Nearly 300 votes against, only 207 in favor: Those were the final results of a vote in the European Parliament on the "Sustainable Use of Pesticides" directive, the landmark legislation of the European Union's agriculture reforms. The plans would have cut back on pesticide and fertilizer use, as well as shifted a major part of Europe's farmland use to organic. Now, the plans are all but dead, the architect of the European Green Deal has resigned, and next year's EU elections are announcing a shift away from environmentalist ideas.

Former President Trump's company no longer prepares the sweeping financial statements now under scrutiny in his civil fraud trial in New York, an executive testified on Monday. Mark Hawthorn, the chief operating officer of the Trump Organization's hotel arm, told the court that the firm bearing the name of the former president prepares audits and...

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday said he spoke with Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) “at some length” during the holiday recess “about his options” as the embattled lawmaker faces a likely third vote on his expulsion. The conversation came after the House Ethics Committee released its long-awaited report in Santos, which found that the Congressman...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) just checked an item off his bucket list: going skydiving with a 106-year-old World War II veteran.  The Texas Tribune reported Monday that the governor traveled to an area near San Marcos to go skydiving with Al Blaschke, a 106-year-old World War II veteran who has years of experience as...

Michigan’s State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh announced her bid for the state’s 8th Congressional District on Monday, becoming the first Democrat to launch a campaign for the seat following news that Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) would not seek reelection. Pugh also announced that she would be dropping her Senate bid. “Voters in the...

Scott Havens, the CEO of Bloomberg Media, is leaving his position with the media giant to become the team president for the New York Mets. The team said in a news release Monday it has appointed Havens as their president of business operations. In his new role, Havens will oversee day-to-day operations of the team’s...

An attempted hijacking of a commercial tanker Sunday in the Gulf of Aden was not carried out by Yemeni Houthis and instead appears to have been done by five Somali individuals, the Pentagon’s top spokesperson said Monday.  “We know that they’re not Houthi,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters. The U.S. Navy’s...

Binance reportedly acted as a “colossal money-laundering hub for terrorists, cybercriminals and customers in sanctioned countries.” That is pretty horrific behavior — many steps beyond mere ministerial mistakes.  

The California Highway Patrol is increasing its operations to help curb organized retail crime under a new order from the state's governor, Gavin Newsom. “When criminals run out of stores with stolen goods, they need to be arrested and escorted directly into jail cells," Newsom wrote in a statement announcing the effort. "Leveraging hundreds of...

U.S. oil and gas companies extracted record amounts of planet-warming oil and gas in 2023 — a year that was the globe’s hottest in recorded history.  New reporting from The Guardian on Monday found that the U.S. government is planning for oil and gas production levels to stay at “near-record levels” until mid-century.  The U.S., like most...