Current News
/ArcaMax
Gorilla whose sign language skills amazed world dies
LOS ANGELES--Koko the gorilla doted on her pet kitten as if it were her own child. To the amazement of her human handlers, she seemed able to capture the joys and annoyances of maternal love in strings of simple words.
"Soft," Koko said in sign language while cradling the kitten, which she named All Ball because it resembled a fuzzy gray pom-...Read more
Supreme Court ducks decision on whether president has power to fire any top federal official
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court sidestepped a constitutional dispute Thursday over the scope of the president's power to fire high-level federal employees.
Instead, by a 7-2 vote, the court ruled that administrative law judges who hear stock fraud cases at the Securities and Exchange Commission are "officers" of the United States, not civil ...Read more
Guatemalan man fears for daughter, left behind in US
Six weeks ago Nazario Jacinto-Carrillo left his village in Guatemala with his 6-year-old daughter, Filemona, to seek asylum in the United States, but his plan went awry soon after illegally crossing the California border.
U.S. Border Patrol agents, he said, took his weeping daughter from his arms and told him that she would be returned to him ...Read more
Surprising discovery about virus, Alzheimer's disease could open new avenues for treatment
Researchers may have found a tiny culprit -- human herpes virus -- in the progressive loss of memory, thinking ability and identity that comes with Alzheimer's disease. And it could be a big deal.
In research that revives a suspicion first raised more than six decades ago, scientists have found higher levels of the common virus in the brains of...Read more
Trump ended separating families; now what's next?
MCALLEN, Texas -- President Donald Trump has signed an executive order ending the administration's practice of separating immigrant families, but many issues concerning immigration remain up in the air. Among the key questions still pending: what happens to more than 2,300 children still in custody and away from their parents?
Here's a guide to...Read more
Nation and world news briefs
Manafort ordered by judge to be held away from other prisoners
NEW YORK -- Paul Manafort will be kept away from other prisoners while he's in jail after allegedly tampering with potential witnesses ahead of his trial, a federal judge in Washington said Thursday.
Manafort's bail was revoked on June 15 after prosecutors accused him of ...Read more
Trump plan to expand Gulf drilling ignores impacts on wildlife, lawsuit claims
MIAMI--A handful of environmental groups sued the Trump administration Thursday for failing to protect whales, sea turtles and other marine life in the Gulf of Mexico even as it pushes to expand drilling amid safety cutbacks.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Tampa, Earthjustice claimed the administration has yet to complete a long overdue...Read more
Kate Spade's funeral: Mourners gather to say goodbye to hometown fashion icon
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Carrying their Kate Spade bags, friends Debbie Staab, Kathy Rohr and Margie Morrison were among the first mourners Thursday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish Redemptorist Church, waiting to say a final goodbye to one of Kansas City's own -- designer Kate Spade, whose married name would become synonymous with a billion-...Read more
Trump administration recycles failed arguments to try to resurrect family detention
WASHINGTON -- In asking a federal court to release it from a from a 2-decade-old settlement regarding family detention, the Trump administration is using the same arguments that President Barack Obama used to no avail in 2015.
The administration's arguments filed Thursday even cite a 2015 affidavit, when the Obama administration sought to ...Read more
Voting machine vendor treated election officials to trips to Vegas, elsewhere
WASHINGTON -- The nation's largest voting equipment vendor has for at least nine years coaxed state and local elections officials to serve on an "advisory board" that gathers twice annually for company-sponsored conferences, including one last year at a ritzy Las Vegas resort hotel.
The arrangement could compromise the integrity of the ...Read more
Pope envoy achieves truce in Nicaraguan protester stronghold
MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- A Vatican ambassador and other Catholic mediators on Thursday persuaded Nicaraguan police to agree to a cease-fire in the city of Masaya, which has seen three days of crackdowns on anti-government protesters.
Masaya police chief Ramon Avellan "has agreed to stop the attacks," tweeted Bishop Silvio Baez, who formed part of ...Read more
Manafort ordered by judge to be held away from other prisoners
NEW YORK -- Paul Manafort will be kept away from other prisoners while he's in jail after allegedly tampering with potential witnesses ahead of his trial, a federal judge in Washington said Thursday.
Manafort's bail was revoked on June 15 after prosecutors accused him of obstructing justice by contacting witnesses. He's currently at the ...Read more
Farm bill passes House as critics denounce work rules for food stamps
WASHINGTON -- Farm legislation that would impose new work restrictions to qualify for food stamps narrowly passed the U.S. House after an earlier attempt failed last month because of conservatives' demands that an immigration vote be held first.
The five-year, $867 billion bill, passed 213-211 on Thursday, would extend subsidies for farmers and...Read more
Californians could vote to end daylight saving time under bill sent to governor
SACRAMENTO, Calif.--Californians would be asked in a November ballot measure whether to end the biannual practice of moving their clocks ahead and back to comply with the Daylight Saving Time Act, under a bill the Assembly approved Thursday and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown for consideration.
"This bill creates a pathway for California to stay on ...Read more
Trump says Puerto Rico governor blamed power plant flaw on storm
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump said Puerto Rico's Gov. Ricardo Rossello took advantage of a deadly hurricane last year to seek federal funds to rebuild a long-decrepit power plant, calling the move "very brilliant."
During a meeting with governors at the White House, Trump praised the federal government's response to Hurricane Maria in ...Read more
Trump administration heads to court, seeking to hold immigrant families in detention
LOS ANGELES -- Justice Department officials asked a federal judge Thursday to change the rules on holding immigrant children in custody, saying they needed more flexibility to implement President Donald Trump's executive order to detain families of immigrants caught crossing the border.
A legal settlement the government reached two decades ago ...Read more
Michigan State board after Engler apology: His job is safe
DETROIT -- For more than a week, lawmakers, students and alumni excoriated Michigan State University Interim President John Engler. Even two MSU board members called for him to step down.
But on the eighth day, Engler issued an apology, saying he was sorry for attacking a Nassar survivor in an email and saying she was taking kickbacks from an ...Read more
House postpones vote on a second immigration bill after voting down first
WASHINGTON -- With a crisis over family separations still boiling on the border, the House on Thursday voted down a conservative immigration bill and abruptly postponed a vote on a more moderate proposal pitched as a compromise between battling Republican factions, an embarrassing setback for House leaders.
The first bill collapsed in a 193-231...Read more
Parents of 13 captive siblings must stand trial on dozens of felony charges, judge rules
LOS ANGELES -- A Riverside County judge ruled Thursday that the parents of 13 siblings found living as captives in Perris must stand trial on dozens of felony charges related to the torture and abuse of their children.
"One can't imagine why some of these things would have been done to their own flesh and blood," Superior Court Judge Bernard J....Read more
Three UC campuses did not consistently discipline faculty accused of sexual misconduct, state auditor finds
University of California campuses at Berkeley, Los Angeles and Davis did not consistently discipline faculty who were subject to multiple sexual harassment complaints, according to a state audit released Thursday.
Those campuses also took much longer to discipline members of the Academic Senate, who include tenured faculty, than staff.
Overall...Read more
