AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

By The Associated Press

Confusion and uncertainty at the border after Trump acts

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The U.S. government wrestled with the ramifications Thursday of President Donald Trump’s move to stop separating families at the border, with no clear plan to reunite the more than 2,300 children already taken from their parents and Congress again failing to take action on immigration reform.

In a day of confusion and conflicting reports, the Trump administration began drawing up plans to house as many as 20,000 migrants on U.S. military bases. But officials gave differing accounts as to whether those beds would be for children or for entire families. The Justice Department also went to court in an attempt to overturn a decades-old settlement that limits to 20 days the amount of time migrant children can be locked up with their families.

Meanwhile, the federal public defender’s office for the region that covers cases from El Paso to San Antonio said Thursday the U.S. Attorney’s Office would be dismissing cases in which parents were charged with illegally entering or re-entering the country and were subsequently separated from their children.

“Going forward, they will no longer bring criminal charges against a parent or parents entering the United States if they have their child with them,” wrote Maureen Scott Franco, the federal public defender for the Western District of Texas, in an email shown to The Associated Press.

And in the Texas border city of McAllen, federal prosecutors unexpectedly did not pursue charges against 17 immigrants. A federal prosecutor said “there was no prosecution sought” in light of Trump’s executive order ending the practice of separating families.

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GOP struggles to salvage immigration bill, postpones vote

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Republican immigration overhaul dangled precariously Thursday, imperiled by stubborn differences between conservative and moderate factions — and by President Donald Trump’s running commentary about a bill he only half-heartedly supported and then suggested would never become law.

Republican leaders were twice forced to postpone final voting, first until Friday and then punting it to next week, as negotiators made a last-ditch push for support. They were trying to persuade colleagues to seize the moment and tackle immigration problems by approving the bill, which includes $25 billion for Trump’s border wall and a path to citizenship for young immigrants who have lived in the U.S. illegally since childhood.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana said Thursday evening they would keep trying to find consensus on the legislation.

Earlier in the day, Speaker Paul Ryan had appeared resigned to defeat, instead holding out hope that the compromise negotiated among the Republican House majority could sow the seeds for an eventual resolution.

“I actually think we’re advancing the cause even if something doesn’t necessarily pass,” he said. “I think we’re making advancements.”

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Obama, like Trump, grappled with family immigration

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — The Trump administration isn’t the first to grapple with the question of how to handle tens of thousands of immigrant families stopped along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Four years ago, Barack Obama faced a similar crisis when record numbers of Central American immigrants fleeing violence began showing up at the border. Officials had to deal with the same court case the current administration began fighting Thursday, a day after President Donald Trump issued a new executive order to stop separating migrant families whose parents were arrested for illegally entering the country.

More than 60,000 family “units” — which the U.S. government defines as a parent and child — were stopped along the border in the 2014 fiscal year, a fourfold increase from a year earlier. In the last fiscal year, that number exceeded 70,000.

Initially, the Obama administration released mothers and children with notices to appear in immigration courts in the cities where they were headed. At times, immigrants were transported from Texas to Border Patrol facilities in other states so agents could keep up with ballooning arrivals.

The Obama administration then moved to hold mothers with children in family detention facilities — a 100-bed centre in Pennsylvania and two larger facilities that opened in Texas in 2014. Those spaces provided a few thousand beds.

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Trump jabbed first, and now world hits back in trade fight

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States attacked first, imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum from around the globe and threatening to hit tens of billions of dollars in Chinese products.

Now, the world is punching back.

The European Union is set Friday to slap tariffs on $3.4 billion in American products, from whiskey and motorcycles to peanuts and cranberries. India and Turkey have already targeted U.S. products, ranging from rice to autos to sunscreen.

And the highest-stakes fight still looms: In two weeks, the United States is to start taxing $34 billion in Chinese goods. Beijing has vowed to immediately retaliate with its own tariffs on U.S. soybeans and other farm products in a direct shot at President Donald Trump’s supporters in America’s heartland.

The tit-for-tat conflict between the United States and China — the world’s two largest economies — is poised to escalate from there. The rhetoric is already intensifying.

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2 Koreas meet to arrange reunions of war-split families

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North and South Korean officials met Friday for talks on resuming reunions of families divided by the 1950-53 Korean War as the rivals boost reconciliation amid a diplomatic push to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis.

Seoul’s Unification Ministry said the meeting will discuss ways to carry out an agreement on the reunions made between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in during a summit in April.

Kim and Moon met again in May, and their two summits have opened various channels of peace talks between the Koreas. The rivals recently agreed to restore cross-border military hotline communication channels and field joint teams in some events at the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia.

