WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States moved closer to the possibility of the first-ever default on the government’s debt Sunday as Speaker John Boehner adamantly ruled out a House vote on a straightforward bill to boost the borrowing authority without concessions from President Barack Obama. With no resolution in sight, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warned […]
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Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Congress likely to give shutdown workers back pay
WASHINGTON (AP) — A partial government shutdown enters its fifth day, with Congress convening for a session that promises no progress in breaking the impasse but will at least offer back pay to furloughed federal workers. The GOP House is scheduled Saturday to vote on legislation backed by the White House and congressional Democrats that […]
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Posted inFranklin, The Franklin Journal
UMF to inaugurate Foster as 14th President
FARMINGTON — The University of Maine at Farmington will inaugurate its 14th president, Kathryn A. Foster, during its 150th anniversary year. The inauguration will take place at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, on the UMF campus. The event is a landmark in the university’s long history of distinguished leadership and ushers in the promise of […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Angus King, other Maine delegates, still weighing options on strike against Syria
PORTLAND — U.S. Sen. Angus King on Wednesday said he has not yet made a decision on whether to support military intervention in Syria. “I can tell you that in my years of public service, I think this is just about the most difficult decision I’ve ever had to deal with,” King said during a […]
Posted inOur View
Sabattus man gets firm rebuke for racist threat
Death threats of any kind should be taken seriously, whether they are against the president of the United States or the neighbor next door. Such statements assume a particularly sinister character when accompanied by an obviously racist slur. That’s what happened Tuesday when a Sabattus resident pronounced “Shoot the Ni—-“ on his Facebook page atop […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
MLK’s dream inspires a new march, and a president
WASHINGTON (AP) — Standing on hallowed ground of the civil rights movement, President Barack Obama challenged new generations Wednesday to seize the cause of racial equality and honor the “glorious patriots” who marched a half century ago to the very steps from which Rev. Martin Luther King spoke during the March on Washington. In a […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Zimbabwe: Mugabe declared winner in disputed vote
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s electoral panel on Saturday declared that longtime President Robert Mugabe had won re-election by a landslide, a result that could exacerbate tensions in the country, where the 89-year-old’s chief rival and former coalition partner has accused him of poll-rigging. Mugabe seemed set to strengthen his hold over Zimbabwe after the […]
Posted inAdvice, sj-web
Iranian leader formally endorses Rouhani as president
TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, officially endorsed Hassan Rouhani as president in a ceremony here Saturday on the eve of his swearing-in by parliament, acknowledging the challenges that he faces and asking the country to support him. Rouhani, the moderate cleric who won an unexpected victory in the June 14 election and […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Egypt: Death toll in Cairo clashes rises to 72
CAIRO (AP) — The death toll from weekend clashes between supporters of Egypt’s ousted president and security forces backed by armed civilians in Cairo has risen to 72, the deadliest single outbreak of violence since the army deposed the Islamist Mohammed Morsi in a July 3 coup, a health ministry official said on Sunday. Khaled […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Obama: Korean War veterans ‘deserve better’
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama praised veterans of the Korean War at a ceremony Saturday marking the anniversary of the armistice, using their return to an apathetic America decades ago as a promise to better care for the generation returning from distant battlefields today. After three and an half years of fighting on the Korean […]