Nearly two-thirds of for-profit cosmetology certificate programs would face a federal crackdown under new federal rules proposed by the Biden administration.

President Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden host former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama for the unveiling of their White House portraits

President Joe Biden announced the relaunch of the Cancer Moonshot initiative on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

Torrential rain has triggered a mudslide and more floods across Japan, leaving three people presumed dead and forcing the evacuation of dozens of residents.

Torrential rain continues to trigger floods in wide areas of southwestern Japan, damaging homes and disrupting transportation.

In a major step against climate change, President Joe Biden is proposing a return to aggressive Obama-era vehicle mileage standards over five years.

Former President Obama is set to hold an MBK Alliance Leadership Forum at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

The nation’s consumer watchdog is signaling a more aggressive approach toward the financial services sectors after a few years of being on a tight leash.

The Office of the New York Attorney General said in a new report that a campaign funded by the broadband industry submitted millions of fake comments supporting the 2017 repeal of net neutrality.

(Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday ordered a review of how the Justice Department can best deploy its resources to combat hate crimes during a surge in incidents targeting Asian Americans. They should also focus on improving the FBI’s collection of data on hate crimes, which is “critical to understanding the evolving nature and extent of hate crimes and hate incidents in all their forms,” he wrote in the memo. A main criticism from lawmakers and civil rights groups has been that the U.S. government vastly undercounts hate crimes because the FBI’s reporting system is voluntary. In some states, just 5% of police departments reported any hate crimes last year. The review is aimed at determining how the Justice Department can better prioritize investigations and prosecutions, increase and track reporting of hate crimes and other incidents that could violate federal law and use civil remedies to address bias incidents that don’t amount to federal hate crimes.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday pledged swift work by Congress on a job and infrastructure package that will be “fiscally sound,” but said she isn't sure whether the next major item on President Joe Biden’s agenda will attract Republican backing. AdBut work on passing infrastructure legislation in a Senate split 50-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris providing a tiebreaking vote will probably prove more difficult. Moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., recently made clear he will block infrastructure legislation if Republicans aren't included. 3 Senate Republican, said he wants to see bipartisan support for an infrastructure legislation. Cost will be a major hurdle in passing an infrastructure plan.

Whether people want them or not, automakers are rolling out multiple new electric vehicle models as the auto industry responds to stricter pollution regulations worldwide and calls to reduce emissions to fight climate change. Asked Friday about the proposal, the White House said discussions with the auto industry on a fuel emissions standard were still early. Under the Obama-era standards, automakers got double credit for fully electric vehicles toward meeting their fuel economy and pollution requirements. AdBiden also has made boosting electric vehicles a top priority. They described credits granted to automakers for electric vehicles as “loopholes” that do little to reduce emissions in the short term.

President Joe Biden's pick for attorney general Merrick Garland, addresses staff on his first day at the Department of Justice, Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Washington. Welcome to the new Justice Department, likely a much tamer place to be after four years of blaring headlines under Donald Trump. The former president insisted that his attorney general, and entire department, be loyal to him personally, battering the department’s reputation for political independence. “When I walked in the door of Main Justice this morning, it really did feel like I was coming home,” Garland said, referring to Justice Department headquarters. AdAbout 15 minutes later, he took the oath of office, administered by Assistant Attorney General Lee Lofthus.

The Obama administration closed the nuclear deal without making the freeing of American citizens in Iran a prerequisite. The Trump administration then failed to push for the release of the Namazi father and son as hard as it did other Americans held by Iran, Babak Namazi said. Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, called Iran’s continued detention of American citizens a “humanitarian catastrophe” on a news show this Sunday. “My family expects that President Biden and his administration will not make concessions or deals with Iran” absent a requirement that Iran free the father and son, Babak Namazi told reporters. The 84-year-old found that Iran's Revolutionary Guard had unexpectedly placed a new block on his travel out of Iran, however, Babak Namazi said.

The best reality TV show has been on for more than 10 years, and it seems most of mainstream America hasn’t even watched it.

