News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 2445
KEVIN FREKING and MARY CLARE JALONICK The Associated Press WASHINGTON - The Senate passed a $1.2 trillion package of spending bills in the early morning hours today, a long overdue action nearly six months into the budget year that will push any threats of a government shutdown to the fall. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. The vote was 74-24. It came after funding had expired for the agencies at midnight, but the White House sent out a notice sho...
ZEKE MILLER and SEUNG MIN KIM The Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden delivered a defiant argument for a second term in his State of the Union speech Thursday night, lacing into GOP front-runner Donald Trump for espousing “resentment, revenge and retribution” and for jeopardizing freedom at home and abroad. Reveling in the political moment, Biden fired multiple broadsides at “my predecessor” without ever mentioning Trump by name — 13 times in all — raising his voice repeatedly as he worked to quell voter c...
HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and NICK INGRAM The Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The mass shooting that unfolded amid throngs of people at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration appeared to stem from a dispute between several people, authorities said today. Police Chief Stacey Graves said that the 22 people injured in the shooting ranged between the ages of 8 and 47 years old, half of whom were younger than the age of 16. A mother of two was also killed. Three people were detained — including two juveniles — and firearm...
LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted Tuesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, with the Republican majority determined to punish the Biden administration over its handling of the U.S-Mexico border after failing last week in a politically embarrassing setback. The evening roll call proved tight, with Speaker Mike Johnson’s threadbare GOP majority unable to handle many defectors or absences in the face of staunch Democratic opposition to impeaching Mayorkas, the...
LISA MASCARO and STEPHEN GROVES The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said today the U.S. House will not feel “rushed” to pass the $95.3 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other allies, signaling a further stall over sending military hardware and munitions Kyiv badly needs to fight Russia. Johnson made the remarks behind closed doors at a morning meeting of House Republicans, who are in the majority in that chamber and largely aligned with Donald Trump, the party’s preside...
JEFF AMY The Associated Press Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said Tuesday he will send more of his state’s National Guard soldiers to aid Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s effort to control illegal crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border, as fellow Republican Abbott pursues a showdown with the Biden administration over immigration enforcement. Other Republican-led are taking similar actions, a week after U.S. Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan-crafted bill to address illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexican border. Montana Gov. Greg Gia...
CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON - Consumer inflation in the United States cooled last month yet remained elevated in the latest sign that the pandemic-fueled price surge is only gradually and fitfully coming under control. Today's report from the Labor Department showed that the consumer price index rose 0.3% from December to January, up from a 0.2% increase the previous month. Compared with a year ago, prices are up 3.1%. That is less than the 3.4% figure...
SAMY MAGDY, NAJIB JOBAIN and TIA GOLDENBERG The Associated Press CAIRO - Israel and Hamas are making progress toward another cease-fire and hostage-release deal, officials said today, as negotiations went on and Israel threatened to expand its offensive to Gaza's southern edge, where some 1.4 million Palestinians have sought refuge. The talks continued in Egypt a day after Israeli forces rescued two captives in Rafah, the packed southern town along the Egyptian border, in a...
MARK SHERMAN The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to extend the delay in his election interference trial, saying he is immune from prosecution on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 election loss. His lawyers filed an emergency appeal with the court Monday, just four days after the justices heard Trump’s separate appeal to remain on the presidential ballot despite attempts to kick him off because of his efforts following his election loss in 2020. “Without immun...
MARY CLARE JALONICK and STEPHEN GROVES The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Senate early today passed a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, pushing ahead after months of difficult negotiations and growing political divisions in the Republican Party over the role of the United States abroad. The vote came after a small group of Republicans opposed to the $60 billion for Ukraine held the Senate floor through the night, using the final hours of debate to argue that the U.S. should focus on its own problems...
JILL COLVIN, KEVIN FREKING and MICHELLE L. PRICE The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s claim that he once told a NATO ally that he would encourage Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to “delinquent” members of the group sent shockwaves through Europe over the weekend. But in Washington, most Republicans downplayed or defended remarks that seemed to invite Russian aggression. “I was here when he was president. He didn’t undermine or destroy NATO,” said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a longtime defense hawk. “I...
WASHINGTON — The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Monday Milk Loss Program assistance for eligible dairy operations for milk that was dumped or removed, without compensation, from the commercial milk market due to qualifying weather events and the consequences of those weather events that inhibited delivery or storage of milk (e.g., power outages, impassable roads, infrastructure losses, etc.) during calendar years 2020, 2021 and 2022. Administered by the Farm Service Agency, signup for MLP began Monday, Sep...
