North America

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal investigators identified a violation of Coast Guard regulations that could trigger criminal charges in the California dive boat disaster that killed 34 people.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that all crew members on the boat Conception were asleep when the pre-dawn fire broke out Sept. 2 off the coast of Santa Barbara. The boat was required to have a crew member on lookout duty, according to Coast Guard rules.

BALTIMORE (AP) — President Donald Trump sought to boost the spirits of Republican lawmakers Thursday, mocking Democrats and promising a new tax cut package, as he returned to the city he recently disparaged as a “rat and rodent infested mess.”

Trump spoke to House Republicans attending an annual retreat in a hotel on Baltimore’s waterfront. Protesters gathered nearby. But inside, the president found a friendly audience of legislators whose political futures are closely tied to how well he performs in next year’s election. They greeted him with a chant of “four more years.”

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday revoked an Obama-era regulation that shielded many U.S. wetlands and streams from pollution but was opposed by developers and farmers who said it hurt economic development and infringed on property rights.

Environmental groups criticized the administration’s action, the latest in a series of moves to roll back environmental protections put into place under President Barack Obama.

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — A new level of despair spread among tens of thousands of migrants waiting on the Mexican border to seek refuge in the U.S. as the Trump administration began enforcing radical new restrictions Thursday on who qualifies for asylum.

“The United States is the only option,” Dunea Romero, a 31-year-old Honduran, lamented with tears in her eyes at a shelter in Tijuana. She said she packed a bag and fled her homeland with her two boys, ages 7 and 11, after learning that her abusive ex-husband, a powerful gang leader, was going to have her killed.

HOUSTON (AP) — Democratic debate night No. 3: Attacks and counter-attacks. Love for one former president, loathing for the current one. A 76-year-old front-runner essentially got called old, and he turned around and called another rival a “socialist.”

But will it change the fundamentals of a nominating fight that remains remarkably stable at the top with five months until voting begins? Here’s a look at some takeaways and potential answers:

STATUS QUO PREVAILED

The third Democratic debate seemed to end in a 10-way tie.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ten Democrats seeking the presidency tripped over some details Thursday night as they sparred in a debate thick with policy and personal stories. Several made provocative accusations that President Donald Trump inspired the deadly shooting in El Paso, Texas, last month.

On the policy front, Bernie Sanders claimed his approach to health care has a stamp of approval from everyone who studies such matters, which is not the case. Joe Biden misrepresented recent history when he said the administration he served as vice president didn’t put migrant kids in “cages.”

HOUSTON (AP) — Joe Biden parried attack after attack from liberal rivals Thursday night on everything from health care to immigration in a debate that showcased profound ideological divides between the Democratic Party’s moderate and progressive wings.

The prime-time debate also elevated several struggling candidates, giving them a chance to introduce themselves to millions of Americans who are just beginning to follow the race.

NEW YORK, Sep 12 (APP): With India’s military crackdown continuing unabated in curfew-bound Jammu and Kashmir, Human Rights Watch, a prominent international watchdog body, has cautioned members of the U.S. Congress against participating in a rally in Houston, Texas, on Sept 22, which is being organized by Indian-Americans to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

UN, September 12. /TASS/: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday expressed his concern about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign vow to occupy parts of the West Bank.

"The Secretary-General is concerned by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement declaring his intention, if elected, to annex the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea as a first step to applying Israeli sovereignty over all settlements and other areas in the occupied West Bank," the spokesman for the Secretary-General said in a statement.

12 September 2019; AFP: After an apparent conciliatory move by China, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday made one of his own, announcing that he agreed to delay an increase in tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods by two weeks.

Speaking weeks ahead of the resumption of talks aimed at resolving a grinding trade war, Trump said the tariff delay was requested by Beijing.