COLU @ CONCEPTS

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — In one of Africa’s largest dumps, some residents are making a living by collecting and recycling hair from mountains of rubbish. Nairobi’s Dandora Municipal Dumpsite stretches as far as the eye can see. It was declared full in 2001 but has remained active, with 850 to 1,500 tons of waste arriving every day. Kenya last month implemented a ban on plastic bags, a major contributor to the towering piles of trash. Many environmentalists have campaigned for years to have the dump shut down, calling it an eyesore and a hazard. But for thousands of Kenyans, the dump is their means of existence. Winnie Wanjira, 31, has spent her whole life at the dump, one of an estimated 6,000 people making their living by scavenging in the rubbish. Some people raise pigs on the organic waste, while others find items to sell. Wanjira has tapped into the multi-billion-dollar global hair care industry, buying hair extensions collected by young boys in the dump and then sellin...

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — At Connecticut’s only maximum-security psychiatric hospital, staff members put a diaper on a patient’s head, threw food at him, poured water over him, put salt in his coffee, kicked him and placed a mop on his head after cleaning a floor, according to a state report. Thirty-one staff members at the Whiting Forensic Division hospital in Middletown have been suspended, and nine have been arrested. More arrests are expected, police say, and calls are pouring in with more allegations of misconduct and abuse, according to a state lawmaker who is calling for legislative hearings. Current and former staff members, as well as patients’ relatives, are alleging abuse of other patients and staff wrongdoing, she said. “It’s really incomprehensible that this could happen in this day and age,” said Sen. Heather Somers, a Republican from Groton. “It’s like something out of a Stephen King novel. I think it’s very important that we, as legislators, get to the bottom of ...

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement on Sunday welcomed a pledge by its Hamas rival to accept key conditions for ending a decade-old Palestinian political and territorial split, but said it wants to see vows implemented before making the next move. Repeated attempts at reconciliation have failed since the militant Hamas drove forces loyal to Abbas from the Gaza Strip in 2007, a year after defeating Fatah in parliament elections. The takeover led to rival governments, with Hamas controlling Gaza and Abbas in charge of autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Earlier Sunday, Hamas announced that it has accepted key Abbas demands for ending the split. This includes holding general elections in the West Bank and Gaza, dissolving a contentious Gaza administrative committee and allowing an Abbas-led “unity government,” formed in 2014 but until now unable to start operating in Gaza, to finally assume responsibility there. The announceme...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — In February, Arkansas lawmakers marked the 50-year anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act with a resolution calling it “a shining example of open government” that had ensured access to vital public records for generations. They spent the following weeks debating and, in many cases approving, new exemptions to the law in what critics called an unprecedented attack on the public’s right to know. When they were finished, universities could keep secret all information related to their police forces, including their size and the names and salaries of officers. Public schools could shield a host of facts related to security, including the identities of teachers carrying concealed weapons and emergency response plans. And state Capitol police could withhold anything they believed could be “detrimental to public safety” if made public. While hailed by lawmakers as commonsense steps to thwart would-be terrorists or mass shooters, the new laws left gr...

WASHINGTON (AP) — There are cracks in the curtains President Donald Trump tried to draw around the government early in his presidency, but the slivers of light aren’t making it easier to hold federal officials accountable for their actions. Trump still refuses to divest from his real estate and hotel empire or release virtually any of his tax returns. His administration is vigorously pursuing whistleblowers. Among scores of vacant senior jobs in the government is an inspector general for the Department of Energy — led by Secretary Rick Perry, former governor of Texas — as it helps drive the region’s recovery from Hurricane Harvey. Rebuilding from the deadly storm seems certain to be a $100 billion-plus endeavor involving multiple federal departments and an army of government contractors. If the ghosts of Katrina, Sandy and other big storms are guides, the bonanza of taxpayer dollars is a recipe for corruption. And that makes transparency and accountability all the more criti...

LONDON (AP) — London police say a second man has been arrested in connection with the London subway attack. Police said Sunday that a 21-year-old man was arrested late Saturday night in Hounslow in west London and is being held under the Terrorism Act. He is being questioned at a south London police station but has not been charged or identified. Two men are now in custody for possible roles in the bombing attack on a rush-hour subway train Friday morning that injured 29 people in London. An 18-year-old man was arrested Saturday in the departure area of the port of Dover, where ferries leave for France. The two arrests indicate police and security services believe the attack at the Parsons Green station was part of a coordinated plot, not the act of a single person. “We are still pursing numerous lines of enquiry and at a great pace,” counter-terrorism coordinator Neil Basu of the London police said late Saturday. Britain’s terror threat level remains at “critical” — t...

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Protests turned violent for a second night near St. Louis following the acquittal of a white former police officer in the fatal shooting of a black man, as a small group of demonstrators refused to disperse, breaking windows at dozens of businesses and throwing objects at police, who moved in with hundreds of officers in riot gear to make arrests. The confrontation took place late Saturday night in the Delmar Loop area of University City, a suburb about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of St. Louis near Washington University. The area is known for concert venues, restaurants, shops and bars and includes the Blueberry Hill club where rock legend Chuck Berry played for many years. University City had been the scene of a tense but calm march earlier in the evening to protest a judge’s ruling Friday clearing ex-officer Jason Stockley of first-degree murder in the 2011 shooting of 24-year-old Anthony Lamar Smith. That march ended with organizers calling for people to ...