Page 4A
NATION/WORLD
(ast Oregonian
Tuesday -anuary
Obama moves for background
checks on more gun sales
U.S. sues VW
over cheating
software in
diesel cars
WASHINGTON (AP)
— The -ustice 'epart-
ment sued VoOksZagen
on Monday over emis-
sions-cheating softZare
found in nearOy
vehicOes soOd in the 8nit-
ed States potentiaOOy
exposing the company
to biOOions of doOOars in
penaOties for cOean air vi-
oOations.
The civiO compOaint
against the German auto-
maker ¿Oed on behaOf of
the (nvironmentaO Pro-
tection Agency in U.S.
'istrict Court in 'etroit
aOOeges the company iOOe-
gaOOy instaOOed softZare
designed to make its
“cOean dieseO´ engines
pass federaO emissions
standards ZhiOe under-
going Oaboratory test-
ing. The vehicOes then
sZitched off those mea-
sures in reaO-ZorOd driv-
ing conditions speZing
harmfuO gases at up to
times Zhat is aOOoZed un-
der federaO environmen-
taO standards.
“Car manufacturers
that faiO to properOy cer-
tify their cars and that
defeat emission controO
systems breach the pub-
Oic trust endanger pubOic
heaOth and disadvantage
competitors´ -ohn C.
Cruden the assistant at-
torney generaO for the
-ustice 'epartment’s (n-
vironment and NaturaO
5esources 'ivision said
in a statement.
“The United States
ZiOO pursue aOO appro-
priate remedies against
VoOksZagen to redress
the vioOations of our na-
tion’s cOean air OaZs aO-
Oeged in the compOaint´
he said.
The company is in the
midst of negotiating a
massive mandatory recaOO
Zith U.S. reguOators and
potentiaOOy faces more
than biOOion in ¿nes
for vioOations of the fed-
eraO COean Air Act.
By JOSH LEDERMAN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Pres-
ident Barack Obama moved
Monday to expand back-
ground checks to cover more
¿rearms soOd at gun shoZs
onOine and anyZhere eOse
aiming to curb a scourge of
gun vioOence despite unyieOd-
ing opposition to neZ OaZs in
Congress.
Obama¶s pOan to broaden
background checks forms
the centerpiece of a broad-
er package of gun controO
measures the president pOans
to take on his oZn in his ¿-
naO year in of¿ce. AOthough
Obama can¶t uniOateraOOy
change gun OaZs the presi-
dent is hoping that bee¿ng up
enforcement of existing OaZs
can prevent at Oeast some gun
deaths in a country rife Zith
them.
³This is not going to soOve
every vioOent crime in this
country´ Obama said. StiOO
he added ³It ZiOO potentiaOOy
save Oives and spare famiOies
the pain of these extraordi-
nary Oosses.´
8nder current OaZ onOy
federaOOy Oicensed gun deaO-
ers must conduct background
checks on buyers but many
Zho seOO guns at Àea mar-
kets on Zebsites or in other
informaO settings don¶t reg-
ister as deaOers. Gun controO
advocates say that OoophoOe
is expOoited to skirt the back-
ground check requirement.
NoZ the -ustice 'epart-
ment¶s Bureau of AOcohoO
Tobacco )irearms and (x-
pOosives ZiOO issue updated
guidance that says the gov-
ernment shouOd deem anyone
³in the business´ of seOOing
guns to be a deaOer regardOess
of Zhere he or she seOOs the
guns. To that end the gov-
ernment ZiOO consider other
factors incOuding hoZ many
guns a person seOOs and hoZ
frequentOy and Zhether those
guns are soOd for a pro¿t.
The executive actions on
gun controO faOO far short of
Zhat Obama and Oikemind-
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Attorney General Loretta Lynch listens as President Barack Obama speaks in the
Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday during a meeting with law
enforcement officials to discuss executive actions the president can take to curb
gun violence.
Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman via AP
Terry Holcomb, Executive Director of Texas Carry hap-
pily displays his customized holster as he walks to the
Capitol for a rally. Open Carry Texas and Texas Carry held
a rally on the south steps of the Texas State Capitol in
Austin to celebrate Texas becoming an open carry state.
ed OaZmakers attempted to
accompOish Zith OegisOation
in after a massacre at
a Connecticut eOementary
schooO that shook the na-
tion¶s conscience. (ven stiOO
the more modest measures
Zere sure to spark OegaO chaO-
Oenges from those Zho op-
pose any neZ impediments
to buying guns.
