Saturday, November 18, 2017
Moscow meeting in June 2017 under
scrutiny in Trump probe
WASHINGTON (AP) — Earlier this year, a Russian-
American lobbyist and another businessman discussed
over coffee in Moscow an extraordinary meeting they had
attended 12 months earlier: a gathering at Trump Tower
with President Donald Trump’s son, his son-in-law and his
then-campaign chairman.
The Moscow meeting in June, which
has not been previously disclosed, is
now under scrutiny by investigators who
want to know why the two men met in
the first place and whether there was
some effort to get their stories straight
about the Trump Tower meeting just
weeks before it would become public,
The Associated Press has learned.
Congressional investigators have
questioned both men — lobbyist Rinat
Kushner
Akhmetshin and Ike Kaveladze, a
business associate of a Moscow-based
developer and former Trump business partner — and
obtained their text message communications, people familiar
with the investigation told the AP.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team also has been
investigating the 2016 Trump Tower meeting, which
occurred weeks after Trump had clinched the Republican
presidential nomination and which his son attended with
the expectation of receiving damaging information about
Democrat Hillary Clinton. A grand jury has already heard
testimony about the meeting, which in addition to Donald
Trump Jr., also included Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law,
and his then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
GOP closer to big win with House tax
vote; chance in Senate remains unclear
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have stretched
closer to delivering the first big legislative victory for
President Donald Trump and their party, whisking a $1.5
trillion overhaul of business and personal income taxes
through the House. Thorny problems await in the Senate,
though.
The House passage of the bill Thursday on a mostly party-
line 227-205 vote also brought nearer the biggest revamp of
the U.S. tax system in three decades.
But in the Senate, a similar measure received a politically
awkward verdict from nonpartisan congressional analysts
showing it would eventually produce higher taxes for low-
and middle-income earners but deliver deep reductions for
those better off.
The Senate bill was approved late Thursday by the
Finance Committee and sent to the full Senate on a party-line
14-12 vote. Like the House measure, it would slash the
corporate tax rate and reduce personal income tax rates for
many.
But it adds a key feature not in the House version: repeal
of the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that everyone in
the U.S. have health insurance. Elimination of the so-called
individual mandate under the Obama health care law would
add an estimated $338 billion in revenue over 10 years that
the Senate tax-writers used for additional tax cuts.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has
projected that repeal of the mandate would result in 13
million more uninsured people by 2027, making it a political
risk for some lawmakers.
U.S. puts Palestinians on notice:
D.C. office may be shuttered
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration put
the Palestinians on notice Friday that it will shutter their
office in Washington unless they’ve entered serious peace
talks with Israel, U.S. officials said, potentially giving
President Donald Trump more leverage as he seeks an
elusive Mideast peace deal.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has determined that the
Palestinians ran afoul of an obscure provision in a U.S. law
that says the Palestine Liberation Organization’s mission
must close if the Palestinians try to get the International
Criminal Court to prosecute Israelis for crimes against
Palestinians. A State Department official said that in
September, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas crossed
that line by calling on the ICC to investigate and prosecute
Israelis.
But the law leaves the president a way out, so Tillerson’s
declaration doesn’t necessarily mean the office will close.
Trump now has 90 days to consider whether the
Palestinians are in “direct and meaningful negotiations with
Israel.” If Trump determines they are, the Palestinians can
keep the office. The official said it was unclear whether the
U.S. might close the office before the 90-day period expires,
but said the mission remains open at least for now.
WORLD BRIEFLY
Afghanistan two years before the one-time “Saturday
Night Live” comedian was elected to the Senate. Tweeden,
a former Fox TV sports correspondent who now is a Los
Angeles radio anchor, has said Franken had persisted in
rehearsing a kiss and “aggressively stuck his tongue in my
mouth.”
Franken told Tweeden in the letter he wanted to
“apologize to you personally,” adding: “I don’t know what
was in my head when I took that picture. But that doesn’t
matter. There’s no excuse. I understand why you can feel
violated by that photo. ... I have tremendous respect for your
work for the USO. And I am ashamed that my actions ruined
that experience for you. I am so sorry.’”
Franken, 66, was the latest public figure to be caught
in the deluge of revelations of sexual harassment and
misconduct that have crushed careers, ruined reputations and
prompted criminal investigations in Hollywood, business and
beyond.
While Franken has repeatedly apologized, there were
no signs the issue would go away any time soon. Fellow
Democrats swiftly condemned his actions, mindful of the
current climate as well as the prospect of political blowback
in next year’s elections.
Senior Chinese envoy in North Korea
amid chill in ties
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — The highest-level
Chinese envoy to North Korea in two years held meetings
in the country’s capital to try to improve relations that have
soured over Beijing’s tightening of sanctions and expressions
of support for President Donald Trump’s calls for more
pressure on the North to abandon its nuclear weapons
program.
Song Tao’s official mission starting Friday is to brief
North Korean officials on the outcome of China’s ruling
Communist Party congress held last month. He is visiting as
President Xi Jinping’s special envoy, according to Chinese
and North Korean state media, but no other details about his
itinerary or whether he will meet with North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un have been announced.
After arriving, Song met with Choe Ryong Hae, a vice
chairman of the ruling party and one of the most senior
leaders after Kim.
During their meeting on Friday, Song briefed Choe on the
developments from the Communist Party congress and also
gave him an unspecified gift for Kim, Pyongyang’s official
Korean Central News Agency said Saturday. The agency said
Song also stressed the Communist Party’s stance to further
build on the “traditional friendly relationship” between the
countries and their ruling parties.
