Author: admin
By ERIC TUCKER WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will not recommend a special counsel in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, a White House spokeswoman said Thursday, turning aside calls for further action in an inquiry that has roiled the Justice Department and angered supporters who had been expecting a treasure trove of documents from the case. The rejection of a special counsel is part of an effort by the White House to turn the page from continued outrage from corners of Trump’s base over the Justice Department’s refusal last week to release additional records from the investigation into Epstein, a…
LAS VEGAS — Bronny James followed a forgettable first half with his best offensive half of the summer, but it wasn’t enough for the Lakers. James scored all of his team-high 18 points after halftime in the Lakers’ 87-78 Summer League loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday night at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center. The second-year guard, who had six turnovers during his scoreless opening half, finished the night with five assists, three rebounds and one steal to go with eight turnovers. He shot 7 for 13 from the field (1 for 4 from 3-point range) in 28 minutes.…
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN WASHINGTON (AP) — A Maryland man was arrested Thursday on charges that he made threatening calls to the Georgia offices of Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Seth Jason, 64, repeatedly threatened to assault and kill Greene and her family during several calls to her district offices in between October 2023 and January 2025, according to his four-count indictment. Jason also threatened Greene’s staff members and their families, authorities said. Jason worked for Voice of America and made threatening calls using phone lines connected to studios and control rooms at the news agency’s headquarters in Washington, according to…
Countless stories have been written about Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani. It turns out, the record-setting two-way star has been doing some writing of his own. Ohtani announced a new children’s book, “Decoy Saves Opening Day,” with an Instagram post of his dog, Decoy, on Thursday. The 32-page book, which Ohtani co-authored with Michael Blank, is set for release next February. The cover is an illustration of Ohtani and his dog, who is holding a baseball in his mouth. According to the publisher HarperCollins, the plot follows an excited Decoy before he has to throw the first pitch of Opening Day.…
By MATTHEW LEE WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department says its destruction of 500 metric tons of emergency food aid that was stored in a warehouse in the Middle East was required because it had expired and that the move will not affect the distribution of similar assistance moving forward. The high energy biscuits — used primarily to provide immediate nutritional needs for children in crisis situations — had been stored in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to respond to emergencies and could no longer be safely sent to potential recipients, so it was destroyed, department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters…
The first overdose death of a Riverside County resident from carfentanil was confirmed on Thursday by county health officials. The synthetic opioid is 100 times stronger than fentanyl and 10,000 times more potent than morphine, they said. The local resident, a man in his 40s, fatally overdosed on carfentanil in March 2025 outside of Riverside County, according to a news release from Riverside University Health System. They did not say where the death occurred or under what circumstances. Health officials said it can take months to confirm a cause of death, particularly if it occurs outside the county. Carfentanil is…
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday said the agency’s renovation of two of its buildings is in compliance with plans approved by a local commission, disputing a White House suggestion that they may have violated the law by deviating from those plans. The letter is the latest salvo in an escalating battle between the Federal Reserve, an independent agency charged with fighting inflation and seeking maximum employment, and the Trump administration. President Donald Trump has for months criticized Powell and the Fed for not lowering its key interest rate, which the president says…
By DOUG FEINBERG, Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark is out of All-Star weekend. The Indiana Fever guard injured her right groin on Tuesday night in the final minute of the team’s win over the Connecticut Sun. She said Thursday in a message posted on X that she had to rest her body. “I am incredibly sad and disappointed to say I can’t participate in the 3-Point Contest or the All-Star Game,” Clark said in the message posted by the Fever. “I have to rest my body. I will still be at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for all the action and…
What could a 102-year-old Huntington Beach fire engine and a Fountain Valley woman have in common? They were both born in the same year. Lois Rufus was taken on a short ride aboard the Seagrave, the Huntington Beach Fire Department’s refurbished original motorized fire engine, on Thursday afternoon, July 17. The 102-year-old woman — Rufus is 102.5 years old to be exact, because it’s important to count the months, she said — remembered reading about the vintage fire engine in an Orange County Register article. She mentioned it to her family, and her son Dan reached out to the department…
The U.S. Department of Justice is asking California sheriff’s departments to turn over lists of all jails inmates who are not citizens, their crimes and their scheduled release dates to assist federal immigration authorities in removing “illegal aliens who committed crimes” after entering the country, according to an announcement by the federal agency. The data requests went out to sheriffs in “multiple major California counties,” including Los Angeles and San Francisco, on Thursday, July 17, the announcement states. “Removing criminal illegal aliens is this Administration’s highest priority,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “I look forward to…