³We¶re very comfortabOe
that the president can OegaO-
Oy take these actions´ said
Attorney GeneraO /oretta
/ynch.
Obama’s announcement
Zas haiOed by 'emocratic
OaZmakers and gun controO
groups Oike the Brady Cam-
paign to Prevent Gun Vio-
Oence Zhich cOaimed Obama
Zas making history Zith
³boOd and meaningfuO action´
that ZouOd make aOO Ameri-
cans safer. HiOOary COinton at a
raOOy in IoZa said she Zas ³so
proud´ of Obama but Zarned
that the next president couOd
easiOy undo his changes.
³I Zon’t Zipe it aZay´
COinton said.
But 5epubOicans Zere
quick to accuse Obama of
gross overreach. Sen Bob
Corker 5-Tenn. denounced
Obama’s steps as “divisive
and detrimentaO to reaO soOu-
tions.´
“I ZiOO Zork Zith my coO-
Oeagues to respond appropri-
ateOy to ensure the Consti-
tution is respected´ Corker
said.
)ar from mandating
background checks for aOO
gun saOes the neZ guidance
stiOO exempts coOOectors and
gun hobbyists and the exact
de¿nition of Zho must reg-
ister as a deaOer and conduct
background checks remains
exceedingOy vague.
Details of the plan
The president’s actions
will make clear that any-
one who’s in the business
of selling guns must obtain
a license, regardless of
whether they sell irearms
online or at gun shows,
and must conduct back-
ground checks on their
customers. Currently, only
federally licensed gun deal-
ers must conduct back-
ground checks on buyers.
The White House says
there’s no threshold
number of sales that
will trigger the licensure
requirement, and that even
a few transactions may be
enough to establish that a
person is engaged in the
business of selling guns.
• MORE FBI EXAMINERS:
The FBI will hire more than
an additional 230 exam-
iners and other staff to
help process background
checks. The National In-
stant Criminal Background
Check System in 2015
received more than 22.2
million background check
requests, or an average of
more than 63,000 per day.
The FBI is also working
to modernize NICS, which
dates to the 1990s, and
to improve the response
time for alerting local law
enforcement authorities
that someone who is dis-
qualiied from buying a gun
attempted to do so.
• LOST AND STOLEN
WEAPONS: A rule issued
by the federal Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives will clarify
that a dealer shipping
a gun is responsible for
notifying law enforcement
once it determines it was
lost or stolen in transit.
• SMART GUN TECH: A
presidential memorandum
to the departments of
Defense, Homeland Se-
curity and Justice directs
the agencies to conduct
or sponsor research into
smart gun technology.
That technology is aimed
at reducing the risk of
accidental gun discharges
and improving the tracing
of lost or stolen irearms.
• MENTAL HEALTH: The
White House is proposing
a $500 million investment
to improve mental health
care.
NATION/WORLD
Tuesday -anuary
AOOies foOOoZ Saudis in cutting ties Zith Iran
By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press
'UBAI United Arab (mir-
ates — AOOies of Saudi Arabia foO-
OoZed the kingdom’s Oead Mon-
day and scaOed back dipOomatic
ties to Iran after the ransacking
of Saudi dipOomatic missions in
the IsOamic 5epubOic vioOence
sparked by the Saudi execution
of a prominent Shiite cOeric.
Sudan and the tiny isOand king-
dom of Bahrain said they ZouOd
sever ties Zith Iran as Saudi
Arabia did Oate Sunday. Within
hours the United Arab (mirates
announced it ZouOd doZngrade
ties to Tehran to the OeveO of the
charge d’affaires ZhiOe other na-
tions issued statements criticizing
Iran.
The concerted campaign by
Sunni-ruOed Saudi Arabia high-
Oights the aggressive stance .ing
SaOman and his son 'eputy
CroZn Prince Mohammed bin
SaOman have adopted in con-
fronting Iran a Oongtime regionaO
rivaO.
