USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has been deeply shaken by the rapidly escalating impeachment inquiry, as revelations that President Donald Trump enlisted diplomats to dig up dirt on a political rival threaten to tarnish its reputation as a nonpartisan arm of U.S. foreign policy, former senior officials said Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Friday that the U.S. economy is facing some risks at the moment, but overall it is in a “good place” and the Fed’s main job is to “keep it there as long as possible.”

Powell noted that unemployment is at a half-century low and inflation is running close to the Fed’s 2% target.

While Fed officials believe they have the correct strategy and tools to extend the current record-long expansion, it is important to examine whether any changes could improve the Fed’s handling of the economy, Powell said.

Connecticut (AP) -- The roar of its four engines, the plexiglass nose, the bristling machine guns — for history buffs and aviation enthusiasts, few thrills compare with that of a flight aboard aircraft like the B-17 Flying Fortress, the World War II bomber that helped smash the Nazi war machine.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Western governors are disappointed that the U.S. Department of Energy didn’t consult their states’ nuclear waste experts before releasing a five-year plan for a nuclear waste facility in New Mexico, the governors say.

The Western Governors’ Association in a Sept. 30 letter to the Energy Department said the plan released in August for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant could have benefited with contributions from the states concerning transportation and safety.

The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has added an appeal to end what it calls a “humanitarian crisis” in Kashmir in its report ahead of the annual Foreign Appropriations Act for 2020. This could become the first step towards legislative action by American lawmakers against India on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders had a heart attack, his campaign confirmed Friday as the Vermont senator was released from a Nevada hospital.

The 78-year-old was at a campaign event Tuesday when he experienced chest discomfort and was taken to a hospital where he was diagnosed with a heart attack. The senator was transferred to Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center, where doctors inserted two stents to open up a blocked artery in his heart, according to a statement from the Las Vegas doctors.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most Republican leaders were silent or supportive of President Donald Trump’s public call for another foreign government, China, to investigate his political foe, while a handful voiced concern that the president was trying to enlist a rival power in his reelection effort.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, the impeachment inquiry reached directly into the White House on Friday as Democrats subpoenaed officials about contacts with Ukraine and President Donald Trump signaled his administration would not cooperate.

The demand for documents capped a tumultuous week that widened the constitutional battle between the executive branch and Congress and sharpened the political standoff with more witnesses, testimony and documents to come.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 04 (APP): Pakistan Thursday reaffirmed its commitment to eradicate drug-abuse from its society and back global efforts for combating narcotics-smuggling and transnational organized crime, but voiced concern over the moves in some countries to legalize the use of illicit drugs.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit increased in August as imports of consumer goods surged to a record high, but the gap with China, a focus of the Trump administration’s “America First” agenda, narrowed.

The Commerce Department said on Friday the trade deficit rose 1.6% to $54.9 billion. The July trade gap was unrevised at $54.0 billion. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade gap would widen slightly to $54.5 billion in August.