Kfem Congress rejects Labor Dept. rule for state retirement plans

PARK CITY, Utah AP 鈥?Former Vice President Joe Biden has encouraged onetime GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to run for the Senate in Utah if longtime Republican incumbent Orrin Hatch decides to retire next year.Biden made the recommendation to Romney on Friday evening at the Utah resort where Romney was hosting an annual invitation-only business and politics summit.The Biden-Romney event, like most of the discussions and speeches at the gathering, was closed to reporters. But people who were there confirmed the conversation and described it as a warm, bipartisan talk.Romney did not give any indication he was considering a run, should Hatch, 83, decide not to ru stanley mugs n again next year, said one person in attendance, Maryland videographer Dean Dykema. Mitt didnt have a chance to ask many questions because Joe pretty much took over the show, Dykema said.Hatch, who has been in office since 1977, has said he hasnt decide stanley cup d if hell seek another term but he might step aside if Romney ran.The 70-year-old former Massachusetts governor now lives in Utah, where hes remained popular as the man who led a turnaround of the scandal-plagued 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and as a prominent Mormon b stanley canada usinessman and politician in a state thats home to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.In April, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he reached out to Romney about running for Hatchs seat, but said hed support the longtime senator if he decided to run again.Hatch has said that he hopes Omuk Garland nomination advances out of committee, setting up floor vote

Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERSA satellite image appears to show an overview of Thitu Island in the South China Sea, November 25, 2024.Reuters11:50 JST,ensp;November 29, 2024HONG KONG/MANILA Reuters Satellite images obtained by Reuters on Thursday show a build-up of Chinese civilian vessels near contested Thitu Island, Manila key outpost in the South China Sea, but a senior Philippine navy officer said they are not a cause for concern.One of the images taken by Maxar Technologies on Monday and reviewed by Reuters shows about 60 vessels, some within 2 nautical miles of Thitu, a strategically important island from which Manila monitors Chinese vessels and aircraft in the busy wa stanley thermoskanne terway.Vice Admiral Alfonso Torres, chief of the Philippines ; Western Command, said it was common for m stanley hrnek aritime militia ships to gather in the area. Manila, the Pentagon and foreign diplomats say such vessels work with the Chinese coast guard and navy to strengthen Beijing presence in disputed waters.Rear Admiral Roy Trinidad, Philippines Navy spokesman for the South China Sea, also said maritime militia ships were regularly in the area, adding that Manila was aware of the vessels, which he called an illegal stanley fr presence, but there was no need for alarm.It not a cause for concern, Trinidad said. We don ;t have to read every action and react to that 8230; What is important for us is to maintain