North America

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have declared war on contraband in Nebraska’s largest prisons, repeatedly combing cells in the hunt for cellphones, drugs and weapons, but one top administrator admits the sweeps probably miss dangerous items and characterizes the cleanup as a near-impossible task.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s visit to Chicago is stirring up a tempest even before he arrives in the city that he’s repeatedly derided as the poster child of urban violence and dysfunctional Democratic politics.

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, the host of a gathering of police chiefs from around the country that Trump is to address on Monday, said he will not attend the speech because he opposes the administration’s immigration policies.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Look no further than Pearl City Station, a plain brick building set along the banks of the Mississippi River, to understand the growing sense of uncertainty seeping into the Democratic Party’s 2020 primary contest.

Inside, 200 Iowa Democrats recently sized up Joe Biden, the former vice president and one of their party’s leading presidential candidates. He engenders respect and admiration, but generates little excitement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump falsely boasted that he predicted Osama bin Laden’s 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and inaccurately asserted he had always opposed the war in Iraq in a news conference Sunday that often fell short on facts.

A look at some of the president’s claims at the briefing, where he announced the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group:

BIN LADEN

GREENVILLE, Texas (AP) — A gunman opened fire at an off-campus college party in Texas, leaving two people dead and 12 others injured before he escaped in the ensuing chaos, authorities said Sunday.

CULIACAN, Mexico (AP) — A dozen or so charred vehicles sit in a government impound lot outside this northwestern city including a patrol car, a military pickup and a tractor-trailer, casualties of a recent terrifying shootout between drug gang henchmen and Mexican security forces.

In a central district where the worst of the violence took place, blown-out windows have been replaced and bullet holes are plastered over on restaurants, convenience stores and a home where the son of Mexico’s notorious drug lord was believed to have been holed up.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For only the fourth time in U.S. history, the House of Representatives has started a presidential impeachment inquiry . House committees are trying to determine if President Donald Trump violated his oath of office by asking Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden and his family, and to investigate the country’s involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

A quick summary of the latest news:

DEPOSITIONS TURN TO WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Freshman Rep. Katie Hill, a rising Democratic star in the House, announced her resignation Sunday amid an ethics probe, saying explicit private photos of her with a campaign staffer had been “weaponized” by her husband and political operatives.

The California Democrat, 32, had been hand-picked for a coveted leadership seat. But in recent days, compromising photos of Hill and purported text messages from her to a campaign staffer surfaced online in a right-wing publication and a British tabloid.

SANTA ROSA, California (AP) — With ferocious winds driving multiple wildfires through bone-dry vegetation and nearly 200,000 people ordered to leave their homes, California’s governor declared a statewide emergency Sunday. Meanwhile, millions of residents remained without power after the state’s largest utility cut electricity as a precaution to prevent more areas from igniting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The helicopters flew low and fast into the night, ferrying U.S. special forces to a compound where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was hiding in Syria. Half a world away, President Donald Trump watched the raid in real time via a video link as troops blasted into the hideout and sent the most-wanted militant running the last steps of his life.

The daring raid was the culmination of years of steady intelligence-gathering work — and 48 hours of hurry-up planning once Washington got word that al-Baghdadi would be at a compound in northwestern Syria.