With a change of administrations, it looks like Harriet Tubman is once again headed to the front of the $20 bill. Obama administration Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had selected Tubman to replace Andrew Jackson, the nations seventh president, on the $20 bill. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)WASHINGTON – With a change of administrations, it looks like Harriet Tubman is once again headed to the front of the $20 bill. Obama administration Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had selected Tubman to replace Andrew Jackson, the nation's seventh president, on the $20 bill. Under the schedule Mnuchin announced in May 2019, the redesigned $20 bill would not have come out until 2028 with final designs for the bill not announced until 2026.

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)DETROIT – A new government report says gas mileage for new vehicles dropped and pollution increased in model year 2019 for the first time in five years. The Environmental Protection Agency says the changes show that few automakers could meet what it called unrealistic emissions and mileage standards set by the Obama administration through the 2020 model year. The EPA report released Wednesday says gas mileage fell 0.2 miles per gallon for model year 2019, while greenhouse gas emissions rose by 3 grams per mile traveled, compared with 2018 figures. Mileage dropped to 24.9 miles per gallon while greenhouse gas emissions rose to 356 grams per mile, the report said. It was updated on Jan. 14, 2021, to correct the second paragraph to show that new vehicle gas mileage for 2019 decreased rather than increased.

WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden is adding four Obama-Biden administration veterans to his top ranks as he continues to build out his White House team. Cathy Russell, who was Jill Biden’s chief of staff during the Obama administration, will serve as director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, evaluating applicants for administration roles. Louisa Terrell, who served as a legislative adviser to the president in the Obama administration and worked as deputy chief of staff for Biden in the Senate, will be director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. Carlos Elizondo, who was social secretary for Jill Biden during the Obama administration, will reprise his role and serve as social secretary for the incoming first lady. Her role hints at what Biden may focus on as first lady — Adiga previously worked as a director for higher education and military families at the Biden Foundation, and also advised Jill Biden on policy during the Obama administration.

ROANOKE, Va. – Millions of Virginians could be left in health care limbo as the Affordable Care Act is being debated in the U.S. Supreme Court. He said 3.4 million Virginians could lose the current insurance protections for people with pre-existing conditions if the health care is repealed. “An insurance company could say we are going to charge you three times what we charge other people for health insurance or we are not going to cover you at all," Delzingaro said. According to the Congressional Budget Office, about 12% of people under 65 were not enrolled in a health insurance plan last year. “I don’t think President Trump could really describe to you what the Affordable Care Act does but he does know President Obama is the one who did it," Kaine said.

As of Saturday, Joe Biden was named president-elect, which means one of his dogs is going to become the first rescue dog to live in the White House. The Biden Family’s rescue dog, Major, has been with them since 2018. “It shows how dogs in shelters can become part of the family, whether it’s here in Roanoke or at the White House,” O’Neill said. In 2019, President Trump announced at a rally that he doesn’t have a dog, as reported by the Washington Post. How would I look walking a dog on the White House lawn?”

That’s well short of the $383 million his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, and the Democratic National Committee reported raising last month. ___HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE:President Donald Trump is holding rallies in Ocala, Florida, and Macon, Georgia, on Friday night. ___5 p.m.President Donald Trump is predicting a “red wave” of Republican voting in Florida. Most polls show a close race in the important battleground state that both the Republican incumbent and Democrat Joe Biden are courting heavily. ___2:35 p.m.President Donald Trump says he’s moving “heaven and earth” to protect older people from the coronavirus.

Trump campaigned in Florida and Georgia, neighboring states he carried four years ago and must win again to extend his presidency. And earlier this week, Trump had to court voters in Iowa, a state he carried by almost 10 points four years ago. More to the point for Trump's Florida audience, he spoke directly to seniors who have increasingly soured on his handling of the pandemic. “Mishandling the pandemic isn’t enough for Trump,” Biden charged. While decidedly on the defensive on the ground in key states, Trump released a scathing new ad on Friday attacking Biden's record on race.

