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Paul Allen, who cofounded Microsoft with Bill Gates, died Monday afternoon after a battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was 65. Allen was not only a tech billionaire, he was a philanthropist as well as the owner of the Seattle Seahawks and the Portland Trail Blazers. Allen and Gates were childhood friends; Allen was best known for cofounding Microsoft in 1975 with Gates. He left the company in 1983 after receiving a diagnosis for Hodgkin’s disease, which he beat. Earlier this month, Allen announced that he was once again receiving treatment for lymphoma. He was last treated for the disease in 2009. At the time, Allen said that he planned on staying involved with his various business ventures. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella released a statement Monday praising Allen’s “inquisitiveness, curiosity and push for high standards.”... [Read Full Story]

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump toured the Florida Panhandle and parts of Georgia on Monday, in the wake of mass devastation left by Hurricane Michael last week. The President praised the work being done by Florida Gov. Rick Scott and emergency workers in the wake of the storm.  While speaking to media shortly after landing at Eglin Air Force Base, Trump said “Gov. Rick Scott has done an incredible job. He steps up in the biggest emergencies and the biggest problems.” Trump declared a state of emergency in Georgia last week, releasing federal resources to help the state. The White House said it was fully committed to helping state and local agencies with recovery efforts.... [Read Full Story]

Sears has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, after no longer being able to deal with its massive debt and losses. The company will close 142 stores before the end of the year and its CEO, Eddie Lampert, will step down, though he will remain its chairman. Lampert has blamed the company’s decline on the media, shifts in consumer spending, and the rise of e-commerce, among other reasons. In a statement on Monday, Lampert said: “Over the last several years, we have worked hard to transform our business and unlock the value of our assets.” Lampert said that Sears and Kmart stores “remain open for business” towards the holiday season, and that the bankruptcy process will allow the chain to “strengthen its balance sheet,” to “accelerate its strategic transformation,” and ultimately to “return to profitability.” Sears once dominated the American retail landscape. The company started out as a mail order catalog in the 1880s, but has lagged behind its competition and has incurred massive losses over the years. The operator of Sears and Kmart stores joins a growing list of retailers that have filed for bankruptcy or liquidated in the last few years. ... [Read Full Story]

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On Thursday, sources close to the matter said that President Donald Trump’s lawyers are preparing answers to questions for the U.S. special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. This new development appears to show progress after several months of talks between the special counsel, Robert Mueller, and Trump’s legal team in connection with the president answering questions in the investigation. President Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said last month that Mueller wanted the president to commit to a follow-up interview to any written questions, which Trump’s legal team was resisting. But sources now say that Mueller is willing to accept written answers to questions without a commitment from Trump’s lawyers over what comes next.... [Read Full Story]

Hurricane Michael has left damage and destruction in Florida, where many homes have been destroyed. The storm also has brought flash flooding to hurricane-weary parts of North and South Carolina and Virginia. Florida’s Panhandle is a disaster zone after Michael brought catastrophic winds, heavy rain and devastating storm surge. Some of the worst damage was in Mexico Beach, where the hurricane crashed ashore Wednesday as a Category 4 monster with 155 mph winds and a storm surge of 9 feet. Michael was the third-most powerful hurricane ever to make landfall in the U.S. mainland, and the storm has been blamed for at least six deaths. As of Thursday evening, more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Southeast had no electricity. Michael hit North Carolina and South Carolina as a tropical storm with heavy downpours and and threats of tornadoes. ... [Read Full Story]

The National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Michael weakened to a tropical storm Thursday, with 50 mph winds as it moved across Georgia. The eye of the storm was 30 miles west of Augusta, Ga., as of the NHC’s 5 a.m. EDT update. The storm was moving northeast at 21 mph with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. Yesterday when it made landfall in the Florida Panhandle, Michael sustained 155 mph winds, 2 mph shy of a Category 5 storm. Storm surge watches are in effect from the Ocracoke Inlet to Duck in North Carolina. Michael is expected to head northeast through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia on Thursday as a tropical storm. However, forecasters warn that Michael could intensify again when it reaches the Atlantic Ocean late Thursday or early Friday. Additionally, the NHC forecasts up to 7 inches for eastern Georgia and the Carolinas up to southern New England. Isolated areas could get 9 inches and life-threatening flash floods, and isolated tornadoes are possible Thursday in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.... [Read Full Story]

