the form of a deduction from their taxes for the interest … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill to clear away obstacles to a new era of self-driving cars is facing opposition from safety advocates who say it would give automakers free rein to put unsafe vehicles on the road. A Senate panel is scheduled to take up the measure on Wednesday. It would allow automakers to apply … Continue reading
BRUSSELS (AP) — Amazon has to pay $295 million in back taxes to Luxembourg, the European Union ordered Wednesday, in its latest attempt to tighten the screws on multinationals it says are avoiding taxes through sweetheart deals with individual EU states. Margrethe Vestager, the EU official in charge of antitrust issues, also took Ireland to … Continue reading
CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner ended months of speculation Thursday and signed legislation allowing state health insurance and Medicaid coverage for abortions, a reversal of the first-term Republican’s stance on the proposal last spring. The Legislature, which is run by Democrats, approved the measure in May but delayed sending it to Rauner until … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Republican plan to overhaul the tax code (all times local): 8:20 p.m. President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have unveiled the first major revamp of the nation’s tax code in a generation. The sweeping, nearly $6 trillion tax cut would deeply reduce levies for corporations, simplify everyone’s brackets … Continue reading
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Wednesday launched a two-year education campaign about the plight of migrants to counteract mounting anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. and Europe, urging the world: “Don’t be afraid!” Francis posed for selfies, shook hands, kissed babies and hugged migrants at the end of his weekly general audience, teaching by … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 