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NATION/WORLD
East Oregonian
BRIEFLY
Man charged
with rape had
19 deportations,
removals
WICHITA, Kan. (AP)
— A Mexican man accused
of raping a 13-year-old girl
on a Greyhound bus that
traveled through Kansas had
been deported 10 times and
voluntarily removed from the
U.S. another nine times since
2003, records obtained by
The Associated Press show.
Three U.S. Republican
senators — including Kansas’
Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts
— demanded this month that
the Department of Homeland
Security provide immigration
records for 38-year-old
Tomas Martinez-Maldonado,
who is charged with a felony
in the alleged Sept. 27
attack aboard a bus in Geary
County. He is being held
in the Geary County jail in
Junction City, which is about
120 miles west of Kansas
City.
U.S. Sen. Charles
Grassley, from Iowa and
chairman of the judiciary
committee, co-signed a
Dec. 9 letter with Moran
and Roberts to Homeland
Security Secretary Jeh
Johnson, calling it “an
extremely disturbing case”
and questioning how
Martinez-Maldonado was
able to re-enter and remain in
the country.
U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement said
it has placed a detainer — a
request to turn Martinez-Mal-
donado over to ICE custody
before he is released — with
Geary County. ICE declined
to discuss his specific
case beyond its October
statement regarding the 10
deportations.
Mormon choir
singer quits over
Trump inaugural
SALT LAKE CITY
(AP) — A member of the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
said she has resigned from
the famed group over its
decision to perform at next
month’s inauguration of
President-elect Donald
Trump.
Jan Chamberlin posted
her resignation letter to choir
leaders on her Facebook
page Thursday. In it, she
writes that by performing
at the Jan. 20 inaugural,
the 360-member choir will
appear to be “endorsing
tyranny and fascism.” She
says she feels betrayed by the
choir’s decision to take part.
The choir is part of The
Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints. Church
spokesman Eric Hawkins
told The Salt Lake Tribune
that participation in the
choir and the inaugural
performance is voluntary.
Hawkins said last week
the choir’s tradition of
presidential performances
isn’t “implied support of
party affiliations or politics”
but a “demonstration of our
support for freedom, civility
and the peaceful transition of
power.”
Chamberlin’s decision
earned praise from one of
the most powerful Mormons
in the country: Nevada Sen.
Harry Reid.
The retiring Democrat
said Friday in a statement to
the Tribune that he admires
people like Chamberlin who
“reject tyranny and fascism
and do what they can to stand
up for what is right.”
U.N. to vote
Saturday on
Syria cease-fire
UNITED NATIONS
(AP) — The U.N. Security
Council has scheduled a
vote Saturday morning
on a Russian resolution
that would endorse the
cease-fire agreement in
Syria and reiterate support
for a roadmap to peace that
starts with a transitional
government.
The draft resolution also
calls for “rapid, safe and
unhindered” access to deliver
humanitarian aid throughout
the country. And it looks
forward to a meeting in late
January between the Syrian
government and opposition
in Kazakhstan’s capital
Astana “as an important part
of the Syrian-led political
process facilitated by the
United Nations.”
Russia and Turkey, who
brokered the cease-fire
agreement, circulated the text
and the draft resolution to
Security Council members
Thursday night. After closed
discussions in the council
Friday morning, Russia’s
U.N. Ambassador Vitaly
Churkin circulated a revised
text, called for a vote on
Saturday, and urged council
members to support it.
Syria’s cease-fire
holding despite
minor violations
BEIRUT (AP) — A
nationwide Syrian cease-fire
brokered by Russia and
Turkey that went into effect
at midnight held Friday
despite minor violations,
marking a potential
breakthrough in a conflict
that has disregarded high-
level peace initiatives for
over five years.
The Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for Human
Rights reported clashes early
Friday between troops and
rebels in the central province
of Hama and near the capital,
Damascus. It said that later in
the day a man was killed by
sniper fire in eastern suburbs
of Damascus, becoming the
first fatality since the truce
went into effect. The group
also reported an aerial attack
on the rebel-held Barada
Valley near Damascus.
