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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2017
WORLD IN BRIEF
Associated Press
President Trump confirms
he’s under investigation
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump confirmed Fri-
day he was under investigation and appeared to take aim at a
senior Justice Department official, in a tweet that seemed to
encapsulate his frustration with the ongoing focus on Russia’s
involvement in the 2016 election.
“I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the
man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt,” the pres-
ident wrote in his tweet.
In another tweet earlier Friday, Trump writes, “After 7 months
of investigations & committee hearings about my ‘collusion with
the Russians,’ nobody has been able to show any proof. Sad!”
The Trump tweets come after the top lawyer for his transition
team warned organization officials to preserve all records and
other materials related to the Russia probe. An official of Trump’s
transition confirmed the lawyer’s internal order sent Thursday.
The transition official spoke on condition of anonymity
because the person was not authorized to discuss post-election
decisions publicly.
Trump’s tweet that he’s being investigated “by the man who
told me to fire the FBI Director” may refer to Deputy Attor-
ney General Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein in a memo to Trump
raised concerns over FBI Director James Comey. Trump cited the
memo in firing Comey.
And it was Rosenstein who appointed Robert Mueller as spe-
cial counsel to investigate Russian involvement in the 2016 presi-
dential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
Trump to announce plan to stop
cash flow to Cuban military
WASHINGTON — Stopping short of a complete turnabout,
President Donald Trump is expected to announce a revised Cuba
policy aimed at stopping the flow of U.S. cash to the country’s
military and security services while maintaining diplomatic rela-
tions and allowing U.S. airlines and cruise ships to continue ser-
vice to the island.
In a speech Friday at a Miami theater associated with Cuban
exiles, Trump will cast the policy moves as fulfillment of a prom-
ise he made during last year’s presidential campaign to reverse
then-President Barack Obama’s diplomatic re-engagement with
the island after decades of estrangement.
Senior White House officials who briefed reporters Thurs-
day on the coming announcement said Obama’s overtures had
enriched Cuba’s military while repression increased on the
island. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss
the policy before Trump announces it, despite the president’s reg-
ular criticism of the use of anonymous sources.
The moves to be announced by Trump are only a partial rever-
sal of Obama’s policies, however. And they will saddle the U.S.
government with the complicated task of policing U.S. travel
to Cuba to make sure there are no transactions with the mili-
tary-linked conglomerate that runs much of the Cuban economy.
By restricting individual U.S. travel to Cuba, the new policy
also risks cutting off a major source of income for Cuba’s private
business sector, which the policy is meant to support.
Russia claims it has killed
IS leader al-Baghdadi
BEIRUT — Russia claimed Friday it killed the leader of the
Islamic State group in an airstrike targeting a meeting of IS lead-
ers just outside the group’s de facto capital in Syria.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
was killed in a Russian strike in late May along with other senior
group commanders.
There had been previous reports of al-Baghdadi being killed
but they did not turn out to be true. The IS leader last released
an audio on Nov. 3, urging his followers to keep up the fight
for Mosul as they defend the city against a major offensive that
began weeks earlier.
The spokesman for the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition said in a
statement Friday he could not confirm the Russian claim.
The report of al-Baghdadi’s death comes as IS suffers major
setbacks in which they have lost wide areas of territory and both
of their strongholds — Mosul in Iraq and Syria’s Raqqa. Both are
under attack by various groups who are fighting under the cover
of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition.
About 4,000 more US troops
to go to Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon will send almost 4,000
additional American forces to Afghanistan, a Trump adminis-
tration official said Thursday, hoping to break a stalemate in a
war that has now passed to a third U.S. commander in chief. The
deployment will be the largest of American manpower under
Donald Trump’s young presidency.
The decision by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis could be
announced as early as next week, the official said. It follows
Trump’s move to give Mattis the authority to set troop levels
and seeks to address assertions by the top U.S. commander in
Afghanistan that he doesn’t have enough forces to help Afghan-
istan’s army against a resurgent Taliban insurgency. The rising
threat posed by Islamic State extremists, evidenced in a rash of
deadly attacks in the capital city of Kabul, has only fueled calls
for a stronger U.S. presence, as have several recent American
combat deaths.
