Pa. woman, husband, 2 sons speak in Taliban hostage video

A Pennsylvania woman held hostage in Afghanistan for four years appeared in a video Monday with her husband and two children - both born in captivity -- and pleaded to President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump to secure their release. Caitlan Coleman, 31, of York County, appeared in the video with her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, and their boys.

National Enquirer morphs into propaganda rag for President-elect Trump

More than a month after the election, the news industry is still at a loss for how to cover Donald Trump as he transitions into power. Fact checks have proven ineffective, press conferences have virtually gone extinct, and Trump's supporters couldn't care in the slightest about what reporters are uncovering.

Courts could be a firewall if Trump seeks to expand presidential powers

President-elect Donald Trump speaks Dec. 13 at the Wisconsin State Fair Exposition Center during his thank you tour. Donald Trump is moving into a White House that has seen presidential powers markedly expanded by its previous two occupants.

Obama makes final push on key legacy areas

President Barack Obama, as his tenure draws to a close, is deploying his legal authority in a last-minute bid to cement the areas of his legacy threatened by Donald Trump's incoming administration. Obama has tasked his staff with locating as many areas as possible where his top agenda items could be calcified and protected from Trump's wrecking ball, according to officials.

Spain’s ‘El Gordo’ lottery sparks celebrations across Madrid

The Mississippi fire marshal says investigators don't see politics as the motivation for the burning of an African-American church that was also spray-painted with the words "Vote Trump" a week before the... The Mississippi fire marshal says investigators don't see politics as the motivation for the burning of an African-American church that was also spray-painted with the words "Vote Trump" a week before the presidential... By The Associated Press The Alaska Volcano Observatory has issued its highest level of alert for aviation after what it says was a brief explosion of a volcano on the Aleutian Islands.

Obama Enacts “Permanent” Ban on Arctic Oil Drilling

In the final stretch of his term President Barack Obama is implementing new environmental protections that stand to thwart Donald Trump's agenda on oil and gas extraction in ways that may prove difficult for the president-elect to roll back. The Obama administration announced on Tuesday that it will place an indefinite ban on offshore oil and gas drilling across large swaths of Atlantic and Arctic waters.

Obama imposes permanent Arctic Ocean oil drilling ban a month before Trump becomes president

President Barack Obama has imposed a permanent ban on oil and gas drilling in most US-owned waters in the Arctic Ocean. The oil drilling rig Polar Pioneer being towards a dock in Seattle where it was being prepared for Arctic oil exploration President Barack Obama has imposed a permanent ban on oil and gas drilling in most US-owned waters in the Arctic Ocean.

Trudeau Joins Obama in Freezing Arctic Offshore Oil Drilling

President Barack Obama banned new offshore oil and gas drilling in more than 100 million acres of the U.S. Arctic and undersea canyons in the Atlantic Ocean, a move certain to provoke a fight with the Republican-led Congress and his successor in the White House. In an announcement coordinated between two of the world's biggest oil producers, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also committed to freeze new offshore leasing in his nation's Arctic waters and review the matter every five years.

Obama Said to Use 1953 Law to Restrict Offshore Oil Drilling

President Barack Obama is preparing to block the sale of new offshore drilling rights in most of the U.S. Arctic and parts of the Atlantic, a move that could indefinitely restrict oil production there, according to people familiar with the decision. Obama will invoke a provision in a 1953 law that gives him wide latitude to withdraw U.S. waters from future oil and gas leasing, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

Journal Junction for December 21

I see where West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey wants to have EPA rules relaxed for coal surface mining, compared to saving our streams for drinking water, coal still seems to be the number one topic in getting this state going. Are we not smart enough to look for other industry to take its place? I still believe in saving the environment, not destroying it.

Limbaugh: Obama Lining Up to Be ‘Divisive’ Force Against Trump

Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh predicts President Barack Obama will "try to create all kinds of unrest and disunity" once President-elect Donald Trump takes office Jan. 20. During his national radio show Tuesday , Limbaugh also lashed out at cable and network news personalities who will likely be happy to give Obama the media platform. "Obama's gonna call [NBC's] Chuck Todd, take his pick, [CNN's] John King, [CNN's] Wolf Blitzer, take your pick, he can call any of them, 'Hey, you know what, I want to go on TV, grant an exclusive, Trump's about to destroy Obamacare,'" Limbaugh predicted.

Obama bans future oil leases in much of Arctic, Atlantic

President Barack Obama has designated the bulk of U.S.-owned waters in the Arctic Ocean and certain areas in the Atlantic Ocean as indefinitely off limits to future oil and gas leasing. The move on Tuesday helps put some finishing touches on Obama's environmental legacy while also testing President-elect Donald Trump's promise to unleash the nation's untapped energy reserves.

El-Erian says sustaining Trump rally depends on Germany, China

The global stock surge tied to Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. has a better chance of enduring if the president-elect can coax nations such as Germany, Japan and China to embrace reforms, said Mohamed El-Erian, Allianz SE's chief economic adviser. "In order for this Trump rally to be sustained, it's not just about implementing policies at home," Mr. El-Erian said Tuesday in an interview on Bloomberg Television.

Beaufort County the right site for Reconstruction monument

Count us among those who hope President Barack Obama will designate a national monument to Reconstruction in Beaufort County before the end of his term. Reconstruction often gets relatively little attention compared to the Civil War that preceded it and "has long been misunderstood," notable historian Eric Foner has written.

Senate Must Reject Trump’s Pick for Ambassador to Israel

In the machinery of the Holocaust, in the places where Jews and others were murdered by the millions, certain prisoners were compelled or volunteered to help the Nazis in the arduous business of genocide. These people were called Kapos, reviled by Jew and Nazi alike, and few of them survived.

The Animal Cunning & Instinct of Donald Trump

The American middle classes, the Chinese, and Vladimir Putin have never been convinced that Ivy League degrees, vast Washington experience, and cultural sophistication necessarily translate into national wisdom. Trump instead relies more on instinct and operates from cunning - and we will soon see whether we should redefine wisdom.But for now, for example, we have never heard a presidential candidate say such a thing as We love our miners - not we like miners, but we love them.