An Oregon state appeals court Thursday let stand $135,000 in damages levied against the owners of a Portland-area bakery for discrimination after they refused on religious grounds to prepare a wedding cake for a local lesbian couple. A three-judge panel of the Oregon Court of Appeals rejected a petition by Melissa and Aaron Klein, former owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, to overturn the ruling by the state’s labor commissioner as a violation of their rights under the U.S. Constitution to freedom of religion and expression. An attorney for the Kleins, who closed their bakery not long after being ordered to pay the heavy fine, could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. “Today’s ruling sends a strong signal that Oregon remains open to all,” Brad Avakian, the state’s labor commissioner, said in a written statement. “Within Oregon’s public accommodations law is the basic principle of human decency that every …

President Donald Trump’s administration is rescinding proposed rules for hydraulic fracturing and other oil- and gas-drilling practices on government lands, government officials announced Thursday. The rules developed under President Barack Obama would have applied mainly in the West, where most federal lands are located. Companies would have had to disclose the chemicals used in fracking, which pumps pressurized water underground to break open hydrocarbon deposits. The rules to be rescinded Friday were supposed to take effect in 2015, but a federal judge in Wyoming blocked them at the last minute. In September, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver declined to rule in that case because the Trump administration intended to rescind the rules. Industry praise The long-awaited change drew praise from industry groups including the Washington, D.C.-based Independent Petroleum Association of America and Denver-based Western Energy Alliance, which sued to block the rules. They claimed the federal …

Twelve people were killed and four more were seriously injured and fighting for their lives late Thursday in a fast-moving fire at an apartment building on a frigid night in the Bronx, according to New York City’s mayor.   The victims included a child around a year old, Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a briefing outside the building.   “We may lose others as well,” he said. Historic fire   Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro called the fire, “historic in its magnitude,” because of the number of lives lost.    “Our hearts go out to every person who lost a loved one here and everyone who is fighting for their lives,” he said. The blaze broke out in a five-story building, a block from the grounds of the Bronx Zoo.   About 170 firefighters worked in bone-chilling cold, just 15 degrees, to rescue people from the building. Water sprayed from …

Actress and comedienne Rose Marie, who grew up from a child superstar to become a television comedy legend, died Thursday in Hollywood at 94. She spent her entire life as a star, and was one of the last surviving entertainers whose career spanned all media — vaudeville, records, movies, Broadway, radio and television. Born Rose Marie Mazetta in New York, she began singing on the vaudeville stage when she was 3 years old, billed as Baby Rose Marie. With her naturally husky voice, many in the audience insisted she was not a child but a small adult dressed up in children’s clothes. She soon became one of the country’s best-known child entertainers with her own radio show, touring in vaudeville, and singing in early sound films. She dropped the “Baby” from her billing as she grew into a teenager, and continued to perform in nightclubs and make records. Rose Marie …

Bitter cold weather has blanketed the Central and Eastern United States, and it will stay in place for days into the new year. Forecasters are warning people to be on alert for hypothermia and frostbite as the temperatures plunge below freezing. The National Weather Service reports that International Falls, Minnesota, plunged to minus 37 degrees Celsius (-34.6 Fahrenheit), breaking the record of minus 32 degrees Celsius (-25.6 Fahrenheit) set in 1924. More snow for Erie Residents of Erie, Pennsylvania, on Thursday continued to dig out of the one-and-a-half meters of snow that fell earlier this week. Forecasters are predicting another 25 centimeters (10 inches) of snow to arrive soon. Weather observers at the Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire said the temperature there hit a record minus 37 degrees Celsius. They posted a video on Facebook showing a weather observer emptying a pitcher of boiling water into the air, where …

Facing lawsuits and consumer outrage  after it said it slowed older iPhones with flagging batteries, Apple Inc is slashing prices for battery replacements and will change its software to show users whether their phone battery is good. In a posting on its website Thursday, Apple apologized over its handling of the battery issue and said it would make a number of changes for customers “to recognize their loyalty and to regain the trust of anyone who may have doubted Apple’s intentions.” Apple made the move to address concerns about the quality and durability of its products at a time when it is charging $999 for its newest flagship model, the iPhone X. Battery prices lowered The company said it would cut the price of an out-of-warranty battery replacement from $79 to $29 for an iPhone 6 or later, starting next month. The company also will update its iOS operating system …

