GRIZZLY FLATS — A small wildfire swept through a mobile home park, leaving dozens of homes in ashes, the latest in a series of explosive blazes propelled by gusts that have torn through Northern California mountains and forests. The drought-parched region was expected to see red flag warnings for dangerously...
Was Biden Handcuffed by Trump’s Taliban Deal in Doha?
WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump’s administration signed a peace deal with the Taliban in February 2020, he optimistically proclaimed that “we think we’ll be successful in the end.” His secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, asserted that the administration was “seizing the best opportunity for peace in a generation.” Eighteen...
Police Probing Report of Explosive in Truck Near Capitol
WASHINGTON — Police were investigating a report Thursday of a possible explosive device in a pickup truck outside the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill and have evacuated multiple buildings on the sprawling Capitol complex, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. U.S. Capitol Police said officers were “responding...
US Jobless Claims Hit a Pandemic Low as Hiring Strengthens
WASHINGTON — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week for a fourth straight time to a pandemic low, the latest sign that America's job market is rebounding from the pandemic recession as employers boost hiring to meet a surge in consumer demand. The Labor Department reported Thursday...
Data of 40 Million Plus Exposed in Latest T-Mobile Breach
The names, Social Security numbers and information from driver's licenses or other identification of just over 40 million people who applied for T-Mobile credit were exposed in a recent data breach, the company said Wednesday. The same data for about 7.8 million current T-Mobile customers who pay monthly for phone...
GOP Recall Candidate Elder Releases Details on Finances
LOS ANGELES — Larry Elder, a talk radio host and Republican candidate in the California recall election that could remove Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom from office, reported income of more than $100,000 in the last year from business interests that included media and film companies and a string of political...
Years in the Making, R. Kelly Sex Abuse Trial Gets Underway
NEW YORK (AP) — R&B star R. Kelly is a predator who lured girls, boys and young women with his fame and dominated them physically, sexually and psychologically, a prosecutor said Wednesday, while a defense lawyer warned jurors they'll have to sift through lies from accusers with agendas to find...
Taliban Militants Violently Disperse Rare Afghan Protest
KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban militants attacked protesters Wednesday in eastern Afghanistan who dared to take down their banner and replace it with the country's flag, killing at least one person and fueling fears about how the insurgents would govern this fractious nation. While the Taliban have insisted they will respect...
Pentagon: US in Talks With Taliban to Ease Kabul Obstacles
WASHINGTON — Senior U.S. military officers at the Kabul airport are talking to Taliban commanders in the capital about Taliban checkpoints and curfews that have limited the number of Americans and Afghans able to enter the airport, the Pentagon said Wednesday. John Kirby, the chief Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that...
Costs of the Afghanistan War, in Lives and Dollars
At just short of 20 years, the now-ending U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan was America's longest war. Ordinary Americans tended to forget about it, and it received measurably less oversight from Congress than the Vietnam War did. But its death toll is in the many tens of thousands. And because...