Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Russia agrees to resume talks aimed at ending Ukraine war
Russia agreed Wednesday to resume three-way negotiations next month with Washington and Kyiv aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, a Kremlin official said, potentially setting up the first such talks since February. Russian President Vladimir Putin...
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Details sparse in altered deal for data center
Google’s West Memphis data center is expanding, and its planned power use is increasing. So, too, is the tech giant’s demand for secrecy. In fact, Entergy has asked state regulators to waive previous calls for greater transparency. The state’s...
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2nd District debate sees candidates spar
WASHINGTON — Democrat Chris Jones criticized Republican incumbent French Hill throughout Thursday’s debate for Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District, arguing Hill has not challenged President Donald Trump and his agenda. Hill contended he has been a...
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3rd District hopefuls hold debate
debate contrasting himself from Republican incumbent Steve Womack, arguing Northwest Arkansas needs a congressman who better represents families’ interests. Womack, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since January 2011, painted the...
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Sanders faces Love, Shelby during debate
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders touted what she described as the state’s successes during her first term while her challengers, Democrat Fred Love and Libertarian Colt Shelby, criticized her for insufficient planning or being wrong-headed on what...
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Westerman faces Russell in debate
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., leaned on his legislative expertise during Monday’s 4th Congressional District debate as his opponent, Democrat James Russell, argued the country needs a change in direction. The Westerman-Russell...
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Trump touts ‘energy ceasefire’ for Ukraine
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire” in the 4½-year-old war, but he offered no details on it and Kyiv reported attacks by Moscow on energy sites after his statement. Trump’s...
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Rice mill busy despite crop decline
STUTTGART — On a hot August day a flurry of workers direct traffic, and a seemingly endless line of grain trucks cut through clouds of dust in the heart of Producers Rice Mill. Trailers filled with freshly cut rice lined up in a nearby staging area,...
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Hurricane incoming
GULF BREEZE, Fla. — Hurricane Isaias crashed into the U.S. Gulf Coast as a dangerous Category 2 storm on Friday, lashing communities with wind and rain and threatening to flood low-lying areas where residents were advised to evacuate. The first...
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Carrier deployment ends
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier returns Thursday to the San Diego Bay in San Diego after deployment.
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Board OKs Sherwood detachment vote
The Arkansas State Board of Education has advanced an effort by Sherwood-area school advocates to detach the community’s schools from the Pulaski County Special School District. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to order a March 2, 2027, election...
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West Memphis mayor: Data center can bring $20M to city
The mayor of West Memphis estimated Tuesday that the Google data center coming to the city might generate upward of $20 million in new annual revenue for the city. According to Mayor Marco McClendon, the additional funding is expected to include $4.5...
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Yemeni forces retake key sites from Houthis
ADEN, Yemen — Forces of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen have recaptured several key areas around the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait from Iranbacked Houthi rebels, Yemeni officials said Monday, while the Houthis claimed attacks on Saudi oil...
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In the news
■ Jordan Anastassov calls the Roman ruins emerging from withered vegetation after a series of Swiss heat waves the richest discoveries of the past 50 years, significant enough for the archaeologist and others to redraw maps of the ancient provincial...
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Just a simulation
A member of the Iranian army demonstrates the operation of a shoulder-mounted anti-aircraft missile simulator during the opening ceremony of one of the military training centers for volunteers being set up throughout squares in downtown Tehran, Iran,...
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Family in mourning
A mother surrounded by family cries while sitting by the coffin of her son Illia Honcharenko, 14 — killed by a Russian rocket strike on a residential house on Sept. 30 — during his funeral in Vyshhorod, Kyiv region, Ukraine, on Friday.
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Perilous steps
A police officer and a rescue worker carry an unexploded warhead from a Shahed drone out of a school damaged by a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday.
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Co-pilot stabs captain in flight to Israel; jetliner lands safely
TEL AVIV, Israel — A co-pilot stabbed a captain Wednesday on a flight to Israel before passengers burst into the cockpit and wrestled with the attacker as the plane descended sharply and passengers screamed, witnesses said. The jetliner was stabilized...
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Conservatives blast Sanders’ campaign ad
Right-wing commentators have taken to social media to criticize a campaign advertisement from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders that touts her work requirement program for welfare recipients. The 30-second commercial, posted Monday on X, depicts a young...
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Strike damage
Rescue workers combat a fire at the National Academy of Sciences building after it was damaged by a Russian drone strike in the center of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday.
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Defense firms ramp up hiring in Camden amid missile need
CAMDEN — Long guns aren’t allowed in the Super 1 Foods store in Camden. And cleats aren’t allowed in the administration build- ing at Southern Arkansas University Tech. At least that’s what the signs say. “They don’t take their cleats off,”...
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Deal to settle prison board case rejected
A judge on Friday rejected a proposed settlement between the Arkansas Board of Corrections and the governor’s office that would have given the governor the power to hire and fire top prison officials in the state, and nullified a section of the...
