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New York firms offer 'Plan B' to staff ahead of summer transit woes

Faced with this summer's partial shutdown of a key New York transit hub due to track repairs, some employers in the largest U.S. city are scrambling to come up with "Plan B" offerings to allow their suburb-dwelling staff to avoid the largely shuttered hub. Inquiries have spiked for temporary office spaces that do not require travel through Pennsylvania Station, the busiest train station in the U.S., where weeks-long outages in July and August are expected to trigger a travel nightmare for employees living in New Jersey and Long Island suburbs, according to businesses and real estate specialists. It is an effort to spare the station's 600,000 daily commuters from what New York Governor Andrew Cuomo predicted could be a "summer of agony," based on recent delays and cancellations triggered by a pair of derailments at the station infamous for its deteriorating tracks.

Newark, N.J. airport reopens after United Airlines engine fire

United Airlines Flight 1579, a Boeing 757, was on a taxiway bound for San Francisco at about 9 p.m. when the flames were spotted coming from its right-side engine, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a written statement. United spokesman Jonathan Guerin said the aircraft was notified of the apparent fire by the control tower and one person suffered an ankle injury while evacuating. Flight tracking website Flightaware.com said all inbound flights were being held at Newark until at least 11 p.m and advised passengers of delays of up to 90 minutes because of taxiway congestion.

Connecticut proposes wage freeze, higher employee share for benefits

Malloy's plan proposed to increase employee pension contributions by 2 percent of pay from 2019 financial year and reduce the state's share of pension contributions by $400 million to $500 million per year. The proposal aims to redesign the health insurance plan and to increase the employee share of premiums by 1 percent a year for existing employees from 2020 to 2022, raising the average contribution to 15 percent. Malloy, a Democrat, also proposed to freeze wages until 2019, before a 3.5 percent wage increase a year in 2020 and 2021.

Unruly passenger aboard Hawaii flight prompted bomb scare: FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation account of Saturday's disturbance was furnished in an affidavit supporting the criminal complaint against Anil Uskanli, 25, who was living in California under a temporary visa revoked after his arrest. Uskanli, making his first court appearance since he was arrested at Honolulu International Airport, was ordered by a federal magistrate judge to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. The FBI initially said the disturbance that Uskanli caused was serious enough for two U.S. warplanes to be scrambled to escort the passenger jet to Hawaii but provided few details of the incident until Monday.

Trump seeks to slash $3.6 trillion of spending in austere budget

U.S. President Donald Trump asked lawmakers on Tuesday to cut $3.6 trillion in government spending over the next decade, taking aim at healthcare and food assistance programs for the poor in an austere budget that also boosts the military. Although it is not expected to survive on Capitol Hill, the proposal puts numbers on Trump's vision of a government that radically cuts assistance to lower-income Americans. The biggest savings would come from cuts to the Medicaid healthcare program for the poor, which are embedded in a Republican healthcare bill passed by the House of Representatives.

Republicans push back against Trump plan to cut foreign aid

By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans in Congress on Tuesday assailed his proposed cuts in the diplomatic and foreign aid budget, making it unlikely the cutbacks in global health, peacekeeping and other programs will take effect. Senator Lindsey Graham, the Republican chairman of the Senate subcommittee responsible for diplomacy and foreign aid spending, said Trump's proposal to cut the diplomacy and aid budget by one third would "gut soft power." "If we implemented this budget, you'd have to retreat from the world or put a lot of people at risk," Graham told reporters. "This budget is not going to go anywhere." Congress sets the federal government budget, and Republicans who control both houses and Democrats have said they do not support such drastic cuts.

North American leagues urge vigilance after Manchester attack

North America's major sports leagues have strict safety procedures at their arenas but have urged fans attending games to be vigilant following Monday's suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester, England, officials said on Tuesday. The attack, which killed 22 people, has raised concerns in the U.S. ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, when fans flock to baseball stadiums to kick off the summer. It also comes during the playoffs for the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA), high-profile games that typically take place before sold-out crowds.

