BEIJING — A Chinese doctor who got in trouble with authorities in the communist country for sounding an early warning about the coronavirus outbreak died Friday after coming down with the illness. The Wuhan Central Hospital said on its social media account that Dr. Li Wenliang, a 34-year-old ophthalmologist, was...
At Least Half of Iowa Results Expected Today, Dems Say
DES MOINES, Iowa — Democratic Party officials in Iowa planned to release a majority of the delayed caucus results by 5 p.m. EST, according to details shared with presidential campaigns on Tuesday. The news came as chaos and confusion hung over Iowa and the party scrambled to deliver the delayed...
Federal Reserve Proposes Loosening Rules on Bank Investments
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve approved a proposal Thursday to loosen a financial-crisis era rule that prevents banks from investing in venture capital funds. The proposal would affect the so-called “Volcker Rule," which was created after the 2008 financial meltdown. The rule bars banks from trading with government-insured deposits in an effort...
Wary of Irking China, Trump Offers Rosy Take on Virus Threat
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump had plenty to talk about during his latest big campaign rally, regaling a friendly crowd in New Jersey with his thoughts about impeachment, the economy, the border wall, local politics and much more. But the president was conspicuously quiet about one big issue that has...
High-Profile Housing Bill SB 50 Fails to Pass State Senate
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers have failed to pass the most ambitious proposal yet to combat a growing housing crisis in the nation's most populous state, voting down legislation twice in two days that would have overridden local zoning laws to let developers to build small apartment buildings in neighborhoods reserved...
Walters: Who Is Too Big to Fail?
Those to the left of the political centerline often complain — with good reason — about using taxpayer funds to bail out large corporations that are insolvent, or nearly so, due to mismanagement. The criticism erupted 41 years ago when the federal government saved Chrysler Motors from extinction and was...
NFL’s Saints Fight to Shield Emails in Catholic Abuse Crisis
NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints are going to court to keep the public from seeing hundreds of emails that allegedly show team executives doing public relations damage control for the area's Roman Catholic archdiocese to help it contain the fallout from a burgeoning sexual abuse crisis. Attorneys for...
California Asks for Surplus Federal Land to House Homeless
SACRAMENTO — California is asking the Trump administration to provide surplus federal land that could be used to build housing for the homeless, mirroring a new state program. Gov. Gavin Newsom sent the request in a letter Tuesday to U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson amid an ongoing...
Feds Allow Use of Opioid Funds to Stem Meth, Cocaine Surge
WASHINGTON — Alarmed by a deadly new twist in the nation's drug addiction crisis, the government will allow states to use federal money earmarked for the opioid epidemic to help growing numbers of people struggling with meth and cocaine. The little-noticed change is buried in a massive spending bill passed...
‘Days of God’: A Look at Iran’s Mounting Crisis
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran's supreme leader says his nation is living through “days of God.” The Islamic Republic has been reeling from one crisis to another, from the targeted killing by the United States of its top general to the Revolutionary Guard's accidental shootdown of a passenger plane...