North America

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Tribal representatives in Alaska told U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday that rural Alaska Natives suffer from multiple public safety problems, including no law enforcement presence in multiple villages, substance abuse and alarmingly high rates of violence and sexual assault.

Barr is at the start of a four-day visit to Alaska. Among his first actions in the visit, Barr heard from Alaska Natives Wednesday who participated with him in an Alaska Native justice roundtable in Anchorage.

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A border activist being tried in a federal court for helping two migrants with water, food and lodging last year only intended “to provide basic human kindness,” his lawyer told jurors Wednesday.

Defense attorney Greg Kuykendall also said in his opening statement that prosecutors must prove his client intended to break the law to be found guilty in the case.

Scott Daniel Warren was arrested in 2018 when Border Patrol agents found him at a property used to provide aid to immigrants in Ajo, Arizona.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new report says the White House wanted the U.S. Navy to keep a warship named for the late Sen. John McCain “out of sight” for President Donald Trump’s recent trip to Japan.

The Wall Street Journal , citing a May 15 email, reported Wednesday that a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command official detailed plans to Navy and Air Force officials for Trump’s arrival.

One directive said: “USS John McCain needs to be out of sight.” The official said he would talk to the White House military office to get more information on the directive.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing new trade sanctions and a U.S. clampdown on its top telecommunications company, China issued a pointed reminder Wednesday that it has yet to unleash all its weapons in its trade war with the Trump administration.

Chinese state media warned that Beijing could cut America off from exotic minerals that are widely used in electric cars and mobile phones. The threat to use China’s rich supply of so-called rare earths as leverage in the conflict has contributed to sharp losses in U.S. stocks and sliding long-term bond yields.

FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — Brad Hindley planned to be vacationing on a lake this week. Instead, he’s been on a boat in his swamped Fort Smith neighborhood trying to keep gas in generators that are pumping water from his flooded home in Arkansas’ second largest city.

“We’ve got lakefront property now. Right up to the front door,” said Hindley, a 45-year-old FedEx worker who is among thousands of residents along the Arkansas-Oklahoma border impacted by widespread flooding along the swollen Arkansas River.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Ron DeSantis and the independently elected Florida Cabinet met in Israel on Wednesday, waving away complaints that the session violated open-government laws because it was held outside the state. They presented a proclamation of support for Israel and heard from Israelis on several issues important to Florida.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed Facebook on Wednesday for not removing a doctored video that has spread widely on the social network in which she appears to slur her words.

The altered video had been slowed down , giving the false appearance that Pelosi was drunk, ill or otherwise impaired. Facebook did not respond to messages seeking comment.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on the powerful storms battering parts of the U.S. (all times local):

6:45 p.m.

The National Weather Service has confirmed at least eight tornadoes touched down in Indiana during Monday’s outbreak.

Survey crews determined Wednesday that two EF-1 tornadoes touched down near Middletown in eastern Indiana, while an EF-2 tornado damaged homes along a nearly 6-mile-long (9.6-kilometer-long) path from Pendleton into the Huntsville area before dissipating in Anderson. One person was slightly injured.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The ranks of Democratic White House hopefuls backing impeachment proceedings grew on Wednesday following a rare public statement from special counsel Robert Mueller that made clear his Russia report didn’t exonerate President Donald Trump.

Two 2020 candidates who had previously declined to push for impeachment — Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York — did so after Mueller spoke. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who has trodden carefully in her calls for impeachment, was more forceful during a campaign speech Wednesday afternoon.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — When she was born, the baby girl weighed about the same as an apple.

A San Diego hospital on Wednesday revealed the birth of the girl and said she is believed to be the world’s tiniest surviving micro-preemie, who weighed just 8.6 ounces (245 grams) when she was born in December.

The girl was born 23 weeks and three days into her mother’s 40-week pregnancy. Doctors told her father after the birth that he would have about an hour with his daughter before she died.