Washington – Some senior House lawmakers, frustrated by a decade of frozen congressional salaries, are quietly exploring whether to accept an annual pay raise that they’ve shunned since Barack Obama was first president. It’s a longshot at best, requiring comity that’s in short supply in a Capitol riven with partisanship. More than two-thirds of House [...]

Rome – A Polish-born Holocaust survivor opened a book fair in Italy on Thursday to a standing ovation, after organizers agreed to ban a publisher linked to a neo-fascist group. Halina Birenbaum, an 89-year-old poet who lives in Israel, was quoted by Italy’s Corriere della Sera daily as saying “this is more proof for me [...]

Seattle – Amazon met with skepticism from some privacy advocates and members of Congress last year when it introduced its first kid-oriented voice assistant , along with brightly colored models of its Echo Dot speaker designed for children. Now those advocates say the kids’ version of Amazon’s Alexa won’t forget what children tell it, even [...]

Melbourne – A Jewish school in Australia celebrated Israel’s Independence Day by creating the world’s largest human menorah. A total of 1,048 students and staff from Bialik College in Melbourne gathered to form the shape of the emblem of the State of Israel on Thursday. The seven-branched candelabrum was 137.8 feet wide and 137.8 feet [...]

Washington – U.S. authorities have arrested and charged a former intelligence analyst over allegations that he illegally obtained and disclosed classified national defense information, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement on Thursday. The analyst, Daniel Everette Hale, 31, of Nashville, Tennessee, had worked at the National Security Agency (NSA) and the National [...]

Los Angeles – Authorities seized more than a thousand guns from a large Los Angeles home after getting an anonymous tip regarding illegal firearms sales in a posh area near the Playboy Mansion. Officials say Los Angeles police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives served a search warrant around 4 a.m. Wednesday [...]

Beijing – Chinese exporters of all sorts of products, from power adapters and computers to vacuum cleaners, are anxiously hoping trade talks in Washington this week will yield a deal that might stave off higher U.S. tariffs on imports from China. Companies across China are bracing for a tariff hike after President Donald Trump, complaining [...]

Jerusalem – Israel is celebrating 71 years since the country was founded as a haven for Jews in the aftermath of the Holocaust. People flocked to parks and beaches on Thursday to celebrate Independence Day, enjoying barbeques and watching air force flyovers. The celebrations started as Israel transitioned from melancholy Memorial Day for fallen soldiers [...]

Caracas – Venezuelan intelligence agents detained opposition leader Juan Guaido’s congressional deputy on Wednesday, using a tow truck to drag his vehicle away with him inside, prompting the U.S. government to warn of “consequences” if he was not released. The SEBIN intelligence agency seized Edgar Zambrano, vice president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which Guaido [...]

Seoul – North Korea fired two suspected short-range missiles on Thursday, South Korea’s military said, its second weapons launch in five days and a possible warning that nuclear disarmament talks with Washington could be in danger. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapons flew 420 kilometers (260 miles) and 270 kilometers (167 miles), [...]