WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating after a 2-year-old boy who was on the radar of child welfare officials died at a Wichita motel.

The Kansas Department of Children and Families identified the boy as Zayden Jaynesahkluah. Police say he was pronounced dead on May 31 after a woman called to report that he wasn’t breathing.

No information has been released about how he died, and no arrests have been made. Police say they are awaiting a toxicology report.

Kansas Rep. Michael Capps said that welfare officials had been involved with Zayden’s family before he died, although he had no specifics. He says the welfare agency needs to be reformed. The Wichita area has seen several child abuse homicides. The victims include 3-year-old Evan Brewer, whose body was found encased in concrete.

WICHITA, KAN. – A Russian-born woman was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison Thursday for unlawfully taking her daughter to Russia and demanding money before allowing the American father to have custody of the girl, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

In March, a jury found Bogdana Alexandrovna Mobley, 38, guilty on one count of international parental kidnapping and two counts of attempting to extort money from the child’s father.

During trial, the prosecutor presented evidence that in April 2014 Mobley took a child of hers (identified as S.M. in court records) to Russia despite the fact the biological father, Brian Mobley, had been awarded joint custody in Sedgwick County District Court. At the time, the Mobleys had a pending divorce case before the court. The defendant did not obtain the permission of the court or Brian Mobley before going to Russia with the child. The child still has not returned to the United States.

Between April 2014 and November 2016, the defendant only permitted Brian Mobley to communicate with S.M. via cell phones and Skype applications. She told Brian Mobley that he needed to send her money in order to see the child.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. and Mexican officials claim to be making progress as they labored for a second day to avert import tariffs. But President Donald Trump is still threatening to impose them as he tries to pressure Mexico into stemming the flow of Central American migrantsacross the United States’ southern border.

Vice President Mike Pence, monitoring the talks from his travels in Pennsylvania, said Thursday the U.S. was “encouraged” by Mexico’s latest proposals but that tariffs still were set to take effect on Monday.

Pence added that it would be “for the president to decide” whether Mexico was doing enough to head off the tariffs. Pence said that, among other issues, negotiators had been discussing a potential agreement to make it difficult for those who enter Mexico from other countries to claim asylum in the U.S. Mexico has long resisted that request.

Trump has threatened to impose a 5% tax on all Mexican goods beginning Monday as part of an escalating tariff regime opposed by many in his own Republican Party.

The frantic, last-minute talks underscore Trump’s chaotic approach even when decisions have enormous economic consequences for both the U.S. and its closest allies. Trump has embraced tariffs as a tool he can use as leverage against other countries, dismissing the potential harm to American consumers and manufacturers.

Traveling in Europe, Trump told reporters that negotiators had made “a lot of progress,” but continued to play coy.

“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said in Ireland before leaving for France to attend a D-Day ceremony. “But something pretty dramatic could happen. We’ve told Mexico the tariffs go on. And I mean it, too. And I’m very happy with it.”

It remained unclear whether any deal could be struck with Trump out of the country. Many in Washington still expect the tariffs to go into effect barring a major new concession from Mexico, though lawmakers who have been in talks with both U.S. and Mexican officials said they were hopeful a deal could be reached to satisfy Trump, or at least delay the tariffs’ implementation.

Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard spent several hours at the State Department Thursday morning, while Trump’s legal counsel and other Mexican aides met at the White House Thursday afternoon.

Ebrard told reporters as he left the State Department that progress was being made and that he was likely to return following consultations at the embassy. He returned in early evening.

His spokesman, Roberto Velasco, tweeted that “Options continue to be explored.”

“The stance of the United States is focused on measures of migratory control, ours on development,” he said.

White House spokeswoman Mercedes Schlapp said in an interview that conversations were continuing but “it looks like we’re moving toward this path of tariffs because what we’ve seen so far is that the Mexicans, what they’re proposing, is simply not enough.”

Pence, who led the discussions Wednesday with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other U.S. officials, told reporters in Pennsylvania that the administration had “made it very clear that our neighbors to the south, Mexico, must do more to end the tide of illegal immigration that is besetting our southern border.”

During Wednesday’s talks, the gulf between the countries was clear as Mexico offered small, thus far undisclosed concessions, and the U.S. demanded major action. A senior administration official said the U.S. once again pressed Mexico to step up enforcement on its southern border and to enter into a “safe third country agreement” that would make it difficult for those who enter Mexico from other countries to claim asylum in the U.S.

