Voters in Illinois and Colorado will pick candidates for the U.S. Congress and other offices in primaries on Tuesday, in another test of former President Donald Trump's influence in the Republican Party ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm elections. Maryland and Oklahoma also hold nomination contests. Following are four key races to watch: ILLINOIS' 15TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT Newly drawn district boundaries pit two incumbent Republicans against each other in central Illinois. Trump-endorsed U.S. Representative Mary Miller is an ally of U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a prominent Republic ..read more

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday gave two doctors found guilty of misusing their licenses in the midst of the U.S. opioid epidemic to write thousands of prescriptions for addictive pain medications another chance to challenge their convictions. The justices ruled 9-0 in favor of Xiulu Ruan and Shakeel Kahn, who had argued in appealing their convictions that their trials were unfair because jurors were not required to consider whether the two physicians had "good faith" reasons to believe their numerous opioid prescriptions were medically valid. Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the ..read more

Russia's first major international debt default in over a century, which Washington said became a fact on Monday, follows months of coordinated Western sanctions that left Moscow with cash but o access to the international financial network. Below is a summary of the key moments that have led up to this point. THE "BIG PACKAGE" At around 11.30 p.m. (2230 GMT) on Feb. 25, the day after Russian troops entered Ukraine, European Union's experts in Brussels said a set of sanctions they had worked on for days, or the "Big Package" as they called it, was ready. Just before midnight, the European Com ..read more

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday issued another significant ruling broadening religious rights, siding with a Christian former public high school football coach in Washington state who sued after being suspended from his job for refusing to stop leading prayers with players on the field after games. The court, especially its conservative bloc, has taken a wide view of religious liberty in numerous cases in recent years. Here is a look at some of the cases involving religious rights decided during its current term, which began in October. KENNEDY V. BREMERTON SCHOOL DISTRICT In the case decide ..read more

Bitcoin miners have been forced to tap into their cryptocurrency stashes as a plunge in prices, rising energy costs and increased competition bite into profitability. The number of coins miners are sending to crypto exchanges has been steadily climbing since June 7, researchers at MacroHive noted, in a sign that "miners have been increasingly liquidating their coins on exchanges." Several publicly listed bitcoin miners collectively sold more than 100% of their entire output in May as the value of bitcoin tumbled 45%, an analysis by Arcane Research https://tmsnrt.rs/3nhYdHA found. "The plummet ..read more

An exceptionally well-preserved Roman floor mosaic, showing a rich variety of fish, animals, birds and ships, has returned to the site where it was first found in a Tel Aviv suburb after a decade-long tour of some of the world's top museums. The 1,700 year-old mosaic, from the late Roman period,‮ ‬was discovered in 1996 during highway construction work, but was not put on display until 2009, when sufficient funding to preserve it was donated. The colorful mosaic, 17 meters (55 ft) long and about 9 meters (29 ft) wide, may have served as the foyer floor of a mansion in a wealthy neighborhood o ..read more

Airlines canceled nearly 700 flights in the United States early Monday, as they struggled to keep up with a surge in summer travel demand due to a shortage of staff ranging from pilots to crew members. Total flight cancellations within, into, or out of the United States as of 6.07 am ET were 669, as per flight-tracking website Flightaware.com. Nearly 860 flights were canceled on Sunday. Delta Air Lines, United Airlines Holdings Inc and Republic Airlines Inc had over 100 cancellations each, while American Airlines Group Inc canceled 51 flights as of early Monday. The companies did not immediat ..read more

U.S. farmers have cut back on using common weedkillers, hunted for substitutes to popular fungicides and changed planting plans over persistent shortages of agricultural chemicals that threaten to trim harvests. Spraying smaller volumes of herbicides and turning to less-effective fungicides increase the risk for weeds and diseases to dent crop production at a time when global grain supplies are already tight because the Ukraine war is reducing the country's exports. Interviews with more than a dozen chemical dealers, manufacturers, farmers and weed specialists showed shortages disrupted U.S ..read more

Decades-high inflation and the fallout from the Ukraine crisis have pressured many companies across the globe to consider laying off people or put a freeze on hiring. Following is a list of companies that have announced layoffs or frozen hiring to rein in costs: COMPANIES COMMENTS Alibaba Group China's Alibaba might cut more than 15% of its total workforce, or about 39,000 employees, due to a sweeping regulatory crackdown in China, as well as slowing sales growth and rising prices. Autoliv Inc, The world's largest producer of airbags and seatbelts said it was reducing headcount to cut co ..read more

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is preparing to order Juul Labs Inc to take its e-cigarettes off the market in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The health agency could announce its decision as early as Wednesday, the report said. Shares in tobacco giant Altria Group Inc , which owns a 35% stake in Juul, were down 6% in morning trading. Altria and the FDA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In September, the FDA delayed its decision on whether Juul and other major manufacturers could sell their e-ci ..read more