Applications for unemployment benefits fell by the most in five weeks, suggesting the resilient economy is making employers

The trial over Kari Lake's challenge to her defeat in the Arizona governor's race will go for a third day

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

Jonathan Smith had no doubts in his mind about leaving Oregon State

By Brenda Goh SHANGHAI The European Commission began investigating on Wednesday whether to set punitive tariffs to protect

The Biden administration has announced plans for the first sale of offshore wind power leases in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana and Texas coasts

World of Worldcraft: Dragonflight revealed new options for customization options in a stream during April 2022. Months after the reveal, Blizzard shared a preview of the available options that Dracthyr has to offer.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that he granted the US attorney investigating President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden special counsel status. Mr Garland announced that David Weiss, who has served as the US Attorney for Delaware since 2018, would serve as special counsel and he had informed relevant members of Congress about the nomination. The move is a shift from July when Mr Weiss informed Congress that he had not requested special counsel designation for his investigation into the president’s son. But on Tuesday, Mr Weiss requested such status. “I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel,” Mr Garland said on Friday. “This appointment confirms my commitment to provide Mr. Weiss all the resources he request.” Mr Weiss had previously been investigating Hunter Biden since 2019. Mr Garland and the Department of Justice allowed Mr Weiss to stay on board as US attorney when Mr Biden took office in 2021 to continue his investigation of Mr Biden. In July, Mr Biden looked set to enter into a plea deal for unpaid taxes and lying on a federal application for a firearm. Republicans, including former president Donald Trump, had decried the agreement as a sweetheart deal. Many Republicans argued that the younger Mr Biden received preferential treatment because he is the president’s son despite the fact that Mr Trump nominated Mr Weiss and Republicans in the Senate voted to confirm him in 2018. Then in late July, Mr Biden pleaded not guilty to two of the charges after the presiding judge questioned whether the deal would prohibit the federal government from prosecuting him for other crimes he might have committed in the future. The White House referred to remarks from Mr Garland and the Justice Department when asked by The Independent. Mr Garland said that Mr Weiss’s office would not be subjected to day-to-day supervision but would have to comply with regulations, procedures and policies of the Justice Department. Mr Weiss would also be mandated to write a report of his investigation once it concludes. “ As with each special counsel who has served since I have taken office, I am committed to making as much of his report public as possible, consistent with legal requirements and department policy,” he said. “Today's announcement affords the prosecutors agents and analysts working on this matter, the ability to proceed with our work expeditiously and to make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.” Mr Garland’s announcement comes the same day that former president Donald Trump’s legal team appeared in court in Washington, DC and earned a win as US District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that a protective order against Mr Trump would only apply to sensitive material such as jury transcripts, witness interview records and other documents. Mr Trump faces charges for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election after a federal grand jury indicted him in response to a presentation from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office. Mr Garland nominated Mr Smith to investigate Mr Smith to investigate Mr Trump. In addition, the attorney nominated Robert Hur to investigate classified documents found in locations associated with President Biden earlier this year. Read More Hunter Biden’s plea deal appears at risk of falling apart. What happens next? Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to two tax charges after court chaos around deal with prosecutors Attorney General Garland will appoint special counsel in Hunter Biden probe Utah man killed after threats against Biden believed government was corrupt and overreaching Utah man suspected of threatening President Joe Biden shot and killed as FBI served warrant

Olympic figure skating gold medalist Tara Lipinski and her husband, Todd Kapostasy, have welcomed a daughter through a surrogate after several years of infertility

Fans will have to wait a little longer for 'Oxenfree II: Lost Signals'.

Fishermen and residents of Fukushima and five other prefectures along Japan’s northeastern coast have filed a lawsuit demanding a halt to the ongoing release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea

The new teaser for Greta Gerwig's film 'Barbie', gives us a peek into the pink, animated but strange world of Barbie Land