Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Flying a flag
A flag bearer and veteran stands under a French national flag during a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris on Friday, marking the 81st anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, which commemorates the end of the Second World War in Europe.
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Tennessee OKs new House map
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Amid raucous protests Thursday, Republicans in Tennessee enacted a new U.S. House map that carves up a majority-Black district in Memphis, reshaping it to the GOP’s advantage as part of President Donald Trump’s strategy to hold on to...
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Governor signs tax cut bills
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday signed into law identical bills that will trim the state’s top individual and corporate income tax rates — the fourth income tax rate cut during her nearly 3½ years at the helm of state government. The...
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State lawmakers OK tax rate cuts
Identical bills that would trim the state’s top individual and corporate tax rates zipped through the Arkansas Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday. The action came in the second day of the special session called by Gov. Sarah Huckabee...
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Arkansas TV gets guarantee for PBS funds
The private foundation that supports Arkansas TV will “guarantee” up to $1.5 million a year during the next three years so the station can continue to offer programming from the Public Broadcasting Service. That’s the gist of an email that Ed McClure,...
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West Bank clashes
NABLUS, West Bank — One Palestinian man was killed and four others seriously wounded during an Israeli military raid in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. The Palestinian Health Ministry said...
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Trump reviews new Iran peace proposal
BEIRUT — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he was reviewing a new Iranian proposal to end the war but expressed skepticism that it would lead to a deal. Two semiofficial Iranian news outlets, Tasnim and Fars, believed to be close to Iran’s...
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Trump ‘not satisfied’ with Iran’s latest offer
ISLAMABAD — U.S. President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s latest proposal to end the war between the countries, saying Friday he still was not satisfied while blaming Iran’s “fractured” leadership. Trump turned back the latest proposal almost as soon as...
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Sanders calls for legislation on tax rate cut
The Arkansas General Assembly will consider legislation trimming the state’s top individual and corporate income tax rates in a special session starting Monday afternoon under a proclamation issued by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday. In her...
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Bill to help pay for PBS fails again in House vote
A bill to help the state’s public broadcasting network pay to keep PBS shows on its airwaves failed for the third time to pass the Arkansas House of Representatives. Senate Bill 77 would have created a fund where the state could match private...
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2 bills to raise revenue budget to $6.7B OK’d
The Arkansas House of Representatives and Senate on Tuesday approved identical proposed Revenue Stabilization Acts that would increase the state’s general revenue budget by $211 million to $6.7 billion in the next fiscal year. The measures also would...
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Mayor avoids assault, harassment charges
More than four months after an investigation was opened into North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick by the Arkansas State Police, a special prosecutor has declined to pursue charges of sexual assault or harassment against him. The decision was...
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Suspect’s anti-Trump texts reported by kin
WASHINGTON — The man accused of opening fire at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner railed against Trump administration policies and referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” in writings sent to family members minutes before...
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Slot machines reign supreme in Arkansas casino industry
Slot machines have been king in the Natural State since Arkansas legalized casino gambling, and it doesn’t look like they’ll be giving up their crown anytime soon. Terminal games, commonly called slots, have evolved over the years, and while some...
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West Memphis hopes incentives draw facility
WEST MEMPHIS — Local leaders, business owners and residents in West Memphis say they are hopeful the city will land an advanced manufacturing super project that could bring thousands of jobs, even though the company hasn’t been identified. Their hope...
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Panel OKs bills to bolster West Memphis site odds
Up to $300 million in surplus state funds could be allocated to bolster the odds of a sprawling manufacturing facility being built in West Memphis under legislation that cleared the Arkansas Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee on Thursday. Arkansas’...
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Proposal to ban funds transfer at UA rejected
A legislative subcommittee on Wednesday voted down a proposal to block the transfer of University of Arkansas, Fayetteville institutional funds to Razorback athletics next year. In a split voice vote, the Joint Budget Committee’s special language...
