TIGARAS, Indonesia — Hundreds of family members were waiting in desperation at a small port on Indonesia’s Lake Toba for news of missing relatives as the search for more than 190 people unaccounted for after a ferry sinking entered its fourth day.
Separately, Indonesia’s President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo called for an overhaul of safety standards for passenger boats in response to what is likely the worst sinking in the archipelago nation in more than a decade.
TOKYO — Asian stock markets mostly rose Thursday as concern fades over the trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Uncertainty remains, but the original tariff threats made earlier in the week were not followed by material action.
KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.8 percent to 22,734.28, but South Korea’s Kospi edged down by 0.2 percent to 2,360.25. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was nearly unchanged at 29,682.78 and the Shanghai Composite in mainland China increased 0.6 percent to 2,934.18.
Continue reading TOKYO | Asian stocks mostly up despite underlying US-China tension at STL.News.
LAS VEGAS — Taylor Hall doesn’t love public speaking, and the New Jersey Devils forward’s nervousness grew while the NHL Awards show moved along.
But after Hall and the hockey world watched moving tributes to the Humboldt Broncos and the victims of two mass shootings, he was ready to accept the Hart Trophy with the proper perspective.
“It’s not all about you,” Hall said. “It’s not all about winning awards. It’s about enjoying life and doing what you love.”
Hall was named the NHL’s most valuable player Wednesday night, becoming the first New Jersey player to win the award after edging Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon in a close vote.
Continue reading LAS VEGAS | Devils’ Taylor Hall edges MacKinnon, wins NHL MVP award at STL.News.
WASHINGTON — The Latest on President Donald Trump and immigration (all times local):
7 p.m.
An official with Health and Human Services says the more than 2,300 children separated from their parents at the border as a result of a zero-tolerance policy on illegal crossings won’t be immediately reunited with their families.
Kenneth Wolfe, a spokesman for the department’s Administration for Children and Families, says their cases will proceed through the system.
NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton lined a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the New York Yankees erased a five-run deficit to beat the Seattle Mariners 7-5 on Wednesday night.
Gary Sanchez tied the score with a two-run homer in the eighth, and the Yankees went on to complete their largest comeback victory of the season.
Didi Gregorius singled with two outs in the ninth and Stanton hammered an 0-2 breaking ball from reliever Ryan Cook (1-1).
Continue reading NEW YORK | Stanton hits walk-off HR, Yankees rally past Mariners 7-5 at STL.News.
EAST PITTSBURGH, Pa. — A police officer fatally shot a 17-year-old boy just seconds after he fled from a traffic stop late Tuesday in a confrontation partly captured on video from a nearby home.
Investigators said Wednesday that the car stopped in the town of East Pittsburgh matched the description of a vehicle being sought in a nonfatal shooting in a town a few miles away. An East Pittsburgh officer, who has not been identified, was taking the driver into custody when the two passengers, including 17-year-old Antwon Rose, fled the car.
HOUSTON — Jose Altuve homered twice, including the last of three straight by the Astros in the sixth inning, to lift Houston to a 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night.
The game was tied in the bottom of the sixth when George Springer’s 15th homer this season made it 2-1. Two pitches later Alex Bregman sent an 87 mph slider from Rays’ starter Nathan Eovaldi (1-3) into the seats in left field for his 11th home run.
Continue reading HOUSTON | Back to back to back: 3 straight HRs propel Astros to win at STL.News.
NEW YORK — Now that he’s no longer an active player, maybe Ichiro Suzuki wants to start swinging for the fences.
How about at next month’s Home Run Derby during All-Star festivities in Washington?
What began as light-hearted banter among Seattle Mariners coaches grew into something that caused a stir in the clubhouse before Wednesday night’s game against the New York Yankees.
“He’s got power and he’s been launching balls into the seats,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.
Continue reading NEW YORK | Mariners joke Ichiro should be in Home Run Derby at STL.News.
LAS VEGAS — The Latest on NHL awards show at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (all times local):
7:15 p.m.
New Jersey forward Taylor Hall has won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player.
Hall beat out Los Angeles captain Anze Kopitar and Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon in a contest between three first-time finalists for the award.
Hall finished sixth in the league with 93 points for the Devils.
PROVO, Utah — Three-year-old Genesis Gonzalez Lopez giggled excitedly as she played with her father at a sunny Utah park, zipping down a slide again and again into his arms.
The happy scene this week in Provo, south of Salt Lake City, was a far cry from what the pair experienced on Thanksgiving, when U.S. immigration authorities took Romulo Gonzalez Rodriguez into custody at the U.S.-Mexico border and whisked away the frightened girl, with no explanation of where she’d end up.
