Articles from the August 16, 2023 edition


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  • Oklahoma declines to discuss a settlement of Tulsa Race Massacre survivors' lawsuit

    AYANNA ALEXANDER and SEAN MURPHY|Aug 16, 2023

    OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma says it won't discuss a settlement with survivors who are seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and have appealed a Tulsa County judge's dismissal of the case last month. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has agreed to consider the survivors' appeal, and the state attorney general's litigation division filed its response Monday. There are just three known survivors of the attack still living, all of them more than 100 years old. Lessie Benningfield Randle, Viola Fletcher and Hughes Van Ellis have sued f...

  • Risk company says Hawaii fires caused $3.2 billion in insured property losses. Follow live updates

    Associated Press|Aug 16, 2023

    Follow live updates about wildfires that have devastated parts of Maui in Hawaii, killing dozens of people and destroying the historic town of Lahaina. The wildfires are the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. The cause was under investigation. Even where the fires have retreated, authorities have warned that toxic byproducts may remain, including in drinking water, after the flames spewed poisonous fumes. LAHAINA FIRE CAUSED ABOUT $3.2 BILLION IN INSURED PROPERTY LOSSES, RISK COMPANY SAYS The Lahaina fire caused about $3.2 billion...

  • Maui police chief pleads for patience, recalls pain of victim IDs after deadly Vegas mass shooting

    KEN RITTER|Aug 16, 2023

    LAS VEGAS (AP) — Maui Police Chief John Pelletier repeatedly urges "patience, prayers and perseverance" as teams painstakingly search the ashes in the seaside community of Lahaina for the remains of scores of victims from the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than 100 years. It's the kind of message he has used before, in the aftermath of another American tragedy: the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting that left 58 dead and hundreds injured. Pelletier was a Las Vegas police captain when a gunman with military-style rifles opened fire from the w...

  • Denver police officer fatally shot a man she thought held a knife. It was a marker

    COLLEEN SLEVIN|Aug 16, 2023

    DENVER (AP) — When officers responded to a domestic violence call Aug. 5, Brandon Cole reached into a vehicle, took an "aggressive stance" and then rushed toward one of them, police said. Thinking he was holding a knife, the officer fired twice, killing him. But the object Cole dropped as he fell to the ground turned out to be a black marker. "This is a tremendous tragedy," Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said during a news conference Monday as police released graphic body-camera video of the shooting, which is still being investigated. A n...

  • American industrial icon US Steel is on the verge of being absorbed as industry consolidates further

    Associated Press|Aug 16, 2023

    With two bidders revealed in a matter of days and more in the wings, United States Steel Corp. — a symbol of American industrialization that for more than a century helped build everything from the United Nations building in New York City to the New Orleans Superdome — appears be on the cusp of being absorbed. Here's what's happened so far, and how the acquisition of U.S. Steel could reshape steelmaking globally. BIDDING WAR After rejecting a $7.3 billion buyout proposal from rival Cleveland-Cliffs on Sunday, U.S. Steel said it was considering...

  • Russia's ruble has tumbled. What does it mean for the wartime economy?

    DAVID McHUGH|Aug 16, 2023

    Russia's ruble has fallen a long way in recent months, and the country's central bank has stepped in to try to halt the slide. Until now, the government stood aside as the declining ruble helped its budget. But a weaker currency also poses the threat of higher prices for everyday people in Russia — and the government has finally moved to halt the drop. Here are key things to know: WHY IS THE RUBLE FALLING? Russia is selling less abroad — mainly reflected in falling revenue from oil and natural gas — and it's importing more. People or compa...

  • Why tensions have been growing along NATO's eastern border with Belarus

    MONIKA SCISLOWSKA and YURAS KARMANAU|Aug 16, 2023

    WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland is deploying thousands of troops to its border with Belarus, calling it a deterrent move as tensions between the two neighbors ratchet up. Those tensions between Poland — a NATO and European Union country — and Belarus, which is Russia's ally in its war on Ukraine, have been building up in recent months on the border. Here is why: ORIGINS OF THE TENSIONS Poland has been backing the Belarusian opposition ever since the 2020 presidential elections, where pro-Russian Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth...

  • Prosecutors in the Hunter Biden case deny defense push to keep gun charge agreement in place

    LINDSAY WHITEHURST|Aug 16, 2023

    WASHINGTON (AP) — A legal showdown over the derailed plea deal for Hunter Biden continued Tuesday as prosecutors asserted that an agreement on a gun charge is dead along with the rest of the deal as the case makes a major shift into a special counsel investigation. While the agreement that was supposed to have wrapped up the long-running investigation of President Joe Biden's son largely unraveled during a contentious court hearing last month, prosecutors said the two sides had continued to negotiate until the defense rejected their final c...

