AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

Trump allies fret over West Wing vacancies as threats loom

WASHINGTON (AP) — Increasingly convinced that the West Wing is wholly unprepared to handle the expected assault from Democrats if they win the House in November, President Donald Trump’s aides and allies are privately raising alarm as his circle of legal and communications advisers continues to shrink.

With vacancies abounding in the White House and more departures on the horizon, there is growing concern among Trump allies that the brain drain at the centre of the administration could hardly come at a more perilous time. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s swirling probe of Russian election interference and potential obstruction of justice by Trump has reached ever closer to the Oval Office, and the upcoming midterm elections could grant his political adversaries the power of subpoena or, more worryingly, the votes to attempt impeachment.

Nine current and former White House staffers and administration allies expressed concerns Thursday that the West Wing is simply unprepared for the potential troubles ahead. They spoke on the condition of anonymity over concerns about estranging colleagues.

Attrition, job changes and firings have taken their toll across the White House, but their impact has been felt particularly in the communications and legal shops — two departments crucial to Trump staving off the looming threats. The upcoming departure of White House counsel Don McGahn has highlighted the challenges in an office that has shrunk by a third since last year.

McGahn’s deputy and chief of staff, Annie Donaldson, is also expected to leave soon after McGahn departs, two staffers said. Similarly, the White House press office is down to four press secretaries working on day-to-day White House matters, including Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and the regional and Cabinet affairs media teams in the communications office have been hollowed out.

___

AP Explains: The looming, final battle for Syria’s rebels

BEIRUT (AP) — In a corner of northwestern Syria packed with nearly 3 million people, the government and its opponents are preparing for a final, bloody showdown.

The campaign for Idlib, the opposition’s only remaining stronghold in the country and now a refuge for over one million displaced Syrians, is likely to be the last major theatre of battle after seven years of brutal civil war.

It is also potentially the most dangerous.

The U.N. and aid workers are bracing for disaster, warning that up to 800,000 people are in danger of renewed displacement if a government offensive gets underway. A massive military buildup in nearby areas suggests an assault — at least to regain parts of the province — may be imminent.

Turkey, which backs the rebels in Idlib, has warned against a military solution and is reportedly negotiating with Russia in an effort to avoid a full-scale offensive.

___

Friends call John McCain hero, maverick at Arizona funeral

PHOENIX (AP) — A former vice-president, an NFL star and other friends remembered Sen. John McCain as a “true American hero” — and a terrible driver with a wicked sense of humour and love of a good battle — at a crowded church service Thursday for the maverick politician that ended to the tune of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”

Addressing an estimated 3,500 mourners, former Vice-President Joe Biden recalled “the sheer joy that crossed his face when he knew he was about to take the stage of the Senate floor and start a fight.”

Biden, a Democrat who was among the fast friends the Republican senator made across the aisle, said he thought of McCain as a brother, “with a lot of family fights.”

The service for the statesman, former prisoner of war and two-time presidential candidate unfolded at North Phoenix Baptist Church after a motorcade bearing McCain’s body made its way from the state capitol past Arizonans waving American flags and campaign-style McCain signs.

Family members watched in silence as uniformed military members removed the flag-draped casket from a black hearse and carried it into the church. McCain died Saturday of brain cancer at age 81.

___

At least 4 killed in head-on bus crash in New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — At least four people were killed and others were seriously injured Thursday in a head-on crash involving a commercial passenger bus and a semi-truck along Interstate 40 in New Mexico, near the Arizona border, authorities said.

Preliminary information indicated the semi was headed east when it blew a tire, sending the rig across the median and into oncoming traffic where it smashed into the bus, New Mexico State Police said.

There were 49 people aboard the Greyhound bus. Authorities said many were transported to hospitals, but they could not immediately provide an exact count of how many were hurt or their conditions.

Nine bus passengers were being treated at University of New Mexico Hospital with three more patients expected to be transported there later Thursday. UNM officials didn’t release any details about the patients’ conditions.

Passing motorists described a chaotic scene with passengers on the ground and people screaming.

___

Report: Chris Berman’s wife was intoxicated at time of crash

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The wife of longtime ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit when she rear-ended another man’s car, killing them both, according to a state police report.

The Hartford Courant reports that police determined Katherine Berman was speeding and did not apply her brakes before crashing into a car driven by 87-year-old Edward Bertulis.

State police closed the investigation without filing any charges because both drivers died.

Bertulis was on his way back from visiting his wife’s grave at the time of the crash on May 9, 2017, in Woodbury.

The speed limit on the road is 45 mph, but an accident reconstruction team determined Berman was travelling up to 82 mph before impact. Police believe Bertulis was driving about 30 mph when his car was struck.

___

Trump stumps for Republican Senate hopeful Braun in Indiana

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Casting the midterms as a referendum on his agenda, President Donald Trump urged Indiana Republicans on Thursday to unseat Sen. Joe Donnelly, saying the vulnerable Democrat is “not going to vote for us on anything.”

Trump, who is kicking up his campaign travel as the midterm elections near, appeared in Evansville to boost support for wealthy Republican businessman Mike Braun, who is facing off against Donnelly in what is viewed as one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races.

