Pyongyang – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country needs to deliver a “serious blow” to those imposing sanctions through a self-reliant economy, North Korean state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Thursday. KCNA said Kim stated North Korea’s position on the second U.S.-North Korea summit that took place recently, saying, [...]

Washington – In a White House where no secret is safe for long, one development has remained stubbornly confidential – the contents of a Middle East peace plan authored by President Donald Trump’s advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt. With Trump having delighted Israelis and angered Palestinians by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017 [...]

Jerusalem – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s apparent election victory has deepened the divisions in an already-divided country. Bolstered by his base of religious and working-class voters, Netanyahu can be expected to press ahead with a hard-line agenda that will likely eliminate the last hopes of a two-state solution with the Palestinians. A looming indictment in [...]

Washington – The United States and China have largely agreed on a mechanism to police any trade agreement the reach, including establishing new “enforcement offices,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday. Mnuchin, speaking on CNBC television, said that progress continues to be made in the talks, including a “productive” call with China’s Vice [...]

New York – JetBlue Airways Corp hopes to break into the low-fare, transatlantic travel market beginning in 2021 with multiple daily flights from New York and Boston to London, its first European destination, the carrier said on Wednesday. To service the routes, the sixth largest U.S. carrier will convert 13 Airbus A321LR aircraft from its [...]

Phoenix – The Army Corps of Engineers has awarded contracts totaling nearly $1 billion to replace short barriers with tall fences along two sections of the U.S.-Mexico border. The Corps of Engineers said in a statement Wednesday that 46 miles (74 kilometers) of fencing will be installed near Columbus, New Mexico, and 11 miles (18 [...]

Jerusalem – With elections in the rearview mirror, Israelis are now focusing on the moon. The Israeli spacecraft Beresheet, or Genesis, is scheduled to touch down on the moon’s surface on Thursday night in Israel. And the country has Beresheet mania. Watch parties and celebrations are planned throughout Israel. The main event — in Hod [...]

Washington – The Trump administration on Wednesday appealed recent rulings in a closely watched case involving health care for the poor, after a federal judge blocked work requirements for some low-income people on Medicaid. The rulings last month by Judge James Boasberg in Washington D.C. blocked requirements for “able bodied” adults in Arkansas and Kentucky [...]

Salem, OR – Rose Marie Bentley was an avid swimmer, raised five kids, helped her husband run a feed store, and lived to the ripe age of 99. It was only after she died that medical students discovered that all her internal organs — except for her heart — were in the wrong place. The [...]

Jerusalem – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secured a clear path to reelection on Wednesday, with religious-rightist parties set to hand him a parliamentary majority despite a close contest against his main centrist challenger, a vote tally showed. With more than 97 percent of votes counted, Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party looked likely to muster enough [...]