U.S. stocks took heavy losses Thursday spurred by falling technology shares and President Trump’s announcement of tariffs on China. The Dow Jones industrial average fell as much as 1,200 points before noon Thursday, a 2 percent drop. The Nasdaq fell roughy 1.9 percent, while the Standard and Poor’s 500 index slid 1.7 percent. Word of Trump’s planned tariffs on China exacerbated investor fears that the White House would trigger a trade war that would derail economic growth. Read more at The Hill.
The House Intelligence Committee on Thursday voted along party lines to release its controversial, Republican-authored report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, bookending a year of contentious committee infighting. The report will not immediately be made public. It must first be sent to the intelligence community for a declassification review. Read more at The Hill.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's lead lawyer in the special counsel's Russia investigation has resigned amid a shake-up of the president's team, an exit that removes the primary negotiator and legal strategist who had been molding Trump's defense. The departure of attorney John Dowd comes as the president has personally intensified his attacks on the special counsel and just days after the Trump legal team added a new lawyer, former U.S. attorney Joseph diGenova, who has alleged on television that FBI officials were involved in a "brazen plot" to exonerate Hillary Clinton in the email investigation and to "frame" Trump for nonexistent crimes. Dowd confirmed his decision in an email Thursday to The Associated Press, saying, "I love the President and wis...
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was ready to hit China with billions of dollars in trade sanctions Thursday for stealing American technology and pressuring U.S. companies to hand it over. Farmers, electronics retailers and other U.S. businesses braced for a backlash as the Chinese government vowed to take "all necessary measures" to defend itself in an emerging economic showdown. The expected penalties include restrictions on Chinese investment and tariffs on as much as $60 billion worth of Chinese products. Financial markets edged downward ahead of the announcement. Dozens of industry groups sent a letter last weekend to Trump warning that "the imposition of sweeping tariffs would trigger a chain reaction of negative consequences for the U.S. economy, provoking retaliatio...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional leaders have finalized a sweeping $1.3 trillion budget bill that substantially boosts military and domestic spending but leaves behind young immigrant "Dreamers," deprives President Donald Trump some of his border wall money and takes only incremental steps to address gun violence. As negotiators stumbled toward an end-of-the-week deadline to fund the government or face a federal shutdown, House Speaker Paul Ryan dashed to the White House amid concerns Trump's support was wavering. Although some conservative Republicans balked at the size of the spending increases and the rush to pass the bill, the White House said the president backed the legislation. Trump himself sounded less than enthused, tweeting late Wednesday: "Had to waste money on Dem ...
SAN BRUNO, Calif. (AP) — YouTube has tightened its restrictions on firearms videos. The video-serving network owned by Google is banning videos that provide instructions on how to make a firearm, ammunition, high-capacity magazines, and accessories such as bump stocks and silencers. The ban includes showing viewers how to install the accessories or modifications. YouTube also prohibits content about the sale of guns or firearm accessories. The policy comes weeks after a mass shooting at a Florida high school left 17 people dead. The National Sports Shooting Foundation says such restrictions "impinge on the Second Amendment." The group worries about the potential for blocking "educational content" that instructs and improves skills.
NEW YORK (AP) — Toy company executive Isaac Larian and other investors have pledged a total of $200 million and hope to raise four times that amount in crowdfunding in a bid to save potentially more than half of the 735 Toys R Us stores that will go dark in bankruptcy proceedings. The unsolicited bid faces a number of hurdles like finding other deep-pocketed investors, as well as getting a bankruptcy judge to approve such an unusual plan. It is the first known plan to keep the Toys R Us brand alive. The long-shot bid would be a huge benefit to Larian. Nearly 1 in every 5 sales made by Bratz doll-maker MGA Entertainment, where Larian is CEO, is rung up at a Toys R Us store. Larian says he and the other investors, which he declined to name, believe that saving part of Toys R Us will...
