WASHINGTON -- Officials in California are crying foul over a Trump administration plan to slash firefighting assistance payments to the state, which could amount to millions of dollars in lost income for fire departments.

The U.S. Forest Service, in turn, is accusing the local fire departments in the state of over-billing the federal government...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- A federal tax on soda could benefit the public good, according to an economic analysis released Monday.

"What we're trying to do is evaluate whether soda taxes are good or bad overall for society," said Dmitry Taubinsky, an assistant professor of economics at the University of California-Berkeley, and one of the authors of the ...Read more

PARIS -- The Eiffel Tower in Paris was closed on Monday afternoon after a person attempted to climb on the structure, a spokeswoman confirmed to dpa.

Broadcaster BFMTV reported that the person had been arrested by police while attempting to climb between the tower's second story and the top story, which is about 900 feet off the ground.

...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court turned down an appeal from the city of Newport Beach, Calif., on Monday, clearing the way for an excessive-force lawsuit against the police for shooting and killing a mentally ill young man who came running at them holding a pair of scissors.

The justices refused to shield the police from the lawsuit brought by ...Read more

BALTIMORE -- James Lomax had spent nearly half his life behind bars, and since coming home in January, he had told family he wanted a fresh start.

Recently released from the Jessup Correctional Institution after serving a 21-year-sentence for drug-related charges, Lomax wanted to spend time with his two daughters, who were young when he was ...Read more

CHICAGO -- Worshippers at a Lakeview East synagogue noticed broken glass on their way to Sunday morning services but didn't think anything of it.

Later that morning, they saw charred rags and realized there had been an arson attempt on Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation, according to Rabbi David Wolkenfeld.

"This synagogue is so central to...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The big question for the week is whether Congress will actually act on long-awaited disaster relief before lawmakers head out for Memorial Day.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said such a vote is on the floor agenda for this week, but as senators left Thursday afternoon for the weekend, there was still no final ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- More than half of the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee say their panel may eventually need to open an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump if his administration's efforts to stonewall congressional investigations continue.

CQ Roll Call talked to all but one of the 24 Democrats on the panel over the past two...Read more

Come, gather round and meet the 2020 Democratic candidates for president: There's Amy, Cory, Beto, Bernie, Pete.

And Biden, Inslee, Warren.

Also Tim Ryan, Eric Swalwell and Kamala Harris For The People.

Set aside the split over Medicare for All, or which of the White House contestants has the most fully realized plan to fight climate change. ...Read more

AUSTIN, Texas -- For Rep. Ilhan Omar, the Muslim-American freshman congresswoman from Minnesota who has been the object of a menacing tweet from President Donald Trump and the suggestion by Vice President Mike Pence that she be bounced from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, her weekend in Austin may be remembered as a relatively placid ...Read more

NEW DELHI -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling coalition is poised for victory in India's general elections, exit polls showed, which would give it another five years running the world's fastest-growing major economy despite a jobs crisis and struggling rural sector.

The polls released Sunday night showed his Bharatiya Janata Party-led ...Read more

CHICAGO -- A second case of measles in Cook County is the first in the city of Chicago and the eighth in the state of Illinois so far this year, according to health officials.

Elena Ivanova, a spokeswoman for the city of Chicago, confirmed the city's first case of measles in an email on Sunday. She said the patient "is an international traveler...Read more

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- President Donald Trump warned Iran not to threaten the U.S. or face ruinous consequences as tensions mount between Washington and Tehran.

"If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran," Trump said Sunday in a tweet. "Never threaten the United States again!"

The U.S. hastened the deployment of an aircraft ...Read more

ATLANTA -- Billionaire Robert F. Smith, who received an honorary doctorate at Morehouse College's Sunday morning graduation exercises, had already announced a $1.5 million gift to the school.

But during his remarks in front of the nearly 400 graduating seniors, the technology investor and philanthropist surprised some by announcing that his ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- President Trump on Sunday blasted the lone congressional Republican who has suggested the president has committed impeachable offenses, as party members -- even sometime critics -- closed ranks around the White House, denying that the evidence in the special counsel's report suggests Trump acted to obstruct justice.

The president,...Read more

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The number of pill abortions in Missouri decreased last year after the state began requiring pelvic exams on patients prior to the procedure, according to statistics from the Department of Health and Senior Services.

According to the state, Missouri doctors performed 359 pill abortions in 2018, down from at least 982 pill...Read more

NEW YORK -- Multiple transactions involving legal entities controlled by President Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner aroused the suspicion of anti-money laundering specialists at Deutsche Bank in 2016 and 2017, according to the New York Times.

The specialists recommended the matter be referred to a unit of the Treasury Department ...Read more