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Ceasefire extends as talks hold
ISLAMABAD — President Donald Trump said Tuesday the United States was indefinitely extending its ceasefire with Iran — a day before it was to expire — as a new round of peace talks was on hold. The announcement appeared to ease fears that the fighting,...
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In the news
▪ Jenna Perrin said a hot air balloon that made an emergency landing in her tiny Temecula, Calif., backyard, where it towered over the home she shares with her husband, was “kissing the fence” but “didn’t hit our house or our trees.” ▪ Benjamin...
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Louisiana shooting leaves 8 children dead
SHREVEPORT — A Louisiana father fatally shot eight children, including seven of his own, during an early morning attack on his family Sunday that stretched across two houses in a Shreveport neighborhood left shaken by one of the nation’s deadliest mass...
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Arkansas legal professionals note promise, pitfalls of AI
In recent years, research and development in the field of artificial intelligence have brought forth huge leaps in the technology that, while seemingly miraculous, can be a minefield for the unwary. AI technology enables computers and machines to...
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County judge urges treasurer resign in budget woe response
An obscure accounting maneuver helped propel Pulaski County into a budget panic, the county’s top elected official and comptroller acknowledged Friday in a news conference. County Judge Barry Hyde and Comptroller Michael “Hutch” Hutchens blamed the...
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House passes tax credit resolution
Homeowners could soon get a small tax break after the Arkansas House of Representatives advanced legislation Thursday to increase the homestead property tax credit. The House voted 92-0 to pass House Resolution 1006, sponsored by Rep. Bart Schulz,...
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Protection from Sharia Law Act shot down
An Arkansas legislative committee on Wednesday declined to advance a proposal that sought to establish the “Arkansas Property Rights Protection From Sharia Law Act.” The decision on House Resolution 1016 by state Rep. Marcus Richmond, R-Harvey, came...
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Panel moves to limit prison funds
The Joint Budget Committee on Tuesday directed legislative staff to draft a reappropriation measure under which the Arkansas Department of Corrections would be barred from spending any of the $73.7 million in state funds for construction of a prison in...
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Iran threatens region’s ports amid blockade
CAIRO — U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the American military had begun a blockade of Iranian ports as part of his effort to force Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz and accept a deal to end the war that has raged for more than six...
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Hungary votes to oust Orbán, concluding 16 years in power
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungarian voters on Sunday ousted long-serving Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power, rejecting the authoritarian policies and global far-right movement that he embodied in favor of a pro-European challenger in a...
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Saracen hotel nears completion, leveling playing field for casinos
PINE BLUFF — Construction of Saracen Casino Resort’s hotel is nearing completion after a half-year delay caused by the pandemic and tariff hurdles. The hotel will add more than 300 hotel rooms in Pine Bluff and put the casino on even footing with its...
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Vance sets off as US, Iran prepare for talks
ISLAMABAD — With the ceasefire in Iran still shaky, U.S. Vice President JD Vance headed to Pakistan Friday for high-level talks with Iranian officials, as Israel and Hezbollah militants traded fire and Tehran maintained its hold on the Strait of...
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Israeli premier permits talks with Lebanon
DUBAI, United Arab Emirate — In a potential boost to Middle East ceasefire efforts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he authorized direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible” aimed at disarming Iranian-backed...
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NLR in negotiations to keep Travelers as lease nears end
The Arkansas Travelers open 2026 on Tuesday against the Wichita Wind Surge, the beginning of a season full of question marks as it is the final season of a long-standing lease agreement between the team and the city of North Little...
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Trump warns Iran to reopen strait by cutoff
TEL AVIV, Israel — U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran to open the crucial Strait of Hormuz by his Monday deadline, and Tehran called his threat “unbalanced and foolish.” A missing U.S. service member was rescued, according to U.S. officials early...
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We have liftoff
NASA’s Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Wednesday.
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Dow surges more than 1,100
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks surged to their best day since last spring, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 1,125 points on Tuesday as doubt swung back to hope on Wall Street about a possible end to the war with Iran. The S&P 500 leaped 2.9% for...
