U.S. crops ready for picking, but farm workers in short supply It’s nearly apple-picking time in Washington’s Yakima Valley. Cherry season will be around for a few more weeks, and a bounty of other fruits and vegetables are maturing on branches and in fields.
“The orchards are big and beautiful,” said Dan Fazio, executive director of the Washington Farm Labor Association. More
Ebola virus re-emerges in Congolese conflict zone KINSHASA, Congo — At least four new cases of the Ebola virus have emerged in Congo’s northeast, just a week after an outbreak in the northwest was declared over, the country’s health ministry said Wednesday.
There was no indication the two outbreaks, separated by more than 1,553 miles, are related, Health Minister Dr. More
Trump pressures China with threat to crank up size of proposed tariffs WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday tried to increase pressure on China to change its trade practices by directing administration officials to consider more than doubling the size of proposed tariffs he has already threatened to slap on $200 billion in imports.
But the administration stopped short of actually making such a move, raising questions about whether it was a negotiating ploy in its widening trade war with China. More
Photographer joins bear hunt, but not to kill The largest grizzly hunt in the Lower 48 in more than 40 years is set to open next month in Wyoming, and more than 7,000 people applied for a chance to kill one of up to 22 bears. Among the tiny number of people who won the draw for permits is a wildlife photographer who has produced some of the most famous images of the area’s grizzlies.
Thomas Mangelsen, who has lived near Grand Teton National Park for four decades, said this week that he will use the permit to shoot bears as he’s always done – with a camera, not a gun. More
Sen. Collins says it’s ‘unbelievable’ that Trump wants to stop Russia probe Donald Trump called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to halt Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, ramping up his attacks on the probe as the president’s former campaign chairman goes on trial for unrelated criminal charges. More
Then-Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., arrived in Florida in February 2023 to help cement a conservative makeover at one of the nation’s Top 5 public universities.
The University of Florida had lured Sasse with an unusual $10 million, five-year contract, possibly the most lucrative ever for a public university president. Gov. Ron DeSantis applauded the selection of a fellow Republican, calling Sasse a “deep thinker on education policy.”
Then, in July, just 17 months into his contract at the Gainesville university, Sasse resigned, sparking a host of questions about what went wrong.
Sasse cited his wife’s deteriorating health as the reason for his departure.
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has reignited a debate that many thought had been long settled: Should women be allowed to serve their country by fighting on the front lines?
The former Fox News commentator has made it clear, in his own book and in interviews, that he believes men and women should not serve together in combat units.
David Welch and Allyson Versprille | (TNS) Bloomberg News
Members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team have told advisers they plan to make a federal framework for self-driving vehicles one of the Transportation Department’s priorities, according to people familiar with the matter.
If new rules enable wider deployment of cars without human controls, it will directly benefit Elon Musk, the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer and Trump mega-donor who’s become a powerful fixture in the president-elect’s inner circle.
By Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times (TNS)
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to execute mass deportations of immigrants in the U. S. illegally will involve the military and a national emergency declaration, he confirmed Monday.
In a Nov. 8 post on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, Tom Fitton, who leads the conservative legal group Judicial Watch, wrote: “GOOD NEWS: Reports are the incoming @RealDonaldTrump administration prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program.”
Trump responded early Monday: “TRUE!!!”
A spokesperson for the Trump transition team didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
During his first term, Trump bypassed Congress to divert Pentagon funds to expand the border wall by declaring a national emergency.
By SALLY ABOU ALJOUD
BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli airstrike slammed into a densely populated residential area in Lebanon’s capital near key government and diplomatic buildings late Monday, killing at least five people as the U. S. pressed ahead with cease-fire efforts.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said two missiles hit the area of Zoqaq al-Blat neighborhood – where local U.
By JOEY CAPPELLETTI
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Just a week after winning several of the nation’s largest Arab-majority cities, President-elect Donald Trump has filled top administration posts with staunch Israel supporters, including an ambassador to Israel who has claimed “there is no such thing as Palestinians.”
Meanwhile, the two Trump advisers who led his outreach to Arab Americans have not secured positions in the administration yet.
The selections have prompted mixed reactions among Arab Americans and Muslims in Michigan, which went for Trump along with all six other battleground states.