COLU @ CONCEPTS

TOKYO (AP) — The commander of the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet has been relieved of duty following a series of warship accidents that raised questions about its operations in the Pacific. The firing of Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, a three-star admiral, was a rare dismissal of such a high-ranking officer for operational reasons. The Navy’s Pacific Fleet released a short statement Wednesday saying Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, had relieved Aucoin “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command.” The move follows four Navy accidents in the Pacific since late January, including two collisions that left sailors dead and missing. On Monday, the destroyer USS John S. McCain and an oil tanker collided off Singapore, injuring five sailors and leaving 10 missing. Navy divers have found the remains of some of the missing in a flooded compartment on the ship, though specifics have not been disclosed. Seven sailors died in June when the destroyer USS Fitzgerald...

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt reacted angrily Wednesday to the Trump administration’s decision to cut or delay nearly $300 million in military and economic aid over human rights concerns, a surprise move given the increasingly close ties that have bound the two allies since President Donald Trump took office in January. Hours after the U.S. announcement, Trump’s Middle East envoy, son-in-law Jared Kushner, arrived in Egypt as part of a Middle East tour to try to revive Arab-Israeli peace talks. He met with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and later conferred with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry before leaving for Israel. In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Cairo regretted the U.S. decision, calling it a “misjudgment of the nature of the strategic relations that have bound the two countries for decades.” The move, it said, “reflects a lack of careful understanding of the importance of supporting the stability and success of Egypt, as well as the size and nature of the securit...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar restored full diplomatic relations with Iran early Thursday, disregarding the demands of Arab nations now locked in a regional dispute with the energy-rich country that it lessen its ties to Tehran. In announcing its decision, Qatar did not mention the diplomatic crisis roiling Gulf Arab nations since June, when Qatar found its land, sea and air routes cut off by its neighbors over Doha’s policies across the Mideast. However, the move comes just days after Saudi Arabia began promoting a Qatari royal family member whose branch of the family was ousted in a palace coup in 1972. “Qatar has shown it is going to go in a different direction,” said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University who lives in Seattle. “It could very well be calculated toward reinforcing the point that Qatar will not bow to this regional pressure placed upon it.” Qatar’s Foreign Ministry...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — The Latest on protests against Confederate monuments that have occurred in the aftermath of deadly violence at a Virginia rally by white nationalists (all times local): 11:05 p.m. Police report a white nationalist who says he pepper-sprayed a demonstrator in self-defense on the campus of the University of Virginia has turned himself in. Campus police issued a statement late Wednesday saying Christopher Cantwell of Keene, New Hampshire, was taken into custody at the police department in Lynchburg, Virginia. Cantwell was wanted on three felony charges: two counts of the illegal use of tear gas or other gases and one count of malicious bodily injury with a “caustic substance,” explosive or fire. A brief university police statement says Cantwell was being held at a regional jail in Lynchburg pending transport to Charlottesville. It wasn’t immediately known if Cantwell has a lawyer. Contacted Tuesday by The Associated Press, Cantwell acknowledged...

SINGAPORE (AP) — A body found at sea by Malaysian forces is not one of the 10 U.S. sailors missing after a collision between the USS John S. McCain and an oil tanker, the Navy’s 7th Fleet said Thursday, as more Marine Corps divers joined a search of the destroyer’s flooded compartments. The remains found earlier in the week by the Malaysian navy were medically examined and will be returned to Malaysian authorities, the fleet said in a statement. Divers have found remains in flooded compartments of the McCain, which is docked at Singapore’s naval base, but the Navy has not disclosed specifics. Five of the 10 missing sailors have been named by relatives. Aircraft and ships from the navies of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia are searching seas east of Singapore where the collision happened early Monday and the search area continues to expand, the Navy said. More Marine Corps divers have arrived in Singapore to help with the search of the McCain’s interior, it said. ...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Among Denard Span’s greatest fears in the outfield is having a gull splat on him from above as he chases down a long fly ball. It’s a real possibility, considering how regularly the pesky birds come in off the San Francisco Bay to hover low over the Giants’ AT&T Park. “I’m afraid of them dropping something, using the bathroom on top of me,” said Span, San Francisco’s center fielder. “Or maybe them dropping some food near me and then all of them just freaking swarming me.” Sports venues across the country struggle to wave off pigeons, bats and gulls, but the two Bay Area ballparks’ proximity to the water and dumps attracts birds in large flocks. It has been such a problem at the Oakland Coliseum that stadium operations officials added a pair of vinyl kites this season in an effort to fend them off. Gulls typically feed at dumps, but marine biologists say recent efforts taken by some nearby sites to bury the waste faster have kept the feathered cre...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump can’t enact his agenda without Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. McConnell may not have a majority to lead without Trump’s help. It’s simple, and still so complicated. The strangest bedfellows in Washington are locked in an increasingly public and personal feud that defies conventional wisdom. The escalating tension between the two men is threatening the GOP’s re-election prospects and its ability to govern. It has erupted at a high-stakes moment for the Republican Party, which is facing the prospect of a government shutdown — and the possibility it may fail to enact any major legislation during its first year in complete control of Washington. The dispute is a reminder of the unconventional politics that have gripped the GOP in the Trump era. While Trump and McConnell ostensibly share the same philosophy, legislative agenda, voters and political opponents, they increasingly act more like adversaries than allies — a reminder of ...

