CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice appointed Harold Ward as the state's new environmental secretary on Wednesday. The Department of Environmental Protection is in charge of regulating everything from air and water quality to overseeing abandoned mine lands. Ward was most recently...
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka is welcoming tourists again after keeping the doors closed to visitors for nearly 10 months due to the coronavirus pandemic. The government’s action Thursday is seen as an effort to revive the island nation’s tourism industry, which has been badly hit by the...
SAN DIEGO (AP) — For the opening salvo of his presidency, few expected Joe Biden to be so far-reaching on immigration. A raft of executive orders signed Wednesday undoes many of his predecessor’s hallmark initiatives, such as halting work on a border wall with Mexico, lifting a travel ban on people...
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden returned the United States to the worldwide fight to slow global warming in one of his first official acts Wednesday and immediately launched a series of climate-friendly efforts that would transform how Americans drive and get their power. “A cry for survival...
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is moving swiftly to dismantle Donald Trump's legacy on his first day in office, signing a series of executive actions that reverse course on immigration, climate change, racial equity and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The new president signed the orders...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Joe Biden's presidential inauguration (all times local): 10:15 p.m. Fireworks lit up the sky behind the Washington Monument to mark the end of Inauguration Day for President Joe Biden. Biden and first lady Jill Biden watched the end of the day’s events from a balcony...
TORONTO (AP) — Construction on the long disputed Keystone XL oil pipeline halted Wednesday as incoming U.S. President Joe Biden revoked its permit on his first day in office. The 1,700-mile (2,735-kilometer) pipeline was planned to carry roughly 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the Texas Gulf...
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine faced swift criticism from consumer advocates Wednesday after he rejected the entire slate of candidates nominated to replace a former top state utility regulator tainted by a $60 million federal bribery investigation and requested a new list. In a letter to the...
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Gov. Phil Scott on Wednesday tested negative for COVID-19 after possible exposure to the coronavirus from a participant at the governor’s recent coronavirus briefing who tested positive, the governor’s office said. Scott will continue to quarantine and be tested again...
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A longtime heavyweight in Indiana’s gambling industry is fighting state regulators' attempts to force him to give up his stake in a Lake Michigan casino and a $300 million new casino project in Gary. A lawsuit filed Tuesday by former Spectacle Entertainment CEO Rod Ratcliff in...