BEIJING—China’s imports fell for a fourth straight month in August as a drop-off in exports to the U.S. steepened, the most recent economic warning signs during a prolonged trade spat with the U.S. that has Beijing turning toward stimulus measures.

Chinese imports of everything from raw materials to high-tech products dropped 5.6% in August compared with a year earlier, the same decline as July, the Chinese customs data showed. Although August’s drop was smaller than economists had expected, a downturn in demand highlights...

MANCHESTER, N.H.—A slate of Democratic presidential hopefuls pressed New Hampshire party activists to embrace a fresh face Saturday, warning of the pitfalls of choosing a conventional challenger to President Trump.

The pitch to Democrats at New Hampshire’s annual state party convention served as an unspoken but unmistakable jab at former Vice President Joe Biden, who has led in national polls for the duration of the race.

“There...

The director of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology resigned following the publication of a news report detailing his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and Mr. Epstein’s donations to the highly esteemed institution.

An article published in the New Yorker on Friday said that MIT had a deeper fundraising relationship with Mr. Epstein than it had previously acknowledged and attempted to conceal the extent of its contact with him. Joi Ito, director of the Media Lab, resigned Saturday, according...

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia has relieved its energy minister Khalid al-Falih from his post, less than a week after he was removed as chairman of its state-owned oil giant, a surprise shift as plans for an initial public offering accelerate.

Mr. Falih was replaced with Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the son of the Saudi king and minister of state for energy affairs, according to a royal decree published on the official news agency.

Mr....

WASHINGTON—President Trump said Saturday he called off a planned Camp David summit with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Taliban leaders after a Taliban bomb attack in Kabul.

On Twitter, Mr. Trump said the Afghan government and Taliban officials had been coming to the U.S. Saturday night.

“Unbeknownst to almost everyone, the major Taliban...

Kelly Swift grew tired of the Los Angeles area a few years ago so she decided to leave—and take her job with her.

Ms. Swift kept her role in health-care information-technology consulting, and her California salary, when she and her family settled in a suburb of Boise, Idaho. Her employer didn’t mind that she started working from home.

Ms....

WASHINGTON—When Indian immigrant Jay Indurkar applied for permanent U.S. residency in 2011, he filled out paperwork, passed background checks, showed proof of a job offer in Kansas and was approved for a green card in a matter of weeks.

“I still remember that email from my boss,” Mr. Indurkar said. “I jumped out of my seat with joy. And then I read the last paragraph, and my world fell apart.”

The...

That is why you, and your financial adviser, should be wary of risk-tolerance questionnaires meant to figure out how much money you will need when, and how willing and able you are to withstand losses along the way.

Unfortunately, imagining your future behavior isn’t as easy as it seems. And new research shows financial advisers create drastically different portfolios even when clients appear to have the same tolerance for taking risk.

With these quizzes, says Greg Davies, head of behavioral science at Oxford Risk Research & Analysis Ltd. in London, “you’re often getting the answer to another question entirely, which is ‘How do you happen to feel about risk this morning?’”

So, he says, they yield “very unstable answers that move about based on what the market is doing or how the client feels.”

To be fair, many financial advisers don’t take these quizzes seriously. Over the years, dozens have told me that they downplay, override or ignore the...

MOSCOW—Russia and Ukraine conducted a large-scale prisoner swap, a potential first step toward easing tensions between Moscow and Kiev.

Some 70 prisoners, 35 on each side, were exchanged Saturday following weeks of negotiations, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials. The prisoners include two dozen Ukrainian sailors captured by Russia last November, a prominent Ukranian filmmaker and a Russian journalist.

Moscow...

Iran said Saturday it had accelerated its nuclear research work and threatened to take fresh steps within a month that could allow it to expand its stockpile of enriched uranium, a material that can be used to fuel a nuclear weapon.

The move comes after Europe failed to meet a deadline Iran set in July to offset the impact of U.S. sanctions. The Trump administration abandoned a multi-nation nuclear deal last year and has intensified pressure on Iran’s economy in a campaign to roll back Tehran’s military activities in the region.

Tongguan, China

On either side of the brown river running through this misty mountain village, residents live in wooden huts without window panes. Chickens and cats mingle on the road.

BOSTON—Federal prosecutors are recommending prison time for parents who have pleaded guilty in the college-admissions cheating case, urging the judge to send a message about privilege and fairness when deciding sentences.

Proposed sentences, though, are generally at the low end of or even below initial sentencing recommendations laid out in plea agreements this spring. They range from one month each for Felicity Huffman and Peter Jan Sartorio to 15 months each for Stephen Semprevivo and Agustin Huneeus Jr. Ms. Huffman, an...

