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A Tampa-area school district, the eighth largest in the U.S., voted on Wednesday to issue a mask mandate after more than 10,000 students and staff members were forced into quarantine or isolation at the start of the school year. The decision by the Hillsborough County School District conflicts with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's order that parents be given an option to opt their kids out of wearing masks at schools. The decision by the school board requires a doctor's note to prove a child cannot wear a mask, according to local Fox affiliate WTVT. "There is an immediate danger to...

The US has imposed duties on Chinese solar panel manufacturers after it said that they received unfair subsidies. Chinese exporters into the US - including Suntech - will now face customs tariffs of between 2.9% and 4.73%, the Commerce Department said. In 2011, imports of solar cells from China into the US were valued at $3.1bn (£1.96bn), it added. The price of solar panels dropped more than 30% last year, mainly linked to cheaper panels made in China. "Countervailable subsidies are financial assistance from foreign governments that benefit the production of goods from foreign companies," the Commerce Department said. China's...

(Reuters) - Bank of New York Mellon Corp told some of its biggest depositors this week it does not want their money. BNY Mellon said it is charging a fee to big corporate and asset management clients that deposit more money than average, because it has been overwhelmed by deposits. Global economic turmoil -- including the Greek debt crisis and the U.S. debt ceiling debate -- has driven BNY Mellon's large clients to sell riskier assets and move the proceeds to deposit accounts. The flood of cash is likely to raise BNY Mellon's U.S. deposit insurance fees and could weaken...

WASHINGTON - President Bush, stepping up pressure on Syria, ordered new sanctions Wednesday to punish officials in Damascus for alleged efforts to undermine stability in Iraq and meddle in Lebanon's sovereignty and democracy. Bush, in an executive order, said he was expanding penalties against senior government officials in Syria and their associates deemed to be responsible for — or to have benefited from — public corruption. The order did not specifically name any officials. Bush signed the order a day after Imad Mughniyeh, one of the world's most wanted and elusive terrorists, was killed in a car bombing in Syria...

TEL AVIV, Israel, June 12 (UPI) -- Washington has imposed "tough sanctions" on Israel following a crisis over a deal in which Israel sold drones to China and undertook to maintain them. The deal for the sale of Harpy drones was signed in 1999 and the United States maintained it was done behind its back. The Haaretz newspaper said the United States is demanding Israel provide details on more than 60 defense deals it concluded with China in recent years. The Bush administration wants the Israeli government to scrutinize such deals much more carefully than in the past and punish...

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) on Tuesday banned all U.S. exports to Syria except for food and medicine, ordering sanctions after long-standing complaints that the Middle Eastern nation was supporting terrorism and undermining U.S. efforts in Iraq (news - web sites). The actions of the Syrian government — including pursuing weapons of mass destruction and occupying Lebanon — represent an "extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States," Bush said in signing an executive order imposing sanctions. The measures also include a ban on flights to and from the United States;...

Banned book now availableNow that a federal appeals court has temporarily blocked a lower court's order preventing author Irwin Schiff from selling a book that argues paying income tax is voluntary, the book is available for the April 15 tax deadline. In an emergency stay in September, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals prevented U.S. District Court Judge Lloyd George from enforcing a preliminary injunction against Schiff. George had banned the self-proclaimed tax guru from distributing the book, Federal Mafia: How It Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes.According to Amazon.com, if you want the book to use when...