COLU @ CONCEPTS

HOUSTON (AP) — Officials released more water from Houston-area reservoirs overwhelmed by Harvey early Monday in a move aimed at protecting the city’s downtown from devastating floods but that could still endanger thousands of homes, even as the nation’s fourth-largest city anticipated more rain. Harvey, which made landfall late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane and has lingered just off the coast dropping heavy rain as a tropical storm, sent devastating floods pouring into Houston on Sunday. The rising water chased thousands of people to rooftops or higher ground and overwhelmed rescuers who could not keep up with the constant calls for help. Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Brock Long said during a news conference Monday that as many as 50 counties in Texas are affected by the flooding and that a tremendous amount of rainfall is in the cards for southwest Louisiana too. The rain and floods have been blamed in at least two deaths. Even as the water rose Sund

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has been showcasing the federal government’s response to Harvey on Twitter and praising the spirit of Texans as they cope with the storm. Trump plans to visit the state on Tuesday. In a series of tweets Sunday Trump said his administration was handling its responsibilities well and, in a tangential aside, hawked a book on race and crime in America written by a supporter. “Wow - Now experts are calling #Harvey a once in 500 year flood! We have an all out effort going, and going well!” Later, he added: “Even experts have said they’ve never seen one like this!” and “HISTORIC rainfall in Houston, and all over Texas. Floods are unprecedented, and more rain coming. Spirit of the people is incredible.Thanks! Harvey is the first major natural disaster of Trump’s presidency and a significant test for a White House that is often chaotic and rife with infighting. Attention on Harvey from officials, the public and the news media also allows

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is preparing to restore the flow of surplus military equipment to local law enforcement agencies under a program that had been sharply curtailed amid an outcry over police use of armored vehicles and other war-fighting gear to confront protesters. Documents obtained by The Associated Press indicate President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order undoing an Obama administration directive that restricted police agencies’ access to the gear that includes grenade launchers, bullet-proof vests, riot shields, firearms and ammunition. Trump’s order would fully restore the program under which “assets that would otherwise be scrapped can be repurposed to help state, local, and tribal law enforcement better protect public safety and reduce crime,” according to the documents. Attorney General Jeff Sessions could outline the changes during a Monday speech to the national conference of the Fraternal Order of Police in Nashville, Tennes

ROHTAK, India (AP) — A judge on Monday sentenced a popular and flamboyant Indian spiritual guru to 10 years in prison on charges of raping two female followers. The sentence was pronounced amid intense security at a prison in the northern town of Rohtak where the guru, who calls himself Dr. Saint Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim Insan, has been held since his conviction Friday. The conviction sparked violent protests by the guru’s followers that left at least 38 people dead and hundreds injured. Ahead of the sentencing announcement, train and bus services to Rohtak were suspended to prevent the guru’s supporters from gathering in the town, located in Haryana state. A curfew was also imposed in Rohtak. Local police said that several layers of security were in place around the prison and that government troops had permission to use firearms if any violence erupted. All cars entering the town were being searched. The guru has denied raping the two followers, in a case that stems fro

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 1 in 4 cases of possible sexual and physical abuse against nursing home patients apparently went unreported to police, says a government audit that faults Medicare for failing to enforce a federal law requiring immediate notification. The Health and Human Services inspector general’s office was issuing an “early alert” Monday on its findings from a large sampling of cases in 33 states. Investigators say Medicare needs to take corrective action right away. “We hope that we can stop this from happening to anybody else,” said Curtis Roy, an audit manager with the inspector general’s office, which investigates fraud, waste and abuse in the health care system. The audit is part of a larger ongoing probe, and additional findings are expected, he said. With some 1.4 million people living in U.S. nursing homes, quality is an ongoing concern. Despite greater awareness, egregious incidents still occur. Using investigative data analysis techniques, aud

BERLIN (AP) — A male nurse who was convicted of killing patients in Germany with overdoses of heart medication is now believed to have killed at least 86 people — and the true scale of the killings could be even larger, investigators said Monday. Many of the deaths could have been prevented if health authorities had acted more quickly on their suspicions, said Johann Kuehme, police chief in the northwestern city of Oldenburg. Niels Hoegel, now 40, was convicted in 2015 of two murders and two attempted murders at a hospital in the northwestern town of Delmenhorst. He was sentenced to life in prison. But prosecutors have long said they believe he killed many more people, last year putting the figure at 43 at least. The crimes came to light after Hoegel was convicted of attempted murder in another case. Authorities subsequently investigated hundreds of deaths, exhuming bodies of former patients in Delmenhorst and nearby Oldenburg. Kuehme said Monday that authorities have now

NEW DELHI (AP) — India and China have agreed to pull back their troops from a face-off in the high Himalayas where China, India and Bhutan meet, signaling a thaw in the monthslong standoff, India’s government said Monday. India’s Ministry of External Affairs said India and China had diplomatic exchanges in recent weeks over the situation on Doklam plateau in the eastern Himalayas and both had agreed to “go back to the status quo” before the standoff. Both India and China said their troops would continue to patrol in the Doklam area as they did before the face-off. The breakthrough comes just days before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to travel to China for a meeting of BRICS leaders next month. The BRICS grouping comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In Beijing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters that Chinese forces in the area had verified the Indian pullout and that China will “continue to exercise its sovereignty and upho

