North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration’s top diplomat for Latin America has resigned amid internal disputes over immigration policy for the region, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Battling dual crises of gun violence and trade, President Donald Trump is twisting the facts in regards to gun control and exaggerating his case for tariffs against China.

Speaking Wednesday, Trump defended his past incendiary rhetoric on race in the wake of weekend mass shootings in Texas and Ohio and suggested that legislation addressing background checks was imminent. That’s not the case.

He also insisted that his tariffs on China are having devastating effects on the country by spurring a mass exodus of companies. There’s no evidence of that.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is resisting pressure to bring senators back from recess to address gun violence, despite wrenching calls to “do something” in the aftermath of back-to-back mass shootings.

Instead, the Republican leader is taking a more measured approach, as GOP senators are talking frequently among themselves, and with the White House, in the face of mounting criticism that Congress is failing to act.

NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson faced criticism Wednesday for declaring white supremacy “a hoax,” the same day President Donald Trump visited El Paso, Texas, after a white gunman who had written an anti-Hispanic rant killed 22 people.

Carlson has faced criticism before for his commentary, including a statement that immigration has made America dirtier. His remarks Tuesday came with the nation rubbed raw by two weekend mass shootings and increased concerns by law enforcement officials about violence attached to white nationalism.

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a white Missouri police officer stands as a seismic moment in American race relations. The fledgling Black Lives Matter movement found its voice, police departments fell under intense scrutiny, progressive prosecutors were elected and court policies revised.

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Aiming to play the traditional role of healer during national tragedy, President Donald Trump paid visits Wednesday to cities reeling from mass shootings that left 31 dead and dozens more wounded. But his divisive words preceded him, large protests greeted him and biting political attacks soon followed.

The president and first lady Melania Trump flew to El Paso late in the day after visiting the Dayton, Ohio, hospital where many of the victims of Sunday’s attack in that city were treated.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Ricans braced for more political turmoil Thursday as the third governor in a week took charge of this U.S. territory still divided over who should lead the economically struggling island of 3.2 million people.

The swearing in of Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez as governor was expected to spur renewed protests since many Puerto Ricans see her as an extension of Ricardo Rosselló, who resigned the governorship after weeks of street demonstrations demanding his removal.

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian police said Wednesday they believe two fugitives suspected of killing a North Carolina woman and her Australian boyfriend as well as another man have been found dead in dense brush in northern Manitoba.

Authorities located two male bodies and are confident they are 19-year-old Kam McLeod and 18-year-old Bryer Schmegelsky, said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy. She said an autopsy will confirm their identities and causes of death.

MORTON, Miss. (AP) — U.S. immigration officials raided seven Mississippi chicken processing plants Wednesday, arresting 680 mostly Latino workers in the largest workplace sting in at least a decade.

The raids, planned months ago, happened just hours before President Donald Trump visited El Paso, Texas, the majority-Latino border city where a man linked to an online screed about a “Hispanic invasion” was charged in a shooting that left 22 people dead.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Joe Biden on Wednesday accused President Donald Trump of “fanning the flames of white supremacy” in his most aggressive attack yet on the character of the man he would like to defeat in 2020.

“Trump offers no moral leadership,” Biden declared in Burlington, Iowa. The president “seems to have no interest in unifying the nation.”

Biden’s remarks, which have been echoed in some form by most of the Democratic presidential candidates, signaled how sharp and bitter the nation’s cultural and political divides will be on the long road to Election Day.