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BEIRUT (AP) — The Turkish attack on the Syrian border town of Afrin, controlled by Kurdish fighters, has been long in coming — Turkish officials have been threatening to launch the offensive and preparing for it for months. However, Ankara's stated strategic goals for the operation codenamed Operation Olive Branch come with a great deal of bluster and little clarity. Some Turkish officials have said the main aim is the creation of a 30-kilometer (20-mile) deep "secure zone" in Afrin, which Turkey says is essential for its security. Others say...
NEW YORK (AP) — Elton John is retiring from the road after his upcoming three-year global tour, capping nearly 50 years on stages around the world. He calls it a "way to go out with a bang." "I've had a good run, I think you'd admit that," John said Wednesday, adding that he wanted to "leave people thinking, 'I saw the last tour and it was fantastic.'" The 70-year-old singer, pianist and composer said he wanted to spend time with his family. His children will be 10 and 8 when he stops in 2021, and John said he hoped he might be able to take the...
WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the enduring sci-fi moments of the big screen — R2-D2 beaming a 3-D image of Princess Leia into thin air in "Star Wars" — is closer to reality thanks to the smallest of screens: dust-like particles. Scientists have figured out how to manipulate nearly unseen specks in the air and use them to create 3-D images that are more realistic and clearer than holograms, according to a study in Wednesday's journal Nature . The study's lead author, Daniel Smalley, said the new technology is "printing something in space, just erasi...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions was questioned for hours in the special counsel's Russia investigation, the Justice Department said, as prosecutors moved closer to a possible interview with President Donald Trump about whether he took steps to obstruct an FBI probe into contacts between Russia and his 2016 campaign. The interview with Sessions last week makes him the highest-ranking Trump administration official, and first Cabinet member, known to have submitted to questioning. It came as special counsel Robert Mueller i...
NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks is giving its U.S. workers pay raises and stock grants this year, citing recent changes to the tax law. All employees will soon be able to earn paid sick time off, and the company's parental leave benefits will include all non-birth parents. Starbucks Corp. said Wednesday that the changes affect about 150,000 full-time, part-time, hourly and salaried employees, most of whom work as baristas or shop managers. The new benefits apply to workers at more than 8,200 company-owned stores but not at the 5,700 licensed shops l...
BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — Twin car bombs exploded as people left a mosque in a residential area of the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, killing 27 and wounding over 30 in an attack timed to cause mass casualties among first responders, officials said. Capt. Tarek Alkharraz, spokesman for military and police forces in Benghazi, said the first explosion went off in the Salmani neighborhood around 8:20 p.m. Tuesday and the second bomb went off a half hour later as residents and medics gathered to evacuate the wounded. Local health official Hani B...
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Ursula K. Le Guin, the award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer who explored feminist themes and was best known for her Earthsea books, has died at 88. Le Guin died suddenly and peacefully Monday at her home in Portland, Oregon, after several weeks of health concerns, her son, Theo Downes-Le Guin said Tuesday. "She left an extraordinary legacy as an artist and as an advocate of peace and critical thinking and fairness, and she was a great mother and wife as well," he said. "Godspeed into the galaxy," Stephen King t...
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Christopher Wray is making changes to his senior leadership team, as President Donald Trump has continued to attack the bureau for perceived biases against him and has been calling for a shakeup at the top. Officials said Tuesday that Wray, who started the job in August, is replacing two top aides who were promoted into their roles by his predecessor James Comey. Such changes are not unusual when a new director takes change, but they are notable amid Trump's public pressure on Wray to get rid of officials who w...
WASHINGTON (AP) — It would seem like a pretty good time to take over as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Jerome Powell has won Senate confirmation to head the U.S. central bank, inheriting an economy on a roll, a booming stock market and unemployment at a 17-year low. He will succeed Janet Yellen, the first woman to serve as Fed chairman, when her term ends on Feb. 3. The position is considered the government's most power economic job. But while the immediate horizon appears clear, Powell faces the risk that today's sturdy economy, low i...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Public Radio provided additional details of allegations of sexual harassment against humorist Garrison Keillor on Tuesday, saying his alleged conduct went well beyond his account in November of accidentally touching a woman's bare back. MPR said in a statement that Keillor was accused by a woman who worked on his "A Prairie Home Companion" radio show of dozens of sexually inappropriate incidents over several years, including requests for sexual contact and explicit sexual communications and touching. MPR said the w...
EUFAULA, Okla. (AP) — The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says a truck hauling four elephants has stalled in eastern Oklahoma, blocking one lane of a busy highway. Patrol Lt. Jarrett Johnson said Wednesday that the commercial vehicle broke down on a portion of U.S. 69 near Eufaula, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) east of Oklahoma City. Johnson says a wrecker service has arrived to help move the stalled vehicle. He says a veterinarian from the area is also on scene to help move the elephants. Johnson says the lane will remain blocked while the e...
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission have contracted with the Oklahoma State University Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit to conduct a five-year study on a northeastern Oklahoma stream. Rainbow trout will be stocked and examined during the Spavinaw Creek study, the Tulsa World reported. University researchers began gathering base data on fish and fauna in the waters through physical surveys and sampling this winter. Trout are expected to be stocked for three yea...
