WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has welcomed families to the White House for the annual Easter Egg Roll. Speaking on Monday at the popular “egg-stravaganza,” Trump said: “we will be stronger and bigger and better as a nation than ever before.” Trump was accompanied by his wife, Melania, 11-year-old son Barron and the Easter … Continue reading
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani authorities said Monday they have arrested 22 people involved in the lynching of a university student who was accused of blasphemy and detained a teenage woman who had been recruited by the Islamic State group for a foiled attack on a church. Word of the arrests came as U.S. President Donald … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — It took less than 15 minutes for newly minted Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch to ask his first questions from the bench. Gorsuch and his colleagues were hearing arguments Monday for the first time since President Donald Trump’s pick was sworn in April 10. The case before the justices involved a procedural … Continue reading
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s main opposition party on Monday urged the country’s electoral board to cancel the results of a landmark referendum that granted sweeping new powers to the nation’s president, citing what it called substantial voting irregularities. International observers who monitored the voting also found irregularities, saying the conduct of Sunday’s referendum “fell … Continue reading
PANMUNJOM, South Korea (AP) — In a trip full of Cold War symbolism, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence traveled to the tense zone dividing North and South Korea and warned Pyongyang that after years of testing the U.S. and South Korea with its nuclear ambitions, “the era of strategic patience is over.” The unannounced visit … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — How often do students miss school? Are they ready for college? Are they physically fit? Is their school a welcoming place? States are beginning to outline new ways to evaluate their schools, rather than relying just on traditional measures such as test scores. The plans are required under a federal education law, … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Move over, “Obamacare” The health care debate has shifted to ideas from President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers in Congress, and most people don’t like what they see. With Republicans in command, their health care proposals as currently formulated have generated far more concern than enthusiasm. Even among rank-and-file Republicans, there’s opposition … Continue reading
CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian Christians were burying their dead Monday after Islamic State suicide bombers killed at least 45 people in attacks on Palm Sunday services in two cities, as a state of emergency went into effect amid fears of further violence. At least 17 people were killed at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria, the … Continue reading
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland on Monday observed the seventh anniversary of a plane crash in Russia that killed President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and 94 others, marking the day with wreath-laying ceremonies and prayers — and renewed suggestions from those in power that foul play was involved. Poland’s ruling party, Law and Justice, is … Continue reading
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Latest on impeachment hearings for Gov. Robert Bentley (all times local): 10:30 a.m. Impeachment hearings have begun for Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, who is accused of misusing state resources to keep an alleged affair with a staffer from being exposed. House Judiciary Chairman Mike Jones opened the hearings Monday by … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — A starkly divided Senate panel on Monday weighed President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, with Republicans casting Neil Gorsuch as a fiercely independent judge and Democrats complaining that his testimony “diluted with ambiguity” makes him the wrong choice. The Republican-led Judiciary Committee was expected to back Gorsuch and send his nomination to … Continue reading
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Ferguson police have had body cameras since shortly after the killing of an unarmed, black 18-year-old, Michael Brown, by a white officer on the force. But 2½ years later, concerns persist about how they’re being used and what happens to the footage. On Tuesday, the people of Ferguson will vote … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — With prospects in doubt for repealing “Obamacare,” some Republicans say the Trump administration can rewrite regulations and take other actions to undo much of the health care law on its own. Some of those moves could disrupt life for millions of people, many in states that the new president carried. And … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump earned $153 million and paid $36.5 million in income taxes in 2005, paying a roughly 25 percent effective tax rate thanks to a tax he has since sought to eliminate, according to newly disclosed tax documents. The pages from Trump’s federal tax return show the real estate mogul also … Continue reading
BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the developments in Syria and peace talks that have been extended in Kazakhstan (all times local): 3:20 p.m. Syrian state media are reporting a second bomb blast in Damascus, after an earlier suicide attack killed at least 30 people in the capital’s main judicial building. The SANA news agency … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 