LONDON (AP) — There was a time when scenes like this at London’s Olympic Park would not have happened: Prince William, the heir to the British throne, sprinting down the track with his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, and his brother, Prince Harry, to the cheers of other runners in a relay race this year promoting mental health. It was so human. So accessible. So Diana. Princess Diana, a preschool teacher thrust into the glare of celebrity by her marriage to Prince Charles, dragged Britain’s ribbon-cutting royals into the modern world. She made a direct connection with the public —once running her own race in a flowing white skirt and baggy sweater — and promoted causes far from the mainstream at the time, like land mine removal and AIDS research. That link lives on through her two sons, who have adopted their mother’s more personal approach to monarchy and in the process reinvigorated the institution. “She was the first royal who really took the public’s heart,” said Sandi

The MTV Video Music Awards are known for creating viral moments meant to shock or amaze. But this year’s show was a much more grown-up affair that was full of important speeches, exciting performances and pop culture events. Several award presenters called for equality, including the mother of a woman who was killed while protesting white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, and a descendant of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Other artists reached out to those suffering from depression. Pink taught her daughter a valuable lesson of self-acceptance. Finally, Kendrick Lamar, the night’s big winner, set the stage ablaze at the beginning of the show, while Taylor Swift said goodbye to her reputation in a new music video. Here are the show’s top moments: __ PINK’S LESSON OF LOVE Pink was honored on Sunday night with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. After performing a medley of her hits atop a car suspended from cables and riding around on a lawnmower, Pink us

HOUSTON (AP) — The Latest on Tropical Storm Harvey (all times local): 7:50 a.m. Louisiana’s governor is asking President Donald Trump for a federal emergency declaration for Louisiana since forecasters expect Harvey to cause significant damage in the state. Gov. John Bel Edwards said he sent a letter to the White House requesting the initial disaster declaration for five parishes in southwest Louisiana, and could add more areas to the request later. Edwards said life-saving efforts such as search and rescue and shelters will be needed, especially in southwest Louisiana where forecasters say 10 to 20 inches (25 to 51 centimeters) of rain could fall. Harvey came ashore late Friday about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, as a Category 4 storm. The slow-moving storm has caused catastrophic flooding in Texas. ___ 7:15 a.m. The director of the National Weather Service is warning that the catastrophic flooding that’s overwhelming Houston and oth

BOSTON (AP) — You can’t blame beachgoers on Cape Cod for being jittery after a spate of recent shark sightings, some just a bit too close for comfort but all part of a natural ecosystem that scientists say humans must accept. Last Wednesday, just off Marconi Beach in Wellfleet, a white shark took a bite out of a paddleboard, throwing its rider into the water. Cleveland Bigelow wasn’t injured but compared the impact to that of a motorcycle being hit by a truck. Two days earlier at Nauset Beach in Orleans — also just feet from shore — a white shark fed on a seal, turning the sea red with blood. Terrified swimmers and surfers fled the water. On Thursday, shark sightings prompted the closure of Race Point Beach in Provincetown to swimming for about two hours. Shark experts preach vigilance and respect. After all, it’s their habitat, not ours. “We are the interloper in the ocean,” said Marie Levine, executive director of the Princeton, New Jersey-based Shark Research Institut

GENEVA (AP) — The effects of climate change are partially to blame for a mudslide through a southeastern village that left eight people missing after a massive chunk of rock broke off an Alpine mountainside, Switzerland’s environmental protection office said Monday. Federal Office for the Environment director Marc Chardonnens said by telephone that experts were looking into exact causes for the break-off of rock face that tumbled in a gooey sludge into the village of Bondo last week, including possible tectonic and geological factors as well as climatic ones. Chardonnens said Switzerland must do more to brace for the effects of climate change, citing the “weakening of the permafrost” atop many Alpine peaks as an example. His office said that the Alpine country has experienced an average temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius since record-keeping began in 1864, more than twice the world average of 0.9 degrees. It said climate change effects include “urban heat islands” i

NEW DELHI (AP) — The Latest on the rape conviction of an Indian spiritual guru (all times local): 3:55 p.m. A judge has sentenced a flamboyant and controversial Indian spiritual guru to 10 years in prison on charges of raping two female followers. The sentence was pronounced Monday amid intense security at a prison in the northern town of Rohtak, where the guru, who calls himself Dr. Saint Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim Insan, has been in a prison since his conviction Friday. The conviction sparked violent protests by his followers that left at least 38 people dead. A curfew was imposed in Rohtak and in Sirsa town, where the guru’s Dera Sacha Sauda sect has a sprawling ashram. Both towns are in Haryana state. Thousands of police, paramilitary and army soldiers were deployed in both towns to prevent a repeat of Friday’s violence. ___ 10 a.m. A curfew is in place in a north Indian town where a spiritual guru who was convicted of rape last week is scheduled to be sentenced

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s dormant congressional campaign committee recently sold a 2004 motor home at a steep discount to an old friend in the Montana Legislature. But a seemingly ordinary transaction between friends, when seen through the optics of stringent campaign finance laws, can raise a bevy of questions - especially when those friends are politically high-powered and well-connected. After learning about the transaction, campaign finance watchdogs are raising a $25,000 question: Why would Zinke’s campaign committee sell the Kountry Star Freightliner for half the price of its apparent $50,000 market value? It’s a head-scratcher for Lawrence Noble, a senior director of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan group of election law experts. “If the asset is worth $50,000, and they sell it to somebody for $25,000. It’s the equivalent of them giving $25,000 to that person,” Noble said. The Federal Election Commission prohibits political co