COLU @ CONCEPTS

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump’s eldest son during the presidential campaign said she was summoned to Trump Tower and asked if she had damaging information on Hillary Clinton, painting a very different picture of the encounter from the one that Donald Trump Jr. has described. Trump Jr. has said his June 2016 meeting with attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya was arranged through an acquaintance so that he could hear information helpful to the Trump campaign. Distancing himself from the source of the information, he has said he didn’t even know the name of the person he was to meet with in advance. President Donald Trump’s eldest son acknowledged Monday that he met a Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential campaign to hear information about his father’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. (July 10) The dueling depictions of the meeting, arranged just after Trump had clinched the Republican nomination, come as congressional committees and Spe...

MIAMI (AP) — Among the most unlikely All-Stars is a former 17th-round draft pick with one career home run. Brad Mills won’t swing a bat Tuesday night. But he will pinch-hit. The Cleveland Indians bench coach will manage the American League team as a replacement for Indians manager Terry Francona, who is recovering from a procedure last week to correct an irregular heartbeat. “Getting this responsibility is very humbling,” Mills said. “I’m thrilled to be here, but I definitely would love to have Terry sitting here in this chair.” If not for Francona’s health issue, Mills would have taken part in the game as a coach. Now he’s responsible for running a 32-man team and getting most of the players into the game. He had some help with the starting lineup from Francona, who paid Mills a visit before the Indians’ game Sunday. “When he came in the clubhouse he sat down, and the first thing he said to me is, ‘OK, who’s hitting second?’” Mills said. Both knew it was a given J...

SAN BRUNO, Calif. (AP) — Move over, “Gangnam Style.” YouTube has a new top-viewed video of all time. Wiz Khalifa’s video for “See You Again” featuring Charlie Puth became the site’s most-watched video Monday and has more than 2.896 billion views as of Tuesday. That’s about 2 million more than the video for Korean rapper Psy’s 2012 smash “Gangnam Style,” which held the most-viewed title for five years, YouTube said. Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” sits in third place, more than 250 million views behind the leaders. Puth reacted with surprise on Twitter , noting that he joined YouTube in 2007 hoping to make a video that would hit 10,000 views. Puth also earned a congratulatory message from YouTube star Tyler Oakley, who called the feat “legendary & epic.” Wiz Khalifa said in a statement that he’s happy the song has been able to “inspire and impact so many lives.” “See You Again” was released in 2015 as a tribute to late “Fast and the Furi...

OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Wildfires driving people from their homes in California and throughout the west have had help from an unlikely source: the rain. Major winter downpours that pulled the state out of years of drought also brought a layer of grass that early-summer fires are greedily feeding on. “What the heavy rains have done is created a grass crop that we haven’t seen in forever,” said Santa Barbara County fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni, whose department was battling two large wildfires Monday. “That creates faster moving fires, hotter fires, it carries fire much more readily.” In Southern California, at least 3,500 people remained out of their homes as a pair of fires raged at different ends of Santa Barbara County. The larger of the two charred more than 45 square miles. (July 11) Older, dried out trees and vegetation are especially dangerous for wildland blazes, but enough new and drying grass can provide links between such tinderboxes. Bennet Milloy of the Calif...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The search for four missing young Pennsylvania men feared to be the victims of foul play resumed Tuesday, a day after authorities arrested a man linked to a property that has become the focus of the investigation. Officials said they were chasing “incredibly hot” leads as they spent much of Monday scouring a large swath of farmland in Solebury Township, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Philadelphia, in their search for 22-year-old Mark Sturgis, 21-year-old Tom Meo, 19-year-old Dean Finocchiaro, and 19-year-old Jimi Tar Patrick, who is a student at Loyola University in Baltimore. One of the men disappeared on Wednesday and three others on Friday. “We’re not going to rest until we get through every inch of that property,” Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said at a Monday afternoon news conference. Hours after Weintraub’s briefing, authorities arrested Cosmo DiNardo, whose family owns the sprawling farmland, on an unrelated gun charge....

On the day they were freed from slavery, the fishermen hugged, high-fived and sprinted through a stinging rain to line up so they wouldn’t be left behind. But even as they learned they were going home, some wept at the thought of returning empty-handed and becoming one more mouth to feed. Two years have passed since an Associated Press  investigation  spurred that dramatic rescue, leading to the release of more than 2,000 men trapped on remote Indonesian islands. The euphoria they first felt during reunions with relatives has long faded. Occasional stories of happiness and opportunity have surfaced, but the men’s fight to start over has largely been narrated by shame and struggle. Two years have passed since an Associated Press investigation led to the release of 2,000 men trapped on remote Indonesian islands. Stories of happiness have surfaced but their fight to start over has largely been narrated by shame and struggle. (July 11) Some of them are lucky to fi...