Trump spoke at an airport hangar in swing-state North Carolina to a crowd that included white-coated, mask-wearing health care workers. For Trump, health care represents a major piece of unfinished business. Democrats, unable to slow the Republican march to Senate confirmation of a replacement for Ginsburg, are ramping up their election-year health care messaging. The gap narrowed for lowering costs of health care: 48% named Biden, while 42% picked Trump. The scramble to show concrete accomplishments on health care comes as Trump is chafing under criticism that he never delivered a Republican alternative to Obamacare.

WASHINGTON In speaking with members of the media on Friday, President Donald Trump praised the work his administration has done for minorities, saying its far more than what was accomplished by the Obama administration. He did a bad job for minorities, I did much more for minorities than he did. And if you look at our numbers prior the the plague coming in, and those numbers will soon be back, youll see I did a much better job than Obama did by far for African-Americans, for Asian-Americans, for women, for any group you look at, far better than Obama did. President Donald Trump - July 31, 2020The president gave the spoke as he was leaving the White House en route to Joint Base Andrews as hes planning to attend a Campaign Coalitions Event in Florida with sheriffs.

WASHINGTON The Trump administration will deny new applications for so-called Dreamer immigrants and cut renewals to one year from two years, despite reversals in court that kept alive the Obama-era program to shield young people from deportation. A White House official confirmed the announcement Tuesday. New applications were put on hold when the Trump administration moved to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in September 2017 but two-year renewals have continued, with about 700,000 people currently covered. A federal judge in Maryland ruled earlier this month that DACA should be restored to original form before September 2017 but the administration was mum until Tuesday on whether it would start accepting new applications. The White House anticipates legal challenges.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday ended an Obama-era drive to regulate a widespread contaminant in drinking water linked to brain damage in infants. Administrator Andrew Wheeler's announcement was the latest in a series of Trump administration rollbacks or eliminations of existing or pending public health and environmental protections, targeting Obama administration initiatives in particular. The Trump administration says the regulations are burdensome to business and are unnecessary. He said that partly because of the steps that some states and public drinking water systems have taken to reduce perchlorate contamination, federal regulation was not warranted. The EPA required some nationwide testing for perchlorate in drinking water only from 2001 to 2005, making it impossible to determine how severe a problem remains nationally, Olson said.

WASHINGTON The Trump administration Friday finalized a regulation that overturns Obama-era protections for transgender people against sex discrimination in health care. The policy shift, long-sought by the president's religious and socially conservative supporters, defines gender as a person's biological sex. The Obama regulation defined gender as a person's internal sense of being male, female, neither or a combination. LGBTQ groups say explicit protections are needed for people seeking sex-reassignment treatment, and even for transgender people who need medical care for common conditions such as diabetes or heart problems. The Trump administration says the notice requirement has become a needless burden on health care providers, requiring billions of paper notices to be mailed annually at an estimated five-year cost of $3.2 billion.

DENVER Nearly two dozen states and several cities on Wednesday filed a legal challenge to the Trump administrations rollback of Obama-era mileage standards, saying science backed up the old regulations developed with the help of the nation's car makers. The new mileage standards require automakers to achieve 1.5% annual increases in fuel efficiency. The Obama-era standards called for 5% annual increases and were seen as the government's most forceful initiative against climate-changing fossil fuel emissions. The states and cities claim the rule violates the Clean Air Act, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. Opponents claim dirtier air from the rollback will kill and injure more people than the rollback claims to save in roadway accidents.

Since then, more than 100 drag queens have sashyed into the Werk Room to launch their careers, and the show has gone on to win 13 Emmy Awards, including two for Outstanding Competition Show. RuPaul became the most recognizable drag queen in America, but it wouldn’t be until the premiere of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” that took Ru and his empire to the global level. The premise of the show is pretty simple: RuPaul and his esteemed panel of judges are searching for America’s next drag superstar. It’s hard to imagine an out and proud drag queen becoming such a success, let alone a drag queen of color to become the face and name of the art of drag. It’s like what RuPaul says at the end of every episode of “Drag Race:" If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell can you love somebody else?