But Mexico surprised U.S. officials Thursday when they returned to the negotiating table and said they would commit to what Pence had requested, according to the official, who cautioned that significant questions about timing and implementation remain.

Trump officials have said Mexico can prevent the tariffs by securing its southern border with Guatemala, cracking down on criminal smuggling organizations and overhauling its asylum system. But the U.S. has not proposed concrete metrics to assess whether Mexico is complying, and it is unclear whether even those steps would be enough to satisfy Trump on illegal immigration, a signature issue of his presidency and one that he sees as crucial to his 2020 re-election campaign.

Beyond Trump and several White House advisers, few in the administration believe imposing tariffs is a good idea, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations. Those people worry about the negative economic consequences for Americans and believe the tariffs — which would likely spark retaliatory taxes on U.S. exports — would also hurt the administration politically. The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Republicans in Congress have warned the White House that they are ready to stand up to the president to try to block his tariffs, which they worry would spike costs to U.S. consumers, harm the economy and imperil a major pending U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal .

Democratic House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal said he will introduce a resolution of disapproval to stop the tariffs if Trump goes through with his threat, panning it as presidential “overreach.”

The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions of migrants illegally crossing the border hit the highest level in more than a decade in May: 132,887 apprehensions, including a record 84,542 adults and children traveling together and 11,507 children traveling alone.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — An animal rescue has named a litter of puppies born during an outbreak of severe weather after Kansas City TV meteorologists.

Midwest Animal Resq of Raytown says the puppies were born May 24, when tornado warnings were issued. One day earlier, storms injured about two dozen people in Missouri’s capital city and killed three others elsewhere in the state.

The animal rescue said in a Facebook post that, “We figured they needed to be named after some of the folks who helped keep KC safe that night! Welcome to the world weather pups.”

One of the puppies is named for KMBC-TV chief meteorologist Bryan Busby, while the mother was named for the station’s meteorologist, Katie Horner. The other puppies were named for meteorologists at other TV stations.

CHANUTE, Kan. – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Chanute Police Department, and the Allen County Sheriff’s Office made several arrests Thursday following a two-month long joint investigation into the distribution of illegal drugs, according to a media release.

With the assistance of the Neosho County Attorney’s Office, arrest warrants were issued for individuals related to the distribution of methamphetamine. Then, on Thursday, June 6, in Chanute, Kan., and in the surrounding Neosho County area, the arrest warrants were executed as a part of “Operation Street Sweeper.”

The subjects were later booked into the Neosho County and Allen County Jails for drug-related crimes including the suspected distribution of methamphetamine, and the possession of controlled substances. Criminal complaints have been filed against the suspects in Neosho County District Court, and will be prosecuted by Linus A. Thuston, Neosho County Attorney. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

Arrested during this operation were:

 Arrestee Name,    Age,    City,    Charge (*Listed charge may be the most serious of several charges)

Wade W. Wilson, 48, Chanute, distribution of methamphetamine

Aubrey M. McKinney, 44, Humboldt, distribution of methamphetamine

Foster A. Curls, 37, Chanute, distribution of methamphetamine

Jeremy M. Wilmot, 39, Chanute, distribution of methamphetamine

Shelby T. Young, 27, Chanute, distribution of methamphetamine

Jeffery R. Sinclair, 32, Chanute, distribution of methamphetamine

Heather R. Treiber, 38, Chanute, distribution of methamphetamine

Patrick J. Blanchard, 40, Chanute, distribution of methamphetamine

Brion L. Dinkel, 45, Chanute, distribution of methamphetamine

Rickie A. Blanchard, 29, Chanute, distribution of methamphetamine

Donna R. Brewer, 36, Chanute, distribution of methamphetamine

Tim L. Ingles, 29, Chanute, distribution of methamphetamine

Heather A. Cox, 43, Chanute, distribution of methamphetamine

James A. Briggs, 50, Chanute, distribution of methamphetamine

Jessica M. Coyer, 40, Chanute, possession of a controlled substance

Ashten N. Wilson, 22, Chanute, possession of a controlled substance

The joint operation represented a coordinated law enforcement effort to combat drug violence and reduce the accessibility of illegal drugs affecting southeast Kansas. This investigation is ongoing and additional arrests are expected.

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