Today in History

Cross-border sting nets arrest of Sinaloa Cartel members

A Cruz-Rubio feud flares in Iowa closer MANCHESTER, Iowa (AP) — As if hearing Marco Rubio's footsteps creeping up on him, Ted Cruz directed much of his final advertising against the Florida senator in the frenzied weekend prelude to the Iowa caucuses, feeding a Republican feud that turned increasingly bitter before voters have their first say in the 2016 presidential race. Considered to be vying with front-runner Donald Trump for Iowa victory Monday, Cruz denounced the next in line, according to polls, sharply challenging Rubio's conservative credentials on the airwaves while ignoring him face to face with Iowans. One ad said darkly of Rubio: "Tax hikes. Amnesty. The Republican Obama." "The desperation kicks in," Rubio said in response to Cruz. "From my experience, when people start attacking you it's because you're doing something right." On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders implored Iowa supporters Saturday to get on their feet in two days and convert their monthslong infatuation with his upstart campaign against Hillary Clinton into actual votes. That call to action was echoed by Democratic and Republican hopefuls alike as they worked to motivate Iowans to attend the caucuses. Trump, the showman of the Republican race and its front-runner, made a dramatic entrance to a Dubuque rally as his jet flew low over a hangar half-filled by the waiting crowd and music played from the movie "Air Force One." There was more drama inside, as a small group of protesters interrupted him and Trump joined the crowd in chanting "USA" to drown out the discord. ___ Tip about van led to arrest of escapees in San Francisco SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — After a week with SWAT raids and a gang dragnet, it was an observant citizen who led police to the two remaining violent fugitives who broke out of a California jail eight days ago using a Google Earth map and a rope made of bed linens. The unidentified man flagged down officers near San Francisco's Golden Gate Park just before 9 a.m. Saturday and pointed out a parked white van that looked like one believed stolen by the trio of inmates during the brazen escape, authorities said. The man also said someone who looked like one of the fugitives was in the area. Police approached Hossein Nayeri, the suspected mastermind of the jail break, and he was captured after a short foot chase. The second fugitive, 20-year-old Jonathan Tieu, was found hiding in the van with ammunition but no gun, Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said. He surrendered without incident. "I think I did a big 'Whoop!' in the air," Hutchens said, describing her excitement about the arrests at a news conference. "No sheriff wants to have an escape, especially as dangerous as these individuals were. My fear was that someone in the community was going to get hurt because they really had nothing to lose in my mind." A third inmate, Bac Duong, 43, surrendered Friday after walking into an auto repair shop in Santa Ana just a few miles from the jail where the trio had been housed. He told police he had been with the others in San Jose, and the search immediately shifted to the San Francisco Bay Area. ___ 'Leave us alone' - people in Oregon town tired of standoff BURNS, Ore. (AP) — People who live in Burns, the small high desert town near a wildlife refuge that has been occupied by an armed group for a month, say they are sick of the disruption to their lives. "We just want to go back to the way we were," Barbara Ormond, who owns a quilt store in downtown Burns, said Saturday. "We want everyone to leave us alone." Four people occupying an Oregon wildlife refuge held their position Saturday and posted live videos describing their situation and reiterating their demand that they be allowed to leave with being arrested. The jailed group's leader, Ammon Bundy, and 10 others who were arrested earlier in the week remained in custody. Through his lawyer, Bundy on Saturday again called on the remaining occupiers to leave. The FBI has said it's trying to resolve the situation peacefully. While the standoff that originated over federal land-use policies has led to filled-up hotels and restaurants as police, protesters and media have flocked to the area, locals say the conflict is upsetting and pitting neighbor against neighbor. ___ The Latest: Ammon Bundy repeats call for occupiers to leave BURNS, Ore. (AP) — The latest on an armed group that took over buildings at a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon (all times local): 7 p.m. More than 100 people and dozens of vehicles took part in a rolling rally to protest the killing of one of the armed men who occupied an Oregon wildlife refuge. The rally occurred in Burns on Saturday night. Some vehicles displayed the United States flag or the Confederate flag at the rally, which wound through the small eastern Oregon town. There were also signs that said "FBI Go Home" and "Entering Nazi Germany." The protesters — who objected to the fatal police shooting of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum during a confrontation Tuesday at which authorities say Finicum reached toward a loaded gun — want the FBI to leave the area. ___ 'Spotlight' wins best ensemble at not-so-white SAG Awards The Screen Actors Guild Awards were not so white. While the Academy Awards remain enveloped in a crisis over the diversity of its nominees, the 22nd annual SAG Awards on Saturday presented a stark antidote to the rancor that has overwhelmed Hollywood's awards season. Awards were handed out to Queen Latifah, Uzo Aduba, Viola Davis and Idris Elba (twice), as the actors guild cast a loud vote in favor of diversity on big and small screens. