What if Trump did try to fire Mueller? Why does it matter?

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump pushed back against reports that he ordered White House lawyer Don McGahn to fire special counsel Robert Mueller last June.

"Fake news, folks. Fake news. Typical New York Times fake stories," Trump retorted dismissively when asked about it by reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The reports, first by the Times and then others, said Trump backed off on his attempt to fire the man who is investigating him, his election campaign's Russian contacts and his firings of FBI Director James Comey and national security adviser Michael Flynn — but only after lawyer McGahn refused to relay his directive to the Justice Department and threatened to quit if Trump pressed the issue.

In Washington, Mueller's team was still on the job Friday, investigating the president and his 2016 election campaign.

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Officials say 40 killed, 140 wounded in Afghan car bombing

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide car bomber killed at least 40 people and wounded about 140 more in an attack claimed by the Taliban on Saturday in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, authorities said. The bombing came just a week after Taliban militants killed 22 at an international hotel in the city.

The attacker used an ambulance to get through a security checkpoint, telling police he was taking a patient to a nearby hospital, said Nasrat Rahimi, deputy spokesperson for the Interior Ministry. The attacker then detonated his explosives at a second check point, Rahimi said.

The Health Ministry said 40 were killed and about 140 wounded.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the bombing, which sent thick, black smoke into the sky from the site near the government's former Interior Ministry building. Also nearby are the European Union and Indian consulates.

A week ago, six Taliban militants attacked the city's Intercontinental Hotel, leaving 22 people dead, including 14 foreigners. Some 150 guests fled the gun battle and fire sparked by the assault by shimmying down bedsheets from the upper floors. The U.S. State Department said multiple American citizens were killed and injured in the attack.

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Trump plan would sharply change legal immigration

President Donald Trump's new immigration plan is stirring up controversy with its proposals on legal immigration. Much of the public debate to this point has been about young immigrants brought to this country as children illegally.

But the plan's potential impact on legal immigration has sparked fierce Democratic opposition and appears it may sink chances for a bipartisan deal in Congress.

The proposal outlined Thursday by the White House would end much family-based immigration and the visa lottery program, moves that some experts estimate could cut legal immigration into the United States nearly in half.

The plan would also protect some 700,000 young immigrants from deportation and provide a pathway to citizenship, a top Democratic goal.

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Secret report: Honduras' new top cop helped cartel move coke

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Honduran authorities are promising "an exhaustive investigation" into alleged ties between their new national police chief Jose David Aguilar Moran and a cartel kingpin who's now serving a 20-year sentence in a U.S. federal prison.

A confidential Honduran government security report obtained by the Associated Press says Aguilar helped the narcotrafficker pull off the delivery of nearly a ton of cocaine in 2013.

The clandestine haul of more than 1,700 pounds of cocaine was packed inside a tanker truck that, the report says, was being escorted by corrupt police officers to the home of Wilter Blanco, a drug trafficker recently convicted in Florida and now serving a 20-year sentence.

Aguilar, who at the time was serving as chief of intelligence for Honduras' National Police, intervened after a police official safeguarding the drugs was busted by a lower-ranked officer who had seized the tanker, the report says. The handcuffed officer called Aguilar, who ordered that the officer and the tanker be set free, says the report which was prepared by the Honduran Security Ministry's Inspector General.

The U.S. street value of the cocaine involved could have topped $20 million.

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World remembers Holocaust amid signs of rising hatred

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that anti-Semitism is on the rise in her country as political leaders, Holocaust survivors and others mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

In a weekly podcast Saturday, she called it "incomprehensible and a disgrace that no Jewish institution can exist without police security —whether it is a school, a kindergarten or a synagogue."

In Warsaw, Poland, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at a memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943.

Commemorations will also be held later Saturday to mark the 73rd anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

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Ex-colleagues call new US attorney in Manhattan apolitical

NEW YORK (AP) — The new, top federal prosecutor in Manhattan is a Republican, a former law partner of Rudy Giuliani and was reportedly interviewed personally by President Donald Trump before getting the job.

But people who know Geoffrey Berman say he will keep politics out of a prosecutor's office that has long prided itself on independence from Washington.

"He's not about politics. He's about doing the right thing and the law," said Mary Jo White, who led the office from 1993 to 2002 and was later chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission under Democratic President Barack Obama.

