BEIRUT — Thousands of documents purportedly collected from abandoned Syrian government offices during the country's civil war reveal the reach of President Bashar Assad's shadowy, labyrinthine security agencies as they spied on the population at large, sought to eliminate dissidents at all cost and systematically persecuted the Kurdish minority even...
US Sanctions to Hit Iran’s Metals Industry, a Major Employer
TEHRAN, Iran — U.S. sanctions have targeted Iran's government, its paramilitary forces and the oil exports that fund them. Now they are hitting its vital steel, aluminum, copper and iron industries. The new sanctions, imposed as Tehran announced its partial withdrawal from its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, seem...
Government to House More Migrants in Tents at the Border
EL PASO, Texas — About 50 asylum seekers stood this week in a circle near a bridge between the U.S. and Mexico to hear an American attorney explain what would happen to them when they entered U.S. custody. The attorney, Jodi Goodwin, told them they would probably end up at...
Poll Finds Hunger for Change to US System of Government
After more than two years of the Donald Trump presidency, Andrea Petrusky is ready for some fundamental changes in the way the United States government works. "Right now we're being shown all of the loopholes, the president being able to do all the things that no president should," said Petrusky,...
Afghan Leader Holds Council to Set Agenda for Taliban Talks
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan's president opened a grand council on Monday of more than 3,200 Afghans seeking to agree on a common approach to peace talks with the Taliban, but the gathering may further aggravate divisions within the U.S.-backed government. President Ashraf Ghani hopes to showcase unity at the four-day...
Court Sets Hearing on Trump Administration's Asylum Policy
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court on Wednesday scheduled a hearing over whether to stop the Trump administration from forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their immigration court hearings. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set a hearing for April 24 in San Francisco over whether...
FCC to Hold Big 5G Auction, Spend $20B for Rural Internet
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government will hold a massive auction later this year to bolster 5G service, the next generation of mobile networks. President Donald Trump showcased the announcement Friday, declaring that the race to stand up these faster, more powerful networks is a competition "America must win." "We cannot allow...
Walters: Bond Issue Transparency Still Under Assault
Two years ago, in a rare display of support for transparency in government finance, the Legislature and then-Gov. Jerry Brown required local governments and school districts to tell voters how proposed bond issues would affect their property taxes. That would seem to be just common sense and good government, but...
US Declares Iran's Guard Force a 'Terrorist Organization'
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Monday that the U.S. is designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard a "foreign terrorist organization," in an effort to increase pressure on the country that could have significant diplomatic implications in the Middle East. It is the first time that the U.S. has designated a part...
US Declares Drought Plan Done for Colorado River
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Seven states that rely on a major waterway in the U.S. West have finished a yearslong effort to create a plan to protect the Colorado River amid a prolonged drought, the federal government declared Tuesday. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman commended Arizona, California, Nevada, New...