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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 2017)
6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2017 WORLD IN BRIEF Associated Press Texas prepares as Harvey strengthens to Category 2 storm HOUSTON — Harvey continued to intensify as it steered for the Texas coast, with the forecasters saying early Friday that it had strengthened to a Category 2 storm. The hurricane with the potential for up to 3 feet of rain, 125 mph winds and 12-foot storm surges could be the fiercest such storm to hit the United States in almost a dozen years. Forecasters labeled Harvey a “life-threatening storm” that posed a “grave risk” as mil- lions of people braced for a prolonged battering that could swamp dozens of counties more than 100 miles inland. Landfall was predicted for late Friday or early Saturday between Port O’Connor and Matagorda Bay, a 30-mile stretch of coastline about 70 miles northeast of Corpus Christi. Harvey grew quickly Thursday from a tropical depression into a Category 1 hurricane. Early Friday, the National Hurricane Cen- ter reported it had become a Category 2 hurricane. Fueled by warm Gulf of Mexico waters, it was projected to become a major Cate- gory 3 hurricane. The last storm of that category to hit the U.S. was Hurricane Wilma in October 2005 in Florida. South Korean court sentences Samsung heir to 5 years prison SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean court sentenced the billionaire chief of Samsung to five years in prison for bribery and other crimes in a stunning downfall for the heir to South Korea’s biggest family fortune and a global consumer electronics empire. The Seoul Central District Court said Friday that Lee Jae-yong, 49, was guilty of offering bribes to Park Geun-hye when she was South Korea’s president, and to Park’s close friend, to get govern- ment support for efforts to cement his control over the Samsung empire. The revelations that led to Lee’s arrest in February fed pub- lic outrage which contributed to Park’s removal as president. A panel of three judges also found Lee guilty of embezzling Samsung funds, hiding assets overseas, concealing profit from criminal acts and perjury. Prosecutors had sought a 12-year prison term. Lee was accused of offering $38 million in bribes to four entities controlled by Choi Soon-sil, a long-time friend of Park, in exchange for government help with a merger that strengthened Lee’s control over Samsung after his father suffered a heart attack in 2014. Samsung has not denied transferring corporate funds. But Lee, vice chairman at Samsung Electronics and the Samsung founder’s grandson, claimed innocence during the court hearing. He said he was unaware of the foundations or the donations, which were over- seen by other executives. Thai military ruler says authorities searching for ex-PM BANGKOK — Thailand’s military ruler said authorities are searching for Yingluck Shinawatra, the prime minister whose gov- ernment he ousted in a coup three years ago, after she failed to appear for a verdict Friday in a criminal case that could send her to prison for 10 years. Yingluck’s whereabouts were not immediately known, and her absence fueled speculation that she might have left the country. Her lawyer could not be reached for comment. An official of Yingluck’s Pheu Thai party who is close to the Shinawatra family told The Associated Press that she had left Thai- land. The official gave no other details, and declined to be identi- fied because of the sensitivity of the subject. Yingluck, who became Thailand’s first female prime minister when her party swept elections in 2011, is accused of negligence in overseeing a money-losing rice subsidy program. She pleaded innocent and decried the charges as politically motivated. A verdict had been expected Friday, as thousands of Yingluck supporters gathered outside the court and thousands of police stood guard. But Yingluck never appeared, and a judge read out a state- ment saying her lawyers had informed the court she could not attend because of an earache. GOP discord might not bode well for raising debt ceiling WASHINGTON — Fanning the flames of GOP discord, Pres- ident Donald Trump is accusing Republican congressional leaders botching efforts to avoid an unprecedented default on the national debt. “Could have been so easy-now a mess!” Trump tweeted. The president’s sharp words underscored the perilous state of play as Congress heads into the fall without a clear plan to take care of its most important piece of business: If it does not increase the nation’s $19.9 trillion borrowing limit, the government could be unable to pay its bills, jarring financial markets and leading to other harsh consequences. Trump unleashed his latest criticism of the GOP’s congressio- nal leadership in a series of morning tweets Thursday that also included a rebuke of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for his inability to get the Senate to repeal the Obama health care law. The harsh posts were fresh evidence of the president’s fraying relations with fellow Republicans just when the White House and Capitol Hill most need to be working in sync. Critiquing GOP legislative strategy, Trump tweeted that he had Jason Hoekema/The Brownsville Herald Water from Hurricane Harvey’s storm surge crashes through pylons at a fishing pier on Friday in Port Isabel, Texas. asked McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan to attach the leg- islation increasing the borrowing limit — a toxic vote for many Republicans — to popular military veterans’ legislation that he recently signed. The idea was floated in July but never gained steam in Congress. Trump said that because legislators didn’t follow that strategy, “now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval.” Saudi-led