U.S. stocks slumped to close sharply lower Wednesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 800 points and the S&P 500 had its worst day since February as technology stocks went into freefall. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went down 831.83 points, logging its worst one-day drop since February. Meanwhile the S&P 500 index lost 94.66 points, falling for its fifth straight day, the longest losing streak since November 2016.  Market action has been adversely affected by higher bond yields and interest rates, both of which could signal a new phase in post-crisis markets that have enjoyed a protracted period of ultra-low yields. ... [Read Full Story]

Hurricane Michael strengthened to a Category 3 storm on Tuesday as it headed toward Florida’s northeast Gulf Coast. By the time the storm makes landfall, it could be near Category 4 strength, forecasters said, bringing with it catastrophic storm surge, torrential rain and heavy winds. “Hurricane Michael is forecast to be the most destructive storm to hit the Florida Panhandle in decades,” Gov. Rick Scott warned on Tuesday. The storm is expected to move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico through Tuesday and make landfall in the Panhandle on Wednesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. By Tuesday afternoon, Michael’s top sustained winds had risen to 120 mph, and the National Hurricane Center said some additional strengthening is expected before Michael hits Florida. Governor Scott on Tuesday morning urged residents in the path of the storm to evacuate, saying the effects of the storm would start well before landfall.... [Read Full Story]

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has resigned, and will be leaving her position by the end of the year. Appearing together in the Oval Office, Trump praised Haley as a “fantastic person” who has “done an incredible job” and said he would gladly welcome her back into his administration down the line. The President said that Haley had informed him about six months ago that at the end of a two-year period on the job, she’d want to take a break,  but the announcement caught many White House officials by surprise. Haley said she was leaving because she needed to take time out after an intense six years as governor of South Carolina, directly followed by two years at the U.N. President Trump has a working list of contenders to succeed Haley, according to senior White House officials. The President said he plans to name a successor for the US’s top diplomatic post at the United Nations in two to three weeks. Among the names floated as possible replacements for Haley are: Trump’s former deputy national security adviser Dina Powell, US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell and senior adviser and daughter of the President, Ivanka Trump.... [Read Full Story]

President Donald Trump said he had a “good talk” on Monday with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the Justice Department official in charge of the federal investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and has no plans to fire him. There has been widespread speculation that Trump might fire Rosenstein after a New York Times report that he had made negative remarks about Trump and offered to record conversations with him. Rosenstein traveled with Trump on Air Force One to Orlando on Monday, and Rosenstein was seen smiling as he walked down the front stairs of Air Force One alongside Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly. Rosenstein oversees Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Russia denies interfering and Trump says there was no collusion between his campaign and Moscow.... [Read Full Story]

Google said on Monday that it is closing it’s “Google Plus” social network following the discovery of a software glitch this past spring that may have exposed user information of up to 500,000 customers between 20015 and 2018. Ben Smith, Google’s vice president of engineering, confirmed in a blog post the company had detected a “bug” in March that impacted the profiles of as many as 500,000 Google Plus users. While it immediately fixed the security flaw, Google executives opted not to disclose the problem at the time because they feared trouble from regulators after the criticism encountered by Facebook over its privacy issues. The Google Plus data potentially exposed includes names, email addresses, occupations, dates of birth, genders and profile photos. According to Google, 438 third-party applications may have used the application programming interface that allowed possible access to the data. The company will wind down the Google Plus network during a 10-month period expected to be done by the end of next August. Meanwhile, news of the shutting down of Google Plus sent shares down $9.35, or 0. 8 percent, to $1,148.00, on Monday.... [Read Full Story]