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach unsuccessfully sought a governor’s pardon for a corporate campaign donor’s vice president whose crime, police said, involved threatening a cab driver by putting a gun to his head.
Kobach, a Republican and leading candidate for Kansas governor, approached then-GOP Gov. Sam Brownback’s chief counsel about clemency for Kansas City-area resident Ryan Bader in August 2017, state records obtained by The Associated Press show. Kobach was Bader’s private attorney and wasn’t formally acting in his state role when he initiated the pardon request three years after a state judge expunged the attempted robbery case from Bader’s record.
LONDON — The British government saw its flagship Brexit legislation pass through Parliament on Wednesday, but remains locked in a tussle with lawmakers over the direction of the country’s departure from the European Union.
The EU Withdrawal Bill was approved after Prime Minister Theresa May’s government narrowly won a key vote. The House of Commons rejected by 319-303 a proposal to require Parliament’s approval before the government agrees to a final divorce deal with the EU — or before walking away from the bloc without an agreement.
Continue reading LONDON | UK’s May defeats Brexit rebels, but divisions still reign at STL.News.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster was an early supporter of presidential candidate Donald Trump, who had never run for political office. McMaster’s opponent said Wednesday it’s inconsistent for McMaster to now say there’s no time for on-the-job training where the governorship is concerned.
“I find it very ironic that he thinks no experience is a negative, when what you tout more than anything is your support from President Trump,” Warren said as the two met in the final debate before next week’s GOP runoff.
PARIS — Thousands of live animals along with tons of meat, ivory, pangolin scales and timber were seized in a monthlong global crackdown on the illegal wildlife trade that Interpol said exposed the international reach of traffickers.
The live animals recovered in the stings included turtles in Malaysia and parrots in Mexico. Canada intercepted 18 tons of eel meat arriving from Asia. Those arrested included two flight attendants in Los Angeles and a man in Israel whose house was raided after he posted a hunting photograph on social media.
Continue reading PARIS | Live animals, meat, ivory, wood seized in trafficking stings at STL.News.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — In a plea to a police dispatcher to “help my sisters,” a 17-year-old girl in a childlike, quivering voice detailed years of abuse she and 12 siblings suffered in a squalid house where she said they were shackled to beds, choked and the stench was suffocating.
The 911 call was played in a California court Wednesday during a hearing to determine if her mother and father should face trial on child abuse charges in a case that attracted worldwide attention following their arrests last winter.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A U.S. judge said Wednesday that he was not convinced California enacted protections for immigrants in the country illegally in an effort to interfere with federal immigration enforcement — potentially undercutting a key argument by the Trump administration in its lawsuit seeking to block three state laws.
The laws instead appeared to be a message from the state that it didn’t want to participate in federal immigration policies, U.S. Judge John Mendez said.
DULUTH, Minn. — Hours after abruptly reversing himself to end the forced separations of migrant families, President Donald Trump returned to the warm embrace of his supporters at a raucous rally Wednesday to fiercely defend his hard-line immigration policies while unleashing a torrent of grievances about the media and those investigating him.
Trump downplayed the crisis that has threatened to envelop the White House amid days of heart-wrenching images of children being pulled from their immigrant parents along the nation’s southern border.
DULUTH, Minn. — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s rally in Minnesota (all times local):
8 p.m.
President Donald Trump is railing against the treatment of his 2016 rival Hillary Clinton at a rally Wednesday in Duluth, Minnesota.
Trump is complaining about a Justice Department internal watchdog report that backed up the FBI’s decision not to charge Clinton for her use of a private email server as secretary of state.
Continue reading DULUTH, Minn. | The Latest: Trump rails against FBI probe of Clinton at STL.News.
WASHINGTON — Bowing to pressure from anxious allies, President Donald Trump abruptly reversed himself Wednesday and signed an executive order halting his administration’s policy of separating children from their parents when they are detained illegally crossing the U.S. border.
It was a dramatic turnaround for Trump, who has been insisting, wrongly, that his administration had no choice but to separate families apprehended at the border because of federal law and a court decision.
PARIS— Lined up before dawn, dozens of migrants outside a government office in Italy jostled to be one of the handful allowed inside to request asylum Wednesday.
The journeys that brought them to Rome and the sleepless nights wondering if they would be allowed to stay was being repeated in cities and countries around the world on World Refugee Day as millions of people sought to flee persecution, violence, war and poverty.
