President Donald Trump invited the Dodgers to the White House. Many of their fans feared that the team, by accepting, would humiliate themselves and betray the team’s large Latino, Asian and African-American fan base. Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter, along with co-owner Magic Johnson, have proposed a solution. Trump has promised that if he can keep the championship trophy, the Commissioner’s Trophy, he will end all seizures and deportations of immigrants.   read more

After a gas pipeline in San Bruno, California, exploded in flames, killing eight people and leveling a neighborhood, a federal investigation laid the blame at the feet of pipeline owner Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) but included lax state oversight as a contributing factor.   read more

On the eve of votes in Richmond and El Monte, California, on taxation of sugar-sweetened sodas, a new study says if the tax were applied statewide, the danger of diabetes and heart disease would plummet and be most acutely felt among the ethnic groups at highest risk.   read more

The Southeast Asian nation of Malaysia has sent a career diplomat to serve as its next ambassador to the United States, replacing a political appointee, Datuk Seri Dr. Jamaluddin Jarjis, who served in Washington for two-and-a-half years.   read more

A report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) concluding that tax cuts for the wealthy have not yielded economic growth but have contributed to growing economic inequality was quashed by Republican senators unhappy with its conclusions.   read more

Although about 17% of the U.S. food supply is imported and several recent cases of food contamination have originated abroad, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has quietly cut spending since 2009 on in-person inspections of foreign slaughterhouses and meat processing plants, relying instead on a risk-based system that features more self-reporting. USDA officials disdain the phrase “risk-based,” preferring to call it “system-based.”   read more

DynCorp of West Virginia, one of the largest military contractors in Afghanistan, was awarded a $72.8 million contract to train pilots for the Air Force about one week after the special inspector general for reconstruction called the company’s earlier work at the Kunduz army base “unsatisfactory.”   read more

The Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s fourth-largest automaker, admitted last week that it overstated the fuel efficiency of about 900,000 vehicles across 13 different models over the past three years, a problem that will cost it millions of dollars in reimbursements to consumers and inestimable damage to its reputation.   read more

If voters in Colorado, Oregon and Washington on Tuesday pass ballot measures legalizing possession of marijuana they will be striking a blow against the violent drug cartels that sell Mexican weed in the U.S., according to a new report from a respected think tank in Mexico City. Marijuana has been illegal nationwide since 1937.   read more

In response to criticism from conservatives and Fox News, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) disclosed for the first time how its agents assisted the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, when it came under attack two months ago. Republicans have tried to score political points by questioning the Obama administration’s reaction to the assault that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.   read more

Russia’s new Internet censorship law is officially about blocking access to websites containing child pornography and information about drugs and suicide. But free-speech advocates warn that anyone deemed an enemy of the state could have their site taken down under the law.   read more

Israel has finally admitted to what long has been suspected: That its secret spy agency was responsible for the assassination of a top lieutenant of Yasser Arafat nearly three decades ago. Khalil Ibrahim Wazir (aka Abu Jihad), a founder of the Fatah Party, was living in Tunisia in April 1988 when a group of attackers stormed his home and killed him.   read more

Before embarking on its tragic maiden voyage, the Titanic should have been equipped with 50% more lifeboats, according to newly disclosed documents from the ship’s safety officer. But the officer, Maurice Clarke, decided not to press the issue with the Titanic’s owners because he feared that to do so would have cost him his job.   read more

Koshik, a 22-year-old Asian elephant in South Korea, has astonished biologists with his ability to mimic human speech. Researchers from the University of Vienna reported in the journal Current Biology that Koshik can say a variety of Korean words, including “hello,” “sit down,” “no,” “lie down” and “good.”   read more

As of November 1, Oklahomans can carry a loaded firearm without concealing it as long as they have a license. Oklahoma is now the 15th state to allow open carrying of guns with a license.   read more

To reach its goal of cutting $800 million from its budget, London’s police department is considering selling off its famed headquarters known as New Scotland Yard. Selling the building on Victoria Street, which has been the police force’s headquarters since 1967, could bring as much as $322 million.   read more

Newly released documents from Germany’s secret intelligence agency reveal that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro recruited two former Nazi SS soldiers to help train his military during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Castro also tried to hire German paratroopers and technicians to bolster his country’s defenses against a possible American invasion.   read more