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to diverse TV," said Elba in his third trip on stage as a presenter. His first two were to accept awards for his supporting performance in the Netflix child soldier drama "Beasts of No Nation" and for his lead performance in the BBC miniseries "Luther." The night's top honor, best ensemble in a film, went to the newspaper drama "Spotlight," which came into Saturday badly in need of some momentum. The ensemble award had seemingly come down to "Spotlight" or — the film with the wind at its back — Adam McKay's high finance tale "The Big Short," which last week took the Producers Guild's top award. "No way," said Mark Ruffalo, one of the film's stars. ___ China strongly condemns US for sending warship near island BEIJING (AP) — China strongly condemned the United States after a U.S. warship deliberately sailed near one of the Beijing-controlled islands in the hotly contested South China Sea to exercise freedom of navigation and challenge China's vast territorial claims. The missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur sailed within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of Triton Island in the Paracel chain "to challenge excessive maritime claims of parties that claim the Paracel Islands," without notifying the three claimants beforehand, Defense Department spokesman Mark Wright said Saturday in Washington.. China, Taiwan and Vietnam have overlapping claims in the Paracels and require prior notice from ships transiting what they consider their territorial waters. The latest operation was particularly aimed at China, which has increased tensions with the U.S. and its Southeast Asian neighbors by embarking on massive construction of man-made islands and airstrips in contested areas. In October, another U.S. warship sailed in the nearby Spratly Islands near Subi Reef, where China has built one of seven artificial islands. Wright said the attempts to restrict navigational rights by requiring prior notice are inconsistent with international law. U.S. officials said that such ship movements would be regular in the future. ___ At least 37 migrants drown trying to reach Greece ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A boat carrying Syrians attempting the short sea journey from Turkey to Greece struck rocks and capsized at dawn on Saturday, causing at least 37 people to drown, among them several babies and young children. Images of dead children on a beach on Saturday were another soul-searing reminder that Europe's migrant crisis keeps destroying lives and families by the day. They recalled the photo of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi lying face down on a Turkish beach last year. His story put an intimate face on the Syrian refugee crisis for people across the world, prompting many to finally grapple with the magnitude of the suffering caused by the war in the Middle East and the treacherous journeys many risk seeking shelter in Europe. By contrast, the heartbreaking images Saturday met a muted response, perhaps a sign that many have grown weary of the unending reports about the suffering of migrants even though the number of people dying at sea is rising. "January has been the deadliest month so far for drownings between Turkey and Greece," Peter Bouckaert, the emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, told The Associated Press in an email. "Almost every day, more drown on this dangerous journey." ___ Over 1 million face loss of food aid over work requirements JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — More than 1 million low-income residents in 21 states could soon lose their government food stamps if they fail to meet work requirements that began kicking in this month. The rule change in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was triggered by the improving economy — specifically, falling unemployment. But it is raising concerns among the poor, social service providers and food pantry workers, who fear an influx of hungry people. Recent experience in other states indicates that most of those affected will probably not meet the work requirements and will be cut off from food stamps. For many people, "it means less food, less adequate nutrition. And over the span of time, that can certainly have an impact on health — and the health care system," said Dave Krepcho, president and chief executive of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Advocates say some adults trying to find work face a host of obstacles, including criminal records, disabilities or lack of a driver's license. ___ Johnny Manziel being investigated following altercation CLEVELAND (AP) — Before Johnny Manziel was found "safe and in no danger," police in Texas used a helicopter to help locate the Browns quarterback, who can't seem to stay out of trouble. Manziel is being investigated by police in Fort Worth and Dallas following a disturbance early Saturday during which he may have assaulted his ex-girlfriend. Manziel, who has had two tumultuous seasons in the NFL, was identified by police after they were called at about 2 a.m. to investigate a report of a possible assault at an apartment complex in Fort Worth. The officers didn't find the caller, but they spoke to an unidentified 23-year-old woman who said she was involved in a disturbance with her ex-boyfriend earlier that night in Dallas. Sgt. Steve Enright later said the man was Manziel, the 23-year-old former Heisman Trophy winner who has made far more headlines for his off-field behavior since college than for anything he's done for the Browns. There were no arrests, and it's not clear if Manziel has yet been questioned. ___ Now deeply Christian, Cruz's religion once wasn't so obvious AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Ted Cruz sometimes sounds more like a preacher than a presidential candidate, praising the transformative love of Jesus Christ and promising to defend religious liberty. But the Texas senator rarely evokes the biblical tenet of tithing, the mandate that 10 percent of possessions be donated to God. That's because Cruz doesn't tithe. He and his wife donated less than 1 percent of their income to charity and nothing to churches, including to their own in Houston, according to tax returns from 2006 to 2010, the most recent Cruz has released. His campaign declined requests from The Associated Press to provide recent tax returns or otherwise demonstrate donations since 2010. Cruz has said he and his wife were more focused on using their seven-figure annual income to build a financial foundation for their family. Being a past charitable cheapskate provides a glimpse of who Cruz was before running for president, when he was known more as a fierce fiscal conservative than a devout Southern Baptist. Cruz's religious side similarly didn't dominate his 2012 run for Senate in Texas. Cruz suggested shortly after taking office that politicians should "avoid ostentatiously wrapping yourself in your faith" — advice he has ignored amid his rise in national polls. "It's not like this is a new issue, it just wasn't front and center," James Bernsen, the spokesman for Cruz's Senate campaign, said of religion. "Ted's main focus was on Obamacare, taxing and spending, the national debt."

AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EST