NEW YORK (AP) — The latest nor'easter lost some punch as it rolled into New England on Thursday, as millions of others in the Northeast dug out from the storm that dumped more than a foot of snow in some places, knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers and had many wishing for more spring-like weather. "We're supposed to be getting ready for Easter, not a nor'easter," said 46-year-old Raeme Dempsey, as her 6-year-old daughter, Jadalynn, pulled her toward a Philadelphia park so they could see the trees blanketed in freshly fallen snow. Long Island took a hard hit, with Bay Shore and Patchogue leading the way with 19 inches of snow. While some parts of Pennsylvania saw more than a foot of snow, major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor saw much less. New...
PRAGUE (AP) — An explosion rocked a chemical factory Thursday in the Czech Republic, killing six people and injuring two others, officials said. Unipetrol, a Czech oil processor and plastics producer, said the blast took place inside one of the storage tank for fuels and additives in its refinery in the town of Kralupy nad Vltavou, 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of the capital Prague. It was not immediately clear what caused the blast. A Kralupy town crisis manager, Lukas Hodik, said the explosion seemed to occur when workers were cleaning an empty tank. Regional firefighters confirmed that six people were killed and that the two injured were sent to the hospital. Spokesman Petr Svoboda said there was no danger of further explosions at the site. No dangerous substances have leak...
LIMA, Peru (AP) — He took office in 2016 as a political outsider boasting that his strong business credentials would buoy Peru's economy while sweeping away endemic corruption. But with his offer of resignation, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski joins a long list of recent Peruvian presidents undone by scandals that have destroyed voters' trust in their elected officials. Kuczynski, flanked by his cabinet, announced his decision to resign Wednesday in a nationally televised address, accusing opponents led by the daughter of former strongman Alberto Fujimori of plotting his overthrow for months and making it impossible to govern. Shortly after, he exited the back door of the baroque presidential palace built by Spanish conquerors and was driven off, all alone, in an SUV. Congress was...
BRUSSELS (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May urged European Union leaders on Thursday to unite and condemn Russia, as Moscow slammed the U.K. as untrustworthy in its investigation of the poisoning of a former spy. Amid a heated war of words between London and Moscow, Russia's ambassador to the U.K., Alexander Yakovenko, said his country "can't take British words for granted," and accused the U.K. of having a "bad record of violating international law and misleading the international community." "History shows that British statements must be verified," he told reporters in London. "We demand full transparency of the investigation and full cooperation with Russia" and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Britain says it is complying with the inte...
PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — Already heightened security was being bolstered Thursday at the Florida high school that became the scene of a massacre last month, with Gov. Rick Scott ordering eight highway patrol troopers to help secure the grounds. The move came after the shooting suspect's brother was arrested on campus, two students were caught carrying knives and another made online threats. Also, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students will be given clear backpacks they'll be required to use when they return from spring break on April 2. Broward County school district Superintendent Robert Runcie told parents in a two-page letter that metal detectors also may be installed soon, and he outlined other security upgrades including student ID badges and a district-wide effor...
BOSTON (AP) — Longtime Boston television personality and entertainer Frank Avruch, who was the star of the popular children's TV program "Bozo the Clown," has died. He was 89. Avruch died Tuesday at his Boston home from heart disease, his family said in a statement to WCVB-TV . Avruch played Bozo the Clown from 1959 to 1970, a clown character particularly popular in the U.S. in the 1960s because of widespread franchising in television. Avruch became the first nationally-syndicated Bozo the Clown. "He had a heart of gold," manager Stuart Hersh told The Associated Press on Wednesday, "He brought the Bozo the Clown character to life better than anyone else's portrayal of Bozo the Clown." Avruch also was a contributor to WCVB-TV for more than 40 years as a host of...
Silence is a source of great strength - Lao Tzu The speaking voice always betrays itself.  By which I mean, the person talking always “gives himself away.”  Let the speaker be glib, complimentary, diplomatic.  The more he speaks, the more the truth will out.  He will be unmasked.  This is even more true of the one who is harsh, crass, speaks in curses and blasphemes.  The voice, the speaking, is our vulnerability. Silence is a difficult argument to counter. * * * We learn that silence is a great virtue save on one night of the year; on that night we are to speak – and to speak at length!  “You shall tell your child on that day…”  On Pesach night, we are to tell the great story of our redemption.  “...
