Update on the latest news, sports, business and entertainment at 12:20 a.m. EDT
IMMIGRATION-FOOD PLANT RAIDS-THE LATEST
The Latest: Mississippi plant sets job fair after raid
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — One of the Mississippi chicken processing plants caught in an immigration raid plans a job fair Monday.
Illinois-based Koch (cook) Foods says it will be recruiting new workers for its Morton plant at a state job center in nearby Forest.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it arrested about 243 workers in Morton on Wednesday, one of a series of raids at seven plants in six towns. More workers were arrested at Koch than at any other plant. ICE says about 680 workers were arrested across all the sites.
Federal officials allege Koch was one of four companies “willfully and unlawfully” employing people who lack authorization to work in the U.S.
Koch, based near Chicago, said Thursday that it relies on the E-Verify program to check new hires for immigration status. Koch says it’s cooperating with the investigation and is “diligent” in complying with employment laws.
MASS SHOOTINGS-TEXAS
Police: El Paso shooting suspect said he targeted Mexicans
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Authorities say the 21-year-old man accused of carrying out the deadly mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart confessed after surrendering and said he had been targeting Mexicans.
El Paso Detective Adrian Garcia said in an arrest warrant affidavit that Patrick Crusius emerged with his hands up from a vehicle stopped at an intersection shortly after last Saturday’s attack and told officers, “I’m the shooter.”
He says Crusius later waived his Miranda Rights and agreed to speak with detectives, telling them he was targeting Mexicans during his attack.
Twenty-two people were killed in the attack and about two dozen others were wounded. Many of the dead had Latino last names and eight of them were Mexican nationals. El Paso sits on the border with Mexico.
ELECTION 2020-DEMOCRATS-IOWA-THE LATEST
The Latest: Booker says Dems must have ‘faith in our ideals’
CLEAR LAKE, Iowa (AP) — New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is calling on Democrats to take on President Donald Trump with “faith in our ideals” and to “overcome his darkness with our light.”
Speaking at the Iowa Democratic Wing Ding fundraiser, Booker is reminding the crowd that “we have overcome worse times and darker times.”
Booker, with his voice fading after a week of outspoken advocacy for gun control on the campaign trail, is comparing the current political era to major moments in civil rights history.
He argues that “this is a referendum on us, and who we are going to be to each other.” The sermon-like speech drew huge applause from the crowd.
TRANSGENDER BATHROOM LAWSUIT
Virginia transgender bathroom case: Judge favors ex-student
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A federal judge in Virginia has ruled that a school board’s transgender bathroom ban discriminated against former student Gavin Grimm.
Friday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen in Norfolk is among several across the nation favoring transgender students who faced similar policies.
The Gloucester County School Board’s policy required Grimm to use girls’ restrooms or private bathrooms. The judge says Grimm’s rights were violated under the U.S. Constitution and a federal policy that protects against gender-based discrimination.
The issue remains far from settled. A patchwork of differing policies governs the nation’s schools.
But Allen’s ruling will likely strengthen similar claims made by students in eastern Virginia. It could have a greater impact if the case goes to an appeals court that oversees Maryland, West Virginia and the Carolinas.
CHINA-HONG KONG-MANAGING THE PROTESTS
China waiting out Hong Kong protests, but backlash may come
BEIJING (AP) — China has dismissed Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters as clowns and criminals while bemoaning growing violence surrounding the monthslong demonstrations.
That’s partly out of concern that protesters’ demands for expanded democracy could inspire like-minded officials and intellectuals on the mainland.
Still, experts say, China shows no signs of preparing for a major crackdown, content to ignore the protests in the hopes that violence will turn Hong Kong’s silent majority against the movement.
The protests also come at a sensitive time for President Xi Jinping, who after removing term limits last year effectively made himself leader for life. That has intensified criticism over his concentration of power even as his propaganda machine relentlessly promotes his achievements ahead of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic on Oct. 1.
WALMART-ARMED MAN-MISSOURI-THE LATEST
The Latest: Armed man arrested at Missouri Walmart charged
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a 20-year-old man with making a terrorist threat in the second degree by causing a panic at a Walmart store in Springfield, Missouri.
Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson said in a news release Friday that Missouri protects the right to carry a firearm, but that right does not allow an individual to act in a reckless and criminal manner endangering other citizens.
A probable cause statement released Friday says Dmitriy Andreychenko recorded himself as he walked in the store carrying an “AR style rifle” slung across his chest and wearing a ballistic vest. He also had a handgun on his right hip.
The affidavit says he said he was recording himself in case somebody was going to tell him to leave. He said he wanted to know if Walmart honored the Second Amendment.
SEXUAL MISCONDUCT-EPSTEIN
Documents: Epstein ducked sex abuse questions in deposition
NEW YORK (AP) — Newly released court documents show that financier Jeffrey Epstein repeatedly declined to answer questions about sex abuse as part of a lawsuit.
A partial transcript of the September 2016 deposition was included in hundreds of pages of documents placed in a public file Friday by a federal appeals court in New York.
The 66-year-old Epstein has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges after his July 6 arrest.
Epstein was asked in the videotaped deposition whether it was standard operating procedure for his former girlfriend to bring underage girls to him to sexually abuse. Epstein replied “Fifth,” citing the constitutional amendment protecting people against incriminating themselves.
NORTH KOREA PROJECTILES
S.Korea says N.Korea has fired 2 more projectiles into sea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has reportedly fired two more projectiles into the sea. It is likely another protest at the United States and South Korea continuing joint military exercises that the North says are aimed at a northward invasion.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said Saturday that Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectiles were launched from an area near the North’s east coast.
It didn’t immediately Identify the projectiles or how far they flew.
WEED KILLER-LABEL
EPA won’t approve warning labels for weed killing chemical
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Trump administration has instructed companies not to warn customers about products that contain glyphosate, a move aimed at California as it fights one of the world’s largest agriculture companies about the potentially cancer-causing chemical.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it will no longer approve labels warning glyphosate is known to cause cancer. The chemical is marketed as a weed killer by Monsanto under the brand Roundup.
California requires warning labels on glyphosate products because the International Agency for Research on Cancer has said it is “probably carcinogenic.”
The EPA disagrees, saying its own research shows the chemical poses no risks to public health.
Monsanto has sued to block California’s warning label requirements. A federal judge blocked California from enforcing the labels while the lawsuit continues.
AP-US-STABBING-DEATHS-THE-LATEST
The Latest: California rampage suspect pleads not guilty
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) — The suspect in a deadly stabbing rampage in Southern California has pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder and other charges.
An Orange County district attorney’s spokeswoman said Friday that Zachary Castaneda was arraigned in his jail cell instead of court. She could not immediately say why.
Prosecutors say Castaneda, a gang member, is charged with four counts of murder and one count each of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and other crimes.
He was arrested Wednesday in Santa Ana after what authorities say was a two-hour string of attacks and thefts that followed the killing of two of his neighbors at a Garden Grove apartment building.
Also killed were a security guard at a Santa Ana 7-Eleven and a man at a nearby Subway shop.