Before a wildly enthusiastic crowd, Trump called Braun a “special guy” and said he will “be a truly great senator.” Braun took the stage and pledged to be a “true ally” to Trump, “not somebody that says something when you’re in Indiana and does something differently when you’re in D.C.”

In a state the president carried by roughly 19 percentage points in 2016, both candidates have sought to stress their connections to Trump. Braun has welcomed Trump’s backing, greeting him at the airport as he arrived in Indiana on Thursday. Before the rally, Trump attended a private roundtable and fundraising reception.

Trump ticked through a number of Donnelly votes, saying he opposed his tax bill and voted against repealing President Barack Obama’s health care law.

___

Franklin’s funeral billed as a spiritual service, with stars

DETROIT (AP) — Organizers of Aretha Franklin’s funeral insist it will be a service, not a show. Yet the Queen of Soul’s final send-off on Friday certainly will encompass many elements, emotions and grand entrances that were hallmarks of her more than six decades on sacred and secular stages.

And it boasts a lineup of speakers and singers that would rival any of the hottest revues, past or present.

To be sure, the invitation-only funeral at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple, which caps off a week of events that included high-profile public viewings and tribute concerts, comes with all-star speakers and performers: Among those offering words will be former President Bill Clinton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Smokey Robinson. Songs will be provided by Steve Wonder, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Faith Hill, Shirley Caesar, Chaka Khan and more.

The street outside Greater Grace will be lined with pink Cadillacs — a nod to Franklin’s funky ’80s tune, “Freeway of Love,” which prominently featured the car in the lyrics and video. Her casket has been carried this week by a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle hearse that also took Franklin’s father, legendary minister C.L. Franklin, and civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks to their final resting places at Woodlawn Cemetery, where the singer will join them.

Bishop Charles Ellis III of Greater Grace knows well of the boldface guest-list and surrounding pomp and circumstance, but he has a higher mission in mind for the service that may well exceed five hours.

___

Man charged with making death threats over Trump editorials

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles man upset about The Boston Globe’s co-ordinated editorial response to President Donald Trump’s attacks on the news media was arrested Thursday on charges he threatened to kill the newspaper’s journalists, who he called an “enemy of the people,” federal prosecutors said.

Robert Chain’s phone calls to the Boston newsroom started immediately after the Globe appealed to newspapers across the country to condemn what it called a “dirty war against the free press,” prosecutors said. He is accused of making 14 calls between Aug. 10 and Aug. 22.

On Aug. 16, the day scores of editorials were published , Chain, 68, of the Encino section of Los Angeles, told a Globe staffer that he was going to shoot employees in the head at 4 o’clock, according to court documents. That threat from a blocked phone number prompted a police response and increased security at the newspaper’s offices.

Chain said he would continue threatening the Globe until it stops its “treasonous and seditious” attacks on Trump, according to a court complaint.

Several times, he called Globe employees the “enemy of the people,” a characterization of journalists that Trump has used repeatedly, including in a tweet on Thursday before the charges were announced.

___

Judge blocks Saturday’s grizzly hunts in Wyoming, Idaho

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the opening of the first public grizzly bear hunts in Wyoming and Idaho in more than 40 years, as he considers whether the government was wrong to lift federal protections on the animals.

U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen’s order came just two days before the states prepared to open their grizzly bear hunting seasons on Saturday. It will remain in effect 14 days.

“The threat of death to individual bears posed by the scheduled hunts is sufficient” to justify a delay in the state’s hunting seasons, Christensen wrote.

The move marked a victory for wildlife advocates and Native American tribes that sued over the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision in 2017 to lift federal protections for 700 grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park.

“We’re thrilled,” said Mike Garrity, the executive director for plaintiff Alliance for the Wild Rockies. “Now the judge has time to rule without grizzly bears being killed starting Saturday morning.”

___

Chair umpire’s chat with Kyrgios at US Open raises questions

NEW YORK (AP) — Nick Kyrgios was losing big at the U.S. Open on Thursday, and barely even trying. Didn’t move while so-so serves flew by for aces. Casually put groundstrokes into the net. Double-faulted without caring.

The crowd began booing. The chair umpire, Mohamed Lahyani, decided to intervene. In an unusual sight for Grand Slam tennis, Lahyani clambered down out of his seat during a break between games, stood with hands on knees, and spoke with the 30th-seeded Kyrgios, saying, among other things, “I want to help you.”

It all seemed like an impromptu intervention for the mercurial Kyrgios, right out there on Court 17 at Flushing Meadows, and it raised questions about whether Lahyani overstepped his duties as someone who’s primarily there to keep score and keep order. Kyrgios went from trailing by a set and a break at the time to wresting control of the match — setting up a third-round showdown against Roger Federer — by coming back to beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-0.

“This was not his job,” Herbert said, adding that he thinks Lahyani should be sanctioned in some way. “I don’t think he’s a coach, he’s an umpire, and he should stay on his chair for that.”

The U.S. Open’s referee and chief umpire were reviewing what happened, as was the Grand Slam Board. Chair umpires are never made available to the media, but tournament referee Brian Earley said Lahyani explained that he left his perch “to make sure he could communicate effectively” with Kyrgios in a noisy arena.