NEW YORK (AP) — Breaking five days of silence, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized for a "major breach of trust," admitted mistakes and outlined steps to protect user data in light of a privacy scandal involving a Trump-connected data-mining firm. "I am really sorry that happened," Zuckerberg said of the scandal involving data mining firm Cambridge Analytica. Facebook has a "responsibility" to protect its users' data, he said in a Wednesday interview on CNN. If it fails, he said, "we don't deserve to have the opportunity to serve people." His mea culpa on cable television came a few hours after he acknowledged his company's mistakes in a Facebook post , but without saying he was sorry. Zuckerberg and Facebook's No. 2 executive, Sheryl Sandberg, ha...
GREAT MILLS, Md. (AP) — A teenager used his father's legally-owned handgun in an attack inside his high school in Maryland, police said Wednesday. Austin Rollins, 17, was killed Tuesday morning at Great Mills High School when a school resource officer fired off a shot at the attacker. It was not yet clear whether Rollins took his own life with his father's semi-automatic Glock handgun or was killed by the officer's bullet. Investigators with the St. Mary's County sheriff's office said Rollins shot a 16-year-old girl in a hallway within minutes of entering the high school. Rollins and the girl had recently ended a relationship. "All indications suggest the shooting was not a random act of violence," police said in a statement. A 14-year-old boy who was sho...
PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (AP) — A 25-minute cellphone video left behind by the bomber whose deadly explosives terrorized Austin for weeks details the differences among the weapons he built and amounts to a confession, police said. But his motive remains a mystery. Mark Anthony Conditt, an unemployed college dropout who bought bomb-making materials at Home Depot, recorded the video hours before he died after detonating one of his own devices as SWAT teams closed in. It seemed to indicate the 23-year-old knew he was about to be caught, said Austin Police Chief Brian Manley. "It is the outcry of a very challenged young man talking about challenges in his own life," Manley said of the recording, which authorities declined to release amid the ongoing investigation. Conditt was tracked down ...
Congressional leaders reached a tentative $1.3 trillion spending deal Wednesday to keep government agencies operating through September, unveiling legislation that would make good on President Trump’s promises to increase military funding while blocking much of his immigration agenda. The release of the 2,000-plus-page bill Wednesday evening, after a two-day delay, touched off a legislative sprint as lawmakers try to pass it before Friday night, the deadline to avoid a government shutdown. And with a key senator unwilling to say whether he would agree to accelerate the deal’s consideration, it remained uncertain whether they would be able to meet the challenge. There were other plot twists as the deal came together: As aides hashed out its final details on Wednesday afternoon...
Congress dealt a blow to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ school choice agenda in a tentative spending bill released late Wednesday, rejecting her attempt to spend more than $1 billion promoting choice-friendly policies and private school vouchers. DeVos had sought to cut Education Department funding by $3.6 billion – about 5 percent. Among other cuts, she wanted to eliminate funding for after-school programs for needy youth and ax a grant program that helps low-income students go to college in favor of spending more than $1 billion to promote charter schools, magnet schools and private school vouchers. Her proposal also outlined cuts to the Office for Civil Rights because the office had grown more efficient, she said, a move that outraged Democrats and civil rights groups. H...
The House approved “right-to-try” legislation on Wednesday that would bypass drug regulators and give critically ill patients access to experimental treatments, a victory for Republicans after the same bill got sidetracked last week. Debate over the bill, which passed the House 267 to 149, pitted Republican lawmakers, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence against Democrats, patient groups and four former commissioners of the Food and Drug Administration. Supporters described the measure as a compassionate effort to provide access to treatments that could extend the lives of the terminally ill. Opponents argued the bill would allow bad actors to exploit vulnerable patients using treatments with largely unknown effectiveness and side effects. (c) 2018, The Washi...
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