“What Ze have seen during
the Oast hours is unprecedented
... It shoZs you Saudi Arabia has
had enough of Iran and Zants to
send a message´ said AbduOkha-
Oeq AbduOOah a poOiticaO science
professor at (mirates Univer-
sity. “This is the Saudis saying:
µThere is no Oimit to hoZ far Ze
ZiOO go.’´
The standoff began Saturday
Zhen Saudi Arabia executed Shi-
ite cOeric Sheikh Nimr aO-Nimr
and others convicted of terror
charges — the Oargest mass ex-
ecution carried out by the king-
dom since 1980.
AO-Nimr a centraO ¿gure in
the Arab Spring-inspired pro-
tests by Saudi Arabia’s Shiite
minority Oong denied advocating
vioOence. NeZs of his execution
has sparked Shiite protests from
Bahrain to Pakistan.
In Iran protesters attacked the
Saudi (mbassy in Tehran and its
consuOate in Mashhad. /ate Sun-
day Saudi )oreign Minister AdeO
aO--ubeir announced the kingdom
ZouOd sever its reOations Zith Iran
over the assauOts giving Iranian
dipOomatic personneO 8 hours to
Oeave his country.
On Monday Saudi Arabia’s
civiO aviation authority suspended
aOO Àights to and from Iran saying
the move Zas based on the king-
AP Photo/Vahid Salemi
An Iranian woman holds up a poster showing Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent opposition
Saudi Shiite cleric who was executed last week by Saudi Arabia, in Tehran, Iran, Monday.
dom’s cutting of dipOomatic ties.
Iran expressed “regret´ over
the attacks on the dipOomatic
missions in a Oetter to the United
Nations on Monday and voZed
to arrest those responsibOe. In the
Oetter obtained by The Associat-
ed Press Iran’s U.N. envoy GhoO-
amaOi .hoshroo said more than
0 protesters have been arrested
and that authorities are searching
for other suspects.
In response to a Saudi Oetter
the U.N. Security CounciO Oate
Monday strongOy condemned
the attacks by Iranian protesters
on Saudi dipOomatic posts. The
counciO statement agreed to after
hours of negotiations made no
mention of the Saudi executions
or the rupture in Saudi-Iranian
reOations.
Saudi Arabia and Iran have
Oong vied for inÀuence in the
MiddOe (ast. Their rivaOry deep-
ened foOOoZing the toppOing of
Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the
chaos of the Arab Spring Zhich
gave rise to proxy Zars in Syria
and Yemen.
An earOy battOeground Zas
Bahrain Zhere the Shiite maMor-
ity staged mass protests in 2011
demanding poOiticaO reforms
from the Sunni monarchy. Saudi
Arabia and the (mirates sent in
troops to heOp quash the revoOt
vieZing it as an Iranian bid to ex-
pand its inÀuence.
Bahraini of¿ciaOs since have
accused Iran of training miOitants
and attempting to smuggOe arms
into the country Zhich hosts the
U.S. Navy’s th )Oeet. In Octo-
ber Bahrain ordered the acting
Iranian charge d’affaires to Oeave
Zithin 2 hours and recaOOed its
oZn ambassador after aOOeging
that Iran sponsored “subversion´
and “terrorism´ and funneOed
arms to miOitants.
Sudan Zhich has been Oook-
ing to Saudi Arabia for aid since
the secession of oiO-rich South
Sudan in 2011 on Monday an-
nounced an “immediate sever-
ing of ties´ over the dipOomatic
mission attacks. Sudan once Zas
cOoser to Iran but in recent years
has tiOted toZard Saudi Arabia
and has contributed forces to the
Saudi-Oed coaOition battOing Shiite
rebeOs in Yemen.
The UA( a country of seven
emirates has a Oong trading histo-
ry Zith Iran and is home to many
ethnic Iranians. It said it ZouOd
reduce the number of dipOomats
in Iran and recaOO its ambassador
“in the Oight of Iran’s continuous
interference in the internaO affairs
of GuOf and Arab states Zhich
has reached unprecedented Oev-
eOs.´
Saudi Arabia had previousOy
severed ties Zith Iran from 1988
to 1991 over rioting during the
haMM in 198 and Iran’s attacks
on shipping in the Persian GuOf.
