Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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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Judge strikes law requiring school posters
A federal judge on Monday struck down an Arkansas law requiring schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, saying there are no “historical practices and understanding to support” the posting of the document in a public school context. U.S....
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SEC Tournament champs
Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr. (center) celebrates after being named tournament MVP after the Razorbacks’ 86-75 win over Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday.
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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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Wind farm opponents point to property values, legal concerns
LINCOLN — Carolyne Wilson of Lincoln experienced firsthand wind turbines in west Texas and is against a wind farm that is being proposed 5 miles north of town. “I’m very emotional about this,” Wilson said during a community meeting of the Concerned...
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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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Fayetteville bond issue passes, including new aquatic center
FAYETTEVILLE — The development of an aquatic center was approved by voters in a tight race, along with several other bond issues items that were handily approved, according to Tuesday’s unofficial election results. There were nine questions included...
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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 Ameri- can-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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Rogers man, 61, dies when plane crashes into area lake
ROGERS — A member of the Arkansas Air & Military Museum Board of Directors died Thursday when his plane crashed into Beaver Lake. A Jodel D-11 crashed into the lake around 1:30 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The Benton County...
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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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Mexico unrest upending life for residents
TAPALPA, Mexico — Heavily armed security forces kept up their battle with cartel gunmen a day after the Mexican army killed the country’s most powerful drug lord, sparking a surge in violence and putting the country on edge. Cartel fighters continued...
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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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Lunar New Year traditions
Dancers perform a lion dance during Lunar New Year celebrations in La Paz, Bolivia, on Saturday.
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Legal alternatives remain for Trump’s use of levies
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump still has options to keep taxing imports aggressively even after the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs he imposed last year on nearly every country on earth. The court didn’t support the president’s sweeping...
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Former Prince Andrew arrested on Epstein ties
LONDON — The former Prince Andrew was arrested and held for hours by British police Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his links to Jeffrey Epstein, an extraordinary move in a country where authorities once sought to shield...
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Investigator is hired to probe petition fraud
Volunteers canvassing for a pair of constitutional amendments were caught off guard Friday when a state official approached them and asked to see their ID. The man in question, Patrick Hall, was not a voter looking to sign one of their petitions, but...
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First day voting numbers up
Tuesday marked the first day of early voting in the March 3 primary election and nonpartisan judicial election with some local voters eager to get to the polls and encouraging others to do the same. Misha Gardner came to the Washington County...
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Sanders signs order to speed up permitting
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order Monday that she said will speed up permitting in Arkansas, cutting “unnecessary red tape.” The executive order requires state agencies to review their processes around permitting and then submit a...
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DHS shutdown lingers; talks at impasse on oversight push
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Lawmakers and the White House offered no signs of compromise Sunday in their battle over oversight of federal immigration officers that has led to a pause in funding for the Department of Homeland Security. A partial government...
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Educators warn state’s kids set to repeat grade
John Crawford is sounding an alarm he fears some parents aren’t heeding: Thousands of third graders in Arkansas could be forced to repeat the grade next school year. A mixed response “tells me that some of my parents don’t understand the...
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Judge favors campaigners on ballot law
A Pulaski County circuit judge ruled Friday that a 2023 state law requiring ballot campaigns collect a minimum number of signatures from at least 50 counties is unconstitutional. The lawsuit, filed by the League of Women Voters of Arkansas, is a...
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D.C. air crash hearing
Key senators and the families of the 67 dead in an airliner collision with an Army helicopter near the nation’s capital are convinced that advanced aircraft locator systems recommended by experts for nearly two decades would have prevented last year’s...
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Protest in Argentina
A Molotov cocktail bursts into flames in front of police during a march by unions and opposition supporters against a labor reform bill proposed by President Javier Milei’s government in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday.
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Walking for peace
Buddhist monks walk outside of the Washington National Cathedral after an event they participated in during the Walk For Peace on Tuesday in Washington.
