Politics

Biden to send disaster assistance to Louisiana, as salt water threatens the state's drinking water

By Sara Cline, Associated Press

Typically, the river's mighty flow keeps mass amounts of salt water from reaching too far inland, but hot and dry conditions across the country this summer triggered drought that slowed the Mississippi's flow and lowered its water levels.

New California law raises minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour

By Adam Beam, Associated Press

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a law raising the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour. The raise takes effect April 1.

Macron proposes granting limited autonomy to France's Mediterranean island of Corsica

By Associated Press

French President Emmanuel Macron is proposing granting limited autonomy for Corsica in a modest step toward nationalist sentiment on the Mediterranean island.

EU struggles to update asylum laws three years after announcing sweeping reforms

By Lorne Cook, Associated Press

European Union governments are struggling to overcome obstacles to put a new asylum system in place three years after unveiling a plan to reform the bloc's outdated asylum rules. Some fear the plan may never see the light of day.

A key domestic surveillance tool should face new limits, a privacy oversight board says

By Eric Tucker, Associated Press

The recommendation came Thursday in a report from a three-member majority of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board, an independent agency within the executive branch.

At U.S. Antarctic base hit by harassment claims, workers are banned from buying alcohol at bars

By Nick Perry, Associated Press

From Sunday, workers at the main United States base in Antarctica will no longer be able to walk into a bar and order a beer, after the federal agency overseeing the research program decided to stop serving alcohol.

Shelters for migrants fill up across Germany as attitudes toward the newcomers harden

By Kirsten Grieshaber, Associated Press

Officials across Germany are sounding the alarm that they are no longer able to accommodate migrants who are applying for asylum. More than 220,000 people have applied for asylum in the country so far this year.

Israel reopens the main Gaza Strip crossing for Palestinian laborers and tensions ease

By Issam Adwan, Associated Press

The crossing reopened on Thursday, after weeks of violent protests along Gaza's frontier with Israel where demonstrators have thrown explosives and rocks and launched incendiary balloons that sparked fires.