6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017
WORLD IN BRIEF
Associated Press
Classified report on Russia,
election hacking going to Trump
WASHINGTON — The nation’s top intelligence officials
are making their most detailed and persuasive case yet to Presi-
dent-elect Donald Trump that Russia interfered in this year’s U.S.
political process.
The officials — Director of National Intelligence James Clap-
per, CIA Director John Brennan and FBI Director James Comey
— are preparing to point to multiple motives for Moscow’s alleged
meddling as they brief Trump on their classified report today in
New York. President Barack Obama received a briefing on Thurs-
day, and a declassified version of the report is expected to be
released at some point.
Since winning the election, Trump has repeatedly questioned
intelligence officials’ assessments that Russia was behind the hack-
ing of the Democratic National Committee and individual Demo-
crats like Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.
Trump remained dubious about the assertion even on the eve
of his intelligence briefing, asking how officials could be “so sure”
about the hacking if they had not examined DNC servers.
“What is going on?” he wrote on Twitter.
GOP has Trump’s back as he
questions US intelligence
WASHINGTON — A few years ago President Barack Obama
came under conservative fire for choosing, at times, to read his
daily intelligence briefings, rather than receive them in-person.
Republican Rep. Paul Ryan was among those piling on.
“I have a hard time comprehending that, because the primary
job of the commander in chief is to keep the country safe,” Ryan
said in an October 2014 interview on Fox News Channel. “And
you need to get from your intelligence community, your defense
community — especially when we have troops in harm’s way —
what’s going on.”
Yet now, as President-elect Donald Trump refuses daily intel-
ligence briefings, questions U.S. spy agency conclusions about
Russia interfering in the 2016 presidential election, praises Rus-
sian President Vladimir Putin and appears to side with WikiLeaks
founder Julian Assange, Ryan and other Republicans have Trump’s
back. Far from strongly defending the U.S. intelligence commu-
nity, they’re siding with the new leader of their party, even when
he makes comments or takes stances that would seem anathema
to the GOP.
It’s a remarkable turnabout for a political party that cheered
President Ronald Reagan’s hard-line stance against the “evil
empire” of the Soviet Union, unfailingly supports the military and
joined with European allies in blistering Putin after Russia’s annex-
ation of Crimea in 2014.
Asked at a press briefing Thursday whether he had full con-
fidence in U.S. intelligence agencies, now-Speaker Ryan offered
a tepid endorsement that began and ended on a note of criticism.
SeaWorld: Tilikum, orca that
killed trainer, has died
ORLANDO, Fla. — Tilikum, an orca that killed a trainer at
SeaWorld Orlando in 2010 and was profiled in a documentary that
helped sway popular opinion against keeping killer whales in cap-
tivity at SeaWorld parks, has died.
Sea World officials said today that Tilikum died but did not give
a cause of death. In a statement, the officials said Tilikum had faced
serious health issues including a persistent and complicated bacte-
rial lung infection. He was estimated to be 36 years old. A necropsy
will be performed, according to the statement.
The 2010 death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau during
a performance with Tilikum after a “Dine with Shamu” show
shocked the public and changed the future of orcas at SeaWorld
parks.
Brancheau was interacting with Tilikum before a live audi-
ence at SeaWorld Orlando when he pulled her from a platform
by her arm and held her underwater. An autopsy report said Bran-
cheau drowned but also suffered severe trauma, including multi-
ple fractures.
SeaWorld Entertainment officials announced in March 2016
that the tourist attraction would end its orca breeding program and
theatrical shows involving killer whales.
While the breeding program continued, Tilikum was SeaWor-
ld’s most prolific male orca, siring 14 calves during his time at Sea-
World Orlando. He arrived at the park about 25 years ago.
He was noticeable for his size at more than 22 feet and 11,800
pounds.
“Tilikum had, and will continue to have, a special place in the
hearts of the SeaWorld family, as well as the millions of people
all over the world that he inspired,” SeaWorld President and CEO
Joel Manby said. “My heart goes out to our team who cared for
him like family.”
Northwest Cable News
set to go off air tonight
SEATTLE — Northwest Cable News, the Pacific Northwest’s
24-hour regional news network, is set to go off air today night after
21 years of broadcasting.
The network will sign off following an hour-long retrospective
AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack
Orca whale Tilikum watches as SeaWorld Orlando trainers take a break during a training session at the theme park’s
Shamu Stadium in Orlando, Fla., in 2011. Tilikum, an orca that killed a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando in 2010, died today.
that begins 6 p.m. today.
Jim Rose, general manager of KING Broadcasting in Seattle,
has said declining viewership and changing viewer habits were fac-
tors. KING, a division of TEGNA, oversees the regional network.
Northwest Cable News reports that Rose says 25 employees
are affected by the shutdown, but more than half of those have
found other jobs within the company in Seattle or elsewhere with
TEGNA.
The 24-hour regional news channel debuted on cable TV sys-
tems in much of Washington, Oregon and Idaho in December
1995. It drew content from KING, Portland’s KGW, Spokane’s
KREM and KTVB in Boise, Idaho. All are owned by TEGNA.
Police: Beating on video began
after friendly encounter
CHICAGO — The two 18-year-olds had been schoolmates,
police say. After meeting at McDonald’s, they spent two days
together, driving around visiting friends. Then a pretend fight
between them escalated into a brutal beating of a mentally disabled
teenager that has stirred racial tensions and outrage after being
broadcast on Facebook Live.
How the white suburban teen ended up beaten by four black
people, threatened with a knife and taunted with profanities against
white people and President-elect Donald Trump is among the puz-
zles authorities are still trying to piece together after the four were
charged with hate crimes on Thursday.
The alleged attackers will make their first appearance in court
today, when they also face charges of kidnapping and battery for
the assault, which was captured on cellphone video by one of the
assailants and viewed by millions on social media.