Berman, 58, was appointed Jan. 3 as the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, a post that gives him oversight of more than 220 federal prosecutors who often take the lead battling wrongdoing on Wall Street and international terrorism. He had served in the office once before as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1990 to 1994.

For now, his status in the job is unsettled. The president hasn't formally submitted his name to the Senate for confirmation for the permanent position. Partisans are on high alert for even a whiff of anything politically suspicious for the leader of an office whose territory includes Trump Tower in Manhattan.

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Jury: Man guilty of manslaughter in death of ex-NFL player

GRETNA, La. (AP) — The man who killed NFL running back Joe McKnight in a December 2016 road-rage confrontation was found guilty of manslaughter Friday by a jury in suburban New Orleans.

Ronald Gasser, 56, had been charged with second-degree murder, which carries a life sentence. Manslaughter carries a sentence of anywhere from zero to 40 years. State District Judge Ellen Kovach set a March 15 sentencing date.

Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick said in a news release that justice was served. His assistants who tried the case told reporters they respect the verdict and added that the McKnight family was pleased with it.

Defense attorney Matthew Goetz said he would appeal. "We're obviously disappointed with the verdict," he told The New Orleans Advocate as he left the courthouse.

Jurors began deliberations Friday afternoon in the case. Defense attorneys had claimed Gasser feared for his life when he fired from his driver's seat at McKnight, who was standing at his open passenger-side window.

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North Korean officials wrap up Olympic inspection in South

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean officials on Saturday wrapped up a three-day visit to South Korea where they examined Olympic stadiums, hotels and concert halls that will potentially be used by North Korean athletes and other delegates headed to next month's Pyeongchang Winter Games.

South Korea is preparing to host hundreds of North Koreans during the Olympics, including officials, athletes, artists, journalists and a 230-member cheering group. Liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in sees the Games as an opportunity to resume meaningful contact with the North following an extended period of animosity over its nuclear weapons and missiles program.

The eight-member inspection team returned to North Korea after inspecting a Seoul performance facility that could host a show by a North Korean taekwondo demonstration team during the Olympics, which start on Feb. 9.

Their visit followed last week's trip to the South by another group of North Koreans led by Pyongyang celebrity Hyon Song Wol, the leader of the famous Moranbong girl band who also heads an art troupe that will perform during the Games.

Other conciliatory gestures the Koreas have agreed to hold during the Olympics include a joint march during the opening ceremony and fielding a unified team in women's ice hockey. A dozen North Korean hockey players arrived in South Korea on Thursday to begin training with their South Korean teammates.

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Michigan St AD retires; Dantonio defends himself

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State University's athletic director retired two days after the university president resigned over the school's handling of sexual abuse allegations against its disgraced former sports doctor, Larry Nassar.

Mark Hollis, who had been in the job for 10 years, disclosed the move Friday during a meeting with a small group of reporters on campus. He was asked why he would not stay on.

"Because I care," Hollis said, holding back tears. "When you look at the scope of everything, that's the reason I made a choice to retire now. And I hope that has a little bit, a little bit, of helping that healing process."

Hours later, the university named its vice president to serve as acting president after the departure of President Lou Anna Simon. Bill Beekman is expected to serve briefly in the role until the board of trustees can hire an interim president and then a permanent leader.

Also Friday, USA Gymnastics confirmed that its entire board of directors would resign as requested by the U.S. Olympic Committee. The USOC had threatened to decertify the organization, which besides picking U.S. national teams is the umbrella organization for hundreds of clubs across the country.

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Trump: US "open for business," and economists mostly agree

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump highlighted his tax cuts and deregulatory efforts with a salesman's pitch to an elite economic forum in Switzerland on Friday: The United States, he said, is now a far more inviting place for foreign companies to spend, invest and build.

"We are competitive once again," Trump told an assemblage of international business executives, financiers and academics.

While discounting some of the president's more grandiose claims, many economists agree that he has generally made the United States more welcoming for businesses.

Last month, Trump signed a tax package that cut the corporate income tax to 21 percent from 35 percent. The Republican Congress has also passed laws to overturn at least 15 rules put in place by the Obama administration, and the administration has put dozens of other regulations on hold. Those steps should encourage more overseas businesses to move to the United States or expand existing operations, economists said.

"It was a vastly exaggerated claim, but there is some truth to it," said Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.