National News

Today is Saturday, July 28, the 209th day of 2018. There are 156 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 28, 1945, the U.S. Senate ratified the United Nations Charter by a vote of 89-2. On this date: In 1794, Maximilien Robespierre, a leading figure of the French Revolution, was sent to the guillotine...

Today is Friday, July 27, the 208th day of 2018. There are 157 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 27, 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted 27-11 to adopt the first of three articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon, charging he had personally engaged in a course of conduct designed to obstruct justice in the Watergate case...

Today is Thursday, July 26, the 207th day of 2018. There are 158 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 26, 2002, the Republican-led House voted, 295-132, to create an enormous Homeland Security Department in the biggest government reorganization in decades...

Today is Wednesday, July 25, the 206th day of 2018. There are 159 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 25, 1994, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordan's King Hussein signed a declaration at the White House ending their countries' 46-year-old formal state of war...

Today is Tuesday, July 24, the 205th day of 2018. There are 160 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 24, 1959, during a visit to Moscow, Vice President Richard Nixon engaged in his famous "Kitchen Debate" with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev...

Today is Monday, July 23, the 204th day of 2018. There are 161 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 23, 1829, William Austin Burt received a patent for his "typographer," a forerunner of the typewriter. On this date: In 1885, Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, died in Mount McGregor, New York, at age 63...

Today is Sunday, July 22, the 203rd day of 2018. There are 162 days left in the year. Today's Highlights in History: On July 22, 2011, Anders Breivik, a self-described "militant nationalist," massacred 69 people at a Norwegian island youth retreat after detonating a bomb in nearby Oslo that killed eight others in the nation's worst violence since World War II...

Today is Saturday, July 21, the 202nd day of 2018. There are 163 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 21, 1925, the so-called "Monkey Trial" ended in Dayton, Tennessee, with John T. Scopes found guilty of violating state law for teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution. (The conviction was later overturned on a technicality.)...

Today is Friday, July 20, the 201st day of 2018. There are 164 days left in the year. Today's Highlights in History: On July 20, 1944, an attempt by a group of German officials to assassinate Adolf Hitler with a bomb failed as the explosion only wounded the Nazi leader. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for a fourth term of office at the Democratic convention in Chicago...

Today is Thursday, July 19, the 200th day of 2018. There are 165 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 19, 1980, the Moscow Summer Olympics began, minus dozens of nations that were boycotting the games because of the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan...

Today in History Today is Wednesday, July 18, the 199th day of 2018. There are 166 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 18, 1940, the Democratic National Convention at Chicago Stadium nominated President Franklin D. Roosevelt (who was monitoring the proceedings at the White House) for an unprecedented third term in office; earlier in the day, Eleanor Roosevelt spoke to the convention, becoming the first presidential spouse to address such a gathering...

NEW YORK -- John A. Stormer, a religious leader and right-wing activist whose self-published Cold War tract "None Dare Call It Treason" became a grassroots sensation in 1964 and a rallying point for the emerging conservative movement, has died at 90...

HELSINKI -- In an extraordinary embrace of a longtime U.S. enemy, President Donald Trump on Monday openly questioned his own intelligence agencies' firm finding Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election to his benefit, seeming to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin's insistence Moscow's hands were clean...

WASHINGTON -- "Bizarre." "Shameful." "Disgraceful." That's the swift and sweeping condemnation directed at President Donald Trump on Monday after he sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin during an appearance in Helsinki -- and that's just from Republicans...

ADJUNTAS, Puerto Rico -- It was finally a night to celebrate in this village tucked into the mountains of central Puerto Rico. People pressed TV remote buttons, clicked on fans and plugged in refrigerators as electricity again flowed into homes that had been without power since two major hurricanes devastated the U.S. territory nearly a year ago...

WASHINGTON -- A 29-year-old gun-rights activist served as a covert Russian agent while living in Washington, gathering intelligence on American officials and political organizations and working to establish back-channel lines of communications for the Kremlin, federal prosecutors charged Monday...

BERLIN — A German city is looking for a way to get rid of a giant catfish believed to have developed a taste for ducklings after eating all of its fellow fish in the municipal pond. The roughly 4.9-foot fish has been making waves in Offenbach, near Frankfurt. ...

Today is Tuesday, July 17, the 198th day of 2018. There are 167 days left in the year. Today's Highlights in History: On July 17, 1944, during World War II, 320 men, two-thirds of them African-Americans, were killed when a pair of ammunition ships exploded at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California...

