COLU @ CONCEPTS

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that “it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia” after his lengthy meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Germany. But he is still avoiding the question of whether he accepts Putin’s denial that Russia was responsible for meddling in the 2016 election. Speaking in a series of early morning tweets after returning the night before from a world leaders’ summit in Germany, Trump said that he “strongly pressed” Putin twice over Russian meddling during their lengthy meeting Friday. Trump said that Putin “vehemently denied” the conclusions of American intelligence agencies that Russian hackers and propagandists tried to sway the election in Trump’s favor. But Trump would not say whether he believed Putin, tweeting only that he’s “already given my opinion.” Trump has said he believes that Russia probably hacked the emails of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton staffers, but that...

MIAMI (AP) — A Miami Marlins fan walks into a bar, and this is no joke: He wants to watch his team play, but all 10 televisions are tuned to other games in other time zones. The bar, located near Marlins Park, broadcasts the lack of allegiance for the home team loud and clear. It’s a common occurrence in South Florida, and where else would such a thing happen? Not Boston or St. Louis or San Francisco or most major league locales. Tampa Bay? Maybe. Like the Marlins, the Rays are last in their league in attendance and battling the kind of chronic fan apathy that has plagued both franchises since they were founded in the 1990s. The Marlins are in their 25th season and about to host the All-Star Game when it comes to the state for the first time. But does Major League Baseball belong in Florida? Perhaps not, given the failure of the Rays and Marlins to develop a robust fan base. “I don’t know what the disconnect is,” said NL All-Star manager Joe Maddon, who spent nine se...

One reason North Korea is the world’s most dire nuclear hotspot is that among the most important players, even allies and semi-allies have different desires and priorities. An enemy to some, a bulwark to others, a frustration to all, with decades of unfinished business coloring the picture in ways unique to each nation. North Korea’s successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile July 4 raised the heat on tensions that have been building for decades, leaving the international community scrambling for an answer to containing Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. Below, Associated Press journalists who cover the standoff from both Koreas, Japan, China and the U.S. explain how each country hopes it is resolved. ___ NORTH KOREA North Korea has made no secret about what its demands are. Nothing is more important to the North’s ruling regime than its own survival. To that end, it wants Washington to abandon its “hostile policy” aimed at forcing the country into colla...

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — For the second year in a row, the world’s youngest nation will not have any official celebrations to mark the anniversary of its birth because of the widespread suffering caused by its ongoing civil war. “We did not feel it was appropriate to spend whatever little funds we may have to celebrate, when our people are hugely affected by the economic crisis,” said South Sudan President Salva Kiir in an address to the nation on Sunday. “It’s difficult for many people to afford even one meal per day.” Six years after South Sudan gained independence, the country is ravaged by fighting, severe hunger, mass displacement and accusations of war crimes by government and opposition forces. For the country’s 11 million people, what began with optimism has turned into a day of mourning. Six years ago, on July 9, Martha Athieng slaughtered a bull with her family and friends and danced around her village. “We all hoped for a better life,” said Athieng. “We neve...

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — A pair of California wildfires have quickly spread, threatening hundreds of homes and forcing evacuations at a popular lakeside campground and a summer camp where flames temporarily trapped children and counselors, a fire official said. In other parts of the West, evacuation orders were lifted in Colorado and Montana towns threatened by wildfires, while air and ground crews battled a growing grass fire in northwestern Colorado. The fire that started early Saturday afternoon in California’s Santa Barbara County had spread to both sides of Highway 154 and was “completely out of control,” county fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni said. About 90 children and 50 counselors were struck at the Circle V Ranch and had to take shelter there until they could be safely evacuated. The Santa Barbara County fire was one of three in California that grew quickly as much of the state baked in heat that broke records. A record that stood 131 years in Los Angeles was snapped ...

