BRASILIA, Brazil -- Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro plans to put a four-month ban on fires in the Amazon and Pantanal regions in response to criticism from international investors and Brazilian companies about a surge in deforestation.

The decree is being drafted by the Environment Ministry, with a start date yet to be decided. Last year, the...Read more

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's apparent proposal that future coronavirus aid for schools be tied to students, rather than school districts, has drawn rebukes from key Democrats.

"He wants to increase funding in CARES four for education, but he's looking at potentially redirecting that to make sure it goes to the student, and it is most ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The task forces created to forge a united platform from the policies of Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders largely sidestepped the most sweeping proposals at the core of Sanders' presidential campaign.

In a 110-page document released Wednesday, the task forces offered hundreds of policy recommendations that will be submitted to the ...Read more

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Tension soared across Serbia as violent protests that began in response to the government's COVID-19 lockdown plan transformed Wednesday night into a broader fury against President Aleksandar Vucic.

"We have a situation that can be only described as pure violence seeking to violently take over without the will of the people,...Read more

JOHANNESBURG -- Ivory Coast Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, 61, has died shortly after attending a Cabinet meeting at the presidential palace in Abidjan on Wednesday afternoon, President Alassane Ouattara said.

Ouattara described Coulibaly as his "closest collaborator" for 30 years, as he presented his condolences to the statesman's "large...Read more

Sen. Duckworth doesn't back down on military promotions after Vindman retirement

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Tammy Duckworth will keep her hold on over 1,100 military promotions in place despite Wednesday's announcement of the retirement of Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, a key witness in the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

The Illinois Democrat ...Read more

Months after President Donald Trump fought with governors over how quickly to reopen stores, restaurants and workplaces closed by the pandemic, another battle with seismic economic ramifications is developing: whether and how students should return to classrooms.

The president said in tweets Wednesday that his own administration had issued ...Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy has determined that Cuba and Venezuela are "foreign adversaries" that might target the U.S. electrical grid, as the agency works to implement an executive order signed in May by President Donald Trump.

The executive order aims at securing the bulk-power system -- the facilities and control systems necessary for ...Read more

The top health official in Tulsa, Oklahoma, said that President Donald Trump's June 20 campaign rally and accompanying protests likely boosted the number of coronavirus infections in the area.

"We do have the highest number of cases, and we've had the significant events in the past few weeks that more than likely contributed to that," Tulsa ...Read more

MIAMI -- More than 30,000 Cuban Americans have signed a petition requesting that President Donald Trump reverse a decree issued in June to suspend immigration from the island -- including family reunifications -- until the end of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"This proclamation is separating families, a lot of children, parents, ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The Census Bureau will plan a "final push" outreach effort this month to encourage many communities that haven't responded to the census to do so, the agency said Wednesday during an update of plans amid a coronavirus pandemic that continues to spike in pockets throughout the country.

"The campaign will be nationwide but will have...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- The coronavirus is spreading at one of the California's favorite summer destinations: South Lake Tahoe.

The South Lake Tahoe region has reported a per-capita infection rate, over the last 14 days, of 169 new coronavirus cases for every 100,000 residents, exceeding the state's goal of fewer than 100 cases per 100,000, said Dr. ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- For the first time in nearly 50 years, California condors have been spotted at Sequoia National Park, wildlife officials announced.

The majestic scavengers, the largest land bird in North America, with a 9.5-foot wingspan, once inhabited areas stretching from California to Florida and Western Canada to Northern Mexico. They were ...Read more

The old men live in cramped spaces and breathe the same ventilated air. Many are frail, laboring with heart disease, liver and prostate cancer, tuberculosis, dementia. And now, with the coronavirus advancing through their ranks, they are falling one after the next.

This is not a nursing home, not in any traditional sense. It is California's ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Mexico's Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador once likened President Donald Trump to Hitler. But on Wednesday, it was smiles and handshakes as the two leaders held a day of meetings in the White House to celebrate a new trade agreement that both hope can salvage their respective economies, devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump and ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that a decision on reopening California schools this fall will be made by local education and health officials weighing the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, and emphasized that he won't be swayed by statements from President Donald Trump urging campuses to bring back students quickly.

The ...Read more

MOUNT STERLING, Ky. -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday said he fully backs coronavirus guidelines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is providing schools, a remarkably different stance than that of President Donald Trump.

Trump posted on Twitter Wednesday that he disagrees with the CDC guidelines for schools...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Several House members have reported paying for membership dues to luxurious social clubs from their campaign coffers, expenditures the Federal Election Commission automatically deems as prohibited personal use.

Rep. Terri A. Sewell's campaign spent more than $2,800 on dues to City Club Birmingham and $222 in similar fees to The ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- A lawsuit filed Wednesday against the Pennsylvania Parole Board contends that the state's ban on parole eligibility for inmates serving life sentences for second-degree or felony-murder convictions is cruel punishment and should be struck down.

The complaint, filed in Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg by the Abolitionist Law ...Read more