Washington – The United States sanctioned the Lebanon-based Jammal trust bank and its subsidiaries for allegedly working for Hezbollah. The Treasury Department said Thursday that “the bank funnels money to the families of suicide bombers,” Reuters reported. The United States is determined to cut off support in Lebanon for the group, Secretary of State Mike […]

San Francisco – A published report says Google will pay at least $150 million to settle a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over how it treats information from children on its video streaming site, YouTube. Politico reported Friday that the company will pay $150 million to $200 million to settle the complaint. The report says the […]

United Nations – The U.N. Security Council warned Thursday that violations of the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon in the latter country’s south “could lead to a new conflict that none of the parties or the region can afford.” The council warning came in a French-sponsored resolution adopted unanimously that extends the mandate […]

Tel Aviv – The Russian Embassy in Tel Aviv has denied that Russians are behind the hacking of the cellphone of Benny Gantz, the head of the Blue and White Party, and Gantz called the finding a political attack. CGI Group, which Gantz hired to investigate a series of leaks from the party, said it […]

San Francisco – Apple is loosening its grip on how its products are repaired to give customers more options for fixing cracked screens and other defects on their older iPhones. Under the new policy announced Thursday, Apple will begin selling its tools and parts to more independent phone-repair shops in the U.S. Apple will expand […]

The Israeli military is accusing Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah of stepping up attempts to build missile-production facilities in Lebanon and says these efforts are putting Lebanese civilians in danger. The announcement comes at a time of rising tensions. In recent days, Israel has struck Iranian targets in Syria and Iraq, and Hezbollah has […]

The number of people killed by drivers running red lights has hit a 10-year high, and AAA is urging drivers and pedestrians to use caution at traffic signals. In 2017, the latest figures available, 939 people were killed by vehicles blowing through red lights, according to a AAA study of government crash data. It’s the […]

President Donald Trump says the U.S. plans to reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan to 8,600 and then will determine further drawdowns from there. Trump told Fox News Radio’s “The Brian Kilmeade Show” on Thursday that the U.S. is “getting close” to making a deal with the Taliban, but that he’s not sure […]

Chinese state media released footage Thursday of military troops moving into Hong Kong for what they call a routine rotation amid fears that the army will intervene in ongoing pro-democracy protests. Armored carriers, trucks and a patrol boat were shown crossing the border from neighboring Shenzhen city into Hong Kong for the 22nd rotation of […]

The World Health Organization says there has been a “dramatic resurgence” of measles in Europe, in part fueled by vaccine refusals, with nearly 90,000 people sickened by the virus in the first half of 2019. In a report issued Thursday, the U.N. health agency said the number of measles cases from January to June this […]