Mohammed Aly does not see any reason why he shouldn’t try to ease the lives of Orange County’s homeless. But the authorities — and many of his neighbors — disagree. Aly, a 28-year-old lawyer and activist, has been arrested three times as he campaigned on behalf of street people. Recently, he was denied permission to install portable toilets on a dried-up riverbed, site of an encampment of roughly 400 homeless. “Put yourself in their position: Would you want a toilet, or would you not want a toilet?” he asked. “It is a question of basic empathy.” But his detractors — engaged in a dispute that rages up and down America’s West Coast, as the region struggles to cope with a rising tide of homelessness — say Aly and other do-gooders are doing more harm than good. However well-meaning, critics say, those who provide the homeless with tents and tarps, showers …

The Justice Department on Thursday unsealed details of its case against two Romanians who allegedly hacked computers tied to Washington, D.C., police surveillance cameras. Police in Bucharest arrested Mihai Alexandru Isvanca and Eveline Cismaru on December 15. U.S. attorneys have charged them with conspiracy to commit computer and wire fraud. They allegedly hacked into more than 120 computers tied to Washington police surveillance cameras last January. It was part of an alleged scheme to infect personal computers with ransomware. Ransomware restricts users from accessing their own computers and demands a payment to the ramsomware operator to unlock it. The Justice Department said the investigation was of the highest priority because the alleged hacking of the surveillance camera computers came just weeks before the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. However, it says there is no evidence anyone’s personal security was threatened or harmed. If tried in the U.S. and convicted, the …

Despite initial concerns about an untested new leader, the world’s largest economy will end the year on a high note. The US economy is expanding at the fastest pace in more than two years, buoyed in part by low unemployment, soaring stock prices and a broad economic recovery around the globe. The momentum is expected to carry into 2018, but, as Mil Arcega reports, economists say the new year is likely to bring new challenges. …

More than two weeks after losing a special election to the U.S. Senate, Alabama Republican Roy Moore has filed a last-minute court challenge to prevent state election officials from certifying his Democratic opponent’s victory. Moore filed a complaint in a state courthouse late Wednesday afternoon, just hours before Doug Jones is set to be officially declared the winner of the December 12 election, which Jones won by just over 20,000 votes. The complaint alleges Moore lost due to “systematic voter fraud,” citing higher than expected turnout in Jefferson County, the state’s most populous area, along with irregularities in 20 voting precincts in the county. Moore’s lawyers are demanding an investigation into their claims, and for the state to hold a new election. Moore has rejected calls to concede the race to Jones. John Merrill, Alabama’s secretary of state, says he has not uncovered any evidence of voter fraud. If Jones’s …

Most Americans will spend the rest of the year dealing with arctic temperatures and biting winds. The Eastern and Central United States are gripped by the cold weather, which is expected to continue through the first week of 2018. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports. …

Bitter cold weather has taken hold of much of the northern United States and is expected to stay put for days to come as two Minnesota cities set record low temperatures and a city in Pennsylvania continues to dig out from a record snowfall. Forecasters warned of hypothermia and frostbite from arctic air settling in over the central U.S. and spreading east. The National Weather Service reported International Falls, Minnesota, the self-proclaimed Icebox of the Nation, plunged to 37 degrees below zero, breaking the old record of 32 below set in 1924. Hibbing, Minnesota, bottomed out at 28 below, breaking the old record of 27 below set in 1964. Wind chill advisories or warnings were in effect for much of New England, northern Pennsylvania and New York. Those places and states in the northern Plains and Great Lakes were projected to see highs in the teens or single digits and …

