Latest Government programs News

Biden dings Trump on infrastructure, while he showcases $8.2B for 10 major rail projects

Dec. 08, 2023 19:08 PM EST

LAS VEGAS (AP) — President Joe Biden went to Las Vegas on Friday to say he's "putting high-speed rail on the fast track,” and he used the moment to blast Donald Trump — his predecessor and likely 2024 challenger — as a do-nothing politician. “Trump just talks the talk. We...

Chinese leaders wrap up annual economic planning meeting with scant details on revving up growth

Dec. 08, 2023 13:55 PM EST

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leaders agreed at an annual planning meeting to step up spending to help rev up the world's second-largest economy, state media reported Friday, without giving details of any policy changes. The official Xinhua News Agency said leader Xi Jinping chaired the...

On sidelines of COP28, Emirati 'green city' falls short of ambitions, but still delivers lessons

Dec. 08, 2023 10:22 AM EST

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A bold, innovative project begun nearly a generation ago to erect a “green-city” in the United Arab Emirates has run into realities and largely missed its mark, offering a cautionary tale about the risk of overblown environmental ambitions even for an...

Investment banks to put $10 billion into projects aimed at interconnecting South America

Dec. 07, 2023 21:24 PM EST

SAO PAULO (AP) — Four investment banks announced Thursday during a meeting of leaders of the Mercosur trade bloc that they will put $10 billion up for infrastructure works aimed at better connecting South America, including funds for port, airport, road, rail and power transmission projects. ...

Decades after Europe, turning blades send first commercial offshore wind power onto US grid

Dec. 07, 2023 17:15 PM EST

NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) — Despite some recent financial setbacks, U.S. offshore windpower has hit a milestone. An 800-foot tall turbine is now sending electricity onto the grid from a commercial-scale offshore wind farm on pace to be the country's first. The moment is years in the...

Virginia expects to wipe out pandemic unemployment backlog next summer

Dec. 07, 2023 15:01 PM EST

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia agency that processes unemployment benefits has made progress clearing pandemic-related backlogs, but it isn't expected to finish until next summer, a top official told lawmakers this week. Jeff Ryan, chief deputy commissioner of the Virginia...

Israel and US are at odds over conflicting visions for postwar Gaza

Dec. 07, 2023 14:56 PM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — The United States has offered strong support to Israel in its war against the Hamas militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. But the allies are increasingly at odds over what will happen to Gaza once the war winds down. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin...

Labor union asks federal regulators to oversee South Carolina workplace safety program

Dec. 07, 2023 12:27 PM EST

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — One of the largest labor organizations in the United States petitioned the federal government Thursday to wrest workplace safety oversight from South Carolina regulators accused of failing to protect service employees. South Carolina is one of 22 states...

Families had long dialogue after Pittsburgh synagogue attack. Now they’ve unveiled a memorial design

Dec. 07, 2023 11:22 AM EST

PITTSBURGH (AP) — In the years following the deadly 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue attack, relatives of those slain have gone through their own private grief, public memorial services and the trial and death sentence of the perpetrator. They’ve also been deliberating, slowly and methodically, on...

Gates Foundation takes on poverty in the U.S. with $100 million commitment

Dec. 07, 2023 10:36 AM EST

In recent years, city leaders in Grand Island, Nebraska, observed that many workers and students were walking or biking long distances to their jobs or schools. So when city administrator, Laura McAloon, learned of an opportunity to study the development of a bus system to meet those transportation...