The bulk of the additional troops will train and advise Afghan
forces, according to the administration official, who wasn’t
authorized to discuss details of the decision publicly and spoke
on condition of anonymity. A smaller number would be assigned
to counterterror operations against the Taliban and IS, the offi-
cial said.
Asked for comment, a Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff
Davis, said, “No decisions have been made.”
Daulat Waziri, spokesman for Afghanistan’s defense ministry
was reluctant to comment on specifics Friday but said the Afghan
government supports the U.S. decision to send more troops. “The
United States knows we are in the fight against terrorism, “ he
said. “We want to finish this war in Afghanistan with the help of
the NATO alliance.”
Rule gives Oregonians non-
gender option on driver’s license
SALEM — In a move hailed by LGBT rights groups, Oregon
became the first state in the US on Thursday to allow residents to
mark their gender as “not specified” on applications for driver’s
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President Donald Trump walks from Marine One to board Air Force One Friday for a trip to Miami to deliver a speech on
Cuba policy. Trump’s revised policy will only be a partial reversal of former President Barack Obama’s policies.
licenses, learner’s permits and identity cards.
Under the new rule approved by the Oregon Transportation
Commission, Oregonians who select the new option will have an
X appear instead of M or F on those cards. The rule, which takes
effect on July 3, is a first for the U.S., David House, spokesman
for Oregon’s Driver and Motor Vehicles Division, or DMV, told
The Associated Press.
“It’s fitting that this is before us during Pride Week in Oregon
and Pride Month around the country,” said Commissioner Sean
O’Hollaren. “It’s something that we should do because it’s the
right thing to do.”
The DMV said the new rule, which the commission passed
unanimously, came about after a Multnomah County judge in
June 2016 allowed Jamie Shupe, a Portland resident, to legally
change to “non-binary” gender.
“There’s a little more truth and justice in the world today,” said
Hayley Gorenberg, deputy legal director of Lambda Legal, the
oldest and largest national legal organization that advocates for
the civil rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender people.
Scalise has more surgery as
authorities track shooter’s path
WASHINGTON — Still in critical condition and undergo-
ing repeated surgery, GOP House Whip Steve Scalise “will be
in the hospital for some time,” according to the facility where he
is recovering from a gunshot. His House colleagues paid tribute
to him at their annual charity baseball game, while law enforce-
ment tracked the path the shooter traveled to his ballfield carnage.
Investigators studying Wednesday’s attack at a suburban Vir-
ginia park said shooter James Hodgkinson had obtained his rifle and
handgun from licensed firearms dealers. Capitol Police said they
had “no evidence to suggest that the purchases were not lawful.”
Hodgkinson, a Belleville, Illinois, home inspector who had
been living out of his van near the park, had a social media page
filled with criticism of Republicans and the Trump administra-
tion. He died after officers in Scalise’s security detail fired back
at him.
The FBI said it was investigating the shooter’s “activities and
social media impressions” in the months leading up to the attack.
Authorities also were going over a cellphone, computer and cam-
era taken from Hodgkinson’s white van, which was parked near
the ballfield.
So far, investigators have not linked Hodgkinson to any radi-
cal groups, said a law enforcement official who spoke on condi-
tion of anonymity because the official was not authorized to dis-
cuss the investigation publicly.
Escaped Georgia prison inmates
recaptured in Tennessee
SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. — Two escaped inmates sought in the
killings of two guards on a Georgia prison bus were captured after
a chase and being held at gunpoint by a rural Tennessee home-
owner whose vehicle they were trying to steal, authorities said.
Donnie Rowe and Ricky Dubose were apprehended Thursday
in the rural community of Christiana, Tennessee, ending a multi-
state manhunt that began Tuesday morning.
“True bravery is what’s caused us to stand before you tonight
to talk about a successful capture instead of a tragic incident,”
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director Mark Gwyn said at a
news conference. “So I’m totally grateful to everyone involved.”
