VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo cancelled the Vatican bank's sole authority over investments held by the city-state on Monday, rolling back one of the financial reforms of his predecessor Francis. In a short decree, Leo said the Vatican bank, known officially as Institute for the Works of Religion, would no...
CHP Seizes $900,000 in Cocaine During Traffic Stop in Merced County
A routine traffic stop on Highway 99 led to a major narcotics seizure on Saturday night. Just after 9:30 p.m., a California Highway Patrol officer stopped a vehicle north of Applegate Road. During the stop, the officer requested assistance from a Central Division K9 team. A search of the vehicle...
US Supreme Court Girds for Culture Wars With LGBT, Guns and Race Cases
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court is set to wade back into the nation's culture wars during its new nine-month term that begins on Monday with a series of contentious cases on issues including transgender athletes, gay conversion therapy, guns and race. The first of these goes before the court...
WHO Estimates at Least 15 Million Teenagers Use E-Cigarettes Worldwide
At least 15 million people aged 13 to 15 use e-cigarettes globally, with young people on average nine times more likely to vape than adults in countries with data, the World Health Organization said on Monday. In its first global estimate of e-cigarette use, the WHO said more than 100 million...
Paramount Buys The Free Press, Ushering in a New Era at CBS News
Paramount said Monday that it was buying The Free Press, a digital news site founded as an alternative to traditional news organizations, and appointing its co-founder, Bari Weiss, as the editor-in-chief of CBS News. The purchase price was roughly $150 million in cash and Paramount stock, according to two people...
Gaza Peace Talks Are Set to Take Place in Egypt
Under pressure to end the war in the Gaza Strip after two brutal years of combat, negotiators for Israel and Hamas will meet Monday with mediators in Egypt to discuss a sweeping peace plan presented by President Donald Trump last week. Much still remains unresolved. The indirect talks between Israel...
Bitcoin Hovers Near All-Time High
NEW YORK — Bitcoin hovered near its record high on Monday as the world's largest cryptocurrency by market value continued to benefit from strong demand from investors. The rally in bitcoin since the start of the year has been underpinned by flows from institutional investors, friendlier policies of the administration...
Verizon Names Former PayPal Boss Dan Schulman as CEO
Verizon Communications on Monday named former PayPal boss Dan Schulman as its new CEO, replacing Hans Vestberg in a leadership transition aimed at steering the telecom giant through slowing growth in the wireless market. The move comes at a time when Verizon is battling rising competition against the backdrop of...
US Federal Shutdown Enters Sixth Day as Threat of Layoffs Looms
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government shutdown entered its sixth day on Monday, with President Donald Trump's Republicans and congressional Democrats still at an impasse and the White House threatening to ramp up pressure by ordering mass layoffs of federal workers. The Republican-led Senate was slated to vote again on dueling...
Union Urges Air Traffic Controllers to Remain on Job Despite Shutdown
NEWARK/WASHINGTON — The union representing more than 13,000 air traffic controllers on Monday urged workers to remain on the job during the ongoing partial government shutdown that requires them to work without pay. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association are holding...