Current News
/ArcaMax
David Koch, Wichita son who influenced American politics, has died
WICHITA, Kan. -- David Koch, who along with his brother Charles ran Koch Industries for decades and became a household name in American politics, has died.
Koch was 79. Koch Industries said in a statement he died "after many years of fighting various illnesses."
Koch was born in Wichita. He was an executive at Koch Industries until he retired ...Read more
David Koch, industrialist who funded conservatives, dies at 79
David Koch, the industrialist and libertarian who used his fortune to transform American politics while also donating more than $1 billion to philanthropic causes, has died. He was 79.
The death was confirmed by Koch's spokeswoman Cristyne Nicholas.
Koch, whose net worth of about $59 billion in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index tied him with ...Read more
China to impose fresh tariffs on US goods, including cars
BEIJING -- China on Friday said it plans to impose tariffs on an additional $75 billion worth of U.S. goods imported into the country.
The tariffs will range between 5% and 10% and be implemented in two phases on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council has announced.
In a separate announcement, China said it ...Read more
This rat is foiling developers' plans to capitalize on a weaker Endangered Species Act
Southern California developers have long sought relief from regulations protecting wildlife, and earlier this month the Trump administration obliged, formally moving to weaken the federal Endangered Species Act.
But any boon for business could be short-lived -- California is stepping in to protect species left vulnerable by federal rollbacks.
...Read more
Why Kamala Harris is stuck in neutral
WASHINGTON -- She's taken a nose-dive in polling, struggled to hit her stride on an overarching message -- and now donors are beginning to wonder about her long-term viability.
Kamala Harris' presidential campaign is suddenly confronting a crossroads.
Having slid back to fourth place in most presidential primary polls, Harris is facing a core ...Read more
Calif. Gov. Newsom weighs a pardon for immigrant who shot her husband
MARYSVILLE, Calif. -- Liyah Birru shot and injured her husband after what she says was months of physical abuse. Now she is being processed for deportation to her home country of Ethiopia.
She has one last hope to stay in the United States: California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Newsom has been giving heightened consideration to pardon requests from ...Read more
California to sue Trump administration over new migrant children detention policy, Newsom says
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that California will join other states in filing a new lawsuit as early as next week that seeks to block the Trump administration's efforts to indefinitely detain immigrant minors and families with children.
"It's an assault on the Flores decision," Newsom said of the administration's new ...Read more
No more 'convicts' or 'felons' if San Francisco passes criminal justice language proposal
San Francisco's Board of Supervisors wants to sanitize language in the criminal justice system.
In a proposal to the city and county of San Francisco, words like "felon," "offender," "convict" and "parolee" would be swapped for what's described as people-first language -- phrases that strip any objectification or pejorative descriptions for ...Read more
Southern California must plan for 1.3 million new homes in the next decade, Newsom says
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Cities and counties in Southern California will have to plan for the construction of 1.3 million new homes in the next decade, a figure more than three times what local governments had proposed over the same period, according to a letter released by state housing officials Thursday.
The decision is sure to intensify a ...Read more
LA revisits limits to sidewalk sleeping
LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles has long been locked in battles over where and how people can bed down on its streets and sidewalks -- a debate that has played out for decades in City Hall, in the courts and on avenues lined with squalid tents and bedrolls.
The city has been brushed back in court by homeless advocates, who argue that it is cruel and...Read more
Latest wave of repression in Cuba targets journalists, artists and videogamers
These days it is not necessary to be a dissident to be arrested in Cuba. Just using a Cuban flag or playing on an intranet with your friends can get you in trouble with the authorities.
Users of SNET, a wireless network created on the island by videogame enthusiasts, have complained on social networks how the state security apparatus has ...Read more
Who will lead Italy out of its crisis? Here are the key players
ROME -- The latest political crisis in Italy -- a country that has averaged about one government a year since World War II -- is steeped in betrayal and manipulation worthy of a classic Italian opera.
The most recent administration of the Five Star Movement and the anti-immigrant League Party lasted just 14 months, collapsing in acrimony when ...Read more
YouTube closes 210 accounts tied to Hong Kong influence campaign
SAN FRANCISCO -- Google said it disabled 210 YouTube channels involved in "coordinate influence operations" around the Hong Kong protests, following similar measures earlier this week by social media companies Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc.
The Alphabet Inc. unit didn't specify which channels were shut down in Thursday's blog post announcing ...Read more
Former members of Trump's Doral golf club may wait the rest of their lives for refunds from the president
MIAMI -- Golfers who quit their memberships at Trump National Doral after the property's namesake became president were aiming to lose their link to a man they do not support. Turns out they could be waiting for Trump to pay them back for the rest of their lives.
Two longtime golf members who resigned weeks after Trump won the 2016 presidential...Read more
Stranded migrant rescue ship Ocean Viking running out of food
ROME -- The Ocean Viking, a migrant rescue ship stranded for nearly two weeks between Italy and Malta, is running low on food supplies, the Doctors Without Borders charity said Thursday.
Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, operates the ship with SOS Mediterranee, another aid group.
"Only 5 days of standard food rations left, says #MSF logistician...Read more
Mexican actor Pablo Lyle takes the stand, but judge refuses to dismiss road-rage death case
MIAMI -- Pablo Lyle earned his fame starring in Mexican telenovelas, but took to a different type of stage Thursday, testifying that he had no choice but to deliver the punch that ultimately killed a man during a road-rage confrontation in Miami.
"I saw this man attacking our car with my kids in it. I was actually trying to stop my kids from ...Read more
Feeling bipartisan heat, Trump backs off foreign aid cuts
WASHINGTON -- Succumbing to bipartisan pressure, the White House abandoned plans Thursday to cut billions of dollars from the State Department budget for foreign aid, several officials said.
A proposal to freeze as much as $4 billion in aid approved by Congress was under consideration by Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and ...Read more
Nation and world news briefs
4 wounded in downtown LA shooting near police station
LOS ANGELES -- Four people were wounded in a shooting in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon and police were searching for a man and a woman suspected in the attack.
Gunfire erupted shortly after noon in San Julian Park, where homeless people often congregate, according to the LAPD. ...Read more
Devin Nunes will get a day in court against Twitter this week. Will the case be dismissed?
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Devin Nunes' lawsuit against social media giant Twitter is scheduled for its first hearing in a Virginia courtroom on Friday, and it might be its last.
Experienced defamation lawyers in Virginia say Nunes, a California Republican, could face trouble keeping the case alive against the San Francisco-based company in their state...Read more
4 wounded in downtown LA shooting near police station
LOS ANGELES -- Four people were wounded in a shooting in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon and police were searching for a man and a woman suspected in the attack.
Gunfire erupted shortly after noon in San Julian Park, where homeless people often congregate, according to the LAPD. The park is one block east of the Police Department's ...Read more
Popular Stories
- Storming Area 51 started as a joke. But it's a mystery as to how many will show up
- Philadelphia man dies by suicide after video goes viral of him defending relationship with trans girlfriend, friends say
- In the 'Danish Capital of America,' Trump's desire to buy Greenland gets a collective shrug
- Former Congressman Joe Walsh says he's weighing bid to challenge Trump for 2020 GOP nomination
- More than $1 million in cocaine found in banana shipments to Safeway stores in Western Washington
Social Connections
Comics
