COLU @ CONCEPTS

WASHINGTON (AP) — A high-stakes week got off to a bad start for President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the GOP. A key defection in GOP ranks Monday appeared to sink their health care drive anew, while another disappointment loomed Tuesday as the Senate candidate backed by both Trump and McConnell struggled in the polls in an Alabama Senate runoff election. The twin blows, if both arrive, would leave Trump and McConnell looking for a win elsewhere. That arena could be taxes, where congressional Republicans and the administration will finally roll out their long-promised tax overhaul plan, “The largest tax cuts in the history of our country,” Trump promised Monday in an Alabama radio appearance on the “Rick & Bubba Show.” Indeed, with failure now all but inevitable on the health bill, the tax push could stand by week’s end as the GOP’s last and only opportunity for a major political and policy win this year, a much-diminished outcome for an er...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. ramped up its response Monday to the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico, even as President Donald Trump brought up the island’s struggles before Hurricane Maria struck — including “billions of dollars” in debt to “Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with.” The Trump administration has tried to blunt criticism that its response to Hurricane Maria has fallen short of its efforts in Texas and Florida after the recent hurricanes there. Five days after the Category 4 storm slammed into Puerto Rico, many of the more than 3.4 million U.S. citizens in the territory were still without adequate food, water and fuel. Flights off the island were infrequent, communications were spotty and roads were clogged with debris. Officials said electrical power may not be fully restored for more than a month. Trump himself pointed out some differences between the two states and the island in a series of tweets Monday night. “Texas & Florida are ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and congressional Republicans are finalizing a tax plan that would slash the corporate rate while likely reducing the levy for the wealthiest Americans, with President Donald Trump ready to roll out the policy proposal at midweek. The grand plan to rewrite the nation’s tax code would be the first major overhaul in three decades, delivering on a Trump campaign pledge and providing a sorely needed legislative achievement. It also is expected to eliminate or reduce some tax breaks and deductions. The plan would likely cut the tax rate for the wealthiest Americans, now at 39.6 percent, to 35 percent, people familiar with the plan said Monday. They spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement. In addition, the top tax for corporations would be reduced to around 20 percent from the current 35 percent, they said. It will seek to simply the tax system by reducing the number of income tax brackets from seven to three. Trump has ...

NEW YORK (AP) — The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to face an especially tough hearing in front of Congress on Tuesday, after the agency acknowledged that it also was a victim to a hack. News about the breach of an SEC network that delivers company news and data to investors follows the disclosure of the massive data breach from credit company Equifax that allowed hackers to access or steal the personal information of 143 million Americans. Jay Clayton, who has been at the head of the SEC since May, is not likely to face calls for his removal since the breach happened a year ago, before he was sworn in. But he may be questioned about whether the SEC — the federal government’s main arm for enforcing rules and regulations on Wall Street — is up to the task of keeping data secure. WHAT QUESTIONS MAY CLAYTON FACE? Two major issues in this SEC breach are the potential for insider trading and whether the SEC knew about the security breach for mont...

BALI, Indonesia (AP) — Warnings that a volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali will erupt have sparked an exodus of more than 75,000 people that is likely to continue to swell, the country’s disaster agency said Tuesday. Authorities have ordered the evacuation of villagers living within a high danger zone that in places extends 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from Mount Agung’s crater. But people further away are also leaving, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. The region is being rattled daily by hundreds of tremors from the mountain, which volcanologists say indicates a high chance of an eruption. Mount Agung last erupted in 1963, killing about 1,100 people. Evacuees are taking shelter at more than 370 sites across the island that include temporary camps, sport centers, village halls and the houses of friends and relatives. Villager Wayan Merta said he was among the first to evacuate last week because his village, Selat, is just...

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — As Iraqi Kurds awaited the results of their landmark referendum on independence from Baghdad on Tuesday, thousands of Iranian Kurds held rallies in their support, reflecting the strong current of nationalism that runs through Kurdish communities across the region. The vote, which took place on Monday, was billed by the Iraqi Kurdish leadership as an exercise in self-determination. But to Baghdad, it threatens a redrawing of Iraq’s borders, and leaders in Turkey and Iran fear the move would embolden their own Kurdish populations. Regional authorities in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish north put the turnout at over 70 percent, but many voters reported irregularities during Monday’s balloting, including cases of individuals voting multiple times and voting without proper registration. For decades, Kurdish politics have hinged on dreams of an independent Kurdish state. When colonial powers drew the map of the Middle East after World War I, the Kurds were divided a...