airstrikes kill 14 civilians in Yemen’s capital SANAA, Yemen — Airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition targeted Yemen’s capital early on Friday, hitting at least three houses in Sanaa and killing at least 14 civilians, including women and chil- dren, residents and eyewitnesses said. The attack was the latest by the coalition, which has been wag- ing a relentless air campaign against Yemen’s Iran-backed Shiite rebels for the past two years in an effort to bring the internationally recognized government back to power. Recently, the strikes in and around the capital, Sanaa, target- ing army compounds and other locations of the rebels known as Houthis, have intensified. On Wednesday, coalition fighter jets struck a hotel in the town of Arhab, north of Sanaa, killing at least 41 people. Friday’s strikes hit the city’s southern neighborhood of Fag Attan. The death toll was expected to rise further as rescuers pulled more victims from under the rubble. The escalation comes amid signs of fracturing between the two main components of the rebel alliance in Sanaa, the Houthis and loyalists of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh — a standoff that has triggered fears of street violence. Weekly anti-Netanyahu rallies grow larger in Israel JERUSALEM — Engulfed in a string of scandals, Prime Min- ister Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself facing a growing grass- roots protest movement demanding his indictment and removal from office. Weekly anti-corruption vigils in front of the home of Israel’s attorney general have gone from a trickle to drawing thousands of people, and the recent arrest of the two main organizers seems to spell stress within Netanyahu’s circle while further energizing his opponents. The unlikely duo spearheading the protest effort could not be more different. One used to hobnob in the most exclusive circles of power, while the other is a former maintenance man at the prime minister’s residence. Once dismissed as disgruntled fringe char- acters, Eldad Yaniv and Meni Naftali have together galvanized a movement that has rattled Netanyahu’s grip on power. “Netanyahu sees our protest as a clear and present danger to his continued rule, and that is why he is trying to harm us,” said Yaniv, who was arrested with Naftali last week on their way to a protest. “Our goal is more than just replacing Netanyahu,” he said. “It’s to create a new contract between politicians and the public so that the next prime minister is not investigated by police.” In dispute over statues, where do you draw the line? NEW YORK — It’s not just about Robert E. Lee and Stone- wall Jackson. The national soul-searching over whether to take down mon- uments to the Confederacy’s demigods has extended to other his- torical figures accused of wrongdoing, including Christopher Columbus (brutality toward native Americans), the man for whom Boston’s Faneuil Hall is named (slave trader) and former Philadel- phia Mayor Frank Rizzo (bigotry). Historians interviewed by The Associated Press offered varying thoughts about where exactly the line should be drawn in judging someone’s statue-worthiness, but they agreed on one thing: Scrap- ping a monument is not a decision that should be made in haste during political fervor. “If we do this in some willy-nilly way, we will regret it,” cau- tioned Yale University historian David Blight, an expert on slav- ery. “I am very wary of a rush to judgment about what we hate and what we love and what we despise and what we’re offended by.” Blight and other historians say the way to determine whether to remove these monuments, Confederate and otherwise, is through discussions that weigh many factors, among them: The history behind when and why the monument was built. Where it’s placed. The subject’s contribution to society weighed against the alleged wrongdoing. And the artistic value of the monument itself. Florida executes convicted double-murderer using new drug STARKE, Fla. — Florida on Thursday put a man to death with an anesthetic never used before in a U.S. lethal injection, carrying out its first execution in more than 18 months on an inmate con- victed of two racially motivated murders. Authorities said 53-year-old Mark Asay, the first white man executed in Florida for the killing of a black man, was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. Thursday at the state prison in Starke. Asay received a three-drug injection that began with the anesthetic, etomidate. Though approved by the Florida Supreme Court, etomidate has been criticized by some as being unproven in an execution. Eto- midate replaced midazolam, which became harder to acquire after many drug companies began refusing to provide it for executions. Prosecutors say Asay made racist comments in the 1987 fatal shooting of a 34-year-old black man, Robert Lee Booker. Asay also was convicted of the 1987 murder of 26-year-old Robert McDow- ell, who was mixed race, white and Hispanic. Asay had hired McDowell, who was dressed as a woman, as a prostitute, and killed him after learning his true gender, prosecutors said. CLATSOP CARE 100% of funds raised or donated will benefit residents and staff at Clatsop Care Center FUNDRAISER SUGGESTED DONATION $5 SATURDAY ∙ AUGUST 26 TH 10 AM -3 PM C LATSOP C ARE P ARKING L OT · 646 16 TH S TREET · A STORIA $ 3 HOT DOG, CHIPS & DRINK TIMBERLANDS CLOSED OREGON CAPITAL INSIDER eomediagroup.com The most valuable and respected source of local news, advertising and information for our communities. DUE TO HIGH FIRE DANGER Lewis & Clark Timberlands are CLOSED as of August 1, 2017 to all public entry and will remain in effect until further notice. Expires 9/1/17 For up-to-date information please call our RECREATIONAL HOTLINE 503-738-6351 Ext. 2 TIMBERLANDS CLOSED