“This should never have happened,” said David Boyd, the vic-
tim’s brother-in-law at a brief news conference in suburban Chi-
cago. He said the victim was traumatized but doing as well as could
be expected. Neal Strom, who is acting as a family spokesman, told
The Associated Press that the victim has had “profound emotional
and physical disabilities throughout his life.” He did not elaborate.
The uproar over the beating has intensified the glare on Chicago
after a bloody year of violent crime and protests against Mayor
Rahm Emanuel and a police department that has been accused of
brutality and hushing up wrongdoing. The department has also
been the subject of a long civil-rights investigation by the Justice
Department, which is expected to report its findings soon. It also
stirred emotions still raw after a nasty presidential election cam-
paign that split the nation.
Final jobs report for Obama
presidency expected to be solid
WASHINGTON — The last major economic report card for
President Barack Obama arrives today with the release of the
December jobs figures. The report will cap a long record of robust
hiring after the Great Recession, though one that left many people
feeling left out.
When Obama took office in January 2009, the economy was
hemorrhaging jobs from employers who were panicking in the
face of plummeting demand and a financial crisis that froze credit.
When the bleeding finally stopped in February 2010, 8.7 million
jobs had vanished.
The unemployment rate peaked at a quarter-century high of 10
percent in October 2009. Just over seven years later, it has reached
a nine-year low of 4.6 percent. Hiring was slow at first but soon
accelerated and has been consistently solid through most of the
recovery. The U.S. has gained 15.4 million jobs over 74 consecu-
tive months — the longest streak of job gains on record.
December is sure to extend the streak, though likely at a more
modest pace than prevailed a couple of years ago: Economists have
forecast that employers added 173,000 jobs in December, accord-
ing to data provider FactSet. The unemployment rate is thought to
have risen slightly to 4.7 percent.
Russia says it starts Syrian
drawdown with aircraft carrier
MOSCOW — Russia announced today that it is withdrawing
its aircraft carrier and some other Russian warships from the waters
off Syria as the first step in a drawdown of its forces in the war-torn
Mideast country.
According to Russian General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasi-
mov, the Admiral Kuznetsov carrier and accompanying ships are
to be the first to leave.
Gerasimov was quoted as saying by the state news agency Tass
that “in accordance with the decision by the supreme command-
er-in-chief (President) Vladimir Putin, the Defense Ministry is
starting to downsize the grouping of armed forces in Syria.”
Moscow has been a key supporter of President Bashar Assad’s
government and forces in Syria’s devastating civil war.
Gerasimov did not give further details on the force reduction,
which follows an order by Putin on Dec. 29.
A 3,000-year-old city wrecked
by militants, left for looters
NIMRUD, Iraq — The giant winged bulls that once stood sen-
try at the nearly 3,000-year-old palace at Nimrud have been hacked
to pieces. The fantastical human-headed creatures were believed to
guard the king from evil, but now their stone remains are piled in
the dirt, victims of the Islamic State group’s fervor to erase history.
The militants’ fanaticism devastated one of the most import-
ant archaeological sites in the Middle East. But more than a month
after the militants were driven out, Nimrud is still being ravaged,
its treasures disappearing, piece by piece, imperiling any chance of
eventually rebuilding it, an Associated Press team found after mul-
tiple visits last month.
With the government and military still absorbed in fighting the
war against the Islamic State group in the nearby city of Mosul, the
wreckage of the Assyrian Empire’s ancient capital lies unprotected
and vulnerable to looters.
No one is assigned to guard the sprawling site, much less cat-
alog the fragments of ancient reliefs, chunks of cuneiform texts,
pieces of statues and other rubble after IS blew up nearly every
structure there. Toppled stone slabs bearing a relief from the pal-
ace wall that the AP saw on one visit were gone when journalists
returned.
“When I heard about Nimrud, my heart wept before my eyes
did,” said Hiba Hazim Hamad, an archaeology professor in Mosul
who often took her students there. “My family and neighbors came
to my house to pay condolences.”
Dylann Roof cold to victims,
but apologized to his parents
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Before Dylann Roof was arrested for
killing nine black church members, he scribbled a note to his
mother, apologizing for all the repercussions his actions would
cause. Weeks later, in a jailhouse journal, he wrote that he had no
regrets.
The evidence, along with his manifesto, hundreds of photos and
a confession to the FBI, draw a portrait of a young white man con-
sumed by racial hatred who carefully planned the killings, picking
out meek, innocent black people who likely wouldn’t fight back.
Public Meeting
JA N UA RY
Columbia River System
Operations
DISNEY
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power
Administration invite the public to help identify issues that the agencies will analyze in
the Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement. The agencies
will use this EIS to assess the eff ects and update their approach to operations of 14
federal dams and related facilities in the interior Columbia River basin.
The agencies welcome your comments, suggestions and information to help inform
the scope of issues, potential eff ects and range of alternatives evaluated in the EIS.
DAYS
AT AAA
JANUARY 9-20, 2017
Enjoy valuable AAA booking incentives
Monday, January 9, 2017
4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The Loft at the Red Building
20 Basin Street
Astoria, Oregon
For more information about the Columbia River System Operations EIS, please visit
this website: http://www.crso.info
Information is also available by calling 800-290-5033.
AAA North Coast
on Disney vacations, compliments of
AAA Travel!
Visit or call your local AAA and let us
customize a Disney vacation during our
Disney Days celebration.
135 S. Highway 101, Warrenton
503.861.3118
NORTHCOAST@AAAOREGON.COM
Disney artwork, logos and properties ©Disney. Special booking incentive applies Jan.
9-20, 2017 at all AAA Travel locations in Oregon and the Southern 34 counties of Idaho.