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Rural health efforts to get $54.6M
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced an additional $54.6 million in federal funding to bolster rural healthcare on Thursday, the latest distribution from Arkansas’ share of a $50 billion fund set up by Congress last year. Sanders announced $149.3...
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Trump welcomes Xi to US
WASHINGTON — Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on Wednesday, where he was met with a rare plane-side greeting from President Donald Trump after their top officials agreed to extend a trade truce until January. Trump’s Treasury...
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LR district eyes school closures for budget cuts
With its operating fund balance having declined by more than 60% over the past four years, the Little Rock School District has little choice but to make major changes this school year, a district administrator told parents and teachers Tuesday...
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LR mayor orders increased patrols
Following another chaotic incident involving young people in Little Rock’s downtown area over the weekend, Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said Monday that he has directed police to increase patrols and officer visibility around the River Market...
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Kyiv drone strike
Boys with bicycles stand on the road as smoke rises over a warehouse that was hit by a Russian drone strike in the Kyiv region of Ukraine on Sunday.
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Ex-detainees describe life in Louisiana detention site
WINNFIELD, La. — The stillness is broken by the footsteps of two guards. They walk down a hallway and stop briefly in front of each cell. From a list, they read the names of the men who will be deported that night. Each day, between 11 p.m. and...
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Damage assessment
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A vehicle bomb exploded Friday at a mosque near police offices in northwestern Pakistan as gunmen tried to storm the compound in an attack that killed at least 21 people and wounded 80 others, police and rescue officials said....
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Letter grades for schools see improvement
Letter grades for Arkansas schools and school districts improved in the 202526 school year, with more of each receiving A’s and B’s, and fewer receiving F’s, state officials announced on Thursday. The letter grades, available on the Arkansas...
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Fencing put up to close Kennedy Center main
WASHINGTON — Fencing went up Wednesday around the main Kennedy Center building, a day after the Trump-aligned board voted to close most of the performing arts center for repairs. A Democratic congresswoman who is a trustee quickly sought an emergency...
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Wildfire in Calhoun County 35% contained, official says
EAST CAMDEN — A grass wildfire that broke out Monday in Calhoun County near an East Camden industrial park was 35% contained just before noon Tuesday. Robert Murphy, the emergency services director for the state Department of Agriculture, said there...
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Crane collapse
MIAMI — A crane towering over a construction site in an upscale Miami neighborhood toppled onto a passing vehicle Monday morning, setting it on fire and injuring the driver and three construction workers, officials said. The collapse occurred shortly...
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Ukraine asked to stop attacks
KYIV, Ukraine — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure used to produce and distribute diesel, saying the attacks are causing a global...
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NWA family weighs options after main provider deported
SPRINGDALE — The Chavez family’s lives changed abruptly on March 11. That is when immigration agents detained Eduardo Chavez, a Mexican immigrant described by his loved ones as a hardworking man, devoted husband, father of three and the primary...
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Houthis take Red Sea island near key strait
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen seized a key island Friday after capturing a Red Sea port, moves that threatened to further disrupt international shipping in the region. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said it shut down a major oil pipeline as a...
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Church bell in LR to mark 25 years since 9/11 attacks
A quarter century after the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, Arkansans will pause Friday to remember the lives lost at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in a field a few miles outside of Shanksville, Pa. At Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in...
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IAEA board reports Iran to UN council
VIENNA — The U.N. atomic watchdog’s board on Wednesday reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council for the first time in 20 years, citing it for failure to cooperate in a long-running investigation into uranium traces detected by inspectors at...
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Remembering the fallen
Soldiers bow their heads during the invocation during the Tunnel to Towers Foundation event for the 25th Anniversary of 9/11, on the Ellipse near the White House on Tuesday.
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Iran vows to retaliate if US attacks its assets
Iran threatened on Monday to retaliate against any new U.S. attacks on its assets, warning that energy infrastructure across the Persian Gulf, including U.S. oil and gas interests, was vulnerable. Lebanon’s Health Ministry says Israeli airstrikes on a...
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US denies Iran struck vessel
U.S. military has denied Iran’s claim to have struck an unmanned American military vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, calling it a “total lie.” A top Iranian official said Tehran plans to announce an “exclusion zone” outside the Strait of Hormuz aimed at...
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Ambassador Huckabee visits Palestinian town
TURMUS AYYA, West Bank — U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday met with Palestinian Americans, including relatives of U.S. citizens killed by Israeli settlers, in a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank that has been the target of...
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LRSD unveils ’27-28 school closure advice
The Little Rock School District has released a set of recommendations for school closures, with four elementary campuses and two middle schools among the possibilities. Those recommendations are detailed in a plan called LRSD Forward, which district...
