Ivory Coast’s octogenarian leader won a fourth term in elections that excluded his main rivals.

Alassane Ouattara, 83, was proclaimed the winner of Saturday’s ballot with 89.8% of the vote, according to results released by the country’s election commission.

Of the four candidates that were allowed to challenge Ouattara, Simone Gbagbo, a...Read more

Hurricane Melissa’s rapid intensification and its projected torrential rain are highlighting the problems for emergency responders who will have to deal with crises on several Caribbean islands simultaneously in coming days, according to the Caribbean’s top disaster management expert.

After striking Jamaica, where it’s expected to make ...Read more

Hurricane Melissa, now a Category 5 monster, began its northwest turn Monday evening, churning toward Jamaica with what will likely be the most powerful winds ever recorded on the Caribbean island.

Melissa, which also is expected to dump several feet of rain, has already been blamed for a handful of deaths in Haiti and Jamaica and the toll will...Read more

WASHINGTON — Five contenders are still standing in the high-stakes race to be the next Federal Reserve chair.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday confirmed the candidate pool has been cut roughly in half, with current Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, former Governor Kevin Warsh, White House National Economic ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An investigation into the deadly July 1 fireworks explosion in Esparto led authorities to discover a cache of fireworks at a property in East Los Angeles on Monday, prompting the evacuation of a neighborhood and a nearby high school.

The search was conducted by the Arson and Bomb Unit of Cal Fire’s Office of the State ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The nation’s largest federal workers’ union have called for Congress to pass a clean funding extension to reopen the government.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) announced its new position on Monday through an article published on the organization’s website. The move marked a significant shift; many ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland will no longer house foster youth in hotels, a much-criticized practice even before a 16-year-old foster girl was found dead a month ago in a Residence Inn in East Baltimore.

As of Monday, six youth remained in hotels, said Maryland Department of Human Services Secretary Rafael J. López. He has issued a directive to ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Bill Essayli was approaching a 120-day limit as an interim U.S. attorney when he hinted to conservative commentator Glenn Beck that he might not be leaving just yet.

“We’ve got some tricks up our sleeves,” the former Republican state lawmaker said in a July podcast.

Essayli would later become one of several interim U.S. ...Read more

There is never a good time for a catastrophic hurricane to hit. But for Junior Ebanks, a farmer on Jamaica’s southern coast, Hurricane Melissa’s timing could not be worse.

“We are just preparing to start planting again for the tourism winter season,” he said from Treasure Beach in St. Elizabeth Parish. “That’s our best growing ...Read more

Venezuela is threatening to revoke energy deals with neighboring Trinidad and Tobago for its support of a U.S. military offensive in the Caribbean, potentially raising the economic cost of the twin-island nation’s alliance with the Trump administration.

Speaking on state television, Venezuelan Vice President and Oil Minister Delcy Rodríguez ...Read more

One lot of Neutrogena makeup remover wipes has been recalled by Kenvue Brands after testing found a bacteria dangerous to people with weakened immune systems.

The 15,744 two-packs of 25-count packs — or 31,488 25-count packs — in lot No. 1835U6325A of Neutrogena Makeup Remover Ultra-Soft Cleansing Towelettes went to Florida, South Carolina,...Read more

Cuba is bracing for Hurricane Melissa as it heads towards Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second-largest city, threatening catastrophic damage at a time the government is already failing to provide the most basic services and thousands are sick because of the rise of mosquito-transmitted diseases and other illnesses linked to poor sanitary ...Read more

As Hurricane Melissa heads toward Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, South Florida’s Jamaican community is already organizing to help.

Several non-profits and several local municipalities have launched donation drives, accepting monetary donations, food, water, toiletries and other items that organizers expect to be necessities in the aftermath ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The return of winter has already claimed a life on the tallest mountain in the continental United States, with the death of a hiker on slippery Mount Whitney, according to the Inyo County Sheriff's Department.

Over the weekend, the hiker fell in the notorious "99 Switchbacks" section of the main trail, said Lindsey Stine, ...Read more

DENVER — Premiums will double next year for Coloradans who buy their health insurance on the state’s individual market, with higher-income families facing increases of $10,000 or more, the Colorado Division of Insurance announced Monday.

Marketplace customers face a double hit this year. The monthly “sticker price” of health insurance ...Read more

More than half of the grades handed out at Harvard College are A’s, an increase from decades past even as school officials have sounded the alarm for years about rampant grade inflation.

About 60% of the grades handed out in classes for the university’s undergraduate program are A’s, up from 40% a decade ago and less than a quarter 20 ...Read more

In an ancient star system expected to be stable and dormant, scientists found a 3 billion-year-old white dwarf star still tearing apart massive quantities of rock.

“The rate we’ve seen rock consumed by this star is very high,” said John Debes, an astronomer with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore and a co-investigator on a...Read more

CHICAGO — Illinois residents will pay an average of 78% more across the state for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchange if Congress does not extend enhanced premium tax credits — the issue at the heart of the current government shutdown — state regulators said Monday.

Illinois residents who have health insurance ...Read more