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By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, Associated Press Business Writer HOUSTON (AP) — Chevron has scored a critical ruling in Paris that has given it the go-ahead for a $53 billion acquisition of Hess and access to one of the biggest oil finds of the decade. Chevron said Friday that it completed its acquisition of Hess shortly after the ruling from the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. Exxon had challenged Chevron’s bid for Hess, one of three companies with access to the massive Stabroek Block oil field off the coast of Guyana. Guyana is a country of 791,000 people that is poised…

Q: Hello Honk. My wife was eager to get a Real ID back in May when the push was on to get one. The only Real ID she could get was on an ID card. She will be renewing her driver’s license in October and would like to get the Real ID transferred to her license. You did a column back in 2023, I believe, and from what I recall, the Department of Motor Vehicles can just cancel the one Real ID and move it over, in this case to the driver’s license. – Sandy Wood, Tustin A: Good memory,…

By MELISSA GOLDIN, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Missouri congressman Billy Long will be ceremonially sworn in as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service on Friday, taking over a beleaguered agency that he once sought to abolish and that has since been beset with steep staffing cuts and leadership turnover. Long won confirmation in a 53-44 Senate vote last month despite concerns from Democrats about his connection to a tax credit scheme and campaign contributions he received after then President-elect Donald Trump nominated him for the top IRS job in December. Long’s commissionership comes after months of acting leaders and…

The “Big Beautiful Bill” did a lot of things, not all of them good. One positive step was to repeal many of the Inflation Reduction Act’s green energy subsidies. It’s a little disappointing that Congress didn’t repeal all of them, as President Donald Trump promised during the campaign. Yet it’s also somewhat amazing to witness a genuine rollback, something that was never a given for this bill and which typically loses out to special-interest politics. To be clear, I want more green energy from more sources, including wind, solar, geothermal and whatever other promising avenues innovation makes possible. But subsidies…

By ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — China’s state security agency says it is cracking down on alleged smuggling of rare earths minerals that it says threaten national security, just weeks after Beijing and Washington agreed to make it easier for American firms to obtain from China those materials, which are critical for manufacturing and computer chip production. In a report published Friday in the state-run newspaper Global Times, the Ministry of State Security said foreign “espionage and intelligence agencies” were colluding to steal rare earths-related goods by repackaging and relabeling rare metals to hide their Chinese…

By BRIAN SLODYSKO and WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — If one theme has emerged in President Donald Trump’s second term, it’s this: He’s leveraged the power of his office for personal gain unlike anyone before in history. From crypto coins to bibles, overseas development deals to an upcoming line of cellphones, Trump family businesses have raked in hundreds of millions of dollars since his election, an unprecedented flood of often shadowy money from billionaires, foreign governments and cryptocurrency tycoons with interests before the federal government. “He is president and is supposed to be working in the public’s interest,”…

Here’s the new reality for former Vice President Kamala Harris as she’s halfway though a summer of contemplating whether or not to campaign to become California’s next governor: It would not be easy. The entire idea of Harris running for governor, a run in which she would have to commit to serving out a full term, thus giving up on running for president in 2028, is predicated on her having an easy time of it. The presumption is that today’s crowded field of Democrats would thin out quickly to give her a virtually free “top two” primary election finish next…

By COLLIN BINKLEY, Associated Press Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration insists it hasn’t wavered in its duty to protect the civil rights of America’s children even as it dismantles the Education Department. Yet its own data shows the agency has resolved far fewer civil rights cases than in past years despite families filing more complaints. The Education Department’s civil rights branch lost nearly half its staff amid mass layoffs in March, raising questions about its ability to address a deep backlog of complaints from students alleging discrimination based on disability, sex or race. Pressed on the issue…

By STEPHEN GROVES, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans were grasping late Thursday to formulate a response to the Trump administration’s handling of records in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case, ultimately putting forward a resolution that carries no legal weight but nodded to the growing demand for greater transparency. The House resolution, which could potentially be voted on next week, will do practically nothing to force the Justice Department to release more records in the case. Still, it showed how backlash from the Republican base is putting pressure on the Trump administration and roiling GOP lawmakers. The House…

LAS VEGAS — The Clippers dug themselves a considerable first-half hole and saw their bid for a spot in the NBA Summer League semifinals end with an 81-76 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Clippers (3-1), who needed a blowout win to advance, trailed by 10 points after the first quarter and by 19 at halftime before staging a second-half rally that got them within three points with 1:08 left. Cam Christie missed a 3-point attempt with four seconds left, and the Nuggets (1-3) made a pair of free throws to…