Tropical Storm Michael has formed near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, and is expected to threaten Florida’s Gulf Coast as a hurricane later this week, this according to the National Hurricane Center. On Sunday, the Weather Channel reported that “it’s a tropical storm at the moment, but looks like it will become a hurricane in the next 24 hours and stay a low-grade hurricane before it comes onshore and moves northeast across Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.” The storm is said to be moving quickly, which could mitigate flooding in the Carolinas, where the floodwaters of Hurricane Florence have just receded. The National Hurricane Center forecast that Tropical Storm Michael would become a hurricane on Monday, only two days before it is expected to reach the Gulf Coast. The hurricane center warned residents the storm could bring dangerous surges, rainfall and winds. In anticipation of the storm, Florida Gov. Rick Scott said he would be declaring a state of emergency in the Pensacola region and activate the state’s emergency operations center... [Read Full Story]

Twenty people died on Saturday after a limousine crashed in upstate New York. Safety officials are calling this the nation’s worst road accident in nearly a decade. The crash occurred in the historic town of Schoharie, about 45 minutes west of Albany. According to Christopher Fiore, first deputy superintendent of the New York State Police, a 2001 Ford Excursion limousine failed to stop at an intersection with State Route 30 and crashed into a 2015 Toyota Highlander parked near the Apple Barrel Country Store. All 18 people in the limo, including the driver, died. Two pedestrians who were struck also lost their lives. “This is the most deadly transportation accident in this country since February of 2009,” National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt told reporters. The names of the victims have not been released because next of kin were being notified, the New York State Police said in a statement. Their bodies were transported to the Albany Medical Center, where autopsies were being conducted on each person.... [Read Full Story]

Federal health officials said Thursday that one person has died and four were hospitalized in an outbreak of listeria linked to cured hams from North Carolina, The ham recall affects 89,000 pounds of ham products made by Johnston County Hams, Inc. in Smithfield, North Carolina. The ham maker has recalled the hams, which were produced from April 3, 2017 through October 2, 2018,. The CDC has recommended that consumers “return them to the store for a refund or throw them away. Restaurants and retailers should not serve or sell recalled Johnston County Hams products,”. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said they were distributed in Maryland, North Carolina, New York, South Carolina and Virginia. The illnesses that have been reported were in North Carolina and Virginia. ... [Read Full Story]

Republicans gained confidence on Thursday that U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would win Senate confirmation, this after two wavering lawmakers responded positively to an FBI report on accusations of sexual misconduct against the judge. The report was sent by the White House to the Senate Judiciary Committee in the middle of the night. Democrats have denounced it as a “whitewash” that was “too narrow in scope” and claimed it ignored critical witnesses. Thousands of anti-Kavanaugh protesters rallied outside the Supreme Court and entered a Senate office building, holding signs such as “Believe Survivors” and “Kava-Nope.” Depiste this, Republicans moved forward with plans for a key procedural vote on Friday and a final vote on Saturday on confirming Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.... [Read Full Story]

The Justice Department asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to block a lower court order for Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to be questioned by lawyers for a group of states challenging a decision by President Donald Trump’s administration to ask people taking part in the 2020 census whether they are citizens. The Justice Department told the Supreme Court the states should not be allowed to probe Ross’s “mental state” in deciding to add the citizenship question to the census, saying that compelling testimony from high-ranking officials is rarely justified. The U.S. Constitution mandates a census every 10 years. It is used to determine the allocation of seats in Congress and at the state level, the drawing of political boundaries and the distribution of billions of dollars in federal funds to communities.... [Read Full Story]

New York state officials are probing the tax practices of President Donald Trump and his family; this following a New York Times report on their use of tax avoidance schemes that they called “deceptive and potentially fraudulent.” The Department of Taxation and Finance has opened an investigation; it can collect fines and penalties and also refer criminal actions to the attorney general’s office. The alleged actions took place three decades ago, likely putting any criminal liability past the statute of limitations. “The Tax Department is reviewing the allegations in the NYT article and is vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation,” said department spokesman James Gazzale in a statement. A spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office declined to comment.... [Read Full Story]

On Tuesday, the Dow hit a record closing high but another drop in Facebook shares weighed on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, driving both to finish in the red. The Dow was boosted by names such as Boeing and Caterpillar as investors remained upbeat on trade-sensitive companies following the deal negotiated between the United States, Canada and Mexico. Meanwhile, Facebook fell 1.91 percent. The social media company disclosed its worst security breach eve on Friday, and faces continuing calls for legislation to force technology firms to take responsibilities for online security seriously.... [Read Full Story]