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Reflections treatment center looked like just the place for Michelle Holley’s youngest daughter to kick heroin. Instead, as with dozens of other Florida substance abuse treatment facilities, the owner was more interested in defrauding insurance companies by keeping addicts hooked, her family says. “It looked fine. They were saying all the right things to me. I could not help my child so I trusted them to help my child,” Holley said. Instead, the center refused to give 19-year-old Jaime Holley her prescription medicine when she left, forcing her to use illegal drugs to avoid acute withdrawal symptoms, her mother said. She died of a heroin overdose last November. “Right to my face they lied to me, and I believed them.” Rather than working to get people well, a growing number of unscrupulous industry players are focusing on getting addicts to relapse so that insurance dollars keep rolling in, according to law enforcement officials, treatment expe...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Once or twice a year, activity on the streets of South Korea’s capital freezes as a wailing siren marks a nationwide drill aimed at preparing against a North Korean attack. Cars stop on roads. Pedestrians move into buildings and subway stations. Government buildings are evacuated. The scenes during the latest air-raid drill on Wednesday are remarkable for turning parts of this usually bustling city into a ghost town. But a closer look raises questions about whether the exercises are adequately preparing South Koreans while the threat from North Korea’s nuclear and missile program grows. For many, there’s no real training, just people standing around in schoolyards or other gathering spots, staring into their smartphones, chatting amiably or just looking bored or frustrated. Many schools don’t participate in the air-raid drills and those that do often escort children outside. Leaving their buildings would be a good idea during earthquakes, but a te...

WASHINGTON (AP) — In his first month on the job, White House chief of staff John Kelly has made significant progress toward imposing discipline on a chaotic operation, even as it’s clear he still struggles to have the same effect on the president himself. The White House is a less contentious place and decision-making is becoming more orderly under Kelly’s thumb, according to more than a dozen people interviewed by The Associated Press, including White House officials, outside advisers and others who work regularly with the administration. They say a group of more experienced advisers — including a trio of generals — is increasingly holding sway. And they describe a process in which Kelly has successfully limited dissenting voices, restricted access to the president and “stacked the deck” on major decisions to guide him toward an outcome. The new Afghanistan war strategy announced this week was a chief example of the process. But President Donald Trump also made clear this w...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The collision between the USS John S. McCain and an oil tanker has exposed a long-simmering dispute between Singapore and Malaysia over which country should control a 60-meter (197-foot) wide guano-encrusted outcropping at the edge of the South China Sea. Malaysia and Singapore both say the accident happened in their territorial waters because of the competing claims to Pedra Branca. Barely an island, the rocks are home to utilitarian structures including a communications tower meant to reinforce Singapore’s claim and lapped by waters often fouled by mini oil slicks in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Despite being devoid of charms, the islet is a major political and economic prize for both countries. Singapore and Malaysia were quick to help when the guided missile destroyer and oil tanker Alnic MC collided early Monday while the U.S. ship was approaching Singapore on a routine port call. And both claimed to be the coordinator of th...

BANGKOK (AP) — Friends and foes alike of former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra are anxiously awaiting a verdict Friday by the Supreme Court on charges she was criminally negligent in implementing a rice subsidy program that is estimated to have cost the government as much as $17 billion and could send her to prison for 10 years. Supporters are expected to appear outside the courthouse to show their backing for Yingluck, but the military government has threatened legal action against anyone who helps transport them to the scene. The verdict is generally seen as a political judgment as much as a criminal one. The case against Yingluck is the latest in a decade-long offensive against the political machine founded and directed by her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and disrespect for the monarchy. Thaksin, a telecommunications mogul, has been in self-imposed exile since 2008 to escape a pri...