HELSINKI -- President Donald Trump named the European Union as a top adversary of the United States and denounced the news media as the "enemy of the people" before arriving in Helsinki on Sunday on the eve of his high-stakes summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin...

PHILADELPHIA -- The U.S. homeland security secretary said Saturday there are no signs Russia is targeting this year's midterm elections with the same "scale or scope" it targeted the 2016 presidential election. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen spoke at a convention of state secretaries of state, an event that's usually a low-key affair highlighting voter registration, balloting devices and election security issues that don't get much public attention. ...

BERLIN — Quiet neighbors, pristine grounds and a view to die for: No wonder graveyard plots in Berchtesgaden are in high demand. The German news agency dpa reported Saturday the picturesque town in the Bavarian Alps is now taking the unusual step of holding a lottery for vacant spaces in its cemetery. ...

Today is Monday, July 16, the 197th day of 2018. There are 168 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 16, 1945, the United States exploded its first experimental atomic bomb in the desert of Alamogordo, New Mexico; the same day, the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis left Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California on a secret mission to deliver atomic bomb components to Tinian Island in the Marianas...

Today is Sunday, July 15, the 196th day of 2018. There are 169 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon delivered a televised address in which he announced that he had accepted an invitation to visit the People's Republic of China...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Weeks after he published a book about the brutal slaying of Emmett Till, a North Carolina author received a call from FBI agents asking about his interview with a key witness who acknowledged lying about her interactions with the black teen...

WASHINGTON -- Twelve Russian military intelligence officers hacked into the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and Democratic Party and released tens of thousands of private communications in a sweeping conspiracy by the Kremlin to meddle in the 2016 U.S. election, according to an indictment announced days before President Donald Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin...

GARDEN CITY, Ind. -- Vice President Mike Pence turns nostalgic when he talks about growing up in small-town Columbus, Indiana, where his father helped build a Midwestern empire of more than 200 gas stations providing an upbringing on the "front row of the American dream."...

ROSWELL, Ga. -- Heads, you're under arrest. Tails, you're free to go. Body camera video shows Georgia police officers laughing as they use a coin-flip app to decide whether to detain a woman during a traffic stop in April. The video obtained by WXIA-TV shows Roswell police Officer Courtney Brown asking Sarah Webb whether she knew how fast she was going. Webb apologizes, saying she was late for work, and Brown tells her to turn off the car and hand over her keys...

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Pot advocates celebrated the culmination of a yearslong effort to ease restrictions on the use of cannabis last month when nearly 60 percent of Oklahoma voters approved medical marijuana. Oklahoma's proponents had even included a two-month deadline for the implementation in their measure so as to avoid the years of delays they had seen elsewhere...

ELLESBOROUGH, England -- President Donald Trump pulled off a diplomatic backflip Friday, reversing himself on trade, Brexit and his critical assessment of British Prime Minister Theresa May while insisting the U.S.-U.K. relationship is "the highest level of special." Just days after lobbing thunderous broadsides at his British hosts, Trump was on his best behavior as he capped his tumultuous two-day visit to the U.K. by dropping by Windsor Castle for tea with the queen...

LONDON -- Her game face on, Melania Trump dutifully tried her hand at lawn bowls during a solo outing Friday to a historic London veterans' retirement home on her first visit to Britain as America's first lady. As President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May met just outside London for talks, Mrs. ...

CHIANG RAI, Thailand -- The boys meant to explore the cave for just an hour, a casual jaunt to relax after soccer practice, but the waters rose. The teammates climbed higher, using their hands to feel the walls for a crawl space to lead to safer, higher ground. Those handprints were among the first signs of where the boys were, what they had done to escape the floods, and what dangers rescuers would face in their mission to save the boys and their coach...

LONDON -- British detectives investigating the poisoning of two people by the nerve agent Novichok in southwestern England said Friday a small bottle found in the home of one of the victims tested positive for the deadly substance. Dawn Sturgess, 44, and Charlie Rowley, 45, were sickened June 30 in a town not far from Salisbury, where British authorities say a Russian ex-spy and his daughter were poisoned with Novichok in March. ...

ELLESBOROUGH, England -- President Donald Trump pressed ahead Friday with his complaints European immigration policies are changing the "fabric of Europe" and destroying European culture. During a news conference with British Prime Minster Theresa May, Trump backtracked on the criticism of May he made in an interview released as he began his visit to the country. ...

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Friday urged a U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to quickly reunite migrant families separated at the border. Pena Nieto called for "a permanent alternative that prioritizes the well-being and rights of minors" and expressed concern over a recent attack on a 92-year-old Mexican man legally residing in California, a statement from the presidency said. ...