About 225 million mobile devices across the U.S. will receive a test emergency alert on Wednesday. It’s the first nationwide test for a wireless phone emergency alert. It will be sent at 2:18 p.m. EDT. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said that it will sound like an Amber Alert or flood warning. The subject will read: “Presidential Alert.” The text will say: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” A test of broadcast systems will happen at 2:20 p.m. EDT. FEMA officials say the test will last about a half-hour; meaning people may get it at different times. They expect about 75% of all wireless users to get the alert. The alert would be used in the event of a major nationwide emergency.... [Read Full Story]

On Monday, President Donald Trump spoke about the new free trade deal with Canada and Mexico, saying it was “a win” for U.S. workers. Washington and Ottawa reached an agreement on Sunday after weeks of talks to update the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. The United States forged a separate trade deal with Mexico, the third member of NAFTA, in August. The new agreement is called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and is aimed at bringing more jobs into the United States, with Canada and Mexico accepting more restrictive commerce with the United States, their main export partner. At the White House, President Trump said “these measures will support many – hundreds of thousands – American jobs.”  He said the deal was “the most important” the United States had ever made. ... [Read Full Story]

A classmate of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at Yale University, Charles Ludington, will provide information to the FBI on Monday. News of Ludington’s involvement was first reported by The Washington Post, who said he planned to give a statement to the FBI at its field office in Raleigh, North Carolina, “detailing violent drunken behavior by Kavanaugh in college.” In a copy of his statement provided to the publication, Ludington, a professor at North Carolina State University, described Kavanaugh as a “belligerent and aggressive” drunk. During his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week, Kavanaugh was repeatedly asked about his drinking habits in school, but denied having a problem. However in his statement, Ludington wrote that “if he lied about his past actions on national television, and more especially while speaking under oath in front of the United States Senate, I believe those lies should have consequences.” A senior U.S. official confirmed that the White House counsel’s office directed the FBI to interview the following witness list of four: Kavanaugh friends Mark Judge and P.J. Smyth, Leland Keyser, a friend of Ford’s who Ford says was at the party, and Deborah Ramirez, who accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her when they were both students at Yale University.... [Read Full Story]

A car explosion in downtown Allentown left three men dead, including the likely “perpetrator,” officials said Sunday. Federal authorities who are leading the investigation planned on conducting autopsies, saying “we know there’s been a criminal incident.” District Attorney James Martin told reporters at a news conference Sunday that “we have a high degree of confidence that the perpetrator was probably killed in the incident.” No further information about the possible cause of Saturday night’s blast, including whether it was a bomb, but Martin said, “Loads of us in law enforcement” are confident “this was A. an isolated incident and B. there’s no continuing threat.” The FBI, state police, and city and county authorities are investigating along with the ATF. Autopsies were planned Monday on the three males found dead after the 9:30 p.m. explosion, Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim said Sunday afternoon. Grim said he would probably be able to release the names Monday once their identities are confirmed and their families are notified.... [Read Full Story]

After a full day of testimony from Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the first woman who accused the judge of sexually assaulting her, President Donald Trump reinforced his support of Kavanaugh. In a tweet on Thursday evening, the President said, “Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him. His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting. Democrats’ search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate must vote!”  Ford accused Kavanaugh of trying to rape her when they were teenagers. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied all of her allegations, as well as the allegations made against him by two other women. Both Ford and Kavanaugh sat through hours of questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as an outside prosecutor who Republicans hired to ask questions on Thursday. Ford spoke emotionally when describing her allegations. Kavanaugh began his testimony with anger in his voice, but also became very emotional during his opening statement. The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote on whether to confirm Kavanaugh for Friday, but Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and other Democrats have called for the vote to be delayed.... [Read Full Story]

