President Donald Trump invited the Dodgers to the White House. Many of their fans feared that the team, by accepting, would humiliate themselves and betray the team’s large Latino, Asian and African-American fan base. Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter, along with co-owner Magic Johnson, have proposed a solution. Trump has promised that if he can keep the championship trophy, the Commissioner’s Trophy, he will end all seizures and deportations of immigrants.   read more

David Craig got the letter last week from his son Lynn Craig, who returned safely from Iraq in September 2005. The missing letter, dated March 14, 2005, was written about a month after Lynn Craig had been in Iraq. At that time, he was a lance corporal of the U.S. Marine Corps. He's still part of the Reserve. The Craigs say they'd like to know where the letter has been all this time.   read more

Phokeer started in politics around 1983 when he joined the MSM (Militant Socialist Movement) party, led by Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth. Phokeer won a seat in parliament in 1991. The MSM lost power in 1995, but when it won elections in 2000, Phokeer was appointed ambassador to Egypt, where he served for four years. He returned to Mauritius in 2004 and was appointed special adviser to the minister of agriculture.   read more

De Sousa's lawyer said there were no grounds for extradition and he would appeal to Portugal's top court. De Sousa was arrested in October at the request of Italian prosecutors, who want her to serve a six-year sentence. She was one of 26 people convicted in absentia on charges of snatching Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr from a street in Milan in 2003 and taking him to be questioned in Egypt. The case focused attention on the treatment of suspects moved around the world for CIA interrogation.   read more

“The USA FREEDOM Act ended bulk collection, but this report leaves us guessing just how good a job it did,” said Open Technology's Robyn Greene. Under a replacement program that took effect on Nov. 29, NSA and law enforcement agencies must get a court order and ask communications companies to authorize monitoring of call records of specific people. While some Republicans vying for the White House have criticized the shutdown of the bulk program, other Republican contenders have defended it.   read more

Robins Air Force Base officials issued a statement saying King's picture on the flier was "an honest mistake." The shooting session is scheduled for Monday, the annual national holiday to commemorate King's birthday. "We offer our heartfelt apology to those affected by our thoughtlessness," base spokesman Roland Leach said. "We hold the legacy of Dr. King in the highest regard. We're deeply sorry for any offense or harm caused by our insensitivity..."   read more

According to the park the famed Ahwahnee Hotel, which was built in the 1920s, would be renamed The Majestic Yosemite Hotel and Curry Village would be called Half Dome Village. Notable guests of the Ahwahnee have included Queen Elizabeth II, U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, as well as entertainers Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, Charlie Chaplin, Judy Garland and Will Rogers, according to the historic-hotels-lodges.com website.   read more

Author and humorist Sean Carter, who practiced law for 10 years, said the poem was a bit graphic and the humor may have been better used in a corporate security lawsuit, but the poem did not affect the legality of the decision. "There is no grounds for appeal because a judge is silly," Carter said, adding, "You would not want to read this opinion over lunch."   read more

The last decade, the networks' evening newscasts never showered a presidential campaign with the kind of attention they gave Trump a year before the White House vote even takes place. Thanks to over 24 hours of Trump interviews on Fox News the past seven months, Trump received nearly $30 million in free media. Last year, he received nearly three times as much network coverage as Hillary Clinton. while Bernie Sanders received a total of 20 minutes of newscast coverage compared to Trump's 327.   read more

The race was an odd one: Michaud ran as an anti-abortion Democrat and faced a pro-choice Republican, Kevin Raye. Michaud won the election, which was the closest one he had in his congressional career. He became the first Franco-American elected to federal office from Maine. Late in 2013, as he ran against Maine’s Republican governor, Paul LePage, Michaud came out as gay. He did it, he said, because of rumors about his sexual orientation and he wanted it not to be an issue in the election.   read more

For a time, Faye held the Gambian record in the 100 and 200 meters and he competed internationally, even representing his country at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles as the Gambian team captain. He went into the Gambian National Army in 1983, leaving in 1994, about the time it staged a coup installing Yahya Jammeh as the country’s leader. Faye ended up in Atlanta, Georgia, where, some sources say, he sought asylum. He worked as a security guard and utility-line locator in the United States.   read more

In August 2000, he became director general of International Economic Affairs and Coordinator of the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement with Mexico. He was named ambassador to the Netherlands in August 2003, and permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the International Criminal Court. On July 11, 2005, Gianelli was named ambassador to the United States for the first time. He served in Washington until July 2012, when Carlos Pita replaced him.   read more

Newman began practicing law in Botswana in 1983. He became a managing partner in Collins Newman & Co., a well-connected law firm in the capital city, Gaborone. Newman was appointed to the high court in 2005. Newman is close to Botswana President Ian Khama, and is considered to be a member of Khama’s inner circle. He was a shareholder in a company involved in some questionable land sales in 2006 involving the government. Newman is believed to be one of the richest people in Botswana.   read more

The lawsuit was filed against Nestle and others by former child slavery victims originally from Mali in West Africa. Their lawsuit claims that, aware of the child slavery problem, the companies offered financial and technical assistance to local farmers in a bid to guarantee the cheapest source of cocoa. "On behalf of current and former child slaves in the cocoa sector in West Africa, the plaintiffs hope their case will help to end this inhumane practice," IRA's Collingsworth said.   read more

President Obama's State of the Union pledge to better manage fossil fuel development will face a test within days, when federal officials rule on whether to open public lands containing more than 600 million tons of coal to more mining. Interior Dept. officials are due to decide Jan. 27 on whether to lease two mine sites on federal land in Wyoming's coal-rich Powder River Basin. Environmentalists strongly oppose more coal mining on federal land, saying it would exacerbate climate change.   read more

"These findings are concerning because the U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that there is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure," said CDC study author Israel Agaku. Secondhand smoke has been linked with several illnesses in children, including breathing problems, ear infections, bronchitis and pneumonia. In adults, it has been linked with heart disease and lung cancer. The study results are based on a national survey of more than 17,000 middle school and high school kids.   read more

"You can't use hairspray because hairspray is going to affect the ozone," complained Trump. "They want me to use the pump because the other one, which I really like better than going 'bing,' 'bing,' 'bing,' and then it comes out in big globs, right? And it's stuck in your hair, and you say, 'Oh my God, I got to take a shower again, my hair's all screwed up..." He also criticized limited-flow shower heads. "You have showers where I can't wash my hair properly," he said. "It's a disaster."   read more