Blog with slideshow

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas’ Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom have little in common ideologically, but the two have both been vocal supporters of an idea that’s been rapidly gaining bipartisan ground in the states: Students’ cellphones need to be banned during the school day. At least eight states have enacted such bans over the past two years, and proposals are being considered […]

La June Montgomery Tabron believes many Americans have a desire for racial healing. They just don’t know how to start. “It may sound mysterious or challenging,” said Montgomery Tabron, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s first woman and first Black CEO. “But it’s actually quite simple.” It starts, she says, with a conversation — with the sharing of stories between people of different backgrounds so they can better understand each other. So […]

TRACY, Calif. (AP) — Michel Bérrios left the United States a few days before the new year, giving President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign for mass deportations a small victory before they even started. A former leader of a Nicaraguan student uprising, Bérrios had been in the U.S. legally, with nearly a year remaining under President Joe Biden’s unprecedented use of humanitarian parole authority for citizens of certain vulnerable countries. But harsh […]

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly rose Thursday, following a rally on Wall Street driven by encouraging update on U.S. inflation. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.2% to 38,532.18. Bank of Japan data showed wholesale prices in Japan rose 3.8% in December last year compared to a year earlier, adding to pressures on the central bank to raise interest rates, possibly at a monetary policy meeting next week. Shares in […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many colleges accused of tolerating antisemitism on their campuses have been settling with federal civil rights investigators in the weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who urged a tougher response to campus protests against the war in Gaza. By settling with the Education Department, the schools close the cases against them as long as they meet the terms of the agreements, which mostly have required […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Staggered after one of the most destructive natural disasters in Southern California history, thousands of heartbroken families, burned-out business owners and beleaguered leaders across Los Angeles County are beginning to ponder another monumental task: rebuilding what was lost and charting a path forward. Alex Rosewood and nearly her entire family in Altadena, northeast of Los Angeles, lost their homes — her father, whom she and her […]

ALTADENA, Calif. (AP) — The warnings began on Saturday, Jan. 4. Our neighbor, a volunteer at the local sheriff’s station, texted that we should “batten down the hatches” for a “big windstorm.” From there, things moved fast. On Sunday, I put on a bowtie and tux to cover the red carpet at the Golden Globes. Tuesday morning, I drove from my home in Altadena toward the massive Pacific Palisades wildfire […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday over whether a Republican-controlled legislative committee’s rejection of a state agency rule that would ban the practice of “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ people was unconstitutional. The challenge comes amid the national battle over LGBTQ+ rights. It is also part of a broader effort by the Democratic governor, who has vetoed Republican bills targeting transgender high school […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Texas and Florida are growing rapidly. California, Illinois and New York are shrinking. With America’s population shifting to the South, political influence is seeping from reliably Democratic states to areas controlled by Republicans. Coming out of a presidential election where they lost all seven swing states, Democrats are facing a demographic challenge that could reduce their path to winning the U.S. House of Representatives or the White […]

By John O’Donnell and Victoria Waldersee FRANKFURT/BERLIN (Reuters) – Chinese officials and automakers are eyeing German factories slated for closure and are particularly interested in Volkswagen’s sites, a person with knowledge of Chinese government thinking told Reuters. Buying a factory would allow China to build influence in Germany’s prized auto industry, home to some of the oldest and most prestigious car brands, the person said. Chinese companies have invested across […]