  • Videos put scrutiny on downed power lines as possible cause of deadly Maui wildfires

    MICHAEL BIESECKER and BERNARD CONDON|Aug 16, 2023

    Awakened by howling winds that tore through his Maui neighborhood, Shane Treu went out at dawn and saw a wooden power pole suddenly snap with a flash, its sparking, popping line falling to the dry grass below and quickly igniting a row of flames. He called 911 and then turned on Facebook video to livestream his attempt to fight the blaze in Lahaina, including wetting down his property with a garden hose. "I heard 'buzz, buzz,'" the 49-year-old resort worker recounted to The Associated Press. "It was almost like somebody lit a firework. It just...

  • McCarthy floats stopgap funding to prevent a government shutdown at the end of next month

    STEPHEN GROVES and LISA MASCARO|Aug 16, 2023

    Washington (AP) — Congressional leaders are pitching a stopgap government funding package to avoid a federal shutdown after next month, acknowledging the House and Senate are nowhere near agreement on spending levels to keep federal operations running. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy raised the idea of a months-long funding package, known as a continuing resolution, to House Republicans on a members-only call Monday evening, according to those familiar with the private session and granted anonymity to discuss it. On Tuesday, Senate Majority L...

  • Mother pleads guilty to felony child neglect after 6-year-old son used her gun to shoot teacher

    BEN FINLEY and DENISE LAVOIE|Aug 16, 2023

    NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — The mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher in Virginia pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge of felony child neglect, seven months after her son used her handgun to critically wound the educator in a classroom full of students. Prosecutors agreed to drop a misdemeanor charge of reckless storage of a firearm against Deja Taylor. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors said they will not seek a sentence that is longer than state sentencing guidelines, which call for six months in jail or prison. The crime is p...

  • States that protect transgender health care now try to absorb demand

    JEFF McMILLAN and HANNAH SCHOENBAUM|Aug 16, 2023

    States that declared themselves refuges for transgender people have essentially issued an invitation: Get your gender-affirming health care here without fearing prosecution at home. Now that bans on such care for minors are taking effect around the country — Texas could be next, depending on the outcome of a court hearing this week — patients and their families are testing clinics' capacity. Already-long waiting lists are growing, yet there are only so many providers of gender-affirming care and only so many patients they can see in a day. For...

  • The Taliban believe their rule is open-ended and don't plan to lift the ban on female education

    RIAZAT BUTT|Aug 16, 2023

    KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban view their rule of Afghanistan as open-ended, drawing legitimacy from Islamic law and facing no significant threat, their chief spokesman said in an interview marking the second anniversary of the Taliban takeover of the country. He also indicated a ban on female education will remain in place. Zabihullah Mujahid brushed aside any questions from The Associated Press about restrictions on girls and women, saying the status quo will remain. The ban on girls attending school beyond sixth grade was the f...

  • Russia unleashes a country-wide missile barrage on Ukraine as Putin addresses security conference

    ILLIA NOVIKOV and DASHA LITVINOVA|Aug 16, 2023

    KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces unleashed missiles across Ukraine early on Tuesday, killing and wounding civilians and damaging infrastructure. The barrage came just hours before top Russian military officials and their counterparts from allied countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa gathered outside Moscow for a security conference. Missiles struck cities from the east to west of Ukraine, including far behind front lines where Ukraine is fighting deeply entrenched Russian forces to regain territory occupied by Moscow almost 18 m...

  • 'Bidenomics' delivered a once-in-generation investment. It shows the pros and cons of policymaking

    LISA MASCARO|Aug 16, 2023

    WASHINGTON (AP) — There are so many dots on the maps they blur into blobs — each one reflecting trillions of public and private dollars flowing in the U.S. this past year to build thousands of roads, bridges and manufacturing projects in communities large and small, in states red and blue. They include an electric vehicle "battery belt" of manufacturing stretching from Michigan to Georgia, semiconductor fabrication plants in Arizona, Texas, Ohio and New York and broadband coming to Appalachia. Taken together, they represent President Joe Bid...

  • Mar-a-Lago property manager pleads not guilty to charges in Trump's classified documents case

    CURT ANDERSON and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER|Aug 16, 2023

    FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to scheming with Donald Trump to try to delete security footage sought by investigators probing the former president's hoarding of classified documents. An attorney for De Oliveira entered the plea on his behalf during a brief hearing in the Fort Pierce, Florida, federal court, where Trump is charged with illegally holding onto top-secret records at his Palm Beach club and thwarting government efforts to retrieve them. It's the third court a...

