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WASHINGTON (AP) — Haunted by Russia and beset by internal strife, Donald Trump's White House is also increasingly being forced to confront allegations from the president's past, as an adult film star, a former Playboy model and a onetime "Apprentice" contestant press court cases. In court, on social media and with upcoming television interviews, these women are making allegations about Trump's past sexual exploits. And while previous accusations have not derailed the thrice-married businessman, now they are surfacing in the context of the r...
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Embattled President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski offered his resignation Wednesday ahead of an impeachment vote, seeking to put an end to a fast-moving political drama playing out just three weeks before the Andean nation is set to host U.S. President Donald Trump for a regional summit. In a nationwide televised address, Kuczynski, flanked by his cabinet, lashed out at opponents led by the daughter of former strongman Alberto Fujimori for allegedly plotting his overthrow with damaging leaks of confidential documents that raised d...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The police officer who was with a Minneapolis officer charged with murder and manslaughter in the death of an unarmed Australian woman said both men "got spooked" when she approached their SUV, and that the partner feared for his life. But prosecutors say Officer Mohamed Noor acted recklessly and was not justified in using deadly force when he shot Justine Ruszczyk Damond last July after she called to report a possible sexual assault behind her home. The case, which has drawn international attention, presents challenges f...
The family of the man suspected of planting the bombs this month that killed two people and injured four others in the Texas capital expressed shock, saying they don't know what could have motivated him. "I mean this is coming from nowhere. We just don't know what. I don't know how many ways to say it but everyone is caught off guard by this so, yeah I don't know. I don't know. I mean I don't know," Mike Courtney, the uncle of 23-year-old Mark Anthony Conditt, said Wednesday. Authorities say Conditt blew himself up in a motel parking lot...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The tempest over President Donald Trump's congratulatory phone call to Vladimir Putin quickly grew on Wednesday into an uproar over White House leaks, sparking an internal investigation and speculation over who might be the next person Trump forces out of the West Wing. The White House, which has suffered frequent leaks — at times of notable severity — said in a statement it would be a "fireable offense and likely illegal" to leak Trump's briefing papers to the press, after word emerged that the president had been warned in br...
NEW YORK (AP) — Breaking five days of silence, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted mistakes and outlined steps to protect user data in light of a privacy scandal involving a Trump-connected data-mining firm. Zuckerberg said Wednesday that Facebook has a "responsibility" to protect its users' data and if it fails, "we don't deserve to serve you." But Zuckerberg stopped short of apologizing. And he wrote "what happened" instead of "what we did," leaving Facebook one step removed from responsibility. Richard Levick, chairman of the crisis-manage...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate Wednesday in a vote of confidence in the U.S. economy's durability while signaling that it plans to continue a gradual approach to rate hikes for 2018 under its new chairman, Jerome Powell. The Fed said it expects to raise rates twice more this year. And it increased its estimate for rate hikes in 2019 from two to three, reflecting more optimistic expectations for growth and low unemployment. In a statement after its latest policy meeting, the Fed said it boosted its key short-t...
DAPCHI, Nigeria (AP) — Boko Haram Islamic extremists brought back nearly all of the 110 girls they had kidnapped from a boarding school last month, dropping them off in the middle of the night Wednesday with a warning: "Don't ever put your daughters in school again." Several of the girls interviewed by The Associated Press said they had been traveling for days before the convoy of vehicles arrived in the center of the town of Dapchi around 2 a.m. Residents who had fled upon hearing that Boko Haram was headed their way watched from hiding as d...
MOSCOW (AP) — The war of words between Russia and Britain over an ex-spy's poisoning got uglier Wednesday as the U.K. foreign secretary called it vomit-inducing that Russian President Vladimir Putin is rejoicing over hosting the World Cup. Russia shot back that Boris Johnson is "poisoned with venom of malice and hate." The heated exchange came in the deepening diplomatic crisis over the March 4 poisoning of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury. Britain maintains Russia used a military-grade nerve a...
OFER MILITARY PRISON, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian teenage protest icon Ahed Tamimi on Wednesday was sentenced to eight months in prison for slapping and kicking a pair of Israeli soldiers outside her West Bank home, capping a case that sparked uproar in Israel, turned the 17-year-old girl into a Palestinian hero and attracted international attention. Tamimi's Israeli lawyer, Gaby Lasky, said Tamimi agreed to the sentence as part of a plea deal with prosecutors that allowed her to avoid more serious charges that could have imprisoned her for y...
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Finland's government said Wednesday that delegates from North Korea, South Korea and the United States concluded "constructive" unofficial diplomatic talks in the Nordic country that were widely believed to be laying the groundwork for an upcoming meeting between the Koreas and a planned U.S.-North Korea summit. The Finnish foreign ministry said in a brief statement said that the tripartite talks were held in a positive atmosphere and were aimed at "building confidence and reducing tensions on the Korean Peninsula." M...
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The head of the Vatican's communications department resigned Wednesday after he mischaracterized a private letter from retired Pope Benedict XVI, then had a photo of it digitally manipulated and sent out to the media. A week after The Associated Press exposed the doctored photo, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Monsignor Dario Vigano and named his deputy to run the Secretariat for Communications for now. But Francis kept Vigano on in the department in a lesser capacity, indicating that he doesn't believe the p...
