FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s former Republican House speaker has been hospitalized days after resigning his leadership position amid sexual harassment allegations. A statement from a family member Friday morning said Jeff Hoover had a heart-related issue and asked for privacy. Hoover, 57, acknowledged on Sunday that he was one of four lawmakers who … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are falling Friday as investors worry that health care product companies will see their industry shaken up by Amazon. That’s hurting health care companies, and energy companies are also lower. Media companies and retailers are rising. Stocks have risen for eight weeks in a row, their longest run in … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans weren’t supposed to have to worry about Alabama. Yet in the span of a tumultuous afternoon, a low-profile special election became a Republican nightmare that threatens a once-safe Senate seat — and offers a new window into ugly divisions that continue to plague the GOP in the age of President Donald … Continue reading
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A Virginia judge has dismissed two of the three felony counts against a prominent white nationalist charged after a torch-lit rally at the University of Virginia. Christopher Cantwell of Keene, New Hampshire, is accused of pepper-spraying a counterprotester during an Aug. 11 Charlottesville protest, a day before the much larger white … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Students who attended for-profit colleges filed more than 98 percent of the requests for student loan forgiveness alleging fraud by their schools, according to an analysis of Education Department data published Thursday. The study by The Century Foundation represents the most thorough analysis to date of the nearly 100,000 loan forgiveness claims known as … Continue reading
BEIJING (AP) — President Donald Trump set aside his blistering rhetoric in favor of friendly overtures to China on Thursday, trying to flatter his hosts into establishing a more balanced trade relationship and doing more to blunt North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. Winding down his two days in Beijing, Trump suggested that if the U.S. and … Continue reading
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is welcoming a congressional measure killing the ability of millions of Americans to band together to sue bank or credit card companies to resolve financial disputes in a major win for Wall Street. The Senate narrowly voted late Tuesday night to nullify the rule, with … Continue reading
TOKYO (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday refused to rule out eventual military action against North Korea and declared that the United States “will not stand” for Pyongyang menacing America or its allies. In his first stop of an extended trip in Asia, Trump stood with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a news … Continue reading
PARIS (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. decision to pull out of UNESCO (all times local): 3:30 p.m. The director of UNESCO is expressing “profound regret” at the U.S. government’s decision to pull out of the U.N. cultural agency because of what’s seen as longstanding anti-Israel bias. Director-general Irina Bokova said in a statement … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — James Comey, fired last month as FBI director amid a federal investigation into connections between Russia and the Trump campaign, is set to testify next Thursday at a highly anticipated congressional hearing that could shed light on his private conversations with the president in the weeks before his dismissal. The Senate intelligence … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump declared Thursday he was pulling the U.S. from the landmark Paris climate agreement, striking a major blow to worldwide efforts to combat global warming and distancing the country from its closest allies abroad. Framing his decision as “a reassertion of America’s sovereignty,” Trump said he was “elected to represent … Continue reading
GENEVA (AP) â Playing down expectations, the U.N. envoy for Syria said Wednesday that he’s not expecting a breakthrough in the first U.N.-mediated peace talks between government representatives and the opposition in 10 months, rather hoping to build momentum toward peace after nearly six years of war. Staffan de Mistura spoke a day before convening … Continue reading
SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi forces advanced Monday into the southern outskirts of Mosul on the second day of a push to drive Islamic State militants from the city’s western half, as the visiting U.S. defense secretary met with officials to discuss the fight against the extremists. With aerial support from the U.S.-led … Continue reading
BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday issued a sharp ultimatum to NATO Wednesday, telling allies they must start increasing defense spending by year’s end or the Trump administration will “moderate its commitment” to them. He did not detail what the United States might do if NATO members failed to fall in … Continue reading
JERUSALEM (AP) — It was supposed to be a feel-good visit by a group of professional football players to give a boost to image-conscious Israel. But in an embarrassing fumble by the Israeli government, only five of 11 NFL players in the delegation showed up after being blitzed by Palestinian activists opposed to the visit. … Continue reading
BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group says the world will benefit from having an “idiot” in the White House. Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech Sunday that his group is much stronger than when it was created in the early 1980s and should not be concerned about threats from the West. … Continue reading
JORDAN-SYRIA BORDER (AP) — Armed Islamic State extremists are expanding their influence in a sprawling camp for displaced Syrians on Jordan’s border, posing a growing threat to the U.S.-allied kingdom, a senior Jordanian military commander said. Brig. Gen. Sami Kafawin, chief of Jordan’s border forces, spoke to The Associated Press during a tour of the … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday asked Israel’s prime minister to “hold off” on building Jewish settlements in land the Palestinians claim for their future state, yet held back from explicitly endorsing support for a future independent Palestine. After weeks of dancing around the issue of expanded Israeli settlements, Trump made the request … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — On the night Judge Neil Gorsuch was nominated to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, he was thinking about history. “The towering judges that have served in this particular seat on the Supreme Court, including Antonin Scalia and Robert Jackson, are much in my mind at this moment,” … Continue reading
CAMP TAJI, Iraq (AP) — Forces fighting the Islamic State group should be able to retake the IS-held cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria within the next six months, according to the top U.S. commander in Iraq. On a tour north of Baghdad Wednesday, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend said “within … Continue reading
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — U.N. Security Council member states must take part in a future summit aiming to remove a key stumbling block to a deal reunifying ethnically divided Cyprus, the island’s government spokesman said Monday. Nicos Christodoulides told The Associated Press that Security Council members have expressed their readiness to “actively and effectively take … Continue reading
LONDON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday urged British Prime Minister Theresa May to follow the American administration and impose new sanctions on Iran over a recent missile test. The two leaders met at 10 Downing St. for talks British officials tried to focus on boosting trade ties between the two countries … Continue reading
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Two earthquakes with preliminary magnitudes of 5.3 jolted Turkey’s northern Aegean Sea coast on Monday Feb. 6, 2017, damaging dozens of homes in 11 villages and injuring at least five people, officials said. The first quake, which was centered beneath the Aegean off the coast of the town of Ayvacik in … Continue reading
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian pro-government forces advanced Monday Feb. 6, 2017 toward al-Bab, completing the encirclement of the Islamic State-held town which had been partially besieged by Turkey-backed opposition forces, state media and an activist group said. Turkish troops and allied Syrian opposition fighters, known as Euphrates Shield, have been trying to seize the town for … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Washington state and Minnesota are telling a federal appeals court that restoring President Donald Trump’s ban on refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries would “unleash chaos again.” The filing with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco came early Monday Feb. 6, 2017 after the White House … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 