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Cuba: Fuel unavailable across island’s airports
HAVANA — Cuban aviation officials have warned airlines that there isn’t enough fuel for airplanes to refuel on the island, the latest step in its moves to ration energy as the Trump administration cuts the Caribbean nation off from its fuel...
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Federal official urges measles vaccinations
WASHINGTON — A leading U.S. health official on Sunday urged people to get inoculated against the measles at a time of outbreaks across several states and as the United States is at risk of losing its measles elimination status. “Take the vaccine,...
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Prosecutor, deputy used taxpayer funds for trips
Before admitting to an extramarital affair with his chief deputy, Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Will Jones went on 11 overnight training trips with her at taxpayer expense. On a July 2024 junket, Jones sat beside Kelly Ward on flights to and...
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Market’s surge aided by bitcoin, tech stocks
NEW YORK — The U.S. stock market roared back on Friday, as technology stocks recovered much of their losses from earlier in the week and bitcoin halted its plunge, at least for now. The S&P 500 rallied almost 2% for its best day since May. The Dow...
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Trump’s drug portal launches
YORK — The Trump administration Thursday launched TrumpRx, a website it says will help patients buy prescription drugs directly at a discounted rate at a time when health care and the cost of living are growing concerns for Americans. “You’re going to...
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Senate Democrats lay out demands for DHS funds
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats said Wednesday that they would put forth legislation by Thursday to codify their conditions for continuing to fund the Department of Homeland Security, moving quickly to lay out their demands for new restrictions on...
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Trump signs end to shutdown
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a roughly $1.2 trillion government funding bill Tuesday that ends the partial federal shutdown that began over the weekend and sets the stage for an intense debate in Congress over Homeland Security...
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Trump urges House to resolve shutdown
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump implored the House on Monday to end the partial government shutdown, but neither Republicans nor Democrats appeared ready to quickly approve the federal funding package he brokered with the Senate without first...
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Palestinians in Gaza await reopening of Rafah crossing
CAIRO — Palestinians in Gaza watched with hope and impatience Sunday as workers laid the groundwork to reopen the territory’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt, its lifeline to the world. Israel says the crossing is scheduled to resume Monday as its...
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FBI director visits state for panel
Arkansas officials and FBI Director Kash Patel reiterated their ongoing security concerns about China and discussed collaboration between various law enforcement agencies at a news conference Saturday. “Arkansas is uniquely placed, in my opinion, in...
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DOJ releases new batch of records on Epstein
NEW YORK — The Justice Department on Friday released many more records from its investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein, resuming disclosures under a law intended to reveal what the government knew about the millionaire financier’s sexual abuse of young...
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US border czar eyes drawdown in Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS — The Trump administration could reduce the number of immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota, but only if state and local officials cooperate, the president’s border czar said Thursday, noting he has “zero tolerance” for protesters...
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Progress made in clearing area roads
Northwest Arkansas communities made progress Tuesday clearing snow and ice from roads while temperatures reached above freezing for the first time in several days. A winter storm that impacted about 200 million people from New Mexico to Maine swept...
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Cold, snow raise rigors for state’s ranchers
The winter storm that iced Arkansas over the weekend blanketed fields, pastures and roads, making extra work for the state’s ranchers to ensure their livestock survive. Preparing hay and food to help animals generate body heat and ensuring access to...
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Second wave of snow hits area hard
A second wave of heavier, wetter snowfall Saturday night and Sunday morning in Northwest Arkansas made for worse driving conditions than the first strike the previous evening, according to city and county leaders. And with temperatures expected to...
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Snowfall keeps residents at home
Most people stayed close to home Saturday after the first round of a winter storm left between 3 and 6 inches of snow in Northwest Arkansas and a second round was poised to dump another 6-8 inches by the time it wrapped up Sunday. First responders and...
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Winter storm moves into area
A severe winter storm began moving into Northwest Arkansas late Friday, bringing with it snow and frigid temperatures. Northwest Arkansas could get as much as 15 inches of snow, the National Weather Service said in its Friday afternoon briefing....
