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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 2016)
8A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2016 WORLD IN BRIEF Associated Press Obama vows retaliation for suspected Russian hacking WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is promising that the U.S. will retaliate against Russia for its suspected meddling in America’s election process, an accusation the Kremlin has vehe- mently denied. Amid calls on both sides of the political aisle on Capitol Hill for a full-bore congressional investigation, including assertions President Vladimir Putin was personally involved, Obama said in an inter- view that anytime a foreign government tries to interfere in U.S. elections, the nation must take action “and we will at a time and place of our own choosing.” “Some of it may be explicit and publicized, some of it may not be,” he told NPR News Thursday. “But Mr. Putin is well aware of my feelings about this, because I spoke to him directly about it.” White House officials said it was “fact” that Russian hacking helped Donald Trump’s campaign against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Administration officials on Thursday also assailed Trump himself, saying he must have known of Russia’s interference. Obama was to hold a news conference at the White House this afternoon. No proof was offered for any of the accusations, the latest to unsettle America’s uneasy transition from eight years under Obama to a new Republican administration led by Trump. The claims of Russian meddling in the election also have heightened already debilitating tensions between Washington and Moscow over Syria, Ukraine and a host of other disagreements. Syrian TV: Aleppo evacuation halted, rebels fired on convoy BEIRUT — The Syrian government suspended evacuations from eastern Aleppo just hours after they resumed today, saying that rebels had opened fire on a convoy of evacuees at a crossing point with the enclave, state TV reported. It wasn’t immediately clear how long the suspension would last or whether it would delay the cease-fire deal under which tens of thousands of residents and rebel fighters are being evacuated to opposition-controlled areas in the surrounding countryside, a pro- cess likely to take several days. Earlier today, as the evacuations resumed for a second day, Rus- sian President Vladimir Putin announced a major new Syria peace initiative, saying he and his Turkish counterpart are working to set up peace talks between Damascus and the opposition in Kazakhstan. The evacuations seal the end of the Syrian rebels’ most import- ant stronghold — the eastern part of the city of Aleppo — and mark a watershed moment in the country’s civil war, now in its sixth year. In announcing the suspensions, the Syrian TV also claimed that the rebels had tried to take with them captives they had seized and were holding in the rebel enclave during bitter battles to defend their territory from a ferocious, weeks-long onslaught by Syrian Presi- dent Bashar Assad’s troops. Life in prison or death penalty are only options for Roof CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Confederate flag is gone from South Carolina’s Statehouse. The bullet holes have been patched in Emanuel AME’s fellowship hall. And now Dylann Roof will almost certainly spend the rest of his days in prison for killing nine black worshippers at the Charleston church. A federal jury convicted Roof on all 33 counts Thursday. Those same jurors will decide in another phase of the trial starting Jan. 3 whether he faces the death penalty or life in prison for hate crimes at a historic African-American church whose founder led a failed slave revolt. When that testimony starts, Roof will be his own attorney, having again fired defense lawyers who fear Roof is taking over because he doesn’t want them to present embarrassing evidence in their efforts to spare his life. A stunning crime when it happened on June 17, 2015, became more revolting during six days of testimony. Roof fired 77 shots in the fellowship hall. More than 50 hit someone. Each of the nine peo- ple killed were struck at least five times. The medical examiner said the angles of some of the bullets seemed to show someone was hold- ing a gun over victims who were lying still with their arms pulled against them. A prosecutor said they were executed like animals. For Putin, the summit meeting marked his first official visit to a G-7 country since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Abe, eager for progress on the territorial issue, invited Putin even though Japan and the other G-7 nations still have sanctions on Russia. Church, state seeing eye to eye in Putin’s Orthodox Russia MOSCOW — The Russian Orthodox Church is expanding its influence in what was once an officially godless state — and Pres- ident Vladimir Putin appears eager to harness that resurgent power of faith to promote his own agenda. Long consigned to society’s margins in the Soviet era of “scien- tific atheism,” religious activists in today’s Russia can get theater performances banned and exhibitions closed. Their next target is to end state funding for abortion in a land where nearly half of all preg- nancies end in termination. Putin has condemned recent attacks on art exhibitions and efforts to hound performers from the stage. But he says owners of galleries and theaters mustn’t provoke society by showing works that could cause offense. “Any freedom has another dimension: responsibility,” Putin told arts and entertainment figures gathered this month in St. Petersburg. “There is a very narrow edge between dangerous buffoonery and freedom of expression.” The moral authority of the Orthodox Church has grown steadily under Putin, who sides with the church in promoting traditional family values and opposing gay rights. He, in turn, cites Russia’s Christian roots to justify the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, noting that a prince of medieval Russia was baptized there more than a millennium ago. Japan, Russia agree on economic Taiwan eyes Trump’s China policy ties; stalemate on territory with mix of hope and fear TOKYO — Russia and Japan agreed today to hold talks on joint economic development on four islands at the center of a decades-old territorial dispute between the countries. It was a small step forward that fell far short of breaking the stale- mate in a dispute that has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II. Joint development “would help foster trust toward a peace treaty,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after meetings in Japan over two days. Asked about developments in Syria, Putin said that he and Turk- ish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are working to launch a new round of peace talks in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. TAIPEI, Taiwan — As Taiwan becomes a contentious issue between China and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Taiwan- ese are hoping it will lead to closer ties with Washington but are wary of becoming a bargaining chip between the world’s two larg- est economies. Trump’s Dec. 2 phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing- wen raised expectations that he will upgrade relations with the self-governing island with which Washington has only had unoffi- cial ties since recognizing the Communist government on the Chi- nese mainland in 1979. Trump followed up the call with tweets and comments criticizing Chinese trade and foreign policy, stoking speculation about a major change in American policy toward the nearly 70-year-old regional rivalry. “ WE BEAT MY CANCER TOGETHER.” CAROLYN OLSEN – BEND, OREGON It was just before Christmas in 2008 when Carolyn Olsen of Bend spoke to her doctor. The news was bad: multiple myeloma, a cancer that attacks blood cells. Treating it meant traveling to OHSU. She’d have to be away from home for months. But she knew she could not be away from Dennis, her husband. Throughout her treatment, he was always with her. Reading to her, giving support, being there. According to Carolyn, being together made all the difference. “ The new OHSU guest house will be very important, not just for patients, but also To help others like Carolyn and Dennis, we’re building the Gary & Christine Rood Family Pavilion, a new five-story guest house on Portland’s South Waterfront. Where children and adults, facing the most serious health crises, can rest, heal and support each other. Because people heal better when loved ones can be close. Please make a gift today. Help OHSU build a new home for healing. OnwardOHSU.org/HomeForHealing ONWARD // THE CAMPAIGN FOR OHSU for their loved ones. So together you can concentrate on getting well.” – CAROLYN OLSEN
