COLU @ CONCEPTS

     Tough court on immigration serves as model for Trump plans DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — One by one, the Mexican men stood in the jury box, shackles rattling as they fidgeted slightly and pleaded guilty to crossing the U.S. border illegally. They had come for better jobs, many to earn more money to help raise their children, their defense lawyer told a federal magistrate in a quiet west Texas courtroom about 3 miles (5 kilometers) north of the Mexican border. The magistrate, Collis White, warned that a guilty plea would mean jail time and they couldn't return to the United States legally for years. Speaking in Spanish, each of the 15 men said they understood and took their chances. They faced up to six months in jail, but most were sentenced to just a few days. The men had the misfortune of landing in America's toughest courthouse when it comes to dealing with people who cross the border illegally. In other jurisdictions, authorities routinely skip the criminal ...

      Voices from around the world consider Trump's first 100 days It was the most stunning political victory of the 21st century, one that brought shocked concern in many parts of the world and cheers in others. One uncontroversial certainty was that it would cause reverberations around the globe. Donald Trump campaigned on an "America First" platform, but has found himself as president drawn into thorny geopolitical complexities aplenty in the first 100 days of his administration. Relations with Russia plummeted to "an all-time low," as Trump himself described it, in the wake of the U.S. missile strikes on the Syrian government's airfield in response to a deadly chemical attack. The administration's Syria policy and how to handle President Bashar Assad seesawed. 100 days into Trump's presidency, Associated Press journalists asked people in Pyongyang, Damascus, Tehran, Mogadishu, Baghdad, Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Moscow, Berlin and Mexico ...

             Gov't shutdown, health bill rescue at stake in Congres WASHINGTON (AP) — Bipartisan bargainers are making progress toward a budget deal to prevent a partial federal shutdown this weekend, a major hurdle overcome when President Donald Trump signaled he would put off his demand that the measure include money to build his border wall with Mexico. Republicans are also vetting proposed changes to their beleaguered health care bill that they hope will attract enough votes to finally push it through the House. Both efforts come with Congress back from a two-week break just days before Trump's 100th day in office, an unofficial measuring stick of a new president's effectiveness. With little to show in legislative victories so far, the Trump administration would love to claim achievements on Capitol Hill by that day — this Saturday. The same day, federal agencies would have to close unless lawmakers pass a $1 trillion spending bill fina...

Doctor's arrest brings attention to US female circumcisions FBI agents leave the office of Dr. Fakhruddin Attar at the Burhani Clinic in Livonia, Mich. Friday, April 21, 2017, after completing a search for documents. The investigation is connected to the case of Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, of Northville, charged with performing genital mutilation on two young girls from Minnesota. (Clarence Tabb Jr. /Detroit News via AP) DETROIT (AP) — Zehra Patwa learned only a few years ago that during a family trip to India at age 7, she was circumcised, which is common for girls in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Patwa, 46, doesn't remember undergoing the procedure, which is also called female genital mutilation or cutting and which has been condemned by the United Nations and outlawed in the U.S. But she doesn't want to. "I have no desire to get that memory back. ... Psychologically, it feels like a violation, even though I don't remember it," said Patwa, a...

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France's rejected mainstream unites for Macron over Le Pen PARIS (AP) — France's political mainstream, shut out of the presidency by an angry electorate, united on Monday to call on voters to back centrist Emmanuel Macron and reject Marine Le Pen's populist nationalism. Politicians on the moderate left and right, including the Socialist and Republicans party losers in Sunday's first-round vote, maneuvered to block Le Pen's path to power in the May 7 runoff. Voters narrowed the presidential field from 11 to two. France's presidential election is widely seen as a litmus test for the populist wave that last year prompted Britain to vote to leave the European Union and U.S. voters to elect Donald Trump president. The defeated far-left candidate, Jean-Luc Melenchon, pointedly refused to back Macron, and Le Pen's National Front is hoping to do the once unthinkable and peel away voters historically opposed to a party long tainted by racism and anti-Semi...

Nearing 100-day mark, Trump says milestone not 'meaningful' WASHINGTON (AP) — For nearly 100 days, President Donald Trump has rattled Washington and been chastened by its institutions. He's startled world leaders with his unpredictability and tough talk, but won their praise for a surprise strike on Syria. He's endured the steady drip of investigations and a seemingly endless churn of public personnel drama. "It's a different kind of a presidency," Trump said in an Oval Office interview with The Associated Press, an hour-long conversation as he approached Saturday's key presidential benchmark. Trump, who campaigned on a promise of instant disruption, indirectly acknowledged that change doesn't come quickly to Washington. He showed signs that he feels the weight of the office, discussing the "heart" required to do the job. Although he retained his signature bravado and a salesman's confidence in his upward trajectory, he ...