Free Republic

He is preparing for an investiture vote which is expected to see him form a new government and avoid a repeat election. That can only happen if he can secure the parliamentary support of Catalan separatists. The Socialists were runners-up in July's general election, behind the conservative People's Party (PP). However, PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo failed to form a government in an investiture vote in September, receiving only the support of the far-right Vox out of the main parties. It is now Mr Sánchez's turn and he is close to securing enough parliamentary support to form a new administration...

Virginia's top transportation oversight body voted earlier this month to move ahead with a major tunnel expansion. If everything goes as planned, the multibillion-dollar project could be good news for the traffic-snarled Hampton Roads region when it opens in 2024. But the commonwealth may also be setting itself up for a major financial body blow - and demonstrating the long-term consequences of mismanaging public-private partnerships.

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama will appoint Ron Klain his "Ebola czar," knowledgeable sources tell CNN. The president on Thursday signaled his openness to the idea to have one individual coordinating the entire federal response to any threat of an outbreak in the United States. "It may make sense for us to have one person ... so that after this initial surge of activity, we can have a more regular process just to make sure that we're crossing all the T's and dotting all the I's going forward," Obama said.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Ron Klain, the former chief of staff to Vice Presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden, will be named Ebola czar, according to a report on CNN.

EPA's Office of Civil Rights said it will investigate a discrimination complaint filed by residents of Perry County, AL, home to the Arrowhead landfill which has accepted spilled coal ash from the massive Tennessee Valley Authority 2008 spill in Kingston, TN. The residents allege the state violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by issuing the landfill its permits. EPA's OCR wrote a June 14 letter to David Ludder, the attorney representing 54 Perry County residents who filed the civil rights complaint against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), saying it "has accepted for investigation" the allegations that...

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee has signed into law the nation’s fourth program requiring paint manufacturers to safely manage leftover latex and oil-based paint from households and painting contractors. The legislation was supported by the paint industry and resulted from a multi-stakeholder negotiation facilitated by the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI). The bill, introduced by Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio and Representative Donna Walsh, will slash tax dollars spent on paint disposal, increase recycling jobs, and reduce waste. Similar laws have also passed in Oregon, California, and Connecticut in 2009, 2010, and 2011 respectively. “With the new program established in the...

The ERC should give a sharper focus to European research Europe has a new flagship agency to fund the brightest ideas in science. The European Research Council (ERC) has been given a budget of 7.5bn euros (£5bn) to 2013, and will focus solely on fundamental, or "blue skies", study. It is hoped the initiative can find the breakthrough thinking - and eventually new products and services - to keep the EU's economy globally competitive. The ERC was formally inaugurated at a meeting in Berlin attended by the German Chancellor, Dr Angela Merkel. She said the Council would become "a...