Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 81
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Immigration agents descended on dozens of 7-Eleven convenience stores before dawn Wednesday to begin checking on employees' immigration status in what officials described as the largest operation against an employer under Donald Trump's presidency. Agents targeted about 100 stores nationwide, broadening an investigation that began four years ago with a case against a franchisee on New York's Long Island. The audits could lead to criminal charges or fines over the stores' hiring practices. Twenty-one people suspected of b...
Of the many American women dismayed by the wave of sexual misconduct scandals, there's a subgroup with distinctive hopes and fears: mothers of boys. Among them are women who have sought to raise their sons, sometimes from infancy, to shun sexist mindsets and be respectful of girls. Yet even some of these mothers worry about countervailing peer pressure their sons might face. And there's uncertainty as to whether their sons' generation, as adult men, will be less likely to perpetrate or condone sexual misconduct. Danielle Campoamor, a New York-b...
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana school board's office went on temporary lockdown after getting death threats from around the world in response to widely viewed video of a teacher screaming while being handcuffed at a school board meeting. The threats have come from as far away as South America, Australia and England, as well as other U.S. states, Vermilion Parish School Board President Anthony Fontana told The Advertiser newspaper Tuesday. He said they've been reported to the FBI and local police. Middle-school English teacher Deyshia Hargrave w...
WASHINGTON (AP) — War is hell for wildlife, too. A new study finds that wartime is the biggest threat to Africa's elephants, rhinos, hippos and other large animals. The researchers analyzed how decades of conflict in Africa have affected populations of large animals. More than 70 percent of Africa's protected wildlife areas fell inside a war zone at some point since 1946, many of them repeatedly, they found. The more often the war, the steeper the drop in the mammal population, said Yale University ecologist Josh Daskin, lead author of a s...
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected this week to extend relief from economic sanctions to Iran as part of the nuclear deal, citing progress in amending U.S. legislation that governs Washington's participation in the landmark accord, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the administration's deliberations. But Trump is likely to pair his decision to renew the concessions to Tehran with new, targeted sanctions on Iranian businesses and people, the six people briefed on the matter said. The restrictions could hit s...
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new report by Senate Democrats warns of deepening Russian interference throughout Europe and concludes that even as some Western democracies have responded with aggressive countermeasures, President Donald Trump has offered no strategic plan to bolster their efforts or safeguard the U.S. from again falling victim to Kremlin meddling. The report commissioned by the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is the first from Congress to comprehensively detail Russian efforts to undermine democracies since the 2...
MOSCOW (AP) — Just weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in Syria, Russian military outposts in the country have come under rebel attacks that are challenging Moscow's gains. Russian bases located in Syrian President Bashar Assad's Alawite heartland had been immune to rebel raids ever since Moscow launched its campaign in Syria in September 2015. But a series of drone attacks and mortar and rocket shelling in recent days has broken the calm. The incursions have raised doubts both about the sustainability of the Assad gov...
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at a federal judge who's temporarily blocked him from ending protections for nearly 800,000 young immigrants. The Senate's top Democrat said that despite the ruling, lawmakers and the White House must drive toward a bipartisan deal that would permanently shield them from deportation. The remarks by Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., came a day after the president and top lawmakers used a White House meeting to agree to pursue a pact that would protect those immig...
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The new U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands clashed Wednesday with Dutch reporters on his first official day in the job over controversial comments he made in 2015 in which he said that the "Islamic movement" was creating chaos in Europe and suggested that extremists were burning politicians and cars in the Netherlands. At a press conference shortly after presenting his credentials to Dutch King Willem-Alexander at a palace in The Hague, Pete Hoekstra was repeatedly asked about the comments he made at a 2015 c...
SAN SEBASTIAN SALITRILLO, El Salvador (AP) — Every two weeks, Flor Tovar receives a lifeline in the form of cash wired from her husband living in the United States. The money pays the $50 rent for her modest two-bedroom home in a low-income housing development about an hour northwest of El Salvador's capital. It also covers school transportation for their two sons, the electricity, water and cable television. Now a decision made in Washington to end temporary protected status for her husband and nearly 200,000 other Salvadorans in the U.S. h...
GENEVA (AP) — Organizers of the World Economic Forum say U.S. President Donald Trump's upcoming visit to its annual conference in Davos, Switzerland, will allow participants "to get a direct perspective on U.S. political and economic priorities." The WEF made the statement late Tuesday after the White House confirmed that Trump would attend the gathering of some 350 governmental leaders, plus hundreds of business executives and civil society leaders that takes place Jan. 23-26. WEF spokeswoman Fon Mathuros said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven M...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — It's been more than a decade since the leaders of the two Koreas have held a summit. Could it happen now? South Korean President Moon Jae-in told reporters Wednesday that he remains open to a meeting with North Korea's leader, if it would improve the strained relations between their two countries and help resolve the global standoff over the North's nuclear weapons development. It's not a new position for Moon, who took office in May, but it took on new meaning coming one day after high-level officials from the two K...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A survey has found that many Oklahoma students who've enrolled in a virtual charter school left their previous school because of bullying or problems with school administration. The study was commissioned by the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, which oversees the state's four virtual charter schools, The Oklahoman reported . Indiana-based Thomas P. Miller and Associates conducted the survey and presented the results to the board Tuesday. "Many parents and guardians we interviewed were motivated (to attend a...