The Rohingya Muslims forced out of Myanmar to Bangladesh; teenagers from Mexico and Central America seeking safety in the United States; Syria’s war refugees; men from South Sudan and Nigeria crossing the Mediterranean Sea to feed their families — they are among the human wave roiling every continent.
Continue reading PARIS | No easy path: Complex mass migration, politics reshape globe at STL.News.
LOS ANGELES — It’s true, Pete Davidson says: He and Ariana Grande are engaged.
The “Saturday Night Live” cast member confirmed their rumored engagement to Jimmy Fallon on NBC’s “Tonight Show.”
Fallon put Davidson on the spot Wednesday, telling him he didn’t have to get engaged to the pop star to come on the talk show.
Replied Davidson: “But I did.”
When Fallon congratulated him and shook his hand, Davidson said he felt like he’d won a contest.
Continue reading LOS ANGELES | Ariana Grande, Pete Davidson are engaged at STL.News.
JEFFERSON CITY, MO – Billy Eades buys six Powerball tickets each week – three for Wednesday night’s drawing and three for the Saturday night drawing. On June 2, the $12-a-week practice led the retiree to a $50,000 payout when he matched four out of five white-ball numbers and the Powerball number drawn. Eades purchased the winning ticket at QuikTrip, 1010 Armour Road, in North Kansas City.
“I went to a different QuikTrip and just had them check my numbers, and the God-durn machine went off,” he shared, laughing about the moment he realized what his ticket was worth.
Continue reading Missouri Lottery News: Kansas City Man, Billy Eades Wins $50K at QT at STL.News.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Two Republicans vying to become South Carolina’s next governor disagree on the experience needed as the state’s chief executive.
Gov. Henry McMaster stressed in a televised debate Wednesday there’s no time for a learning curve. A former lieutenant governor and prosecutor, he’s been involved in South Carolina’s politics for decades.
Greenville businessman John Warren disagreed, saying his private sector success shows he can manage the state effectively.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of State this evening released the following statement:
The United States strongly condemns the recent attacks by forces under the direction of Ibrahim Jadhran on the oil ports of Ras Lanuf and Al Sidra, and the ongoing violence that has damaged Libya’s vital oil infrastructure and disrupted oil exports. We call for all armed actors to cease hostilities and withdraw immediately from oil installations before further damage occurs.
Oil facilities, production, and revenues belong to the Libyan people.
NEWARK, N.J. – A Pearl River, New York, man today admitted photographing and filming a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct and sharing those images online, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Richard Murphy, 32, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez in Newark federal court to an information charging him with sexual exploitation of a minor.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:
Murphy admitted that in December 2016, he persuaded a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of taking photos and videos of that conduct.
NEWARK, N.J. – A Riverside, California, man today pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy to transport more than five kilograms of cocaine from California to New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Edwin Garcia Cambero, 26, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark federal court to an information charging him with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.
Garcia Cambero was originally charged by complaint on Dec.
Connecticut – John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JACOB FREEMAN, 22, of Ansonia, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven to 30 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing crack cocaine. Judge Meyer ordered FREEMAN to serve the first three months of his supervised release in home confinement.
According to court documents and statements made in court, FREEMAN, Jason Walker and Marquice Rumley were members of a drug trafficking organization that trafficked large quantities of crack cocaine throughout the Naugatuck Valley.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Cincinnati resident Andrew Pappas supported President Trump’s decision to separate children from parents who crossed the border illegally because, he said, it got Congress talking about immigration reform.
Niurka Lopez of Michigan said Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy made sense because her family came to the U.S. legally from Cuba and everyone else should, too.
Die-hard Trump supporters remained steadfast even as heart-rending photos of children held in cages and audio of terrified children crying out for their parents stoked outrage among Democrats and Republicans alike.
Continue reading CINCINNATI | Trump supporters steadfast despite the immigration uproar at STL.News.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The NHL is handing out its postseason awards in its annual gala show from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
The show will close with the awarding of the Hart Trophy for the NHL’s most valuable player. The finalists in the wide-open race are Los Angeles captain Anze Kopitar, New Jersey forward Taylor Hall and Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon.
By Associated Press
DALLAS (AP) — The mother of a 4-year-old boy whose naked body was found on a South Texas beach last year admitted to authorities that she beat him and denied him medical care after he suffered a head injury from running into a wall, then drove to Galveston in the middle of the night and dumped the body in the water, according to court documents.
Galveston police identified the child as Jayden Alexander Lopez.
Continue reading DALLAS | Mother of 4-year-old boy arrested, admits she dumped body at STL.News.