Eager for more legislative achievements before Washington’s focus shifts to the midterm elections, President Donald Trump plans to start the new year by meeting with Republican congressional leaders to plot the 2018 legislative agenda, the White House said. After returning to Washington from Florida, where he is spending the holidays, Trump will host House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky at the rustic Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland during the weekend of Jan. 6-7. Spokesmen for Ryan and McConnell have confirmed they will attend. The powwow will follow the recent enactment of legislation to cut taxes, beginning next year, for corporations and individuals at an estimated cost of $1.5 trillion added to the national debt over 10 years. The bill marked the first big legislative achievement for Trump and congressional Republicans, who made cutting taxes a must-do this year after the Senate …

After living in Washington for nearly a year, President Donald Trump has yet to enjoy a single non-working meal at a restaurant that doesn’t pay him rent. He hasn’t taken in a performance at the Kennedy Center; hasn’t been to a sporting event; hasn’t toured most of the sights. It’s one of the peculiarities of the Trump presidency and one of a long list of ways in which he’s changing the office, as well as its relationship with Washington. “I would say that Trump has been the least present of any of the most recent presidents,” said Phil Mendelson, chairman of the Washington, D.C., City Council and a Democratic member of the council since 1999. It’s not just restaurants, says Mendelson. Trump has been less engaged on the local charity circuit than other recent presidents, with no stops at local food banks or to help elementary school reading drives. First …

A U.S. federal court Wednesday charged a fourth suspect in a human trafficking scheme that promised teenage workers an education and easy jobs on an egg farm. U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Pablo Duran Ramirez Saturday as he tried to cross onto the United States from Mexico. Three others have already been sentenced from four to 15 years in prison for their part in the scheme  Ramirez allegedly joined the three others in recruiting minors in Guatemala to come to the United States, promising them a chance to go to school and earn money working for Trillium Farms, an egg farm in Marion, Ohio. The teenagers were smuggled into the U.S. and soon found themselves living in shabby trailers and working up to 12 hours a day at difficult tasks. They were forced to clean chicken coops, carry heavy crates, and cut the beaks off live birds. The bosses refused …

When President Donald Trump fired James Comey in May, he said he was acting on the recommendation of Justice Department leaders who had faulted the FBI director for publicly releasing “derogatory information” about Hillary Clinton at the conclusion of the email server investigation one year earlier. Yet with each tweet about the Clinton probe, Trump seems to be further undermining his administration’s stated rationale for a termination that’s now central to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. The disconnect between Trump’s attacks on Comey’s handling of the email investigation and the criticism of Comey by his own Justice Department could muddy the narrative about exactly why Comey was fired. This may complicate efforts by the president’s legal team to present a coherent narrative as Mueller and his prosecutors examine whether the dismissal could support obstruction of justice allegations. Email issue Trump has complained for months about the FBI’s decision not …

More than 2,000 Puerto Rican police officers called in sick on Christmas Day as controversy continues over overtime pay they say they have been owed since Hurricanes Irma and Maria damaged the island in September. Reports this week from the Puerto Rican capital, San Juan, said some precincts had as few as three officers to cover four towns on the holiday, while security concerns in towns without power were still high.  As the island struggles to recover from the two Category 5 hurricanes that knocked out many basic services, authorities said police officers had been working 12- to 16-hour days to fill the need and guard against crimes, especially thefts of power generators. Ramos Rosario Cortes, the island’s public affairs and public policy secretary, announced Tuesday that the government would issue $6.4 million in overtime pay to police officers for the second half of December, to add to the $15 million …

United Parcel Service Inc is on track to return a record number of packages this holiday shipping season, a sign that e-commerce purchases surged to new heights over the past month. The world’s largest package delivery company and rival FedEx Corp get paid by retailers like Amazon.com Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc for handling e-commerce deliveries. Both have benefited from booming delivery volumes over the past few years, but also have had to invest billions of dollars to upgrade and expand their networks to cope. An 8 percent increase in returns UPS said on Wednesday it handled more than 1 million returns to retailers daily in December, a pace expected to last into early January. It said returns would likely peak at 1.4 million on Jan. 3, which would be a fifth consecutive annual record, up 8 percent from this year. The returns follow what could be the strongest holiday shopping …