World/Nation
Obama's trade allies hail House vote
WASHINGTON - The House dramatically rescued President Barack Obama's trade agenda from near oblivion Thursday, and supporters urged the Senate to finish the job and give him a signature achievement in his final years in office.
The turnabout gave a much-needed lift to a president recently rebuffed by his own party after years of fighting Republicans.
In one of the strangest twists of his presidency, most fellow Democrats oppose Obama on trade, forcing him to rely heavily on Republicans to ease the path for possibly far-reaching trade accords in Asia and elsewhere.
The president needs comparatively small numbers of Democrats in both chambers. His supporters were encouraged by Thursday's events.
Setting up votes early next week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., alluded to the bill's near death last week, but he maintained that the measure could be sent to Obama before July 4.
Islamic State group creates nation of fear
ESKI MOSUL, Iraq - Inside the Islamic State's realm, the paper testifying that you have "repented" from your heretical past must be carried at all times. Many people laminate it just to be safe. It can mean the difference between life and death.
Bilal Abdullah learned that not long after the extremists took over his Iraqi village, Eski Mosul, a year ago. As he walked down the street, an Islamic State fighter in a pickup truck asked directions to a local mosque. When Abdullah didn't recognize the mosque's name, the fighter became suspicious.
"He told me my faith is weak and asked, 'Do you pray?'" Abdullah recalled. Then the fighter asked to see his "repentance card." Abdullah had been a policeman until the IS takeover, and policemen and soldiers are required to have one. So are many other former government loyalists or employees - even former English teachers, since they once taught a "forbidden" language and tailors of women's clothes because they once designed styles deemed un-Islamic.
Abdullah had left his card at home. Terrified, he sent his son running to get it.
"They are brutal people," he told The Associated Press. "They can consider you an infidel for the simplest thing."
Estimated 6,500 injured in deck, balcony collapses since 2003
BERKELEY, Calif. - An estimated 6,500 people have been rushed to emergency rooms with injuries from collapsing balconies and porches, while 29 - including six college students in Berkeley this week - have been killed since 2003.
One reason, experts say, is the structures are particularly vulnerable to dry rot.
"It's all about creating a safe structure that has endurance, that has a reasonable life expectancy," said David Helfant, who identified potential flaws in design and construction after an unofficial inspection of the Berkeley balcony that collapsed.
"When I see something like that in a town I work and live in, it's extremely depressing, it's upsetting," he said.
A Consumer Product Safety Commission analysis for The Associated Press estimated that 4,600 emergency room visits were associated with deck collapses in the past decade and another 1,900 with porch failures.
California reveals details of self-driving car accidents
LOS ANGELES - California state officials released reports Thursday detailing six accidents that involved self-driving car prototypes, reversing a policy that shielded details of how the next-generation technology is performing during testing on public roads.
The disclosure came after The Associated Press argued to the Department of Motor Vehicles that the agency was improperly withholding the information.
According to the reports, most of the cars were in self-driving mode when the accidents happened, and the other driver caused the accident. None of the crashes was serious enough to cause injuries, either to the person the state requires to sit behind the wheel or people in the other cars.
The DMV's refusal to release the reports bothered critics, who said the public should know how the cars of the future were faring today.
Arizona swelters in triple-digit temps as heat wave drags on
PHOENIX - Arizona is in the midst of a prolonged heat wave that has produced record-high temperatures in Phoenix, prompted dozens of daily calls to the Humane Society about overheated pets, and sparked triple-digit temperatures in typically cooler mountain locations.
Phoenix hit 115 degrees Thursday, tying the record high for that date set in 1989, as the city baked in what could be a record-setting run of heat.
Meteorologists predict another 115-degree day on Friday.
The city is on track for 10 straight days of temperatures at or above 110 degrees. That would tie the record for the longest stretch of 110 and higher, set in August 2012, said Dan Leins, meteorologist at the National Weather Service.
Phoenix tied a record Wednesday for the hottest June 17 of all time as it hit 114 degrees, matching the mark set in 1896 when weather records were first kept.
- The Associated Press