TORONTO (AP) — Marijuana will be legal nationwide in Canada starting Oct. 17 in a move that should take market share away from organized crime and protect the country’s youth, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday.
The Senate gave final passage to the bill to legalize cannabis on Tuesday, legislation that will make Canada only the second country in the world to make pot legal across the country.
Trudeau said provincial and territorial governments need the time to prepare for retail sales.
Continue reading TORONTO | Trudeau: Canada to legalize marijuana on Oct. 17 at STL.News.
LINCOLN, Neb. – Visitors to six state recreation areas will be allowed to touch off fireworks on Independence Day, according to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Those visitors should always use caution when lighting fireworks.
Branched Oak State Recreation Area (SRA) near Malcolm, Fort Kearny SRA near Kearney, Memphis SRA near Memphis, Fremont SRA near Fremont, Pawnee SRA near Emerald and Wagon Train SRA near Hickman will permit fireworks from 8 a.m.
Continue reading NEBRASKA | Six state recreation areas will allow fireworks on July 4 at STL.News.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is misrepresenting the scope of his executive order that would halt his administration’s policy of separating children from their parents when they are detained illegally crossing the U.S. border.
He suggests the order is a permanent solution. But the president is contradicted by his own Justice Department, which describes the effort as stopgap and limited by a 21-year-old court settlement under which the federal government essentially agreed not to detain immigrant minors longer than 20 days.
Schell City, Mo. – Shallow water conditions at a lake being drained for major renovations prompted a fish kill at Schell Lake on June 18, Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) fisheries biologists say. But almost all of the several thousand fish affected are non-native, invasive common carp or grass carp, fish that will not be stocked when the lake is eventually refilled at the Schell-Osage Conservation Area in Vernon County. Schell Lake is being drained dry in June for construction projects in the next few years that will improve water control structures, wetlands, waterfowl habitat, and the fishery at the lake.
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — President Donald Trump is talking up the economy as holds a pre-rally roundtable in Minnesota.
Trump is promoting his approach to trade as he meets with representatives from the mining industry and local leaders Wednesday at the Port of Duluth-Superior. He says “billions” are “pouring into the Treasury” as a result.
He also addressed the executive order he signed earlier Wednesday that will stop the separation of families caught crossing the border illegally.
DOVER, DE – Delaware Governor John Carney on Wednesday issued the following statement on the passage of House Bill 3, which will provide 12 weeks of paid parental leave for Delaware state employees:
“State workers and teachers deserve time to spend with their families when their children are born, and this benefit for new mothers and fathers will help us attract and keep good employees. Thank you to all state workers, members of the General Assembly, and advocates who helped Delaware lead on this important issue.
HAMMOND, La. – Deshalone Davis, 21 years old, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph S. Van Bokkelen on his plea of guilty to Hobbs Act Robbery and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, announced U.S. Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II.
Davis was sentenced to 135 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $17,011.05 in restitution.
Take Back North Carolina Initiative Results in 17 Arrests by the Tar River Regional Drug Task Force, Greenville Regional Drug Task Force & Other Partners
MEDIA ADVISORY
WHEN: Thursday, June 21, 2018 at 2:00 PM
WHERE: Nash County Commissioners Room
120 W. Washington Street
Nashville, NC 27856
Re: Enforcement Operation Nets Multiple Federal Drug & Violent Crime Defendants
Take Back North Carolina Initiative Results in 17 Arrests by the Tar River Regional Drug Task Force, Greenville Regional Drug Task Force & Other Partners
RALEIGH, N.C – The United States Attorney’s Office announces a press conference to discuss the results of a warrant enforcement operation centered on cocaine and heroin distribution and violent crime in Nash, Edgecombe, Wilson, and Pitt Counties.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine names Janet Mills as Democratic gubernatorial primary winner in nation’s biggest test of ranked-choice voting.
By Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Somehow it doesn’t seem right for Jerry Springer to exit quietly.
There should be one last thrown chair or a bleep-filled tirade, at the very least. Instead, it was announced with no fanfare this week that he will stop making new episodes of his memorably raucous talk show, and neither Springer nor his bosses will talk about it.
“The Jerry Springer Show” won’t fully disappear; NBC Universal said this week that the CW and other networks that have bought the show in syndication will air reruns of the slugfest.
Continue reading NEW YORK | After 4,000 episodes, a halt for Jerry Springer’s show at STL.News.