That dipOomatic freeze saZ Iran
haOt piOgrims from attending the
haMM in Saudi Arabia something
required of aOO abOe MusOims once
in their Oives.
Iranian OaZmaker Mohammad
AOi (sfanani spokesman of the
-udiciaO and /egaO Committee
said security issues and the fact
that Iranian piOgrims ZouOdn’t
have consuOar protection inside
the kingdom made haOting the
piOgrimage for Iranians OikeOy ac-
cording to the semi-of¿ciaO ISNA
neZs agency.
WorOd poZers have sought to
caOm the tensions. On Monday
Germany caOOed on both sides to
mend ties ZhiOe 5ussian state
neZs agency 5IA Novosti quot-
ed an unnamed senior dipOomat
as saying MoscoZ is ready to act
as a mediator.
The U.N. envoy for Syr-
ia Staffan de Mistura Zas en
route to 5iyadh on Monday Zith
pOans to Oater visit Tehran. Iran a
staunch supporter of embattOed
Syrian President Bashar Assad
and Saudi Arabia a key backer of
the opposition have participated
in three rounds of internationaO
taOks aimed at ending the conÀict.
'e Mistura has set a -an. 2 target
date for a fourth round of taOks.
ST. /OUIS (AP) — The Mississippi
5iver Àoods more often than it used to and
at higher OeveOs. 5ichard .naup thinks he
knoZs Zhy.
The veteran emergency management
director for southeast Missouri’s Cape
Girardeau County is ¿ghting Àoods again
Must as he did Oast year and the year before
that and the year before that.
“Prior to Oevee buiOding the river Zas a
ZiOd thing and it spread out betZeen the river
bOuffs´ .naup said Monday. “NoZ Ze’ve
tried to tame it. Mother Nature and OOd Man
5iver ZiOO ¿ght back.´
The rains that caused this Zinter’s Àood
bOamed aOready for 2 deaths and damage to
hundreds of homes and businesses ended
a Zeek ago but the Zater Zas stiOO rising
Monday in southern Missouri and IOOinois.
The IOOinois 5iver Zhich Moins the Mississippi
above St. /ouis Zas expected to reach near-
record crests this Zeek betZeen the IOOinois
toZns of Havana and VaOOey City creating
“a very dangerous situation´ as Oevees
there become saturated said Steve Buan a
NationaO Weather Service hydroOogist.
SeveraO other states aOong the Mississippi
5iver Zere stiOO bracing for the crest Zhich
Zas ÀoZing past TiptonviOOe Tennessee and
expected to reach Memphis on Thursday at
. feet above Àood stage.
John Cimmiyotti ~ Branch Manager
305 SW Dorion Ave. ~ Pendleton, OR 97801
8797 W. Gage Blvd., Ste. C-103 ~ Kennewick, WA 99336
541-276-9184 • 800-276-9184
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2015
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BOON( IoZa (AP) — The sprint to the
IoZa caucuses opened Monday Zith nearOy
a dozen presidentiaO candidates in motion a
rather restrained BiOO COinton stepping up for
his Zife and a pOedge by the onOy biOOionaire
in the race to start spending serious money.
)rom IoZa to NeZ Hampshire — on the
air on the bus and on the stump — candidates
vying to become America’s next president
roared out of the hoOidays in fuOO force Zith
Oess than a month to go before voting begins.
The coming Zeeks are especiaOOy cruciaO
for 5epubOicans as voters Oook to Zeed
through the thicket of choices to determine
Zho ZiOO represent and attempt to reunite a
bickering party. This as contentious issues
over terrorism security civiO Oiberties and
gun oZnership reverberate giving candidates
pOenty to argue about.
'emocrat HiOOary COinton and 5epubOican
'onaOd Trump have been the consistent
favorites in poOOs overaOO. But they have very
different strengths.
COinton aOso has an impressive
organization behind her ZhiOe Trump’s
abiOity to puOO off a Zinning ground game is
in question and his frugaO spending to date
has stood in stark contrast to his vast personaO
ZeaOth. He says he’s opening the money
spigot noZ.
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2 Clintons and plenty of
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Serving Eastern Oregon & Washington for over 23 years
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1980
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Page 5A
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