Iraqi forces retake the country’s last
Islamic State-held town
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi forces backed by the U.S.-led
coalition retook on Friday the last town in the country that
was held by the Islamic State group, more than three years
after the militants stormed nearly a third of Iraq’s territory,
the Defense Ministry said.
At dawn, military units and local tribal fighters pushed
into the western neighborhoods of Rawah in western Anbar
province, and after just five hours of fighting they retook the
town, according to Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, the ministry’s
spokesman.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated his
forces on retaking Rawah. In a statement released on Friday
afternoon, Al-Abadi said Iraqi forces liberated Rawah in
record time and were continuing operations to retake control
of Iraq’s western desert and the border area with Syria.
Rawah, 175 miles northwest of Baghdad, lies along the
Euphrates River Valley near the border town of Qaim that
Iraqi forces retook from IS earlier this month.
U.S.-led coalition forces supported the operations to
East Oregonian
retake Rawah and Qaim with intelligence, airstrikes and
advisers, coalition spokesman Ryan Dillon said.
IS blitzed across Iraq’s north and west in the summer
of 2014, capturing Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul and
advancing to the edges of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Later
that year the United States began a campaign of airstrikes
against the militants that fueled Iraqi territorial gains,
allowing the military to retake Mosul in July this year.
All that now remains of IS-held Iraq are patches of rural
territory in the country’s vast western desert along the border
with Syria.
Montana congressman misled
authorities on reporter’s assault
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana congressman
misled investigators about his assault on a reporter the day
before he was elected and claimed that the “liberal media”
was “trying to make a story” out of it,
according to documents released Friday.
U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte, a
Republican, told an officer in the
aftermath of the attack that Guardian
newspaper reporter Ben Jacobs had
grabbed him by the wrist and pulled both
of them to the floor, according to notes
from a Gallatin County sheriff’s officer
who interviewed the politician the night
of the attack.
Gianforte
Multiple witnesses contradicted that
account, and Gianforte later pleaded
guilty to misdemeanor assault. The attack occurred the day
before his victory in a May 25 special election, by which
time many voters already had cast ballots by mail.
More than 100 pages of documents, photos and audio
from the investigation were released under a court order
following requests from The Associated Press and other
news organizations.
The documents include interviews with members of a Fox
News crew who were in the room with Gianforte and Jacobs
at the politician’s Bozeman campaign office. They said
Gianforte became enraged over what he perceived as biased
coverage before body-slamming Jacobs, throwing him to the
ground and punching him.
Gianforte told Sgt. Scott Secor in an interview that Jacobs
had interrupted as the Fox crew set up for an interview and
“started interrogating in a very intensive way.”
UN panel agrees to move ahead with
debate on ‘killer robots’
GENEVA (AP) — A U.N. panel agreed Friday to move
ahead with talks to define and possibly set limits on weapons
that can kill without human involvement, as human rights
groups said governments are moving too slowly to keep
up with advances in artificial intelligence that could put
computers in control one day.
Advocacy groups warned about the threats posed by such
“killer robots” and aired a chilling video illustrating their
possible uses on the sidelines of the first formal U.N. meeting
of government experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons
Systems this week. More than 80 countries took part.
Ambassador Amandeep Gill of India, who chaired the
gathering, said participants plan to meet again in 2018.
He said ideas discussed this week included the creation
of legally binding instrument, a code of conduct, or a
technology review process.
The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, an umbrella group
of advocacy groups, says 22 countries support a ban of the
weapons and the list is growing. Human Rights Watch, one
of its members, called for an agreement to regulate them by
the end of 2019 — admittedly a longshot.
The meeting falls under a 37-year old agreement that has
set limits on the use of arms and explosives.
Reverend Jesse Jackson discloses
Parkinson’s disease diagnosis
CHICAGO (AP) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson disclosed
publicly Friday that he has been seeking outpatient care for
two years for Parkinson’s disease and plans to “dedicate”
himself to physical therapy to slow the progress of the
disease.
In a letter to supporters, the 76-year-old civil rights
icon said family and friends noticed a change in him about
three years ago, and he could no longer ignore symptoms
of the chronic neurological disorder that causes movement
difficulties.
“Recognition of the effects of this disease on me has been
painful, and I have been slow to grasp the gravity of it,” he
wrote. “For me, a Parkinson’s diagnosis is not a stop sign
but rather a signal that I must make lifestyle changes and
dedicate myself to physical therapy.”
Jackson, who declined to be interviewed, also released a
letter from Northwestern Medicine confirming his diagnosis
and care.
He vowed to use his voice to help find a cure for the
disease. About 60,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed
with Parkinson’s annually, according to the Parkinson’s
Foundation.
It can start with tremors, and symptoms generally worsen
over time. The exact cause is unknown. Treatments include
medications, surgery and physical therapy.
Franken apologizes to woman
who says he kissed, groped her
WASHINGTON (AP) — Minnesota Sen. Al Franken
personally apologized to the woman who has accused him
of forcibly kissing her and groping her during a 2006 USO
tour, saying he remembers their encounter differently but is
“ashamed that my actions ruined that experience for you.”
In a guest appearance Friday on ABC’s “The View,”
Leeann Tweeden read a letter she received from the
Democratic lawmaker in which he also discussed a photo
showing him posing in a joking manner, smiling at the
camera with his hands above her chest as she naps wearing a
flak vest aboard a military plane.
Franken missed votes in the Senate Thursday afternoon
and has not made any public appearances since the
allegations came out.
Both had been performing for military personnel in
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