There were at least 50 large wildfires burning more than half a million acres across 11 states on Wednesday--mostly in the West.In Colorado, the Oil Spring and Sylvan fires in White River National Forest are the two biggest fires in the state.... Firefighters are battling hot, dry and windy conditions.... Kelsey Brunner/ The Aspen Times via AP A plume of smoke blows in over Aspen, Colo., from the Sylvan Fire burning outside of Eagle, Colo., on Monday, June 21, 2021....

He'd spent years exposing Russian censorship and feared that well-intentioned efforts to aid Ukraine would instead help Putin isolate Russians from the free flow of information, aiding the Kremlin's propaganda war.“ Look, guys the only space the Russians have to talk about Ukraine.... is Facebook, ” Soldatov, now exiled in London.... “ You cannot just, like, kill our access.” Facebook didn’t, although the Kremlin soon picked up that baton, throttling both Facebook and Twitter so badly they are

Oil giant BP agreed Thursday to pay a$ 512, 450 penalty and reduce soot emissions from its Whiting refinery in Indiana under an agreement with regulators and activists who accused the company of violating an earlier deal. The U.S. District Court settlement modifies a previous consent decree that required BP Products North America Inc.to limit releases from the sprawling facility on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan.“ Today’s agreement should significantly reduce fine particle pollution fro

Former President Donald Trump is expected back in court on Monday for what is likely the final hearing before his New York hush money criminal case goes to trial. The case, which was initially scheduled to begin jury selection on Monday, was adjourned for 30 days by Judge Juan Merchan--effectively placing the new trial date at approximately April 15--after defense attorneys raised issues with the late production of over 100, 000 pages of potential evidence by federal prosecutors. Merchan set Mon

" He will have chosen the people in this jury." Politics are likely to be the central issue of Trump's jury selection process.... Defense lawyer Todd Blanche put it bluntly at a recent court conference, saying," What we all really want to know, and what they want to know, is, do you like President Trump?... His fellow jurors told reporters after the trial that the holdout fell asleep and ignored evidence during the trial, but refused to change his mind once in the jury room....

Polls also forecast a possibly record-high number of people who either vote blank or stay at home and don't vote at all in this second and final round.... The April 10 first-round vote eliminated 10 other presidential candidates.... ’ I can tell you that they regretted it the next day, ” Macron warned this week on France 5 television....

Chicago’s ward remap standoff has shifted into the holiday doldrums after the frantic politicking that marked the run-up to a Dec.... Michelle Harris, a member of the Black Caucus who’s been running the council remap hearings.... Dance group Chicago Happy Fitness performs at a rally to promote a redistricting map that provides an Asian American-majority ward....

She spoke forcefully over their shouts, acknowledging that Macron's unilateral move will trigger quick motions of no-confidence in his government.... As night fell, police charged the demonstrators in waves to clear the elegant Place.... Small groups of those chased away moved through nearby streets in the chic neighborhood setting street fires....

Donald Trump’s executive order is a clear signal that any actions against the United States and its allies will be harshly suppressed. The national interests of major powers still outweigh the capabilities of multilateral institutions, especially in sensitive military-political spheres, writes Vald

“ The question is simple, ” acknowledged William H. Dow, a professor of health policy and management at UC Berkeley.... Nearly all medical associations oppose “ Medicare for all ” or using Medicare rates as a baseline for payments.... The average French dentist has an income of about$ 147, 000, according to a recent study....