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US demands Iran say strait is open

WASHINGTON — The U.S. is demanding that Iran make a public statement saying the Strait of Hormuz is open and that ships crossing the vital corridor won’t be attacked anymore, senior U.S. officials said Friday, adding that internal Tehran power struggles have made it difficult to reach and keep a deal. The U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe to reporters the state of play with Iran, said the resumption of strikes this week came after what they described as a rogue faction of Iranian hard-liners trying to sabotage the ceasefire between Tehran and ...

Crews begin draining Reflecting Pool again

Crews are again draining the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as President Donald Trump’s problem-plagued effort to revamp the waterway pushes well past his initial goal of having it ready by July 4 to mark the nation’s 250th birthday. The president at first suggested his renovations would last a century. But, within weeks of the project originally reaching completion last month, the water was beset by an algae bloom and pieces of the new coating appeared to be peeling off the bottom. Trump has blamed the peeling on vandals, though critics allege it’s from shoddy repair ...

ICE officer shot driver through passenger window

HOUSTON — Three men inside a van who witnessed the fatal shooting of the driver by an immigration officer in Houston said the Mexican man was shot through a passenger window and that the officer was never threatened, a lawyer who has spoken with them said Friday. The shooting Tuesday during an attempted traffic stop by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Houston has revived critical voices deriding the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and how ICE operates. Immigration arrests around the country recently surged to 10,000 over a five-day period, fueled in part ...

Brush with royalty remains memorable

The royal family of Great Britain is in the news because recently crowned King Charles III is now the ruling monarch after the passing of his long-reigning mother, Queen Elizabeth II. His younger brother, the former Prince Andrew, has been named in the sex scandal of Jeffrey Epstein and has been stripped of his royal titles and is now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. I had passing acquaintances with both Andrew and Charles. In 1985, I was a student in Britain, successfully pursuing a doctorate in political science from the London School of Economics. As part of my ...

Wally Funk, aviation pioneer who was oldest woman to travel into space, dies

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — Wally Funk, an aviation pioneer who was the oldest woman to launch into space, has died. She was 87. Funk died Wednesday at her apartment in an assisted living facility in the Dallas and Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine, Texas, Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O’Dell said Thursday. O’Dell, who described herself as Funk’s caregiver, said she was by Funk’s side. Funk had fallen a couple of times recently and had an infection in her leg. “It took its toll,” O’Dell said in a phone interview. Funk was one of 13 female pilots who went through the ...