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma woman has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for embezzling more than $450,000 from a retirement and health benefits plan for unionized engineers. The Oklahoman reports that 51-year-old Susan Michelle Tyson of Yukon had pleaded guilty to wire fraud for making dozens of unauthorized transfers to her bank account. A federal judge ordered Tuesday for Tyson to pay nearly $310,000 in restitution, in addition to the sentence. Prosecutors say Tyson was a bookkeeper at Zenith American Solutions Inc., an O...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans needed a deciding vote from Vice President Mike Pence to advance Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback's bid to be ambassador for international religious freedom in the Trump administration. Pence arrived in the chamber Wednesday afternoon and cast the final vote to cut off debate on Brownback's nomination. That clears the way for a final vote to confirm Brownback in the post. Senators voted along party lines, 50-49. Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Bob Corker of Tennessee were absent. The conservative R...
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The U.S. Senate has taken a key step toward confirming Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback's nomination for an ambassador's post. After senators voted 49-49 Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence broke the tie in Brownback's favor. The vote ended debate on Brownback's nomination by President Donald Trump to be U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. The action starts a 30-hour clock on holding a final vote, though it could come sooner. Trump first nominated Brownback for the ambassador's post in July but D...
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The former president of a nonprofit Lawrence arts organization has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor after stealing from the group. Thirty-six-year-old Amanda Monaghan was scheduled to go to trial Monday for felony theft after more than $1,000 was stolen from the Lawrence Art Guild in April 2014. The Lawrence Journal-World reports Monaghan instead entered a no contest plea to misdemeanor theft. She will be sentenced Monday. Judge Kay Huff said she plans to order Monaghan to repay $1,125 to the guild. Prosecutors say M...
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas continues to lead the state's six public universities in the rate of students graduating in four years. The Lawrence Journal-World reports a report earlier this month to the Board of Regents found Kansas had a 41.1 percent four-year graduation rate in the reporting year of 2016. The data comes from the National Center for Education Statistics. Kansas State was second, with a rate of 31.1 percent. Pittsburg State University's rate was 25.6 percent, followed by Emporia State University at 22.7 p...
CHENEY, Kan. (AP) — After two years without them, boat slips will be available this year at Cheney Reservoir. Kevin O'Brien and his wife, Stephanie, say they plan to install boat slips after signing a 15-year lease with the state in December to open a full-time marina. The Wichita Eagle reports the previous marina closed when the state didn't renew its contract and the operator pulled out the boat slips. The O'Briens plan to install 86 slips in March. They will range from 10-by-24 feet to 15-by-36 feet and cost between $2,800 and $3,800 for l...
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Police say the death of the 22-year-old grandson of Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder has been ruled a suicide. The Wichita Eagle reports that a Riley County Police Department report obtained through an open records request says Matthew Snyder died last week of asphyxiation at his home in Manhattan. The police document says Riley County police responded to an emergency call made by his father, Sean Snyder, who is Kansas State's special teams coach. No one else was injured and no foul play is suspected. The Snyder f...
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A man suspected of robbing a Kansas bank has been arrested at a Missouri casino. The Kansas City Star reports that 39-year-old Timothy Karpovich, of Kansas City, Missouri, was charged in federal court Tuesday. Prosecutors say he fled Monday from KCB Bank in Bonner Springs, Kansas, with about $1,050 in cash after handing a teller a handwritten robbery note. Police later received a tip that he gambled regularly at Harrah's Casino in North Kansas City, Missouri, where an employee identified him from a surveillance image. I...
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas City-area businessman who previously gained national attention as an independent U.S. Senate candidate has kicked off a campaign for Kansas governor. Greg Orman posted an ad online Wednesday after formally announcing his independent bid for governor in an interview Tuesday with The Topeka Capital-Journal. Orman challenged Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts in 2014 and received almost 43 percent of the vote after the Democratic nominee dropped out. Orman's new ad portrays him as a non-partisan problem-solver, but he i...
DERBY, Kan. (AP) — A staff member at a suburban Wichita middle school has been arrested on suspicion of two counts of sexual exploitation of a child. KFDI-FM reports that the Wichita Police Department and the Sedgwick County sheriff's office announced in a news release that the arrest of the Derby Middle School employee was made by their joint Internet Crimes Against Children task force. The arrest followed an investigation into allegations of child pornography, which led to a search warrant being served Tuesday in Derby. District s...
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A third victim found inside a burning Kansas City, Kansas, home has been identified. KMBC-TV reports that police have identified 53-year-old Kevin McBride as the third victim. McBride, 53-year-old Gwinn Green and 61-year-old Ronald Guess were found dead last month. The deaths are being investigated as homicides. Authorities believe that house fire was intentionally set to cover up the deaths of the people inside. ___ Information from: KMBC-TV, http://www.kmbc.com...
DALLAS (AP) — A 16-year-old student shot a classmate in the neck and abdomen at a Texas high school before firing at another student and missing, prosecutors said Wednesday. Details of the attack at Italy High School, south of Dallas, were recounted during a juvenile court hearing for the boy accused in the attack. He's charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Authorities haven't released his name because he's a juvenile. He appeared in court in Waxahachie wearing handcuffs and orange jail garb, accompanied by f...
Authorities say a boy opened fire with a gun at a rural Kentucky high school Tuesday, fatally shooting two students and wounding several others. Here's a look at some recent U.S. school shootings, and some of the deadliest of years past: — Dec. 7, 2017: Two students at Aztec High School in New Mexico were killed by a gunman disguised as a student. Police said the shooter later killed himself. — Sept. 13, 2017: A 15-year-old boy was killed at Freeman High School in Rockford, Washington, and three female students were wounded when aut...
