6 rescued from boat fire near James River Bridge, 2 suffer serious injuries

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Service Employees International Union is returning to the AFL-CIO after 20 years, betting that a united labor movement will do more to help workers overcome legal challenges to organize and join unions. The union groups’ executive boards each unanimously approved the combination on Wednesday, with plans to formally announce the affiliation […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump likes the idea of “one, big beautiful bill” for his top legislative priorities, but he emerged from a lengthy closed-door meeting with Republican senators late Wednesday open to other strategies as GOP leaders strain to develop a plan before the party gains full power in Washington. Trump said it […]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s new governor appointed a so-called energy czar on Wednesday to help pull the U.S. territory out of a power-supply crisis. The nomination of Josué Colón comes days after a massive blackout hit the island, leaving nearly all its 3.2 million inhabitants in the dark as they prepared […]

U.S. longshoremen reached a contract agreement with ports and shippers Wednesday, averting a potential strike that could have damaged the American economy. The International Longshoremen’s Association union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance of ports and shipping companies said they had reached a tentative agreement for a six-year contract, a week ahead of a Jan. 15 […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street held firmer on Wednesday, a day after strong reports on the economy hurt U.S. stocks by stirring up worries that inflation and interest rates may remain higher than expected. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to recover a bit of its 1.1% slump from the day before. The Dow Jones […]

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Advocates for limits on indiscriminate outdoor lighting that are obscuring night skies worldwide are recognizing efforts by an oil and natural gas developer to reduce scattered light in New Mexico. DarkSky International, an advocacy group for preserving views of starry skies, on Wednesday announced its first-ever certification of oil and […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials at their meeting Dec. 17-18 expected to dial back the pace of interest rate cuts this year in the face of persistently elevated inflation and the threat of widespread tariffs and other potential policy changes. Minutes from the meeting, released after the typical three-week lag, also showed clear division […]

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday said no bids were submitted for this week’s oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — a sale the state has challenged as too restrictive and at odds with a 2017 law aimed at opening the refuge’s sweeping coastal plan to […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top policymaker at the U.S. Federal Reserve said Wednesday that he still supports cutting interest rates this year, despite elevated inflation and the prospect of widespread tariffs under the incoming Trump administration. Christopher Waller, an influential member of the Fed’s board of governors, said he expects inflation will move closer to […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS boosted taxpayer services through Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act but still faces processing claims from a coronavirus pandemic-era tax credit program and is slow to resolve certain identity theft cases, according to an independent watchdog report released Wednesday. “For the first time since I became the National Taxpayer Advocate in 2020, […]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When he was still a boy making long, tedious trips between his school and his woodsy home in the mountains during the 1980s, JoeBen Bevirt began fantasizing about flying cars that could whisk him to his destination in a matter of minutes. As CEO of Joby Aviation, Bevirt is getting closer […]

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in nearly a year last week, pointing to a still healthy labor market with historically low layoffs. The Labor Department on Wednesday said that applications for jobless benefits fell to 201,000 for the week ending January 4, down from the previous week’s 211,000. This week’s […]

VIENNA (AP) — Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg will serve as the country’s interim leader while the far-right Freedom Party attempts to put together a new coalition government, the president’s office said Wednesday. Schallenberg, 55, will take on the duties of outgoing Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who announced his resignation over the weekend after his efforts […]

NEW YORK (AP) — On the night Stephanie Cosme died, her sister and brother said they received a curt explanation from a U.S. Air Force official who met them at the hospital: The civilian contractor was failing to follow protocol when she was hit by an aircraft’s rotating propeller and killed. The family would wait […]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Exxon Mobil Corp. filed a federal defamation lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta and several environmental groups, months after Bonta sued the oil and gas giant alleging that it deceived the public for half a century by promising the plastics it produced would be recycled. The Texas-based company said in […]

DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department is suing several large landlords for allegedly coordinating to keep Americans’ rents high by using both an algorithm to help set rents and privately sharing sensitive information with their competitors to boost profits. The lawsuit arrives as U.S. renters continue to struggle under a merciless housing market, with […]

Ski patrollers miffed by wages they say are too low for high living costs have put a wrench in operations at the biggest U.S. ski resort with a rare strike that began over the busy holidays and carried on into the new year’s fresh powder. The resulting thin staffing at Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort, […]

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration on Tuesday abruptly dropped its nascent plan to protect old-growth forests after getting pushback from Republicans and the timber industry. The move was announced by U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore in a letter to forest supervisors. It brings a sudden end to a yearslong process to craft […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Lenders will no longer be able to consider unpaid medical bills as a credit history factor when they evaluate potential borrowers in the U.S. for mortgages, car loans or business loans, according to a rule the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized Tuesday. Removing medical debts from consumer credit reports is expected […]

New tax credits are available for companies that generate clean electricity, the Biden administration announced Tuesday, while arguing it would be a mistake for President-elect Donald Trump to try to undo them. The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service released final rules for the clean electricity investment and production tax credits, less than two […]