Uber inadvertently underpaid New York City drivers for over two years

Uber generally takes a commission from its drivers after deducting taxes and some fees, but it instead took a higher percentage from its New York City drivers using the full fare before accounting for sales taxes and fees, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news. "We are committed to paying every driver every penny they are owed - plus interest - as quickly as possible," Rachel Holt, Uber's regional general manager for U.S. and Canada, said via email. All New York City drivers under the 2014 agreement would be eligible for a refund, regardless of whether they are still active or not, as long as they completed an Uber ride, the Journal report said.

In U.S. presidential first, Trump prays at Jerusalem's Western Wall

President Donald Trump made a historic visit to Jerusalem's Western Wall on Monday, standing before the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray and saying a few words before inserting a note between the monumental stones. One of them, Psalm 122, speaks of Jerusalem as a "city that is united together". The ancient stones are in a part of Jerusalem that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Amid opposition, Trump makes low budget request for Mexico border wall

By Julia Edwards Ainsley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is asking Congress for $1.6 billion to begin building a wall along the border with Mexico, far short of the amount needed for a project sharply criticized by Democrats and even some conservative Republicans. An internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plan in February estimated the total cost for the wall at $21.6 billion, but the White House's budget proposal for 2018, released in full on Tuesday, included a request for just $1.6 billion. Two Republican aides in Congress said the modest request is an acknowledgement from the White House that full funding is not realistic given opposition from Freedom Caucus conservatives in the House of Representatives as well as Democrats in the House and the Senate.

Trump budget to increase growth by boosting investment, labor force: Mnuchin

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration believes its budget plan will boost economic growth by fostering capital investment and creating jobs for workers who gave up their job hunts during tough times, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Tuesday.

Wikipedia can pursue NSA surveillance lawsuit: U.S. appeals court

By a 3-0 vote, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia said the Wikimedia Foundation, which hosts the Wikipedia online encyclopedia, can pursue a challenge to the government's "Upstream" surveillance program. The decision could make it easier for people to learn whether authorities have spied on them through Upstream, which involves bulk searches of international communications within the internet's "backbone" of cables, switches and routers. Upstream's existence was revealed in leaks by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in 2013.

Bond market braces for impact of New York's free tuition plan

Little known private colleges that are already struggling to grow their revenues are facing a new threat that could further weaken their finances and make borrowing harder: free tuition at public universities. The State of New York passed in April a bill that will by 2019 offer free tuition at community colleges and public universities in the state to residents whose families make less than $125,000 per year. At least six other states are considering similar laws, to ease the burden of student debt that has doubled since 2008 to over $1.3 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Los Angeles art dealer gets jail for bilking clients out of $1 million

A former Los Angeles art dealer who prosecutors say embezzled more than $1 million from clients including former Walt Disney Co President Michael Ovitz was sentenced on Monday to six months in jail. Perry Rubenstein, 63, was also ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution to Ovitz and a second victim, Michael Salke, according to a spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Rubenstein pleaded guilty in March to two counts of grand theft by embezzlement in connection with the sale of art by Takashi Murakami and Richard Prince.

Boston art heist solved? Nope, just fraud attempt, prosecutors say

A West Virginia man was arrested on Monday and charged with fraudulently claiming he could sell some of the $500 million in artwork stolen from a Boston museum a quarter century ago, even though he had no access to the long-sought masterpieces. Todd Andrew Desper, 47, of Beckley, West Virginia, was accused of running a scheme in which he offered to sell Rembrandt's "Storm on the Sea of Galilee," and Vermeer's "The Concert," two of the 13 artworks stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in March 1990 in the largest art heist in U.S. history. Desper, who used the alias "Mordokwan," was charged with wire fraud and attempted wire fraud, and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Trump administration wants Obamacare subsidy case put on hold, again

By Lawrence Hurley and Yasmeen Abutaleb WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration asked on Monday that a major federal court case weighing the fate of the Obamacare cost-sharing subsidies be put on hold again, leaving billions of dollars in payments to insurers up in the air for 2017 and 2018. The subsidies are available to low-income Americans who buy individual health insurance on the exchanges created under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, popularly known as Obamacare.

