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Nation District of Columbia Senate rejects effort to bar $1.8B Trump fund WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans have cleared a first hurdle as they try to pass legislation to fund President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies. Republicans rejected a Democratic effort to permanently block Trump from creating a $1.776 billion settlement fund for allies who claim government persecution. Republicans still face a gauntlet of Democratic amendments before the bill can advance. Colorado Paramedics’ homicide convictions reversed FORT COLLINS — A Colorado court ...

Hezbollah rejects ceasefire deal; Israeli strikes kill 4

BEIRUT — Hezbollah on Thursday rejected the latest ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Lebanese government, and the militant group demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as more fighting there hampered efforts to end the Iran war. The Hezbollah announcement came as Israeli strikes killed at least four people, according to local authorities, and a U.N. peacekeeper was killed in the crossfire. An Israeli soldier was also killed in combat in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem, in a written statement read on TV, called the negotiations “absurd, ...

Ex-security adviser to plead guilty

Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of retaining classified information under a deal with the Justice Department that could allow him to avoid prison time, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday. The deal would resolve a criminal case filed in October that charged Bolton with 18 counts of either retaining or disseminating classified information, including diary-like notes from his time in government that officials say he shared with family members as he was preparing a memoir about his career. Under ...

Wildfires making US smoggy again

For more than a decade, the United States dramatically reduced its national smog levels, but since 2015 smoke from increasingly larger wildfires is reversing that clean-up trend and making the air dirtier and deadlier, a new study finds. Scientists say climate change deserves much, but not all, of the blame. The national smog level dropped by 11% from 2003 to 2015 as strict federal regulations on power plants, cars and diesel engines kicked in. But since then, as wildfires have grown, the nation’s average ground level ozone — which is smog — increased by 4%. That means if smoke ...

McBride singing America’s story for years

When artists canceled their performances for President Donald Trump’s June 25 Great American State Fair, one stood out for me: Martina McBride. The first time I saw Martina live in concert was at the Taste of Cincinnati festival in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Memorial Day Weekend in 1994. Her iconic song “Independence Day” had just been released as a single. It’s a song we would have no doubt heard if she stayed in the lineup for the D.C. event. Like other artists who withdrew, Martina felt misled regarding the political nature of the event. Artists now say what was originally ...

Forget the rainbow, let’s taste the vinegar

My mind wanders, and sometimes I just follow behind it, seeing where it goes. Driving to the gym recently, I debated bringing in my water bottle before remembering there was a water fountain inside. I started thinking about the person who designed the fountain itself, about the mechanics of the water arcing upward at exactly the right angle, about the pressure required to make it work, and the decision to replace the old metal push button by the spout with a broad bar easier to press. Someone had to solve those problems so the rest of us could take a drink without giving it a second ...