The White House said on Thursday that President Donald Trump and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein have agreed to delay their planned meeting on Thursday until next week, so as not to interfere with the Senate hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Trump had expected to meet with Rosenstein, who oversees the probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, to discuss a news report that he had suggested secretly recording the president and recruiting Cabinet members to remove him from office. The meeting between the president and deputy attorney general was originally scheduled in the wake of a flurry of conflicting reports Monday, saying Rosenstein had either quit or was set to be fired. At the time, Trump was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. ... [Read Full Story]

The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates for the third time this year. Policymakers under Chairman Jerome Powell unanimously agreed to raise the federal funds rate a quarter percentage point, to a range of 2% to 2.25%. The rate helps determine rates for mortgages, credit cards and other consumer borrowing. “Our economy is strong,” Powell said at a press conference on Wednesday. “These rates remain low, and my colleagues and I believe that this gradual returning to normal is helping to sustain this strong economy.” Central bankers raised expectations for a fourth rate hike in December, with a majority now in favor of such a move. In June, policymakers were split on whether the Fed should raise rates four times this year or three. Looking ahead to 2019, Fed officials expect at least three rate hikes will be necessary, and one more in 2020. The Fed raised its expectation for economic growth this year to 3.1% from 2.8%, but for 2019, Fed officials expect growth to slow to 2.5% amid worries about the growing trade rift between the United States and China. ... [Read Full Story]

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said that Democratic attacks on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh over allegations of sexual misconduct were “disgraceful,” and would backfire on the party in November. “If the Democrats are playing this game that is disgraceful. It is a disgrace to the country. And I think you are going to see it in the midterms,” Trump said in New York, where he was meeting with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe during the United Nations General Assembly. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats on Wednesday urged President Donald Trump to withdraw Kavanaugh’s nomination. In a letter, all 10 Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee called on Trump to either withdraw Kavanaugh from consideration, or order an FBI investigation “into all allegations.” Kavanaugh was accused on Wednesday by another woman of engaging in sexual misconduct at parties while he was a student at Georgetown Preparatory School in the 1980s. The allegation came from Julie Swetnick, 55, who said she observed the future Supreme Court nominee at parties where women were verbally abused, inappropriately touched, made “disoriented” with alcohol or drugs and “gang raped.” Judge Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied allegations that he behaved inappropriately toward women. ... [Read Full Story]

President Donald Trump delivered a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday in which, among other things, he touted his Administration’s accomplishments, spoke about the importance of American sovereignty and patriotism, and criticized “the ideology of globalism.”  Mr. Trump opened his annual address by boasting that his administration “has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country,” which was met with laughter by the other world leaders at the assembly. “Didn’t expect that reaction,” President Trump said, “but that’s O.K.”  Trump said in part, “Each of us here today is the emissary of a distinct culture, a rich history and a people bound together by ties of memory, tradition and the values that make our homelands like nowhere else on earth. That is why America will always choose independence and cooperation over global governance, control and domination.”  The President added: “The United States will not tell you how to live or work or worship. We only ask that you honor our sovereignty in return.”... [Read Full Story]

Michael Kors is buying the Italian fashion house Versace in a deal worth more than $2 billion. The deal Tuesday comes just 14 months after the New York handbag maker spent $1.35 billion adding to its portfolio Jimmy Choo. Michael Kors remains the chief creative director at Kors, but the expanding company will be renamed Capri Holdings Ltd., with $8 billion in projected annual sales. Gianni Versace founded the Versace brand in 1978, becoming a major force bringing to prominence Milan ready-to-wear; with Versace’s murder 21 years ago, his sister, Donatella Versace, took over creative direction and his brother Santo continued on the business side. The Versace family still controls 80 percent of the company, with the investment firm Blackstone owning the remaining 20 percent. Donatella Versace presented her latest collection for next spring and summer last Friday during Milan Fashion Week. “This is a very exciting moment for Versace,” she said. “It has been more than 20 years since I took over the company along with my brother Santo and daughter Allegra.” Donatella, who holds a 20 percent stake in the business, will stay onboard as creative director and the family will become shareholders in the larger business. Kors said Tuesday that it plans to open 100 new Versace stores (there are 200 in operation) at the same time that it amplifies online sales of the brand.... [Read Full Story]