WASHINGTON, D.C. –WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Obama administration was ill-prepared to handle and failed to respond effectively to Russian interference during the 2016 election, according to a bipartisan congressional report released Thursday. The Senate Intelligence Committee's report said the U.S. government was “not well-postured” to counter Russian election interference and that Russia's cyberactivities did not cease despite high-level warnings of potential retaliation. “Frozen by ‘paralysis of analysis,’ hamstrung by constraints both real and perceived, Obama officials debated courses of action without truly taking one,” said the committee chairman, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., submitted an additional view that was also critical of the Obama administration, charging that officials did not share enough information with Congress at the time. It said that several Obama administration officials testified in closed-door interviews that some lawmakers resisted an administration request for a bipartisan statement on Russia’s election meddling.

Other congressional districts that had the highest household income growth were in or around Houston; Pittsburgh; Provo, Utah; parts of South Florida and the wealthy retirement haven of Sarasota, Florida. Most of the income growth in these areas came from wages, said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities. Household income grew more in Democratic-leaning districts than Republican ones, according to an Associated Press analysis of the data by congressional districts. Household income grew by an average of more than $12,000 in Democratic-leaning congressional districts, compared to more than $9,000 in Republican-leaning districts. In other areas, income growth was significantly more modest.

PixabayWASHINGTON, D.C. - A coalition including environmental groups has asked a federal court to consider invalidating the Trump administration's rollback of regulations on light bulb efficiency. The administration's changes would overturn Obama-era requirements for more energy-efficient versions of several common light bulbs, including three-way incandescent, candle-shaped chandelier and recessed reflector bulbs. When the Trump administration overturned the Obama rules in September, they had not yet taken effect. When it unveiled the rule change, the Trump administration argued it was not weakening the standards because they had not yet taken effect. It also said the Obama-era rules would cause light bulb prices to increase "by almost 300%."

George Frey/Getty ImagesWASHINGTON, D.C. - The Environmental Protection Agency is planning Monday to relax rules regulating how power plants store waste from coal power plants and the release of water containing toxic chemicals into nearby waterways, according to a source familiar with the plans. The proposals scale back two Obama administration rules from 2015 that affect the disposal of fine powder and sludge, otherwise known as coal ash. Coal ash can contain mercury, arsenic and other metals that could negatively affect both human health and the environment at large. The new rules would allow extensions that could keep unlined coal ash waste ponds open for up to eight additional years and allow plants to discharge wastewater that captures the waste through a membrane system, though many plants would be exempt. The rule relaxation comes as companies in the coal industry claimed in court that the current rules were unaffordable and as the Trump administration has taken a "pro coal" stance under the President.

George Frey/Getty Images(CNN) - The Trump administration is poised to undo an Obama-era regulation intended to limit emissions of toxins from coal-fired power plants, a move that environmental groups say could lead to significant health problems, The New York Times reported Thursday. The newspaper said the agency was pursuing the changes in order to extend the life of older power plants run by coal that have been closing down as cleaner alternatives become more preferred. Under President Donald Trump, the EPA has rolled back a number of Obama-era regulations that sought to reduce the environmental and health impacts of non-renewable energy, and Thursday's move would be the latest example of that pattern of deregulation. The Times said each year power plants produce about 130 million tons of coal ash -- the residue produced from burning coal that is stored in more than a thousand sites across the country. The Obama-era regulation "set deadlines for power plants to invest in modern wastewater treatment technology to keep toxic pollution out of local waterways," which was estimated to stop about 1.4 million pounds of "toxic metals and other pollutants" from going into waterways, the newspaper said.

An environmental group has filed an SEC complaint about a pending EPA decision to overturn an Obama-era rules to protect lands along Alaska's biggest salmon fishery from potential damage from mining.