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — One of the nine black teenagers who were escorted to Central High School in Little Rock by federal troops 60 years ago has written a book about her role in the school's racial desegregation. Elizabeth Eckford and co-authors Eurydice Stanley and Grace Stanley reflect on her time at Central in "The Worst First Day: Bullied While Desegregating Central High." She will speak about the book at two events this weekend in Little Rock, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported . The 150-page book contains verse, photographs, d...
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — "Bible literacy" classes being taught in some Kentucky public schools may violate the Constitution. The Courier-Journal reports the state's American Civil Liberties Union reviewed how several school districts taught the classes before sending a letter to the state Department of Education requesting the development of teaching guidelines. Education Department spokeswoman Rebecca Blessing says the agency is working to promote statewide academic standards for the classes. The ACLU's review found a majority of school d...
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the early days of the Trump administration, the head of one of America's largest coal companies sent a four-page "action plan" to the White House calling for rollbacks of Obama-era environmental and mine safety regulations. "We have listed our suggested actions in order of priority," Robert "Bob" Murray, the chairman and CEO of Ohio-based Murray Energy, wrote in his March 1 letter addressed to Vice President Mike Pence. "We are available to assist you and your administration in any way that you request." A review of the mem...
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota's Public Service Commission has ordered four public utilities to calculate savings from reductions in federal corporate income tax rates. The three-member, all-Republican panel took the action Wednesday, with an aim of potentially returning some money to ratepayers. The utilities involved are Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., Great Plains Natural Gas Co., Otter Tail Power Co. and Xcel Energy. The companies have until Feb. 15 to submit their calculations. The Republican tax plan that President Donald Trump s...
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Elected officials, consumer advocates and regulators in 18 states are pushing for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure that utility customers see a reduction in their bills thanks to windfalls utilities will reap from corporate tax cuts included in the federal tax overhaul. In a letter sent to the commission on Tuesday, the coalition called for an investigation into the "justness and reasonableness" of utility rates now that the tax cuts approved by Congress last month reduce the corporate income tax rate f...
CLEVELAND (AP) — Authorities say a computer hacker in Ohio spied on people, companies and even a police department, sometimes using cameras and microphones of compromised computers to record young people having sex without their knowledge. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Cleveland said Wednesday that 28-year-old North Royalton resident Phillip Durachinsky also hacked his way into schools and a U.S. Department of Energy subsidiary. The alleged crimes occurred from 2003 until early 2017. Durachinsky is charged with computer fraud, wiretapping a...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats from coastal states accused the Trump administration of punishing states with Democratic leaders after the administration said it would block oil drilling off Florida's coast following objections from that state's Republican governor. Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California said on Twitter that his state, "like Florida, has hundreds of miles of beautiful coastline and a governor who wants to keep it that way. Or is that not enough for blue states?" Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was b...
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico regulators are scheduled to hear arguments in a contentious case regarding a rate increase for customers of the state's largest electric utility. The Public Regulation Commission is rehearing the case Wednesday after Public Service Co. of New Mexico challenged an earlier decision that allowed for a rate hike but limited the utility's ability to recover investments made in two coal-fired power plants. The utility was seeking to recoup about $150 million for improvements made to the Four Corners Power Plant and a...
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A Sioux Falls company is donating $5 million toward building a home for the precision agriculture program at South Dakota State University. Raven Industries President and CEO Dan Rykhus says the donation is an investment, noting the company's work in the field of precision agriculture. SDSU offers a four-year degree in precision agriculture and two minors in the field. The Argus Leader reports that the state Legislature must approve construction of the building on the SDSU campus in Brookings. ___ Information from: A...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A mayor vying for a vacant Oklahoma House seat won a special Republican primary Tuesday. GOP voters in the three counties covered by the seat elected Marlow Mayor Brad Boles as their party's nominee by an overwhelming margin — 82 percent to 18 percent — over Chickasha businessman Dustin Payne. Boles will face Democrat Charles L. Murdock of Cheyenne in a special general election on March 6 to determine who fills the seat. The District 51 House seat covers Grady, Stephens and McClain counties in southern Oklahoma. The vacan...
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Andrew Jones flirted with leaving Texas for the NBA before returning to school for what he hoped would be a big sophomore season and a splash in the next draft. He was on his way. The shooting guard was the Longhorns' leading scoring through the start of what looked like a big season. After a wrist fracture sidelined him for a few games, his return to the lineup was going to be big: the Big 12 season opener against Kansas. He hardly played. Same thing for the next game at Iowa State. Two games, 20 minutes total. The 2...
BOSTON (AP) — Members of Massachusetts' all-Democratic congressional delegation are faulting U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling for saying participants in the state's voter-approved marijuana trade could be at risk of prosecution. Lelling said Monday he "cannot provide assurances that certain categories of participants in the state-level marijuana trade will be immune from federal prosecution" after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions moved to rescind an Obama-era policy that called for non-interference with state-level legal marijuana operations. S...