The Syrian army denied
reports it was bombarding
the Barada Valley region
saying opposition claims aim
to show that the army is not
abiding by the truce.
Opposition activist Mazen
al-Shami, who is based in the
Damascus suburb of Douma,
said minor clashes nearby left
one rebel wounded. Activist
Ahmad al-Masalmeh, in the
southern Daraa province,
said government forces had
opened fire on rebel-held
areas.
Several past attempts at
halting the fighting have
failed. As with previous
agreements, the current
cease-fire excludes both the
al-Qaida-affiliated Fatah
al-Sham Front, which
fights alongside other rebel
factions, and the Islamic
State group.
Debbie Reynolds
and Carrie Fisher to
be buried together
LOS ANGELES (AP) —
Debbie Reynolds’ son said
Friday his mother and sister,
actress Carrie Fisher, will
have a joint funeral and will
be buried together.
Todd Fisher said the
actresses will be interred at
Forest Lawn-Hollywood
Hills, the final resting place
of numerous celebrities,
including Lucille Ball,
Dick Van Patten, Liberace,
Florence Henderson, David
Carradine and Bette Davis.
The son said no date
for the funeral has been
set, but it will be private. A
public memorial is being
contemplated, but no plans
have been finalized.
Earlier Friday, the Los
Angeles coroner’s office
released Carrie Fisher’s
body to her family. Chief of
Operations Brian Elias says
an examination of Fisher was
done, but he stopped short
of calling it an autopsy and
would not provide any details
on what tests were done.
Saturday, December 31, 2016
U.S. shuts down two Russian compounds
CENTREVILLE, Md.
(AP) — Two luxury retreats
in New York and Maryland
where Russian diplomats
have gone for decades to
play tennis, sail and swim
were shut down by the
Obama
administration
Friday in retaliation for
Moscow’s cyber-meddling
in the presidential election.
The U.S. said the two
Cold War-era estates were
being used for intelligence
activities.
About a half-hour before
the noon eviction deadline,
caravans of diplomatic
vehicles, some carrying
boxes, left both Russian
compounds under the watch
of U.S. State Department
agents.
The 45-acre Maryland
retreat boasts a brick
mansion along the Corsica
River in the bucolic Eastern
Shore region. It was bought
by the Soviet Union in 1972
and served as a getaway
for its diplomats in nearby
Washington.
In New York, Russian
diplomatic staff members
were evicted from a
mansion on Long Island’s
Gold Coast. The estate, once
called Elmcroft, is in the
town of Oyster Bay and was
purchased by the Soviets in
1952.
Russian U.N. Ambas-
sador Vitaly Churkin told
reporters at U.N. head-
quarters that the Obama
administration is destroying
holiday fun for the children
of Russian diplomats who
vacation at the two retreats
during their New Year’s
break.
“I think it’s quite scan-
dalous that they chose to
go after our kids,” Churkin
said. He added: “Here go
their family values.”
President Barack Obama
announced the shutdown
Thursday as part of a raft of
sanctions that included the
expulsion of 35 Russians
who the U.S. said were spies
operating under diplomatic
cover.
Neighbors
of
both
compounds
described
generally friendly relations
with the diplomats and their
AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan
A fence encloses an estate in the village of Upper Brookville in the town of Oyster
Bay, N.Y., on Long Island. On Friday, the Obama administration closed this
compound for Russian diplomats, in retaliation for spying and cyber-meddling
in the U.S. presidential election.
Russia, brushing off Obama,
looks to friendlier Donald Trump
HONOLULU (AP) — Stung by new punishments,
Russia is looking straight past President Barack Obama
to Donald Trump in hopes the president-elect will reverse
the tough U.S. stance toward Moscow of the last eight
years. In a stunning embrace of a longtime U.S. adversary,
Trump is siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Whether Trump steers the U.S. toward or away from
Russia upon taking office is shaping up as the first major
test of his foreign policy disposition and his willingness
to buck fellow Republicans, who for years have argued
Obama wasn’t tough enough. Now that Obama has finally
sanctioned Russia over hacking allegations, Putin has
essentially put relations on hold till Trump takes over.