(CNN) - Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and at times a close ally of President Donald Trump, sharply criticized the President on Wednesday over Trump's decision to remove US troops from northern Syria. He added, "I blame the terrorists, I blame (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan for the violence, but I do look to President Trump to fix it." "He's making the biggest mistake of his presidency by assuming the Kurds are better off today than they were yesterday. Bernie Sanders is no better," Graham said. Shortly after Trump's comments, Graham responded on social media in a series of tweets.

The Obama EPA spent years studying the proposed mining project, then took the unusual decision to essentially stop the project before it could apply for a permit. The EPA in a 2014 report wrote that the mine's discharge dredge into the area's streams, and watershed "would result in complete loss of fish habitat." The report added that the mine waste "would significantly impair the fish habitat functions of other streams, wetlands, and aquatic resources. The Trump EPA dropped the Clean Water Act protections shortly after President Donald Trump met with Alaska Gov. The Bristol Bay Native Association, the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Corporation, the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation, and the Bristol Bay Reserve Association announced their lawsuit Tuesday morning in Anchorage, saying the suit is "on behalf of the residents and fishermen who rely on the Bristol Bay fishery and all it sustains."

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Trump administration violated the law when it decided in 2017 to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, lawyers supporting the Obama-era program told the Supreme Court on Friday. The briefs come as the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case on November 12. As things stand, lower courts have issued two nationwide injunctions forcing the government to continue to allow renewals in the program. Back in 2017, the Trump administration announced it was going to phase out DACA, which it said had been created "without proper statutory authority." The Trump administration appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, and last June, the justices agreed to hear the appeal for the upcoming term.

CNN image(CNN) - The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced the repeal of the Obama-era Waters of the United States rule that extended federal authority and protections to streams and wetlands. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said repealing the rule was "at the top of the list" of items the administration wanted to roll back, because it was an "egregious power grab." Jay Timmons, the CEO of NAM, introduced Wheeler and said the rollback is a "big accomplishment for manufacturers." The 2015 regulation, commonly known as WOTUS, defined what bodies of water are protected under the federal Clean Water Act but was a favorite punching bag of Republicans, who ridicule it as government overreach. The next step for the Trump administration is finalizing its proposal for a replacement regulation.

The 2015 regulation, commonly known as WOTUS, defined what bodies of water are protected under the federal Clean Water Act but was a favorite punching bag of Republicans, who ridicule it as government overreach. A source who's been invited to the announcement tells CNN that EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler is expected to sign the finalized rule repealing the regulation. First the regulation has to be repealed then the EPA will move to replace it with a new regulation," the source said. The EPA announced Wednesday that Wheeler will "make a major water policy announcement" but did not specify what the announcement would be. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called clean water a priority for his administration.

PixabayWASHINGTON, D.C. - Federal regulators are lifting energy efficiency regulations for several common types of light bulbs, which critics believe is the administration's latest assault on efforts to combat climate change and energy use. But the Trump administration said the overturned rules, crafted in the final days of the Obama administration and were set to take effect in January, would cause prices for light bulbs to skyrocket to untenable levels. The original rules would have required energy-efficient versions, such as LEDs, of several common light bulbs including three-way incandescent, candle-shaped chandelier and recessed reflector bulbs. Energy Department spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes said the law requires light bulb regulations "only when doing so would be economically justified," and that the Obama administration regulations do not meet that standard. "This action will ensure that the choice of how to light homes and businesses is left to the American people, not the federal government."

Scott Olson/Getty Images(CNN) - Stocks of publicly traded gun companies rose Monday, following calls for stricter gun laws after two more deadly mass shootings in the United States over the weekend. Gun stocks tend to rally after lethal massacres, because investors think the prospect of stricter gun laws will lead people to rush out and buy more weapons and ammunition in anticipation of tougher regulations. The surge in gun companies' stocks following mass shootings were generally more pronounced after shootings that took place when President Obama was in the Oval Office. As the number of mass shootings have increased in recent years, the calls for tougher gun laws have grown somewhat more bipartisan. There are growing calls for Walmart and other retailers to do the same.