HONOLULU (AP) — An active duty U.S. soldier was arrested on terrorism charges after authorities say he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and said he wanted to “kill a bunch of people.” The FBI arrested Sgt. 1st Class Ikaika Kang, 34, in a suburb of Honolulu over the weekend after a yearlong investigation involving multiple undercover officers and confidential informants. He made an initial appearance in federal court on Monday. Kang’s court-appointed defense attorney, Birney Bervar, said it appears his client may suffer from service-related mental health issues of which the government was aware but neglected to treat. Bervar declined to elaborate. US Army Sgt. 1st Class Ikaika Kang was arrested in Hawaii and charged with terrorism, after authorities say he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. Kang’s father says he worried his son had PTSD after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. (July 11) He said Kang was “a decorated veteran of two deployments” t...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders are hoping to stage a climactic vote on their health care bill next week, though internal rifts over divisive issues like coverage requirements and Medicaid cuts leave the timing and even the measure’s fate in question. “We need to start voting” on the GOP bill scuttling much of President Barack Obama’s health care law, No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Cornyn of Texas told reporters Monday. Some Republicans said a revised version of the bill could be introduced Thursday, and Cornyn said the “goal” was for a vote next week. Cornyn cited seven years of unresolved Republican debate over how to replace the 2010 statute during which “we gain a vote, we lose a vote.” That underscored a sense among top Republicans that they had little to gain by letting their disputes drag on much further. Consensus on a replacement seemed more remote than ever as senators returned to the Capitol from a Fourth of July recess. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, ...

ITTA BENA, Miss. (AP) — A U.S. military plane used for refueling crashed into a soybean field in rural Mississippi, killing at least 16 people aboard in a fiery wreck and spreading debris for miles, officials said. Leflore County Emergency Management Agency Director Frank Randle told reporters at a briefing late Monday that 16 bodies had been recovered after the KC-130 spiraled into the ground about 85 miles (135 kilometers) north of Jackson in the Mississippi Delta. A witness said some bodies were found more than a mile from the crash site. Officials have found at least 12 bodies from a Marine Corps plane that crashed in rural Mississippi on Monday. The KC-130 refueling tanker crashed into a soybean field about 85 miles north of Jackson. (July 11) Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Sarah Burns said in a statement that a KC-130 “experienced a mishap” Monday evening but provided no details. The KC-130 is used as a refueling tanker. Emergency officials respond to the sit...

MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Sporadic clashes erupted in Mosul on Tuesday, a day after Iraq’s prime minister declared “total victory” over the Islamic State group, with several airstrikes hitting the Old City neighborhood that was the scene of the fierce battle’s final days. Plumes of smoke rose into the air as IS mortar shells landed near Iraqi positions and heavy gunfire could be heard on the western edge of the Old City. At times heavy, the clashes underscored the dangers still posed by the militants after Iraqi forces announced they retook full control of Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, three years after it was seized by extremists bent on building a global caliphate. Meanwhile, Amnesty International warned in a report released Tuesday that the conflict in Mosul has created a “civilian catastrophe,” with the extremists carrying out forced displacement, summary killings and using civilians as human shields. The report also detailed violations by Iraqi forces and the...

Zimbabwe is targeting to increase annual milk output by 515 percent to 400 million litres in 2020, an official has said. Last year, the country's milk output stood at 65 million litres. Speaking at the just ended 7th Buy Local Summit and Investment Forum in Victoria Falls, Dairibord Zimbabwe marketing director, Ms Tracy Mutaviri, said the projected milk production levels were underpinned by the dairy revitalisation programme. Recently, the Government launched the dairy sector revamping programme with a view to restore the sector to its former glory. "Currently, in 2016 we were only talking about 65 million litres of milk down from 256 million litres in 1990. Already, this speaks of growth opportunities in the dairy sector and by 2020 we are targeting to grow milk production to 400 million litres. This means there must be initiatives to grow milk output. "And the dairy revitalisation programme between Government and different players will help us achieve the 202...

Private Sector Federation (PSF) members in Eastern Province have been urged to utilise the available chances to invest in irrigation and other water projects. Judith Kazayire, the governor of the Eastern Province, said this would ease the water challenges in the area. "Climate change has affected water availability in the province... So, by investing in water projects, like boreholes and irrigation schemes, private sector members will gain financially and also help to reduce the impact of climate change, which benefits entire communities," said Kazayire. The province, a key food producer, is prone to drought and is always hard-hit by the annual long dry spells the country experiences. The governor was speaking during the annual general meeting of PSF Eastern Province in Rwamagana last week. She added that since over 90 per cent of the population in the province dependents on agriculture, it is essential to invest in projects that can help improve the sector and en...