Earlier in the day, police in nearby Shelbyville had responded
to a call about a home invasion, where a couple had been held
captive, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Nelly
Miles said.
The suspects fled in the couple’s vehicle and fired on sher-
iff’s deputies chasing them on Interstate 24 about 50 miles (80
kilometers) southeast of Nashville, Tennessee Highway Patrol
spokesman Lt. Bill Miller said. Rutherford County Sheriff
Michael Fitzhugh said his deputies did not return fire and none of
them was injured.
N. Korea portraits: Ordinary
lives, ever in leader’s shadow
PYONGYANG, North Korea — When asked what’s import-
ant to them, North Koreans might talk about working hard, or
doing well at sports, or having a big family. But leader Kim Jong
Un is never far from the conversation.
Pyongyang subway officer Ri Ok Gyong says she wants “to
serve people because Marshal Kim Jong Un loves his people and
so must I.”
Professional long-distance runner Pak Chol says, “I want to
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please leader Kim Jong Un through my sporting successes.”
Ri Ok Ran and her husband, Kang Sung Jin, say they want
“to have many children so that they can serve in the army and
defend and uphold our leader and country, for many years into
the future.”
AP photographer Wong Maye-E tries to get her North Korean
subjects to open up as much as is possible in an authoritarian
country with no tolerance for dissent and great distrust of foreign-
ers. She has taken dozens of portraits of North Koreans over the
past three years, often after breaking the ice by taking photos with
an instant camera and sharing them.
At impasse, Cosby jury goes
back to work on verdict
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — A new round of deliberations is rais-
ing the prospects that Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial will end
with a verdict instead of a hung jury.
Jurors who have appeared stressed and even angry seemed
more upbeat as they left court outside Philadelphia Thursday
night than on previous nights, despite enduring another marathon
session.
The sequestered jurors had deliberated about 30 hours before
telling Judge Steven O’Neill earlier Thursday that they couldn’t
reach a unanimous decision on any of the counts against the
79-year-old comedian. The judge told them to try again for a
verdict.
As the jurors left for the day, O’Neill heaped praise on them,
thanking them for their dedication and the sacrifice they’ve made
being 300 miles (482 kilometers) from home in the Pittsburgh
area.
“I want to reiterate how proud I am of each and every one
of you,” O’Neill said as he sent the jury back to the hotel. “I
thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything that you’ve
done.”
Grief turns to anger in
neighborhood near tower fire
LONDON — Relatives of those missing after a high-rise
tower blaze in London are searching frantically for their loved
ones, as the police commander in charge of the investigation says
he hopes the death toll will not rise to three figures.
Firefighters searching the smoldering ruin in west London
have recovered six bodies from the 24-story Grenfell Tower,
while 11 others have been located but cannot yet be removed
from the gutted structure.
Families searching for their loved ones have blanketed the
area near the tower with posters searching for answers, and sor-
row is quickly turning to anger over whether recent building
works were properly done.
Meanwhile, Metropolitan Police commander Stuart Cundy
responded to speculation that the number of dead could exceed
100, saying: “From a personal perspective, I really hope it isn’t.”
Amazon buying Whole Foods in
bold move into brick and mortar
NEW YORK — Amazon is buying Whole Foods in a deal
valued at about $13.7 billion, a stunning move into brick-and-
mortar retail that sets the stage for more radical store experimen-
tation and intensified competition with grocery rivals.
The deal unites the online juggernaut with the grocery store
chain that fell behind as the organic and natural foods it helped
popularize expanded to more locations and shoppers found “good
enough” alternatives.
Amazon already offers grocery-delivery services in five mar-
kets, but the Whole Foods purchase would let it expand to many
more. Amazon also offers grocery shipments elsewhere, but
that’s tough with perishable foods.
The deal has the possibility to be “transformative,” Moody’s
lead retail analyst Charlie O’Shea said in a note, “not just for food
retail, but for retail in general.”
The “implications ripple far beyond the food segment, where
dominant players like Walmart, Kroger, Costco, and Target now
have to look over their shoulders at the Amazon train coming
down the tracks,” O’Shea said.