LONDON (AP) — Katrin Jakobsdottir, the leader of Iceland’s Left Green Movement, was named as the Nordic island nation’s prime minister Thursday after three parties formed a broad governing coalition in hopes of moving the country out of the cycle of crises that triggered three elections in the past four years. The coalition, which includes … Continue reading
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that electing a Democrat as Alabama’s next senator “would be a disaster,” making clear the success of his legislative agenda outweighs widespread GOP repulsion at the prospect of seating Republican Roy Moore, who is dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct. The allegations, including claims … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans rammed a $1.5 trillion overhaul of Americans’ business and personal income taxes through the U.S. House Thursday, edging the nation toward its biggest rewrite in three decades and President Donald Trump and the GOP toward their first major legislative triumph after 10 bumpy months of controlling government. However, the mostly party-line … Continue reading
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s former Republican House speaker has been hospitalized days after resigning his leadership position amid sexual harassment allegations. A statement from a family member Friday morning said Jeff Hoover had a heart-related issue and asked for privacy. Hoover, 57, acknowledged on Sunday that he was one of four lawmakers who … Continue reading
BONN, Germany (AP) — The Latest on a global climate conference in Bonn, Germany (all times local): 7:35 p.m. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he will urge leaders at climate talks in Bonn to respond to the latest alarming data by further cutting emissions, helping countries respond to climate shocks, and mobilizing the $100 billion … Continue reading
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A Virginia judge has dismissed two of the three felony counts against a prominent white nationalist charged after a torch-lit rally at the University of Virginia. Christopher Cantwell of Keene, New Hampshire, is accused of pepper-spraying a counterprotester during an Aug. 11 Charlottesville protest, a day before the much larger white … Continue reading
MADRID (AP) — The Latest on the Spain-Catalonia political crisis (all times local): 3 p.m. A Spanish official says that the government respects and obeys decisions taken by judges, after he was asked about the jailing of former Catalan officials in an investigation related to their push for secession. Government spokesman Inigo Mendez de … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of new U.S. homes jumped last month to the highest level since October 2007. It’s a sign that Americans, unable to find existing homes, are turning to new construction. The Commerce Department says new home sales leapt 18.9 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667,000, the most … Continue reading
BANGKOK (AP) — With Myanmar drawing condemnation for violence that has driven at least 370,000 Rohingya to flee the country, the government said Wednesday its leader Aung San Suu Kyi will skip this month’s U.N. General Assembly. Suu Kyi will miss the assembly, which opened Tuesday and runs through Sept. 25, in order to address … Continue reading
GENEVA (AP) — U.N.-mandated investigators said Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s air force conducted a sarin-gas attack in the spring that killed at least 83 civilians and sparked a retaliatory U.S. strike. The investigators also appealed to the U.S.-led coalition to better protect civilians as it strikes at Islamic State militants in the east. … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will kick off his lobbying effort for a tax overhaul at an event with a Midwestern manufacturing backdrop and some economic tough talk. The one thing missing? A detailed proposal. Instead, in Springfield, Missouri, Wednesday, Trump will give remarks that the White House said will focus on his “vision” … Continue reading
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron’s new government presented a security bill Thursday to beef up police powers amid extremist threats to Europe. Macron insists the bill discussed at a Cabinet meeting won’t infringe on freedoms, but rights groups fear France is heading for a permanent state of emergency. His government is seeking to … Continue reading
LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II outlined the British government’s legislative program in a speech to Parliament on Wednesday after the prime minister promised “humility” in negotiating Britain’s exit from the European Union following a disastrous election that cost the ruling Conservative Party its majority. The 91-year-old monarch carried on with her royal duties at … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from a landmark global climate agreement, a White House official said Wednesday, though Trump and aides were looking for “caveats in the language” related to the exit and had not made a final decision. Leaving the deal would fulfill a central campaign … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is “very close” to naming a new FBI director to replace the one he fired more than a week ago. Asked how close he is to making an announcement, Trump said, “soon.” During an Oval Office appearance with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Trump was … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local): 12:20 p.m. The Senate intelligence committee wants former FBI director James Comey to appear before the panel in both open and closed sessions. The committee said Wednesday that it is also asking Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe to give the committee any notes … Continue reading
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Chaos erupted in Venezuela this week during another round of protests against the socialist government, with buildings set afire, tear gas canisters lobbed back and forth, and at least three new deaths reported. Grisly videos captured much of Monday’s violence. In a video purporting to show the final moments of one … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — With U.S.-backed Iraqi forces battling to retake Mosul, officials from the 68-nation coalition fighting the Islamic State group are looking for ways to increase the pressure as planning intensifies on the next objective, dislodging the extremists from their self-declared capital in Syria. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis … Continue reading
JERUSALEM (AP) — Intel announced Monday it will spend more than $15 billion to acquire Mobileye, an Israeli company that develops technology that essentially gives computers a sense of their physical surroundings — the largest high-tech acquisition in the history of the Jewish State. Faced with limited natural resources, Israel has fostered a vibrant high-tech … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Organization of American States wants regional governments to suspend Venezuela from the Washington-based group unless general elections are held soon to break a political impasse that he said Tuesday, March 14, is destroying the country’s democracy. OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro made the request in a 75-page report … Continue reading
GENEVA (AP) â Playing down expectations, the U.N. envoy for Syria said Wednesday that he’s not expecting a breakthrough in the first U.N.-mediated peace talks between government representatives and the opposition in 10 months, rather hoping to build momentum toward peace after nearly six years of war. Staffan de Mistura spoke a day before convening … Continue reading
SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi forces advanced Monday into the southern outskirts of Mosul on the second day of a push to drive Islamic State militants from the city’s western half, as the visiting U.S. defense secretary met with officials to discuss the fight against the extremists. With aerial support from the U.S.-led … Continue reading
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The presidents of Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia will hold a summit soon to try to find ways to reconcile neighboring Libya’s rival political factions and stem the country’s chaos, diplomats said Monday. The summit was announced in Tunis after a new round of diplomatic efforts for Libya, where two rival administrations … Continue reading
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Famine has been declared in two counties of South Sudan, according to an announcement by the South Sudan government and three U.N. agencies, which says the calamity is the result of prolonged civil war and an entrenched economic crisis that has devastated the war-torn East African nation. The official classification of … Continue reading
BRUSSELS (AP) — After President Donald Trump’s raucous first month in office, Europeans have reacted with demonstrations, counter-barbs and sheer angst that a century of trans-Atlantic friendship may be sinking. “Too much has happened,” European Union leader Donald Tusk said Monday, “for us to pretend that everything is as it used to be.” The governments … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 