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Iran military fires barrage at Kuwait
— Iran fired at Kuwait on Thursday as part of its retaliation for U.S. bombardments earlier in the week. Meanwhile, Israeli police said they arrested a settler reportedly involved in an attack on Palestinians last week. Sirens sounded in Kuwait early...
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Judge denies ask to halt of data deal story
A federal judge Wednesday denied Entergy Arkansas’ request for a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette from publishing details about a data center deal from Public Service Commission documents the organization...
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Arkansas aims to bring down SNAP error rate
Arkansas lawmakers and administrators are racing to find ways to cut the state’s error rate for federal food assistance, hoping to avoid a looming penalty. One state senator lamented Tuesday that Arkansas is at a disadvantage compared to larger states...
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Google to pay utility $526M as part of deal
Google will pay Entergy Arkansas $526 million to build Cypress Solar, about one-third of the $1.6 billion price tag of the solar and battery facility. That plant — a 600-megawatt solar field and 350-megawatt battery solar facility — will feed the grid...
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NASA’s new Roman Space Telescope launches
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s newest crown jewel blasted off Sunday to hunt for planets around other stars, explore secret dark energy and survey the cosmos like never before. SpaceX launched the $4.3 billion Roman Space Telescope shortly after...
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Money flows despite Hogs’ losses
FAYETTEVILLE — Money will flow at the University of Arkansas even if victories do not for a football team that has posted six losing seasons in the past decade. Ticket sales at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium for the 2024-25 academic year hit...
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Israeli airstrikes kill 8; Iran touts Russia deal
Israeli airstrikes killed five people in Gaza and three in the West Bank on Friday, despite a fragile ceasefire brokered by the United States. Meanwhile, thousands of sailors remain stranded in the Persian Gulf by the Iran war, while Iran is touting...
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Flash floods in Nepal, China kill over 160, officials report
UDIN DHUNGA, Nepal — Flash floods in a border area of Nepal and China on Wednesday killed over 160 people and left hundreds of tourists, workers and others missing after sweeping through communities and bringing travel in some areas to a halt. Experts...
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Lightning strike kills 7 animals at Bee Branch farm
Alan and Angela Mahan left Rabbit Ridge Farms near Bee Branch during a lightning storm Monday morning. When they returned about 45 minutes later, seven of their animals were dead. Their legs and bellies had been burned. Alan Mahan said Tuesday that...
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Iran hit with new sanctions
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a new round of sanctions aimed at Iran on Monday and warned every country that does business with the Islamic Republic to sever those financial ties or face retaliation from the United...
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Freedom 250 Grand Prix sees race cars roar through capital
WASHINGTON — Washington hosted an IndyCar race through its streets Sunday, with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump kicking off the Freedom 250 Grand Prix by leading a slow lap in the presidential limousine through the course. Soon...
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Panel OKs $12.4M tutoring contract for rural students
A panel of state lawmakers endorsed a nearly $12.4 million federally funded contract with a California-based virtual tutoring firm on Tues- day. The agreement requires Air Education Inc., also known as Air Reading, to provide high-impact tutoring to...
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State calls off prison project, records show
A proposal for a 3,000bed state prison in Franklin County has been canceled with corrections officials quietly working on a plan to expand existing prisons and possibly build smaller facilities across Arkansas. An April 29 state Department of...
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A-State welcomes first cohort of vet students
JONESBORO — The Arkansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine has welcomed its first class of students. The state’s first veterinary school marked the occasion Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Jonesboro in the sweltering August...
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Trump claims Iran owes US compensation
President Donald Trump on Monday scoffed at Iran’s demand for reparations for devastation caused to the country by the U.S. and Israeli bombardment over the past five months — a demand he said Tehran’s negotiators hadn’t raised until now. Trump’s...
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Infant evacuated
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia and Ukraine exchanged strikes overnight that killed civilians and injured many others on both sides, local authorities reported. Large-scale Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities have become almost routine in recent weeks,...
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Grape harvest begins
Grape harvest is underway well before mid-August, marking the earliest on record date because of ongoing climate change, near Turin, Italy, on Saturday, as higher temperatures and drier summers force local winegrowers to harvest during cooler hours and...
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Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan ink new pact
ANKARA, Turkey — Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed a defense agreement on Friday that would treat an attack on one as an attack on all three, officials said, solidifying cooperation between the three regional powers at a time of growing security...
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Firm IDs Arkansas sites as best for reactors
Locations in southwest and Central Arkansas are best suited for new nuclear reactors, according to a study presented Thursday to the legislature’s Joint Energy Committee. Brian Meadors, an attorney with Maryland-based EXCEL Services Corp., told the...
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Fighting the flames
Firefighters put out a fire after Russian missiles hit a warehouse in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday.
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Volcanic display
Lava flows and clouds of ash billow from the crater of the Fuego volcano, seen from San Juan Alotenango, Guatemala, on Tuesday. Video online at arkansasonline.com/85volcano/.
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