Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Monday that he will not vote to confirm President Biden's pick for a powerful position on the Federal Reserve Board over her criticism of the fossil fuel industry.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday will launch one of the most difficult tasks a central bank can attempt: Raise borrowing costs enough to slow growth and tame high inflation, but not so much as to topple the economy into recession.

The battle over to-go beverages has pitted the restaurant industry against the liquor store industry, which has a history of influence in Albany.

The big picture on how many people are locked up in the United States and why

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China banned most people from leaving a coronavirus-hit northeastern province and mobilized military reservists Monday as the fast-spreading “stealth omicron” variant fuels the country's biggest outbreak since the start of the pandemic two years ago.

Historians of the 1918 influenza pandemic discuss lessons for what the future of COVID might look like

Conservative media distort the public’s perception of the real threats of anti-Jewish bigotry.

William Hurt, an acclaimed actor best known for his Oscar-winning performance in 1985’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and his work in “Broadcast News,” “A History of Violence” and “Children of a Lesser God,” died Sunday of natural causes. He was 71 years old.

Two Ukrainian companies responsible for producing around half of the world's semiconductor-grade neon have shuttered.

Aijaz Ahmad (1941-2022) died at home on March 9, surrounded by his books and papers, and by the warmth of his children and his friends.

The brother of a collapse victim said it was “shocking and disappointing" that the Legislature did not make safety improvements following the disaster.

Why is it taking so long? Buffalo Bills fans have been asking that question regarding one thing or another – be it winning a Super Bowl or finding a quarterback or firing Rex Ryan – for generations. And now some are asking it again, as they wonder why negotiations between Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Erie County over building a new football stadium in Orchard Park have been quiet for weeks. But here's a bit of contrary thinking that political insiders and others in the know have adopted: It didn't make sense for there to be a deal many weeks ahead of the state's April 1 budget deadline. That, in fact, would be the political equivalent of having Josh Allen and the rest of the Bills offense suit up for a full-pads practice on the Fourth of July, three weeks before the start of training camp. Just as that would increase the odds of Allen getting hurt, striking a stadium agreement too early could hurt Hochul's chances of getting the deal through the State Legislature while also wounding the governor politically. "It's basic politics/government: The longer it’s out there, the more opportunities there are to poke holes and have it fail," said one longtime Buffalo political insider.

The stabbing victims were taken to local hospitals for treatment, said police.

Fort Lauderdale Fire Department Battalion Chief Steve Gollan told Local10 that two of the people who overdosed were sickened because they tried to perform CPR on the initial four overdose victims.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed 81 people convicted of crimes ranging from killings to belonging to militant groups, the largest known mass execution carried out in the kingdom in its modern history. The number of executed surpassed even the toll of a January 1980 mass execution for the 63 militants convicted of seizing the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979, the worst-ever militant attack to target the kingdom and Islam’s holiest site. It wasn’t clear why the kingdom choose Saturday for the executions, though they came as much of the world’s attention remained focused on Russia’s war on Ukraine — and as the U.S. hopes to lower record-high gasoline prices as energy prices spike worldwide. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly plans a trip to Saudi Arabia next week over oil prices as well.

District Judge Amy Clark Meachum said the governor’s directive for the state child welfare agency to investigate parents who provide gender-affirming care to their children was “beyond the scope of his authority and unconstitutional.” The statewide injunction will remain in effect until the case is heard in July.

"Our mission is to protect the world, and at moments like these we must think creatively to determine how our technology can do just that."

Thoughts on the end of an era, its "main characters", web 2.0 & the real difference between Gen Z and Millenials, with friend & New Inquiry editor Charlie Markbreiter

We cannot step into the same river twice, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus is said to have observed. We’ve changed, the river has changed. That’s very true, but it doesn’t mean we can’t learn from seeing what other course the river could have flowed. As the pandemic enters its third year, we must consider those moments when the river branched, and nations made choices that affected thousands, millions, of lives. What if China had been open and honest in December 2019? What if the world had reacted as quickly and aggressively in January 2020 as Taiwan did? What if the United States had put appropriate protective measures in place in February 2020, as South Korea did? To examine these questions is to uncover a brutal truth: Much suffering was avoidable, again and again, if different choices that were available and plausible had been made at crucial turning points. By looking at them, and understanding what went wrong, we can hope to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

The toxic spill in the Dominguez Channel that plunged thousands of Los Angeles County residents into misery late last year was scarcely unique. Nyla Olsen’s eyes moisten with rage as she recalls the day in early October when a surge of putrid water rolled out of the Dominguez Channel and turned life in Leeward Bay Marina into “a horror movie.” Fish were gasping for oxygen at the surface of the water or floating belly up, she said. Boat hulls were slathered with sticky black slime. An octopus died after trying to escape by climbing onto a vessel, she said. “I called every emergency response outfit I could think of for help, including the U.S. Coast Guard,” said Olsen, owner of the Chowder Barge — the Wilmington marina’s heart and soul. “But all I got were versions of, ‘Sorry, there’s nothing we can do because it’s coming from up the county flood control channel and out of our jurisdiction,’” the 61-year-old said with a sigh. “I felt utterly helpless.” Around that same time, air quality officials were being bombarded with thousands of calls from working-class residents upstream in Carson, Gardena, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Long Beach and Wilmington. Many complained of respiratory ailments, nausea and other symptoms due to a foul smell that vexed neighborhoods in the South Bay and Harbor region. “I woke up choking,” recalled Carson resident Monique Alvarez, 40. “My 3-year-old daughter was curled up in a ball at the foot of my bed crying, ‘Mommy, my tummy hurts.’” Alvarez and others have long complained of emissions from nearby refineries and chemical plants, but residents say this was a far stronger and more disturbing odor. It was as though “there was something invisible and terrifying lurking in every room,” Alvarez said. “I never felt more afraid in the home I was born and raised in.” It took officials two months to figure out what caused the overpowering stench: A massive fire that ripped through a Carson warehouse had unleashed a flood of toxic runoff. Ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, benzene and other chemicals were flushed into nearby storm drains by fire hoses and then dumped into the channel, where they triggered a chemical and biological reaction that released large amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas, authorities say. The business had been cited numerous times for illegally storing mountains of hand sanitizer, bacterial wipes and other flammable products before the fire erupted and sent up a column of smoke that was visible for miles. The incident has left thousands of residents indignant. They believe government agencies meant to oversee their health and safety did far too little, far too late. A similar disaster in a wealthier, whiter community, they say, would have been met with a more urgent response.