President Trump Marks MLK Day Out Of View, Buffeted By Race Claims

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump marked his first Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday Monday largely out of sight, buffeted by accusations that he used a racially tinged word to describe African countries and scoffed at the suggestion of admitting more Haitians to the U.S. Trump decamped…

Crews Slowly Making Progress Removing Debris After Mudslides

By MICHAEL BALSAMO, Associated Press MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) — Recovery crews are slowly making progress digging away masses of mud, boulders and toppled trees in a California community that was ravaged by deadly mudslides, but officials said they’ve removed enough debris from creek canals to prevent another potential disaster when the next rainstorm hits. Workers were…

President Trump’s Nuclear Strategy Seeks New Weapons To Counter Russia

By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — With Russia in mind, the Trump administration is aiming to develop new nuclear firepower that it says will make it easier to deter threats to European allies. The plan, not yet approved by President Donald Trump, is intended to make nuclear conflict less likely. Critics argue…

Trump’s First Medical Checkup As President Set For Friday

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will be the patient, not the commander in chief offering comfort, when he visits the Walter Reed military hospital on Friday. Trump is headed to the medical facility in Bethesda, Maryland, outside Washington, for his first medical checkup as president. But what has been a…

Hopes Of Finding Anyone Alive Dwindle In Mud-Stricken Town

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER and BRIAN MELLEY, Associated Press MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) — More than two full days after mudslides ravaged this coastal town, the search for the missing became an increasingly desperate exercise Thursday, with growing doubts about whether anyone would be found alive. Seventeen people were confirmed dead and eight others were unaccounted for. “They’re…

Search Continues For Victims Of California Mudslide

By MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ and ROBERT JABLON, Associated Press MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) — Hundreds of searchers continued the grueling work Thursday of hunting for survivors and digging up bodies in the sea of mud and wreckage left by flash flooding in this wealthy coastal enclave. Muck-spattered searchers from around the state slogged through knee-deep ooze, poking…