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Passengers find airport lines much shorter as TSA is paid
Frustrating security lines dwindled at U.S. airports Monday, clearing the worst bottlenecks as Transportation Safety Administration officers began receiving back pay for working during the government shutdown. Checkpoint lines that at times stretched...
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LR’s ‘community schools’ offer services beyond classes
At first glance, Chicot Elementary is just like any other school. But walk past the bright hallways plastered with crayon drawings and “I can count to 100” worksheets and through a gym lined with balance bikes, and you’ll find clinics that provide...
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Israel, Iran trade threats, fire
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel struck Iran’s nuclear facilities hours after threatening to “escalate and expand” its campaign against Tehran on Friday. Iran vowed to retaliate and struck a base in Saudi Arabia, wounding U.S. service members and...
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War with Iran rages on as US stalls on threat
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — As thousands more U.S. troops neared the Middle East and Israel poured more troops into southern Lebanon to fight the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, Iran tightened its grip Thursday on the crucial Strait of...
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Iran dismisses US truce offer
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran on Wednesday dismissed an American plan to pause the war in the Middle East and launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries, including strikes that hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking...
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Senators chase deal to end standoff, travel disruptions
WASHINGTON — Travel disruptions deepened Tuesday as senators raced to salvage a proposal to end the Homeland Security shutdown by funding much of the department, including airport workers going without pay, but excluding immigration operations that...
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ICE at airports leads to feelings of unease
NEW YORK — Armed federal immigration officers in tactical gear moved through terminals at some of the busiest U.S. airports Monday, standing near security lines and checkpoints after President Donald Trump ordered their deployment during a partial...
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Bigger tax refunds to be offset by high gas prices
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy was supposed to start the year with a bang, fueled by an unusually large jump in tax refunds from President Donald Trump’s tax cut legislation. Yet spiking gas prices are on track to eat up those refunds, leaving most...
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GOP runoff set for secretary of state
Paper ballots, endorsements and “salty language” are some of the issues that have come to define the Republican primary for secretary of state. With early voting beginning Tuesday, Bryan Norris and Kim Hammer are locked in a heated runoff battle to...
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Iran threatens tourism sites around world
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Three weeks into an escalating war in the Middle East, Iran threatened Friday to expand its retaliatory attacks to include recreational and tourist sites worldwide, as the U.S. announced it was sending more warships and...
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Israeli strikes pound Tehran
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel pounded Tehran with airstrikes Friday as Iranians marked Nowruz, or the Persian New Year, in the midst of a war that has sent shock waves through the global economy and risked drawing Iran’s Arab neighbors directly...
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Stocks slump as worries rise after inflation report
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks slumped Wednesday after a report said inflation was primed to worsen even before the war with Iran caused oil prices to spike. That and comments from the head of the Federal Reserve pushed Wall Street to see less chance of...
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Israel kills 2 Iranian officials
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel killed two senior Iranian security officials in a major blow to the Islamic Republic’s leadership as it faces its greatest test in decades, and Iran responded Wednesday with renewed missile and drone attacks on its...
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Sleeping it out
A man sleeps in the baggage claim area of Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va., on Monday.
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SEC Tournament champs
No doubt the debate heated up Sunday after Darius Acuff Jr., the SEC Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year, scored 30 points — 18 in the second half — to lead the Arkansas Razorbacks to just their second SEC Tournament championship. Acuff, who...
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Tehran urges people to flee ports in UAE
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran urged people Saturday to evacuate the Middle East’s busiest port and two others in the United Arab Emirates, openly threatening a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets for the first time as its war with the U.S. and...
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Sites on island key to Iran oil exports struck
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — President Donald Trump said the U.S. bombed military sites Friday on an island vital to Iran’s oil network, while an American official said 2,500 more Marines and an amphibious assault ship are being sent to the Middle...
