Conference addresses U.S. role in creating, solving current worldwide refugee crisis

Former Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Jones, left, and Steven Feldstein, Frank and Bethine Church chair of public affairs at Boise State University and a former deputy assistant U.S. secretary of state, were among the speakers at the 34th annual Frank Church Conference at BSU on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017 in Boise. BOISE - The United States has helped create the current worldwide refugee crisis, former Idaho Supreme Court Justice Jim Jones said Monday, and it needs to step up to help solve it.

Trump tweets that 401(k) tax incentives – safe’ in tax plan

President Donald Trump promised Monday there will be "no change" to tax incentives for the popular 401 retirement programs. The president appeared to be responding to a recent report in The New York Times that Republican lawmakers were considering limiting the amount workers could save in 401 retirement accounts.

Trump shoots down retirement limit to pay for GOP tax cuts

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., takes the escalator down as he returns to his office after appearing on the Senate floor with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., to defend their bipartisan proposal for resuming federal subsidies to health insurers that President Donald Trump has blocked, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. FILE - In this Tuesday, Sept.

‘Let us do our job’: Anger erupts over EPA’s apparent muzzling of scientists

Protesters gather Monday outside a meeting where a report on the Narragansett Bay, which included a focus on climate change, was to be released in Providence, R.I. The Environmental Protection Agency prohibited three scientists from speaking at the event. The Trump administration's decision to prevent government scientists from presenting climate change-related research at a conference in Rhode Island on Monday gave the event a suddenly high profile, with protesters outside, media inside and angry lawmakers and academics criticizing the move.

Trump tweets that 401(k) contributions ‘safe’ in tax plan

President Donald Trump promised Monday there will be "no change" to tax incentives for the popular 401 retirement programs. The president appeared to be responding to a recent report in The New York Times that Republican lawmakers were considering limiting the amount workers could save in 401 retirement accounts.

Trump and Kelly’s recent feuds have one thing in common

Racism is the Trump administration's magic wand, a device it uses, to great effect, to dazzle its base, whose own proud bigotry dispenses with the need for suspension of disbelief. In the face of controversies and criticism, Trump race-baits not just for cynical political reasons - though that's part of it - but because he, too, is deeply racist, so much that his presidency is basically a live-action revenge fantasy against the country's first black president.

Obamacare subsidy fight shifts to California courtroom

Lawyers representing 18 states and the District of Columbia will ask a federal judge in California to block the Trump administration from terminating cost-sharing subsidies aimed at helping lower income individuals afford health insurance. Judge Vince Chhabria of the US District Court for the Northern District of California, who was appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama, could rule on the motion for a temporary restraining order as early as this week.

House to vote on non-nuclear Iran sanctions this week

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote next week on new sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program and on Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, senior House Republicans said, seeking to take a tough line against Iran without immediately moving to undermine the international nuclear deal. "It is Congress' responsibility to work with the executive branch on a clear-eyed strategy to stop Iran's reckless behavior," Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the number two House Republican, and Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a joint statement.

Pence honors memory of Marines killed in 1983 Beirut bombing

Vice President Mike Pence on Monday honored the memory of 241 U.S. service members killed in the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, calling the three-decade-old attack the "opening salvo" in the war against terrorism. Pence and White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster paid tribute to the service members, including 220 Marines, on the anniversary of the deadly truck bombing during President Ronald Reagan's first term.

Congresswoman wants Kelly apology amid condolence-call row

A Florida congresswoman on Sunday asked White House chief of staff John Kelly to apologise for making false claims about her while defending US President Donald Trump's handling of condolences to a military family. Her comments and the president's insulting tweets escalated a political fight surrounding the deaths of four service members in the African nation of Niger.

US House to vote on nonnuclear Iran sanctions next week

U.S. sanctions against Iran would automatically kick in if Tehran violates new constraints, according to a draft Republican bill sought by U.S. President Donald Trump as he tries to unravel the landmark 2015 international accord to prevent Iran from assembling an arsenal of atomic weapons. The draft bill, crafted by GOP Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Tom Cotton of Arkansas with input from the Trump administration, wouldn't necessarily violate the Iran nuclear deal if passed into law.