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration wants to make it harder for asylum seekers to receive work permits while they wait for their cases to be decided, a move that could deter some immigrants from entering the country illegally.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that processes asylum applications, announced Friday it will propose a rule next week scrapping a requirement that asylum seekers receive a work permit within 30 days of applying for one.

Losses at WeWork’s parent aren’t the only concern mounting about the shared-office company as it prepares to go public. Some of its practices push the boundaries of traditional corporate governance, analysts and investors say.

The New York-based startup, which was recently renamed We Co. and filed for an initial public offering in August, is weighing slashing its IPO valuation and could delay the listing, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. In addition to questions about the company’s steep losses and its business model,...

Top advisers to Sen. Kamala Harris made their case to major donors behind closed doors in two meetings in New York on Friday, telling them they were working on defining the California Democrat with a more refined core message.

In the first meeting with a broader group, Ms. Harris’s sister and campaign chairwoman, Maya Harris, along with media consultant Jim Margolis, were questioned by some donors on the senator’s stagnant poll numbers in the Democratic presidential primary. The Harris aides talked up Ms. Harris’s key endorsements...

Purdue Pharma LP is in discussions with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve criminal and civil probes related to its prescription painkiller OxyContin, according to people familiar with the matter.

Investigations by multiple federal agencies into Purdue began at least as early as 2017 and have been run by the Justice Department in Washington along with the U.S. attorneys’ offices in Connecticut, New Jersey and Vermont, the people familiar with the probes said. The government has subpoenaed former employees in recent months,...

Symantec Corp. has received interest from a pair of private-equity suitors seeking to buy the cybersecurity firm for more than $16 billion after it agreed to a sale of a big chunk of its business, according to people familiar with the matter.

Permira and Advent International Corp. recently approached Symantec proposing a takeover deal valuing Symantec at $26 to $27 a share that would hand them the company’s consumer operation while preserving the sale of its enterprise business to Broadcom Inc. Such a structure could reduce...

Federal health authorities are urging people to stop using electronic cigarettes and other vaping products while they investigate the deaths of three more people from a mysterious vaping illness that researchers say may have affected 450 people around the U.S.

There have been five reported deaths from the severe lung injury.

“While the investigation...

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration on Friday asked for more time to decide whether to shield documents concerning allegations of official Saudi involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a sign that top Justice Department officials are struggling how to handle demands from victims’ families to release the information.

The families are seeking the information as part of a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia that accuses its government of helping coordinate the 2001 attacks. The U.S. government’s pending decision comes...

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—PG&E Corp.’s last-minute push for legislation to help it pay off billions of dollars in wildfire claims fell apart Friday as the California lawmaker who authored the measure said he would shelve the proposal for the year.

The bill, by Republican Assemblyman Chad Mayes, would have given the bankrupt utility giant access to as much as $20 billion in tax-exempt state bonds backed by shareholder profits. Mr. Mayes said in an interview Friday that he expects to make the proposal a “two year bill,” meaning...

CLAREMONT, N.H.—Sen. Bernie Sanders, of nearby Vermont, won this state’s Democratic presidential primary in 2016 and is eager for a repeat victory next year. But Sen. Elizabeth Warren, of neighboring Massachusetts, has zeroed in on the same turf, setting up a battle between the two liberal rivals over their shared backyard.

The state’s first-in-the-nation primary, and the efforts here by Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders to win it, will get a national spotlight this weekend when the New Hampshire Democratic Party hosts its convention....

Regulators are weighing whether to disclose the identities of electric utilities that violate rules designed to protect the nation’s grid against cyber and physical attacks.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s current practice is to provide the public general information about federal rule violations and penalties levied—but not to name the companies that broke the rules.

The...

Addressing swim-team parents at Arden Hills Athletic & Social Club in Sacramento, Calif., college counselor William “Rick” Singer warned that even the most pristine résumés weren’t enough for elite schools. He assured the prospective clients that he had connections and solutions.

The message stoked Dan Larson’s anxiety about his daughter’s college prospects. “Wow, I thought my kid was doing well,” he recalls thinking. “Now I’m learning that’s not good enough. I better sit down with Rick.”

A group of influential Democratic senators called on Facebook Inc. to quickly end the postings of firearms for sale on its popular Marketplace and demanded information about how it polices gun sales on the service.

In a letter to Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, 15 senators—including three 2020 presidential candidates—asked for information about the company’s knowledge of, and efforts at policing, the sale of guns on Marketplace. Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported sellers of firearms were clandestinely posting guns...

WASHINGTON—The Justice Department has launched an antitrust investigation into four auto makers that forged an independent agreement with California on vehicle-emissions standards, according to people familiar with the situation.

Justice Department lawyers are seeking to determine if Ford Motor Co., Honda Motor Co., BMW AG and Volkswagen AG violated federal competition law by agreeing with each other to follow tailpipe-emissions standards beyond those proposed by the Trump administration, the people said.