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The pressure is on Republican senators — from congressional leaders, conservative groups and impatient GOP voters — to fulfill a seven-year-old promise to scrap much of Democrat Barack Obama’s health care law. But back home, Republican governors who have experienced some of the upside of the law are warning their GOP senators to first, do no harm. For these governors, the issue is less about delivering a triumph to President Donald Trump and more about not blowing a hole in state budgets and maintaining health care coverage for constituents. In the critical next few weeks, some governors are uniquely positioned to press home-state Republican senators who could deny Majority Leader Mitch McConnell the votes he needs to pass a Republican health care bill. “We are the voice of reality,” Nevada GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval told The Associated Press. Sandoval said he has been in regular contact with Nevada Republican Sen. Dean Heller to discuss the ramificat...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is still trying to send President Donald Trump his first unqualified legislative triumph, nearly six months after Republicans grabbed full control of Washington. Now, lawmakers are returning from their July 4 recess with an added objective — averting some full-blown political disasters. The GOP campaign to repeal Democrat Barack Obama’s health care law is bogged down in the Senate and flirting with collapse. Efforts to pass a budget are stuck, there’s no tax code overhaul package, spending bills are in limbo and it’s unclear how leaders will find the votes to avert a federal default. The difficulties flow from Republican divisions. Collectively, the problems are threatening to sink top GOP priorities and undermine the party’s ability to show it can govern effectively. Lawmakers have three weeks of work before an August recess. Some Republicans are making noise about shortening that respite, but doing so would be a step shy of sacrilege on Capitol...

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — On President Donald Trump’s second trip abroad, there were fewer of the bull-in-a-diplomatic-china-shop moments that had solidified European leaders’ skepticism during his maiden overseas tour. Less public berating of allies, no pushing to the front of photo opportunities. But Trump still departed Europe on Saturday in the same position as he started: an unpredictable force on the world stage and an outlier among longtime American partners. For the president’s backers, his posture is the fulfillment of his campaign promise to bring more opaqueness to American foreign policy and challenge long-standing global agreements, even with the nation’s closest allies. But his detractors say he keeps sending the world dangerously mixed messages. “Our partners and our allies are all looking for meaning and intention in those words and will read into it what they want to, which may or may not be what Trump meant,” said Laura Rosenberger, a former foreign policy ...

BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local): 3 p.m. President Donald Trump says a cease-fire in southern Syria brokered by the U.S. and Russia “will save lives” and is calling for further cooperation with Moscow. In a tweet published shortly after the truce came into effect on Sunday, Trump wrote: “We negotiated a ceasefire in parts of Syria which will save lives. Now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia!” The cease-fire between the Syrian government and the rebels was brokered by Russia, the U.S. and Jordan. Both Jordan and Israel fear that Iranian-backed forces allied with the Syrian government will establish a lasting presence along their borders. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on the cease-fire on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg last week. Several cease-fires have been declared over the course of Syria’s six-year-old civil war. None have lasted very long. ___ 12:45 p.m. Israel...

MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — The Latest on developments in the fight for Mosul in Iraq (all times local): 3:45 p.m. Iraq’s state TV says the country’s prime minister has arrived in Mosul to declare victory over the Islamic State group in the more than eight-month old operation to drive the militants from the city. State TV quotes Haider al-Abadi as saying he “congratulates the fighters and the people on the big victory” in the key city. Dressed in a black uniform of a type worn by Iraqi special forces, al-Abadi was shown on Sunday as descending from a military plane and was greeted by senior security forces commanders. Backed by U.S.-led coalition, Iraq launched the operation to retake Mosul in October. Iraqi state TV says government forces have drove the militants from all areas and are “chasing” them militants in some areas in the city. The militants captured Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in a matter of days in the summer of 2014. ___ 1:50 p.m. Iraqi troops are cele...

 An aerial view shows oil-slicked waterways in the city of Port Harcourt, in Rivers State, Nigeria June 19, 2017.  REUTERS/Paul Carsten 1/10 left right 2/10 left right 3/10 left right 4/10 left right 5/10 left right 6/10 left right 7/10 left right 8/10 left right 9/10 left right 10/10 left right The Nigerian government's efforts to secure peace in the oil heartlands of the Niger Delta are empty promises, community leaders say, threatening a return to violence that would derail any broader recovery in the crude-dependent economy. With Africa's biggest economy mired in recession, delegations including Acting President Yemi Osinbajo have held talks since February with community leaders in the restive oil-producing states in Nigeria's southeast. Oil exports are now set to exceed 2 million ba...