The Korean leaders in their first meeting agreed to hold the family reunions around Aug. 15, an anniversary celebrated in both countries marking the Korean Peninsula’s independence from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II in 1945. Friday’s talks are expected to set up the exact date and location for the reunions and determine the number of people participating from both countries.

Reunion programs are highly emotional as most wishing to take part are elderly people who are eager to reunite with their loved ones before they die. They were driven apart during the turmoil of the Korean War.

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Melania Trump dons ‘I really don’t care, do u?’ jacket

WASHINGTON (AP) — Melania Trump went to Texas to show she cared about migrant children. Her fashion choice carried a baffling counter-message.

The first lady wore a green, hooded military jacket from the fast-fashion brand Zara that read “I really don’t care, do u?” both as she departed and returned to Washington. The words were printed in white, in graffiti-style, on the jacket’s back.

When asked what message the first lady intended to send, spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said: “It’s a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today’s important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn’t going to choose to focus on her wardrobe. “

Grisham underscored that message in a tweet with the hashtags #SheCares and #ItsJustAJacket.

But President Donald Trump offered his own interpretation, tweeting that it “refers to the Fake News Media. Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares!”

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What’s that extra in my online cart? Soon, maybe a sales tax

NEW YORK (AP) — Attention shoppers: You may soon be paying more taxes on what you put in your online cart.

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that states can require online retailers to collect sales tax on purchases that come from states where they don’t have any shops, offices or warehouses. Before that, retailers didn’t have to collect state sales taxes if it was shipping items to someone in a state where the business didn’t have a physical presence.

Shoppers were generally supposed to pay the sales tax to the state themselves, but most didn’t, says Gerald Storch, who was CEO of department store operator Hudson’s Bay and now runs a retail consulting firm.

The ruling is a victory for states that said they were losing billions of dollars in revenue every year, and for large retailers that had argued that the physical presence rule meant they were playing by different rules than online-only sellers. Small businesses may have to figure out how to comply with various state sales tax laws, though there are software options to help.

But what does it all mean for shoppers? Here’s some more information about the effect of the ruling:

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ABC orders ‘Roseanne’ spinoff for fall minus Roseanne Barr

LOS ANGELES (AP) — ABC, which cancelled its “Roseanne” revival over its star’s racist tweet, said Thursday it will air a Conner family sitcom minus Roseanne Barr this fall.

ABC ordered 10 episodes of the spinoff after Barr relinquished any creative or financial participation in it, which the network had said was a condition of such a series.

In a statement issued by the show’s producer, Barr said she agreed to the settlement to save the jobs of 200 cast and crew members who were idled when “Roseanne” was cancelled last month.

“I regret the circumstances that have caused me to be removed from ‘Roseanne,’ she said, adding, “I wish the best for everyone involved.”

The revival of the hit 1988-97 sitcom “Roseanne” was swiftly axed by ABC last month after Barr posted a tweet likening former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to a product of the Muslim Brotherhood and “Planet of the Apes.”

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Charles Krauthammer, prominent conservative voice, has died

NEW YORK (AP) — Charles Krauthammer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and pundit who helped shape and occasionally dissented from the conservative movement as he evolved from “Great Society” Democrat to Iraq War cheerleader to denouncer of Donald Trump, died Thursday.

He was 68.

His death was announced by two organizations that were longtime employers, Fox News Channel and The Washington Post.

Krauthammer had said publicly a year ago he was being treated for a cancerous tumour in his abdomen and earlier this month revealed that he likely had just weeks to live.

“I leave this life with no regrets,” Krauthammer wrote in The Washington Post, where his column had run since 1984. “It was a wonderful life — full and complete with the great loves and great endeavours that make it worth living. I am sad to leave, but I leave with the knowledge that I lived the life that I intended.”

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No. 1 Sun: Phoenix takes Ayton; Trae Young, Doncic swapped

NEW YORK (AP) — The Phoenix Suns stayed close to home for their first No. 1 pick. The Dallas Mavericks looked all the way to Slovenia for the player they hope can be their next European superstar.

Shortly after the Suns took Deandre Ayton to start the NBA draft Thursday night, the Mavericks traded up two spots for the rights to Luka Doncic.

The Atlanta Hawks swapped the rights to Doncic, the No. 3 pick who has spent the last year winning championships all over Europe, to Atlanta for Trae Young, the No. 5 selection from Oklahoma.

The Mavericks also gave up a future first-round pick to draft Doncic, who only arrived in New York on Wednesday after helping Spain’s Real Madrid win its league championship after he won Euroleague MVP and Final Four MVP honours when they won that title this year.

His lengthy European season kept him from working out for teams but he knew the Mavericks were interested in having him on their team for what’s expected to be Dirk Nowitzki’s final NBA season.

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