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, so the speculation was that he would not allow his players to kneel during the national anthem. The Cowboys and their owner did kneel, though not during the anthem. Following a weekend of kneeling and protesting across the NFL, the Cowboys and their owner displayed their own version of unity Monday night,  kneeling on the field  before rising as a group prior to the playing of the national anthem. “I hope that I’m clear and I hope that our team is clear: We want to respect the flag. Make no mistake about that,” Jones said. “Nothing that we’ve done, nothing that we did tonight says anything other than that. We also want to as a complete team, as players and an organization, be able to, whenever we can, demonstrate that unity is important and equality is important. “That’s what I’m so proud of these guys for, they did both and did it in a way when peop...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal appeals court will consider arguments Tuesday over whether detectives tricked a Wisconsin inmate featured in the “Making a Murderer” series into confessing and whether he should go free in a case that puts police practices in the spotlight. Oral arguments in Brendan Dassey’s case are before all 12 judges of the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago. Dassey’s lawyers and state attorneys are each expected to speak for half an hour and answer the judges’ questions. A ruling may not come for weeks or months. Dassey, now 27, was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 in the death of photographer Teresa Halbach two years earlier. He was 16 when he told detectives that he helped his uncle, Steven Avery, rape and kill Halbach in the Avery family’s junkyard in Manitowoc County. A federal magistrate judge overturned Dassey’s conviction last year, ruling that detectives took advantage of Dassey’s youth and cognitive disabilities to coerce his confes...

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian attacker opened fire early Tuesday at the entrance to a settlement outside Jerusalem, killing three Israeli security men and critically wounding a fourth, Israeli police and medical services said, in one of the deadliest attacks in a two-year spate of violence. Gaza’s Islamic Hamas rulers praised the attack but stopped short of taking responsibility for it. Israeli officials said the attacker was a 37-year-old Palestinian father of four who appeared to have acted alone. The attack comes at a tense period amid the Jewish high holidays and is likely to complicate the mediation efforts of U.S. peace envoy Jason Greenblatt who had just arrived in the region for meetings with Israeli and Palestinians leaders. Speaking at his weekly Cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack was partially a result of systematic Palestinian incitement and said he expected Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to “condemn this attack and...

FAIRHOPE, Ala. (AP) — Sen. Luther Strange and firebrand jurist Roy Moore face off in Alabama’s U.S. Senate runoff Tuesday in a race that will reverberate through the Republican Party and has pitted President Donald Trump against his former strategist, Steve Bannon. Trailing in the polls, Strange has looked to the White House to help make up ground against Moore, who is best known for defiant stands against gay marriage and for the public display of the Ten Commandments. Vice President Mike Pence campaigned for Strange in Birmingham, Alabama, while Bannon, speaking at a Moore rally, argued Moore is a better fit for Trump’s “populist” movement. “All of Washington is watching to see what Alabama does,” Moore said at a south Alabama rally attended by Bannon, Brexit leader Nigel Farage, and “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson. Wearing a white cowboy hat and leather vest at a Monday night rally, Moore repeated the conservative Christian themes he has used his entire public career...

SHANGHAI (AP) — It is no secret that the bulk of Ivanka Trump’s merchandise comes from China. But just which Chinese companies manufacture and export her handbags, shoes and clothes is more secret than ever, an Associated Press investigation has found. In the months since she took her White House role, public information about the companies importing Ivanka Trump goods to the U.S. has become harder to find. Information that once routinely appeared in private trade tracking data has vanished, leaving the identities of companies involved in 90 percent of shipments unknown. Even less is known about her manufacturers. Trump’s brand, which is still owned by the first daughter and presidential adviser, declined to disclose the information. The deepening secrecy means it’s unclear who Ivanka Trump’s company is doing business with in China, even as she and her husband, Jared Kushner, have emerged as important conduits for top Chinese officials in Washington. The lack of disclosure m...

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican government officials are tallying up the economic losses of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that caused widespread damage in the capital, but for the manager of a downtown restaurant, the result is already all too clear. Sitting in the entrance of his Guapa Papa restaurant Monday, surrounded by caution tape, Antonio Luna said: “This is a bust. It’s already closed due to structural damage to the building.” He had to let go the three dozen employees at the 1950s-themed restaurant and is just trying to salvage whatever furniture and equipment wasn’t damaged. “In the end the company let everyone go because it couldn’t continue having expenses,” Luna said. Moody’s Investors Service said in a report Monday that the Sept. 19 earthquake that has killed at least 326 people in the capital and nearby states “has the potential to be one of Mexico’s costliest natural catastrophes.” Alfredo Coutino, Latin America director for Moody’s Analytics, said they were...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Supermarkets are gradually re-opening in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico but the situation is far from normal and many customers are going home disappointed. Most food stores and restaurants remain closed. That is largely because power is out for most of the island and few have generators or enough diesel to power them. The shops that were open Monday had long lines outside and vast empty shelves where they once held milk, meat and other perishables. Drinking water was nowhere to be found. Mercedes Caro shook her head in frustration as she emerged from the SuperMax in the Condado neighborhood of San Juan with a loaf of white bread, cheese and bananas. “There is no water and practically no food,” she said. “Not even spaghetti.” Maria Perez waited outside a Pueblo supermarket in a nearby part of San Juan, hoping to buy some coffee, sugar and maybe a little meat to cook with a gas stove that has enough propane for about a week more. “We are in a c...