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GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee mayor says three people have died in the wildfires that destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses near the Great Smoky Mountains. Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters says he doesn't have any details on the deaths. The mayor says authorities are going door-to-door to make sure everyone is safe. About a dozen people have been injured. Gatlinburg's mayor says they firefighters are still battling hotspots and there will be a curfew in effect tonight. More than 14,000 residents and tourists were forced to evacuate the tourist city in the mountains.
NEW YORK (AP) — Sen. Bob Corker says he thinks Donald Trump has narrowed his choices for Secretary of State. The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee met with Trump today amid speculation about whether Trump will select Corker or someone else -- perhaps Mitt Romney -- for the role. Corker says Trump's "instincts on foreign policy are obviously very, very good." Trump is meeting again today with Romney. He huddled yesterday with former CIA director David Petraeus.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top congressional Republicans are quickly distancing themselves from Donald Trump's assertion that anyone who burns an American flag should face consequences -- such as prison time or a loss of citizenship. The Supreme Court has held that flag-burning is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment. And the Constitution bans the government from removing citizenship from a natural-born American. Trump's words on Twitter would also put him at odds with the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who was part of a court majority that protected flag burning. Trump has said he will try to find someone like Scalia to fill the seat of the late justice.
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A video has surfaced showing the coaching staff of a Brazilian soccer team praising their charter airline before they took off last night on a fatal flight. The team's athletic director was on the plane as he told a TV network that the airline had treated the team "very well" during an earlier flight to Colombia, where the team won a quarterfinal match. He said, "We hope they bring us good luck like they did the first time." A few minutes later, the plane took off from Bolivia. It crashed in Colombia, killing 75 of the 81 people on board.
NEW YORK (AP) — Solid gains in several big health care companies have led major US stock indexes to end modestly higher. Energy companies finished lower as the price of crude oil slumped. Investors seemed to doubt that an OPEC meeting this week will produce meaningful production cuts. The Dow rose 23 points, while the S&P 500 climbed two points and the Nasdaq composite edged up 11 points.
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