Texas House passes 'bathroom bill' targeting public schools

The Texas House of Representatives gave formal approval on Monday to a bill that would restrict bathroom access for transgender students in public schools, a measure that critics say promotes discrimination against such children. The state's Republican-controlled legislature has been at the forefront in advancing measures seen by backers as protecting traditional values and religious liberty but criticized by civil rights groups as eroding protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, people. The Texas House gave preliminary approval on Sunday night to the bill, which requires public school students to use bathrooms, changing facilities and locker rooms that match their biological sex, not the gender with which they identify.

Mississippi lawmaker 'sorry' he urged lynching for statue removal

A Mississippi state lawmaker who called for the lynching of Louisiana officials for removing pro-slavery era monuments apologized on Monday after his comments sparked a firestorm of criticism. Republican Representative Karl Oliver had taken to Facebook on Saturday to criticize the removal of monuments in New Orleans that city leaders deemed racially offensive. The last of the four statues, of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, was taken down on Friday.

Scandal-plagued Fox News hit with more lawsuits in U.S. court

New York City lawyer Douglas Wigdor filed lawsuits in federal court in Manhattan on behalf of Kathleen Lee, a Fox News Radio shift editor who says she was sexually harassed and subjected to "unceasing retaliation" for complaining, and Naima Farrow, who maintains she was fired from her job as an accounts payable coordinator after telling supervisors she was pregnant. In a third case in the same court, Vidya Mann, a Fox News accounts receivable specialist, said she was taken on as a temporary employee but passed over for permanent jobs in favor of white coworkers.

Trump budget poised to slash healthcare for poor, other programs

By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is set to release President Donald Trump's first full budget on Tuesday, a plan that will include a cut of more than $800 billion from the Medicaid program for the poor and reductions in other social spending. The Medicaid cuts were part of a Republican healthcare bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in early May, which aims to gut the Obama administration's 2010 law that expanded insurance coverage and the government-run Medicaid program. Trump's initial budget outline for discretionary spending received a tepid response from Congress, which controls the purse strings, and, ultimately, government spending.

New England prep school: 13 past staffers engaged in sexual misconduct

An elite New Hampshire prep school acknowledged on Monday that 13 former members of its staff engaged in sexual misconduct with students in incidents dating back decades, following an independent review by a Boston law firm. The St. Paul's School apologized and said that it had failed to adequately investigate allegations of sexual abuse by staff. "The school failed to protect students from sexual abuse and sexual misconduct done to them by adults entrusted with their care," wrote Rector Michael Hirschfeld and Board of Trustees President Archibald Cox in an open letter to school families.

Loss-making Air Namibia wins permit to fly into U.S.: report

WINDHOEK (Reuters) - State-owned Air Namibia has won approval to fly into the United States and hopes to generate revenues through its codesharing agreements, the government-run daily New Era reported on Monday,

Billy Bush on Trump tape: didn't have "strength" to change topic

Former NBC "Today" show host Billy Bush wishes he had changed the subject during a taped conversation with Donald Trump, in which the Apprentice star bragged about grabbing women by the genitals, Bush said in an interview with the entertainment magazine, The Hollywood Reporter. Bush, 45, lost his job as a host of NBC's flagship morning show after the tape, recorded more than a decade ago, was leaked to the media in October, causing public outrage and threatening to kill Trump's chances of becoming president. Bush laughed on the video as Trump boasted about groping women without their permission and of trying to seduce a married woman.

Massachusetts college apologizes for racist tweets on hacked Twitter account

Salem State University President Patricia Meservey said in an emailed statement that none of the recent tweets, which were sent out around 11:45 p.m. on Friday, represented the views of the school. "We have done great work in the area of social justice and will continue to do so until incidents such as this no longer occur," Meservey said. According to screenshot photos posted online, the tweets called the Black Lives Matter movement "unneeded and unnecessary," said that Trump "has done nothing but great things" for America and used a racial slur to describe former President Barack Obama.

Westinghouse says locking out union members at New Hampshire plant

Westinghouse, which has been operating under bankruptcy protection, had only begun formal negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers in April for a contract that expired April 29 of this year. The Boilermakers and Westinghouse engaged in a mediation process that was unfortunately not successful, and the union has refused to accept the company's last, best and final contract offer, the company said in a statement.