By Bo Erickson CORCORAN, California – California is so heavily Democratic that neither the party’s presidential candidate Kamala Harris nor her Republican rival Donald Trump even bother to campaign here. It is an entirely different matter, however, in the fight for control of the U.S. House of Representatives. The state is home to six of the 38 most competitive House races, according to a Reuters analysis, and five of those seats are held by Republicans. With Democrats seeking to overturn the Republicans’ narrow 220-212 House majority, California is a key battlefield with contested districts stretching in a band from east…

WASHINGTON – Ralph de la Torre will step down as CEO of troubled Steward Health Care next week, the company said on Saturday, after he was held in criminal contempt by the U.S. Senate for refusing to testify about cost-cutting decisions at the group’s 31 hospitals before it filed for bankruptcy. In a statement, the Dallas-based company said de la Torre would no longer serve as its CEO and chairman as of Oct. 1 as part of an agreement in principle reached earlier this month. A spokesperson for de la Torre confirmed that the former heart surgeon “has amicably separated…

by David Lewis and Jessica Donati DAKAR – Mali’s military-led authorities have arrested four employees of Canadian miner Barrick Gold, two sources said on Friday. All four are senior Malian employees, one of the sources said. Barrick is the world’s second-largest gold miner and one of Mali’s top gold producers, but like other international miners it has been under growing pressure in the West African country since a junta seized power in 2020. A government official based in the region and speaking on condition of anonymity said four Barrick employees had been arrested for alleged financial crimes. Barrick declined to…

WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris holds a narrow lead over Republican rival Donald Trump in six U.S. swing states and is tied in a seventh, according to a Bloomberg poll of likely voters released on Friday. Her leads in individual states are within the poll’s statistical margin of error, underscoring that the Nov. 5 contest could be decided by the narrowest of margins, it said. The Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll shows Harris leading by 7 percentage points in Nevada, 5 points in Pennsylvania, 3 points in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, and 2 points in North Carolina. The two…

By David Shepardson NEW YORK – District Judge Reed O’Connor said Friday he will hold a hearing on Oct. 11 to consider objections from relatives of those killed in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes to the planemaker’s agreement to plead guilty to criminal fraud conspiracy. On July 24, the planemaker finalized an agreement to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration and pay up to $487 million after breaching a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. Family members of some of the 346 people killed in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 argue the fine is…

by Luc Cohen NEW YORK -New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty on Friday to federal charges of accepting bribes and illegal campaign contributions from Turkish nationals, as the Democrat resists mounting calls from within his own party to resign. Adams, 64, entered the plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker at his first appearance in the case in Manhattan federal court. He wore a dark blue suit with a purple dotted tie, and stared straight ahead as Parker explained the five felony counts he faces, including bribery and wire fraud. “I am not guilty, your honor,” Adams…

by Amy Tennery NEW YORK – The Chicago Marathon plans to honour the late Kenyan marathon runner Kelvin Kiptum at next month’s race, a year after he smashed the men’s world record in the Windy City. Kiptum was aged only 23 when he put on a performance for the ages to break the tape in two hours and 35 seconds. He died in a car accident four months later, cutting short his promising career. Organisers have planned a moment of silence at the starting line to honour Kiptum and a brief exhibit celebrating his career at the pre-race expo, with…

by Steve Holland, Patricia Zengerle and Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden announced more than $8 billion in military assistance for Ukraine on Thursday to help Kyiv repel Russian invaders, using a visit by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to make a major commitment. The aid includes the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb called the Joint Standoff Weapon, with a range of up to 81 miles (130 km). The medium-range missile gives Ukraine a major upgrade to the weapons it is using to strike Russian forces, allowing the Ukrainians to do it at safer distances. The bomb, capable of…

by Luc Cohen, Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK -Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged New York City Mayor Eric Adams with accepting illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel from Turkish nationals seeking to influence him, capping an investigation that has sent the largest U.S. city’s government into turmoil. In a 57-page indictment, prosecutors laid out an alleged scheme stretching back to 2014 that helped to underwrite Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign and showered him with free rooms at opulent hotels and meals at high-end restaurants. In return, Adams pressured city officials to allow the country’s new 36-story consulate to open despite safety concerns,…

by Jasper Ward WASHINGTON – Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was disbarred in the U.S. capital on Thursday by a Washington, D.C., Court of Appeals, months after he lost his law license in New York over baseless claims he made alleging the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Giuliani has been a member of the D.C. bar since 1976. His law license was suspended in 2021 and a District of Columbia attorney ethics committee recommended in July that his license be revoked. He also lost his New York law license in July. Giuliani, who in the 1980s served as…