Nation & World Watch
vWashington: Trump vows to fight human trafficking
President Donald Trump says he will bring the “full force and weight” of the U.S. government to combat an “epidemic” of human trafficking.
The president met Thursday with senior advisers and representatives of organizations that deal with trafficking. His daughter Ivanka Trump was among those in attendance.
Trump called human trafficking a problem that is “not talked about enough.” He said he will order the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to take a hard look at the resources they are devoting to the issue.
vOrlando, Fla.: Boehner: No repeal of ‘Obamacare’
Former House Speaker John Boehner predicted Thursday that a full repeal and replacement of “Obamacare” is “not going to happen.”
The Ohio Republican, who was forced out by conservatives in 2015, said he started laughing when he heard President Donald Trump and Republicans promise swift action on undoing and replacing the health law.
“Republicans never, ever agree on health care,” said Boehner, speaking at a health care conference in Orlando, Florida.
Congressional Republicans are “going to fix ‘Obamacare’ — I shouldn’t call it repeal-and-replace because it’s not going to happen,” he said. “Most of the framework of the Affordable Care Act — that’s going to be there.”
vIndianapolis: $435M jackpot has one winner
The sole winning ticket for an estimated $435.3 million Powerball jackpot — the 10th-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history — was sold at a northern Indiana convenience store.
The Hoosier Lottery said the ticket was sold at a Super-Test Mini Mart store in Lafayette, about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis.
Hoosier Lottery spokesman Dennis Rosebrough said the winner has 180 days to claim the prize, which can be taken as a 30-year annuity or a one-time lump sum estimated payment of $263.5 million, both before taxes.
vCape Canaveral, Fla.: SpaceX makes delivery
SpaceX made good on a 250-mile-high delivery at the International Space Station on Thursday, after fixing a navigation problem that held up the shipment a day.
Everything went smoothly the second time around as the station astronauts captured the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship. On Wednesday, a GPS system error prevented the capsule from getting close enough to be grabbed by the station’s robot arm.
The Dragon — loaded with 5,500 pounds of supplies — lifted off Sunday from NASA’s historic moon launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Now leased by SpaceX, the pad had been idle since the close of the shuttle program almost six years ago.
vSwitzerland: Syria talks resume after 10 months
Syrian peace talks under the auspices of the United Nations resumed Thursday in Geneva, 10 months after falling apart over escalating bloodshed in the wartorn country.
U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura told the delegates on all sides: “The Syrian people all want an end to this conflict, and you all know it. They are waiting for a relief of their own suffering and the dream of a new road out of this nightmare to a real and normal future in dignity.”
The talks in the Swiss capital began as Turkish troops and Syrian opposition forces seized the center of the Islamic State-held town of al-Bab.