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Israeli military confirmed on Wednesday it carried out the 2007 airstrike in Syria that destroyed what was believed to be a nuclear reactor, lifting the veil of secrecy over one of its most daring and mysterious operations in recent memory. Although Israel was widely believed to have been behind the Sept. 6, 2007, airstrike, it has never before commented publicly on it. In a lengthy release, the military revealed that eight F-15 fighter jets carried out the top-secret airstrikes against the facility in the Deir e...
PURCELL, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma emergency management officials say a grass fire in rural McClain County has forced at least one home to be evacuated. The grass fire flared up Wednesday afternoon near Dibble, located about 37 miles (59 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City. Keli Cain, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, says at least one residence has been evacuated due to the flames. McClain County sheriff's deputies are working to relocate other nearby residents. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries d...
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Authorities in Oklahoma say a Nebraska man wanted on a firearms warrant has been taken into custody following an hours-long standoff at a Tulsa motel. Officials say Rush Lincoln Hembree surrendered to police about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. The standoff began about 11 p.m. Tuesday after police surrounded Hembree's motel room on Tulsa's eastside. Tulsa Police Department Sgt. Shane Tuell says a felony warrant from Nebraska involved allegations that 49-year-old Hembree was illegally manufacturing fully automatic weapons. Tuell s...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A Republican state senator from Guthrie says she won't seek re-election when her term is up this year. Sen. A.J. Griffin announced in a press release on Wednesday that she plans to step down after serving six years in office. Her Senate District 20 seat includes Kingfisher, Logan, Noble and Pawnee counties. Griffin says she has struggled with whether to run again but said she heard "God's call in another direction." Griffin was first elected in 2012 to fill an unexpired term following the death of former state Sen. David M...
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A public school district in Oklahoma has removed a monument at an elementary school that was dedicated to Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Tulsa Public Schools said the nearly century-old monument was removed and replaced with bricks on Tuesday. A district spokeswoman said "a community partner" covered the cost, and that the Tulsa Historical Society will preserve the monument. The removal comes less than week after the school district's board rescinded the school's original name: Robert E. Lee Elementary School. The b...
DUNCAN, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma man is facing a murder charge six years after authorities say he killed his father to collect a life insurance policy. Stephens County court records indicate 37-year-old James Kyle Brooks of Blanchard was charged with first-degree murder Friday. He's accused in the August 2012 death of 52-year-old Timothy James Brooks. An affidavit filed by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation says James Brooks was visiting his father in Marlow, about 70 miles southwest of Oklahoma City, when he called police to report T...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A legislative budget leader says Oklahoma lawmakers could be willing to approve a bond package to build new prisons if needed. Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh told lawmakers at a Senate Appropriations and Budget Committee hearing Tuesday that he hasn't seen much of an interest in the House or Senate to adopt a bond measure, which could total more than $800 million. But Committee Chair Kim David notes that the Legislature adopted a $58.5 million bond package last year to build a new state health lab. She s...
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers are considering legislation that would prevent the state from forcing faith-based adoption agencies to place children into homes that violate their religious beliefs. Critics predict the bill would lead to discrimination against would-be LGBT parents. Two identical bills, each dubbed the Adoption Protection Act , are under consideration in House and Senate committees, and each panel finished two days of hearings Wednesday. The bills would allow faith-based agencies contracting with the Department of C...
ELKHART, Kan. (AP) — Game wardens say they have solved an antelope poaching case discovered last October in southwest Kansas. Wardens were called in October about two antelope found dead in Morton County. Evidence indicated the animals were shot with a rifle and left to rot in the field. The suspects also drove across a freshly drilled winter wheat field to kill the animals. The Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism said Wednesday that three people were arrested and have confessed to the poaching. No charges have been filed. The d...
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has handed down a mixed ruling in the lawsuit brought by the Kansas attorney general seeking records related to former President Barack Obama's proposal to move detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the Army prison at Fort Leavenworth. U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree concluded Wednesday that the Defense Department fulfilled its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act except for five documents, which the court will privately review to determine if information was improperly withheld. The j...
PLAINVILLE, Kan. (AP) — The husband of a woman who was found dead in rural western Kansas has been arrested. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday that 35-year-old Ailfonso Eduardo Garcia was arrested early Monday in Plainville. His wife, 24-year-old Alexis Garcia, was found dead early Monday in Plainvlle, in Rooks County. The KBI says Ailifonso was booked on a first-degree murder charge. The Kansas Attorney General's office will determine formal charges. Garcia is currently being held at the Salina Regional Health Center on $1 m...
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kris Kobach picked a former Republican rival Wednesday to be his running mate in his campaign for Kansas governor, turning to a Wichita businessman whose wealth could help Kobach fix a potential weakness in fundraising. Kobach introduced Wink Hartman as his pick for lieutenant governor as he kicked off a four-city campaign bus tour in Topeka. He said Hartman, the owner of a family of oil industry companies founded by Hartman's father, would serve as the state's chief operating officer and audit government agencies once in o...
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita man who was killed in a bar shooting was supposed to celebrate his son's birthday the day he died. The Wichita Eagle reports that 27-year-old Dwayne Brunson was shot early Sunday after an altercation at the Deuces Bar. He died at a hospital. Brunson planned to celebrate 3-year-old Kyvan's birthday with the family that day. His partner Mallory Stein told their children about his death after the party. Brunson's aunt, Kemerlin Richards, says her nephew had big dreams, his biggest being a good father. Family f...