Press release WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s Defending Hunters Education Act, legislation that would force the Biden Administration to reverse course on their decision to prohibit the use of federal funds for school archery and hunting education classes, is gaining significant bipartisan momentum with Republican and Democratic Senators signing on as bipartisan co-sponsors of the bill. U.S. Senators Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Bob Casey, D-Pa., have announced they are co-sponsoring Tes...
Today, VA announced that veterans and survivors who apply, or submit their intent to file, for PACT Act benefits by 9:59 p.m. Mountain Time Monday, August 14, 2023, will be eligible to have their benefits backdated to August 10, 2022 – the day that President Joe Biden signed the PACT Act into law. This is an extension from the original deadline of August 9, 2023. We encourage all veterans and their survivors to apply - or submit their intent to file - for PACT Act benefits now...
The Associated Press Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made his first public appearance since a mercenary uprising demanded his ouster, inspecting troops in Ukraine in a video released today aimed at projecting a sense of order after the country's most serious political crisis in decades. But uncertainty still swirled about his fate, that of rebellion leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his private army, the impact on the war in Ukraine, and even the political future of Presiden...
Emily Wang Fujiyama Associated Press BEIJING — China accused the United States today of indiscriminate use of force in shooting down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, saying it “seriously impacted and damaged both sides’ efforts and progress in stabilizing Sino-U.S. relations.” The U.S. shot down the balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America including flying over Montana. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft. Vice Foreign Ministe...
USDA The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Jan. 20 the partner organizations that farmers can contact to learn more about transitioning to organic. These organizations are also entry points for existing organic farmers wanting to serve as paid mentors to help establish the next generation of organic farmers. This work is part of the Organic Transition Initiative, which supports transitioning and recently transitioned producers who face technical, cultural, and market shifts during the transition period and the first...
USDA WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday the details of additional assistance for dairy producers, including a second round of payments through the Pandemic Market Volatility Assistance Program — PMVAP — and a new Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program — ODMAP. The update to PMVAP and the new ODMAP will enable USDA to better support small- and medium-sized dairy operations who weathered the pandemic and now face other challenges. “The Biden-Harris administration continues to fulfill its commit...
USDA WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is reminding specialty crop producers of available assistance to help cover certain costs of complying with regulatory and market-driven food safety certification requirements. Applications for the Food Safety Certification for Specialty Crops — FSCSC — program for eligible 2022 costs are due by Jan. 31, 2023. USDA’s Farm Service Agency will accept applications for 2023 costs from Feb. 1, 2023, to Jan. 31, 2024. FSA is making available up to $200 million through the FSC...
Zeke Miller and Michael Balsamo Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden acknowledged today that a document with classified markings from his time as vice president was found in his “personal library” at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, along with other documents found in his garage, days after it was disclosed that sensitive documents were also found at the office of his former institute in Washington. Biden told reporters at the White House that he was “cooperating fully and completely” with a Justice Departmen...
BERNARD McGHEE Associated Press One would have to go back hundreds of years to find a monarch who reigned longer than Queen Elizabeth II. In her 70 years on the throne, she helped modernize the monarchy across decades of enormous social change, royal marriages and births, and family scandals. For most Britons, she was the only monarch they had ever known. Her death in September was arguably the most high-profile death this year, prompting a collective outpouring of grief and respect for her steady leadership as well as some c...
Justin Franz Montana Free Press The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to force four railroad unions to accept the terms of a labor contract their members had previously rejected, preventing a possible strike that would have brought freight and passenger trains to a halt across the nation as early as next week. It was the first time in 30 years that the federal government wielded the power to prevent railroad strikes given to it by the Railway Labor Act of 1926. The vote brought to an end a months-long standoff between labor and...
Jason Dearen and Michael Rezendes Associated Press It was a frigid Sunday evening at the Catholic Newman Center in Salt Lake City when the priest warned parishioners who had gathered after Mass that their right to private confessions was in jeopardy. A new law would break that sacred bond, the priest said, and directed the parishioners to sign a one-page form letter on their way out. “I/We Oppose HB90,” began the letter, stacked next to pre-addressed envelopes. “HB90 is an improper interference of the government into the p...
Amanda Seitz Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Biden administration hopes to make getting a COVID-19 booster as routine as going in for the yearly flu shot. That’s at the heart of its campaign to sell the newly authorized shot to an American public that has widely rejected COVID-19 boosters since they first became available last fall. Shots of the updated boosters, specifically designed by Pfizer and Moderna to respond to the omicron strain, could start within days. The U.S. government has purchased 170 million doses and is...
by Eric Tucker Associated Press WASHINGTON - A newly released FBI document helps flesh out the contours of an investigation into classified material at former President Donald Trump's Florida estate. But plenty of questions remain, especially because half the affidavit, which spelled out the FBI's rationale for searching the property, was blacked out. That document, which the FBI submitted so it could get a warrant to search Trump's winter home, provides new details about the...