“Great move on delay (by V. Putin),” Trump wrote
Friday on Twitter. “I always knew he was very smart!”
He was referring to Putin’s announcement that Russia
won’t immediately retaliate after Obama ordered sanctions
on Russian spy agencies, closed two Russian compounds
and expelled 35 diplomats the U.S. said were really
spies. Though Putin reserved the right to hit back later, he
suggested that won’t be necessary with Trump in office.
Brushing off Obama, Putin said Russia would plan
steps to restore U.S. ties “based on the policies that will be
carried out by the administration of President D. Trump.”
Not only would Russia not kick Americans out, Putin
said, he was inviting the kids of all U.S. diplomats to the
Kremlin’s New Year’s and Christmas parties.
families.
“We coexist with these
people peacefully,” said
Alison Davis, who lives
near the Maryland retreat.
“It’s basically their summer
cottage, but we see the
diplomat tags driving here
all the time, very friendly.
We see them biking, say
hello.”
Still, she said, “They kind
of keep to themselves.”
She said the compound
has a private beach and
was typically used for a
sailing regatta during the
end-of-summer Labor Day
weekend.
An Associated Press
story from 1992 said the
compound had four tennis
courts, a swimming pool
and a soccer field. A camp
was held there for Russian
children during the summer
and for two weeks each
Christmas.
The story said that the
brick mansion had been
converted into 12 apart-
ments and a dozen cottages,
each with four apartments,
and that the compound could
accommodate 40 families at
a time.
Russia maintains two
weekend retreats for its
U.N. diplomats about an
hour’s drive outside New
York City, where the United
Nations has its high-rise
headquarters.
One of them, Elmcroft,
was built on a part of Long
Island made famous in F.
Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925
novel “The Great Gatsby.”
Satellite
photography
shows that the grounds
today include a tennis court,
gardens, a soccer field
and another large, modern
building.
‘Turbocharged’ storm clobbers northern New England
PORTLAND,
Maine
(AP) — The most powerful
nor’easter in nearly two
years brought heavy snow,
powerful winds and even
thunder and lightning to
northern New England,
leaving tens of thousands
of people in the dark Friday
and burying some towns
under 2 feet of snow.
More than 100,000
homes and businesses
in Maine were without
electricity at the storm’s
peak, and residents were
warned that it could take
days to restore service. The
National Weather Service
received reports of snow
falling at up to 6 inches per
hour.
“It went from just a
garden-variety, low-pres-
sure system to a turbo-
charged storm,” meteorolo-
gist Eric Schwibs said.
In Brunswick, resident
Jason Weymouth went to
bed with a sense of dread
as powerful thunderclaps
accompanied the falling
snow.
Jill Brady/Portland Press Herald via AP
Brian Murray of Lucas Tree Experts hauls away tree
branches cut by Don Libby as they clean up limbs
causing downed wires Friday in Gorham, Maine.
“It hit over the house, and
it was pretty loud and very
strong and very unusual.
That set me a little bit on
edge,” he said.
By Friday morning, he
was among the thousands
of Maine residents without
power. Compounding his
misery: His snowblower
was unable to cope with the
heavy snow and his wood-
carving shop was knocked
offline for the day.
The
storm’s
fury
walloped some places and
skipped others as powerful
bands of snow buried some
communities while others
just miles away received
mostly rain.
Hundreds of cars slid off
roads from the beginning
of the storm on Thursday
through Friday morning,
when the sun appeared.
In Vermont, a 69-year-old
man was killed in Cornwall
when his car went off the
road in slippery conditions
Thursday and crashed into a
tree, state police said.
In Maine, the storm was
believed to have contributed
to a fatal fire in the town of
Pownal. The victim’s power
had gone out, and investiga-
tors suspect he was using an
alternative heat source when
he died early Friday.
The
heavy
snow
knocked down power lines
and tree limbs. In Orono,
the domed structure used
by student-athletes at the
University of Maine athletic
complex collapsed under
the weight.
Southern and western
Maine turned out to be in
the storm’s bull’s-eye, but
the storm played a game
of hopscotch, pummeling
some communities with
snow while leaving others
just miles away drenched in
rain.
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