Washington – A former U.S. State Department employee pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring with Chinese agents, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. The employee, Candace Claiborne, had been accused of lying to law enforcement officers and hiding extensive contacts and gifts from the Chinese agents in exchange for providing them with [...]

Hackensack, NJ – Authorities have arrested a police officer, a high school teacher, a minister and 13 others in a sting New Jersey officials said Wednesday was aimed at men who tried to set up sexual encounters with people they thought were teenage boys and girls. The arrests were made as part of “Operation Home [...]

New York – The college philosophy teacher accused of entering St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan with gasoline cans, lighter fluid and butane lighters had also booked a hotel just 20 minutes from the Vatican, a New York prosecutor said Wednesday. Police previously said that Marc Lamparello had booked a flight to Rome for the next [...]

New York – U.S. measles cases have climbed to their highest level in 25 years, largely because misinformation is turning parents against vaccines. New York City health officials on Wednesday reported 61 new cases since late last week. According to an Associated Press count, that pushes this year’s national tally past the 667 cases reported [...]

Sunnyvale, CA – The FBI is assisting California officials in the investigation of a motorist who appeared to deliberately plow into a group of people, injuring eight, authorities said Wednesday. Prentice Danner, a spokesman for the FBI’s field office in San Francisco, said the Sunnyvale Police Department is the lead agency in the investigation but [...]

Seoul – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s most trusted policy adviser has been removed from one of his posts, a South Korean lawmaker said Wednesday, a reshuffle that if confirmed may be related to the breakdown of the North Korea-U.S. summit in Hanoi in February. The head of parliament’s intelligence committee, Lee Hye-hoon, cited [...]

Kansas City, MO – Henry Bloch, who helped found tax preparation giant H&R Block, died Tuesday at age 96, the company announced. Bloch died of natural causes at St. Luke’s Hospice in Kansas City. He founded H&R Block in 1955 in the city with his brother, Richard, to take advantage of the vacuum left as [...]

Washington – Jason Greenblatt, Assistant to President Donald Trump and Special Representative for International Negotiations, on Wednesday attempted to dispel rumors about the US’ pending peace plan for the region and rejected the report that it includes the establishment of a confederacy between Israel and Jordan. “King Abdullah II and Jordan are strong US allies. [...]

Washington – President Donald Trump says his White House will be “fighting all the subpoenas” issued by House Democrats in their investigations into his administration. Trump is criticizing those investigations and telling reporters at the White House that he “thought after two years we’d be finished with it.” Democrats have stepped up their inquiries in [...]

ila – The Philippine president has threatened to ship containers of garbage back to Canada and dump some at the country’s embassy in Manila if Canadian officials don’t take back waste that Filipino officials say was illegally shipped to Manila years ago. More than 100 containers of household trash, including plastic bottles and bags, newspapers [...]