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Iran’s leader offers remarks
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s secretive new leader issued his first public statements Thursday, resolving to keep fighting, promising more pain for Gulf Arab states and threatening to open “other fronts” in a war that has already disrupted world...
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Open Turning Point clubs, Sanders urges state’s schools
Calling its late founder an inspiration to the state’s youth, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a proclamation Wednesday calling on every high school and college in the state to open a chapter of Turning Point USA. Sanders signed the proclamation at...
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US says 16 Iran vessels destroyed
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. said it took out more than a dozen mine-laying Iranian vessels Tuesday, and the Islamic Republic vowed to block the region’s oil exports, saying it would not allow “even a single liter” to be shipped to its...
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Trump: War to end ‘very soon’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he plans to waive oil-related sanctions, have the U.S. Navy escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz and predicted the war with Iran would resolve “very soon” as he confronted mounting economic and political...
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Iran assembly names choice for new leader
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran’s late supreme leader, has been named his successor, Iranian state TV announced early Monday, as the war that began a little over a week ago with his father’s killing took a dramatic...
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State’s tenant farmers anxious over rising cropland rent prices
A steady increase in cropland rent prices has added a challenge for the state’s tenant farmers, who already are weathering commodity price pressures and soaring production expenses. In Arkansas, 31% of farmers own none of the land they farm, according...
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Trump refuses any deal until Iran surrender
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. President Donald Trump said he would not seek a deal with Iran without the country’s “unconditional surrender” as Washington warned of a forthcoming bombing campaign that officials said would be the most intense of...
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Israel strikes Tehran, Beirut
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Intense Israeli airstrikes pounded the capitals of Iran and Lebanon early Friday as the U.S. apparently struck an Iranian drone carrier at sea, intensifying its campaign targeting the Islamic Republic’s fleet of...
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Iranian missiles fired at Israel
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran launched missiles at Israel early Thursday as aerial attacks in the Middle East commenced for a sixth day as the Islamic Republic continued to threaten the destruction of military and economic infrastructure across...
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Hill handles primary challenge, will vie with Jones for US House
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. French Hill easily survived a challenge in Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District Republican primary on Tuesday, as Democrats picked Chris Jones to represent their party in the general election contest. Hill’s victory means...
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Attacks widen across Mideast
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel and the United States pounded Iran in an escalating campaign that U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday would likely take several weeks. Tehran and its allies hit back across the region, striking Israel and a...
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Iranians express hope, fear amid bombardment
CAIRO — Some of the jubilation was open and even raucous — people dancing in Iranian streets, honking car horns in celebration and screaming joyfully from windows and rooftops over the killing of the country’s supreme leader. But as bombardment by the...
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US, Israel strike Iran, kill leader
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a top security adviser and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were killed in American-Israel airstrikes on the country, state media reported Sunday. The state-run IRNA news...
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Clinton: ‘Nothing wrong’ in Epstein ties
WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton told members of Congress on Friday that he “did nothing wrong” in his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and saw no signs of Epstein’s sexual abuse as he faced hours of grilling from lawmakers over his...
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Rubio defends Maduro ouster at summit
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts and Nevis — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday defended the Trump administration’s military operation to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, telling Caribbean leaders, many of whom objected to that move, that the...
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Trump speech aims to soothe economy fears
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump declared during Tuesday’s State of the Union that “we’re winning so much,” saying he’d sparked a jobs and manufacturing boom at home while imposing a new world order abroad. His main objective in the...
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Arkansas natives staying safe amid cartel violence
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — Fayetteville resident and artist Misha McQuillen Gardner just wanted to show her friend a good time for her birthday. The two Arkansas natives, both originally from Van Buren, arrived in Puerto Vallarta on Wednesday and were...
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Portis inked columns before lauded fiction
Charles Portis wrote about hypnotizing chickens. He also wrote about how chickens perch on poles in hen houses all facing the front, like they’re riding a bus or an elevator. Portis first documented these avian observations in the pages of the...
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