  • Will Donald Trump show up at next week's presidential debate? GOP rivals are preparing for it

    STEVE PEOPLES and HANNAH FINGERHUT|Aug 16, 2023

    DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — He says he won't sign the pledge required to participate, but former President Donald Trump's Republican rivals are actively preparing as if he will be onstage for the GOP's first 2024 presidential debate next week. Former Vice President Mike Pence is hosting mock debate sessions with someone playing the part of the former president. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been participating in weekly debate prep sessions for several weeks with an eye toward drawing clear contrasts with Trump. And Nikki Haley, the former ambassado...

  • How the Georgia indictment against Donald Trump may be the biggest yet and other case takeaways

    NICHOLAS RICCARDI and MEG KINNARD|Aug 16, 2023

    The fourth indictment of former President Donald Trump may be the most sweeping yet. The sprawling, 98-page case unveiled late Monday night opens up fresh legal ground and exposes more than a dozen of Trump's allies to new jeopardy. But it also raises familiar legal issues of whether the First Amendment allows a politician to try to overturn an election. Already, Trump and his supporters are alleging the indictment is the product of a politicized, corrupt process to hobble him as he competes for the GOP nomination to face President Joe Biden...

  • Texas wants Planned Parenthood to repay millions of dollars

    PAUL J. WEBER|Aug 16, 2023

    AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas wants Planned Parenthood to give back millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements — and pay far more in fines on top of that — in a lawsuit that appears to be the first of its kind brought by a state against the largest abortion provider in the U.S. A hearing was set for Tuesday in front of U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who earlier this year put access to the most common method of abortion in the U.S. in limbo with a ruling that invalidated approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. The case now befor...

  • Going to college? Here's what you should know about student loans

    ADRIANA MORGA|Aug 16, 2023

    NEW YORK (AP) — If you're heading to college or starting to think about where you'd like to apply, you're probably considering options for funding your education. If you need to borrow money to pursue your dreams, you are far from alone. According to the Federal Reserve, 30% of all U.S. adults said they incurred at least some debt for their education. Borrowers owe a collective $1.77 trillion in student loan debt, including federal and private loans. "Borrowing is almost at the point where it's a requirement," said Dana Kelly, from the N...

  • Georgia's indictment of Trump is a confirmation of states' rights, a favorite cause of Republicans since Reagan

    Stefanie Lindquist, Arizona State University|Aug 16, 2023

    (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) For the past 50 years, Republican policymakers and judges have sought to bolster federalism in the United States. Since Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address in 1981, Republicans have been calling for policymakers to rein in the federal government in favor of devolving more power to the states. Contrary to what it sounds like, "federalism" does not mean a strong central government. Instead, it refers to a...

  • Trial begins for 2 white Mississippi men charged with shooting at Black FedEx driver

    EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS|Aug 16, 2023

    BROOKHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — Attorneys made brief opening arguments Tuesday in the trial of two white men in Mississippi who are accused of chasing and shooting at a Black FedEx driver who had dropped off a package at a home. Brandon Case and his father, Gregory Charles Case, were indicted in November on charges of attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into the vehicle of D'Monterrio Gibson in January 2022. Gibson, who was 24 at the time, was not injured. But the chase and gunfire led to complaints on social media of racism in B...

  • Mexican Navy seizes 3 tons of cocaine on boat off Pacific coast

    Aug 16, 2023

    MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's Navy said Tuesday that its personnel seized an open boat carrying three tons of cocaine, about 200 nautical miles (360 kms) off the Pacific coast. The Navy said three suspects were detained aboard the craft. The boast was carrying 80 sacks that contained 6,130 pounds (2,800 kilograms) of cocaine. The suspects had two outboard motors and a tank with about 40 gallons (150 liters) of gasoline. The bust was made southeast of the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco in Guerrero state. The Navy also found a sack with about 5...

  • UAW to vote on strike authorization next week as president says talks with Detroit 3 moving slowly

    TOM KRISHER|Aug 16, 2023

    DETROIT (AP) — About 146,000 members of the United Auto Workers union will vote next week whether to authorize their leaders to call strikes against the Detroit automakers. Union President Shawn Fain told members in a Facebook Live appearance Tuesday that the talks, which started in mid-July, are moving slowly and have yet to get to wages and other economic issues. The union's contracts with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis expire in about a month, at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14. "If we want to make progress at the bargaining table, we need to s...

  • Tuohys call Michael Oher's filing 'hurtful' and part of a shakedown attempt

    TERESA M. WALKER|Aug 16, 2023

    Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy are calling Michael Oher's claims that they enriched themselves at his expense "outlandish," "hurtful and absurd" and part of a "shakedown" by the former NFL offensive tackle, whose relationship with the family was the inspiration for the movie "The Blind Side." In the statement first issued Tuesday by attorney Martin Singer to TMZ.com and later obtained by The Associated Press, Singer said the Tuohys are heartbroken and accused Oher of threatening to plant a negative story about them unless they paid him $15 million....

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