Two Democratic lawmakers urged the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday to better protect U.S. oil and gas pipelines from cyberattacks, after a report they requested detailed a lack of federal oversight of the critical conduits. A federal report released on Wednesday said Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, does not have a process to update its pipeline security guidelines to reflect revisions to standards considered by experts and regulators to be the industry bible on cybersecurity. The report by the General Accountability Office, or GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, was requested by Senator Maria Cantwell and U.S. Representative Frank Pallone.

Posted Wednesday, December 19, 2018 9:35 am EST

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the United States of forcing Russian national Maria Butina to falsely confess to what it described on Wednesday as the ridiculous charge of her being a Russian agent. Butina pleaded guilty in a U.S. court on Thursday to a single conspiracy charge in a deal with prosecutors. The 30-year-old Siberian admitted working with a top Russian official to infiltrate a powerful U.S. gun rights group and to making inroads with American conservative activists and politicians as an agent for Moscow.

Posted Wednesday, December 19, 2018 9:18 am EST

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin announced the settlement on Wednesday. The deal resolves an administrative case that Galvin's office filed against MetLife in June. As part of the settlement, Galvin's office said that MetLife will provide payments, with interest, to hundreds of Massachusetts retirees and beneficiaries.

Posted Wednesday, December 19, 2018 9:18 am EST

A brief Vatican statement said Alexander Salazar, 69, an assistant bishop in Los Angeles, was stepping down. It also distributed a letter on the Salazar case written by the current Archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose Gomez. The U.S. Catholic Church is still reeling from a U.S. grand jury report that found that 301 priests in the state of Pennsylvania had sexually abused minors over a 70-year period.

Posted Wednesday, December 19, 2018 8:53 am EST

It’s been 71 years since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, but African-American participation in the MLB has sharply declined since its peak in the early ’80s.

Posted Tuesday, May 8, 2018 12:31 pm EDT

Just days ahead of the Olympic Games the waterways of Rio de Janeiro are as filthy as ever, contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria, according to a 16-month-long study commissioned by The Associated Press. The AP’s survey of the aquatic Olympic and Paralympic venues has revealed consistent and dangerously high levels of viruses from the pollution, a major black eye on Rio’s Olympic project that has set off alarm bells among sailors, rowers and open-water swimmers.

Posted Monday, August 1, 2016 9:45 am EDT

This evening is Game 1 of the NBA Finals, where the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers will once again face off, and each team has a very stylish roster.

Posted Thursday, June 2, 2016 12:18 pm EDT

"Mechanical doping" made its way into the popular culture last week when a professional bike racer got caught.​

Posted Wednesday, February 10, 2016 2:36 pm EST

Looking for 2018's hottest Cyber Monday items? Find Samsung Q9 Cyber Monday deals, and get info on the best selling Cyber Monday items here.

Posted Sunday, December 30, 2018 7:00 pm EST

Global equity markets edged higher on Wednesday after a three-day sell-off which had investors seeking safety in bonds due to mounting pessimism over world economic growth. Crude oil futures have plummeted almost 10 percent since last Thursday while world stock markets have tumbled to 19-month lows. Investors expected the U.S. Federal Reserve to announce one more interest rate hike at a policy meeting later in the day, but they speculated that the U.S. central bank might signal that it plans to stop tightening monetary policy.

Posted Wednesday, December 19, 2018 10:40 am EST

The European Union is investigating a cyber hack of its diplomatic communications, allegedly by Chinese hackers, that revealed EU concern about U.S. Donald Trump, Russia and Iran, the bloc said on Wednesday. "The Council Secretariat is aware of allegations regarding a potential leak of sensitive information and is actively investigating the issue," the body that represents EU governments in Brussels said in a statement. The Secretariat declined to comment further but said it "takes the security of its facilities, including its IT systems, extremely seriously", referring to concerns about vulnerabilities in its data systems across 28 EU states.

Posted Wednesday, December 19, 2018 10:37 am EST

Yahoo Finance's LIVE market coverage and analysis, beginning each day at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Posted Wednesday, December 19, 2018 10:37 am EST