Today is Saturday, July 14, the 195th day of 2018. There are 170 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 14, 1933, all German political parties, except the Nazi Party, were outlawed. On this date: In 1789, in an event symbolizing the start of the French Revolution, citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille prison and released the seven prisoners inside...

ATLANTA -- Bears don't usually pack a lunch, but they'll be happy to eat whatever someone else has prepared. WSB-TV reported Carrie Watts of Rabun County found a large black bear enjoying her sandwich, chips and a cookie inside her minivan after climbing through an open window. ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A year after a book on the brutal slaying of black teen Emmett Till revealed a key figure in the case acknowledged lying, the federal government has reopened its investigation of the 1955 crime that helped build momentum for the civil rights movement...

BRUSSELS -- President Donald Trump on Thursday forecast an unspecified "escalation" between the United States and Iran following his withdrawal from a landmark deal providing sanctions relief for Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. Trump's remarks came as his administration pressed European nations at a NATO summit to cut off all funding Iran may use to foment instability in the Middle East and beyond...

WASHINGTON -- An embattled FBI agent whose anti-Trump text messages exposed the Justice Department to claims of institutional bias launched a vigorous defense Thursday at an extraordinary congressional hearing devolving into shouting matches, finger pointing and veiled references to personal transgressions...

WASHINGTON -- Liberal Democrats unveiled doomed legislation Thursday aimed at abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, their eyes focused on galvanizing voters for the midterm elections. The House's top Republican said the measure makes him "feel very good" about November...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Josh Crist made the two-hour drive to the Iowa Capitol in April to celebrate Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds' signing of a new health care option designed to lower costs by skirting requirements of the Affordable Care Act. The 35-year-old farmer and electrician from Tipton figured the new plans offered through the conservative and politically powerful Iowa Farm Bureau were certain to reduce the more than $2,000 monthly bill he pays for his family's health insurance. ...

BRUSSELS -- NATO leaders pledged Thursday to stand united against foes like Russia despite a tumultuous summit seeing President Donald Trump rip into his allies for failing to boost defense spending, casting a dark cloud over the world's biggest security alliance...

BEIJING -- China tried to step up pressure on Washington in their growing tariff war Thursday by suggesting U.S. companies lobby American leaders, while a Korean union warned President Donald Trump's threat of higher auto import duties could lead to job losses in Alabama...

BRUSSELS -- In a chaotic 28 hours at NATO, President Donald Trump disparaged longtime allies, cast doubt on his commitment to the mutual-defense organization and sent the 29-member pact into frenzied emergency session. Then, in a head-snapping pivot at the end, on Thursday he declared the alliance a "fine-tuned machine" -- one caving to his demands to speed up increases in military spending...

BEIRUT -- For the first time in more than seven years, the Syrian government raised its flag Thursday over Daraa, the first city to revolt against President Bashar Assad in 2011 and plunge the country into its calamitous civil war. The display is laden with symbolism as the government moves to stamp out the last of the uprising against the 52-year-old Assad who has ruled with an iron fist over Syria for 18 years. His father Hafez Assad was president for three decades before him...

Today is Friday, July 13, the 194th day of 2018. There are 171 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 13, 1960, John F. Kennedy won the Democratic presidential nomination on the first ballot at his party's convention in Los Angeles, outdrawing rivals including Lyndon B. Johnson, Stuart Symington and Adlai Stevenson...

The U.S. is on pace to leapfrog both Saudi Arabia and Russia and reclaim the title of the world's biggest oil producer for the first time since the 1970s. The latest forecast from the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts U.S. output will grow next year to 11.8 million barrels a day...

WASHINGTON -- Now consumers are in the cross-hairs. Americans could soon find themselves paying more for goods they might not have known were imported from China. It's a potential consequence of a new round of tariffs the Trump administration is proposing to slap on Chinese imports as soon as September...

SALEM, Ore. -- Father and son ranchers, who were the focus of a battle about public lands and were freed from prison after receiving a presidential pardon, were welcomed home Wednesday in Oregon by relatives and horseback riders carrying American flags...

SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. -- A massive natural gas explosion killed a firefighter and leveled portions of a city block in a southern Wisconsin community, including a bar the firefighter owned, authorities said Wednesday. The blast in downtown Sun Prairie on Tuesday evening also injured at least a dozen people and left residents of the Madison suburb wondering how they'll put their downtown back together...