Hamden, Connecticut – John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that NICHOLAS AURORA JR., 34, of Hamden, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to three years of probation, the first six months of which AURORA must serve in home confinement, for illegally distributing steroids. Judge Bolden also ordered AURORA to pay a $2,000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in December 2017, the Statewide Narcotics Task Force West conducted a court-authorized search of an individual’s residence in Hamden and seized approximately 25,000 pills and 530 vials of anabolic steroids.
Columbia, South Carolina – United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon stated today that Ulises Martinez-Garcia, age 31, of Columbia, South Carolina, was sentenced in federal court in Columbia, South Carolina, for Reentry of Removed Alien, a violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis, Jr., of Columbia, sentenced Martinez-Garcia to time-served (approximately 6 months imprisonment) with no supervised release as he is subject to deportation upon the completion of his sentence.
BOSTON, Ms. – A Boston man was convicted yesterday in federal court in Boston of his role in a heroin conspiracy operating in Norwood.
Luis Guzman-Ortiz, 25, was convicted by a federal jury of one count of conspiring to distribute heroin. Guzman-Ortiz has been released pending his sentencing hearing, which has not been set.
In early 2015, federal agents conducted a wiretap investigation of Eddyberto Mejia-Ramos, a regional heroin trafficker operating in Taunton.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California legislation that was billed as one of the nation’s most aggressive efforts to revive net neutrality was watered down during a tense legislative hearing Wednesday, leading the author to repudiate what he called a “mutilated” bill.
The legislation has been closely watched by energetic net neutrality advocates, who quickly denounced the decision.
Sen. Scott Wiener has been pushing legislation to revive regulations repealed last year by the Federal Communications Commission that prevented internet companies from exercising more control over what people watch and see over the internet.
Columbia, South Carolina – United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon stated today that Steven Verren Baker, age 38, of Holly Hill, pled guilty to Conspiracy to Smuggle Wildlife, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, § 371. Senior Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., accepted the plea and will sentence Baker at a later date.
Evidence presented at the hearing established that Baker was the ringleader of an international syndicate of wildlife smugglers exchanging turtles protected by international agreements back and forth between the United States and China.
DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines and United Airlines said Wednesday that they asked the Trump administration not to use their flights to carry migrant children who were separated from their parents by immigration authorities.
Facing growing opposition to his administration’s recent policy of separating migrant families, President Donald Trump signed an order later in the day to keep families together at the nation’s southern border.
The issue had galvanized flight attendants, some of whom took to social media to post accounts of seeing young passengers whom they believed to be migrants separated from their parents.
Continue reading DALLAS | Airlines ask US not to put migrant children on flights at STL.News.
The Trump administration has set up at least three “tender age” shelters to detain babies and other young children who have been forcibly separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, The Associated Press has learned.
Doctors and lawyers who have visited the shelters in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley said the facilities were fine, clean and safe, but the children — who have no idea where their parents are — were hysterical, crying and acting out .
Continue reading At least 3 “tender age” shelters set up for child migrants at STL.News.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Odubel Herrera smiled when told he was being compared to Ichiro Suzuki and Vladimir Guerrero. He has potential to be known by his first name just like Ichiro and Vlad, too.
Herrera hit a tiebreaking, solo homer in the seventh inning, Cesar Hernandez hit a two-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 Wednesday to win their third straight series.
“What he’s doing is special,” manager Gabe Kapler said, adding that Herrera reminds him of Suzuki.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Corey Kluber shut down the White Sox and became the first pitcher with 11 wins this season. So what else is new for the reigning AL Cy Young winner?
Kluber allowed one hit over seven dominant innings and retired his final 14 batters Wednesday as the Cleveland Indians routed Chicago 12-0. The right-hander struck out seven and issued a lone walk in his latest masterpiece.
“Every five days, you try to come up with maybe something different to say about him, but my goodness,” Indians manager Terry Francona said.
Continue reading CLEVELAND | Kluber is first to 11 wins, Indians rout White Sox 12-0 at STL.News.
NEW YORK (AP) — Peter Fonda apologized Wednesday for a late-night Twitter rant in which he suggested 12-year-old Barron Trump should be ripped from “his mother’s arms and put in a cage with pedophiles.”
The all-capitals tweet in the wee hours went on to call President Donald Trump an expletive. The actor later deleted the tweet and drew sharp rebukes from first lady Melania Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
The two-time Oscar nominee, brother of Jane Fonda and son of Hollywood legend Henry Fonda said in a statement hours later that he was upset over children separated from their parents on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Continue reading NEW YORK | Peter Fonda apologizes for ‘vulgar’ Barron Trump tweet at STL.News.