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Region’s shelters on alert as severe cold moves in
The lengthy period of cold expected to begin Friday coupled with a significant snow forecast has Northwest Arkansas shelters on high alert. “We’ve had those small stints, but this is something that there’s not going to be a break, that’s the thing...
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Trump outlines his plan for more homeownership
President Donald Trump’s plans for bringing homeownership within reach of more Americans involve pushing for lower interest rates on home loans and credit cards, and banning large institutional investors from buying single-family homes. In his address...
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UA law school students protest
FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, law school students protested Tuesday what they contend is the university’s apparent capitulation to political pressure in rescinding an offer for Emily Suski to become dean of the law school. Suski...
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Visitors pose
for a selfie at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington on Monday.
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European nations condemn tariff threat over Greenland
BERLIN — The eight European countries targeted by U.S. President Donald Trump for a 10% tariff for opposing American control of Greenland blasted the move Sunday, warning that his threats “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward...
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Panel OKs voucher funds addition
State lawmakers approved $32 million in additional funding for Arkansas’ Educational Freedom Account program Friday, bringing the total funding for the program to roughly $309.4 million. A divided Arkansas Legislative Council authorized the request by...
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Oklahoma, George’s Inc. come to deal
TULSA, Okla. — The first settlement was reached Wednesday in Oklahoma’s lawsuit with Northwest Arkansas poultry companies over pollution of the Illinois River. The related companies of George’s Inc. and George’s Farms Inc. of Springdale agreed to pay...
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Minnesota, Twin Cities sue to stop ICE actions
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota and its two largest cities sued the Trump administration Monday to try to stop an immigration enforcement surge that led to the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by a federal officer and evoked outrage and protests across...
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Federal agents in Minneapolis ram door of home, arrest man
MINNEAPOLIS — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota’s Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland...
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Minnesota governor insists on state’s role in probe
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota must play a role in investigating the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, Gov. Tim Walz insisted Thursday, pushing back against the Trump administration’s decision to keep the...
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24 Venezuelans said killed in US operation
CARACAS, Venezuela — At least 24 Venezuelan security officers were killed in the deadof-night U.S. military operation to capture Nicolás Maduro and spirit him to the United States to face drug charges, officials said Tuesday. Also Tuesday, in a late...
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Maduro enters innocent plea
NEW YORK — A defiant Nicolás Maduro declared himself “the president of my country” as he protested his capture and pleaded innocent Monday to federal drug trafficking charges the Trump administration used to justify re- moving him from power in Venezu-...
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Rubio restates Venezuela role
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested Sunday that the United States would not govern Venezuela day to day other than by enforcing an existing “oil quarantine” on the country, a turnaround after President Donald Trump announced a day...
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US troops capture Maduro
CARACAS, Venezuela — Hours after an audacious military operation that plucked leader Nicolás Maduro from power and removed him from the country, President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States would run Venezuela at least temporarily and...
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Swiss bar fire leaves 40 dead
People gather around a memorial of candles and flowers near the Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire during New Year’s celebrations killed about 40 people and left 115 others injured, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on Thursday.
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XNA breaks enplanement record again
HIGHFILL — Northwest Arkansas National Airport has experienced several years of record, double-digit growth in passenger enplanements following the covid pandemic, including surpassing 1 million enplanements for each of the last two years. However,...
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Israel bars over 30 aid groups from operating in Gaza Strip
JERUSALEM — Israel on Tuesday said it had suspended more than two dozen humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders and CARE, from operating in the Gaza Strip for failing to comply with new registration rules. Israel says the rules...
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Arkansas Children’s given $50M donation
Arkansas Children’s Hospital has received a $50 million gift from philanthropist B. Thomas Golisano, the largest philanthropic donation in the hospital’s history. Along with the donation, the hospital’s Little Rock campus will be renamed the Arkansas...
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Trump hosts meeting with Ukrainian leader
PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump on Sunday insisted Ukraine and Russia are “closer than ever before” to a peace deal as he hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Florida resort, but he acknowledged the negotiations are complex...
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