Nation and World briefs for October 7

Sunken US cargo ship had sufficient lifeboats for 33 crew members but faced terrible storm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Crew members trained regularly in calm waters to handle the lifeboats would instead likely have struggled against buffeting by huge 50-foot waves, a vessel taking on water and listing to one side and winds the Coast Guard estimated reached 140 mph. Life rafts can get torn apart. Lifeboats become impossible to drop into the sea.

The options would have quickly grown limited for the crew of the El Faro container ship last week as Hurricane Joaquin approached.

“Sometimes circumstances overwhelm you. You can do all the planning you want,” said Steven Werse, a ship captain and secretary-treasurer of the Master Mates and Pilots Union in Linthicum Heights, Maryland. The union is not affiliated with the El Faro’s crew or owners.

“Without power, the ship is really at the mercy of the sea,” Werse said.

On Monday, four days after the ship vanished, the Coast Guard concluded it sank near the Bahamas in about 15,000 feet of water. One unidentified body in a survival suit was spotted, and the search went on for any trace of the other crew members. The search was continuing into Tuesday.

Europe’s top court backs Austrian student in Facebook privacy case with wide implications

LUXEMBOURG (AP) — The European Union’s highest court ruled Tuesday that an agreement that allows companies to freely transfer data to the U.S. is invalid as it does not adequately protect consumers.

The verdict could have far-reaching implications for companies operating in Europe. It does not ban the transfer of data but will allow national authorities to review what kinds of information companies want to send to the U.S., possibly complicating business.

The ruling comes from a case that Austrian law student Max Schrems brought following revelations two years ago by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden about the NSA’s surveillance programs.

Schrems complained to the data protection commissioner in Ireland, where Facebook has its European headquarters, that U.S. law doesn’t offer sufficient protection against surveillance of data transferred by the social media company to servers in the United States.

Irish authorities initially rejected his complaint, pointing to a 2000 decision by the EU’s executive Commission that, under the so-called “safe harbor” agreement, the U.S. ensures adequate data protection.

Senators to ask US general about future troop levels in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is facing questions on Capitol Hill about how many troops should stay in the still-volatile nation where the Taliban recently overran a northern city and a U.S. airstrike hit a medical clinic.

When he testifies Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. John F. Campbell will be asked whether he thinks President Barack Obama should alter his plan for reducing the U.S. troop presence after 2016 from its current level of about 9,800 to an embassy-based security operation of about 1,000.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday the Pentagon is providing options to the White House and Obama will be making decisions about future force levels later this fall.

Campbell is testifying three days after the airstrike on the medical clinic in the northern city of Kunduz killed at least 22 people and wounded dozens more. The clinic was operated by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders.

On Monday, Campbell told reporters at the Pentagon that the airstrike, which is being investigated, was requested by Afghan forces who reported being under Taliban fire. It’s unclear whether the clinic was targeted in error or whether U.S. military personnel followed procedure. They are required to verify that the target of a requested airstrike is valid before firing.

Oregon gunman ranted in writings that he had no girlfriend, thought others were ‘crazy’

ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — The gunman who killed nine people at an Oregon community college before taking his own life ranted in writings he left behind about not having a girlfriend and thinking everyone else was crazy, a law enforcement official said Monday.

The official also said the mother of 26-year-old gunman Christopher Harper-Mercer has told investigators he was struggling with some mental health issues. The official is familiar with the investigation but wasn’t authorized to speak publicly because it is ongoing.

Harper-Mercer complained in the writings about not having a girlfriend, and he seemed to feel like he was very rational while others around him were not, the official said.

He wrote something to the effect of: “Other people think I’m crazy, but I’m not. I’m the sane one,” the official said. The writings recovered at the shooting scene were a couple of pages long.

Local pastor Randy Scroggins has said his 18-year-old daughter, who survived the shooting, told him the gunman gave an envelope to another student and instructed him to give it to police. The envelope contained a flash drive, Scroggins said.

Trump seems to be the talk of the world, and it’s often not flattering

BALMEDIE, Scotland (AP) — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is well-known in this serene coastal section of Scotland, where shimmering golden sand dunes meet the ice-blue North Sea and people play on his golf course. He’s known in the Himalayas, too, far from any sign with his name on it. And in the Middle East, Africa and beyond.

His is clearly a recognized name worldwide, which is not to say it’s a beloved one.

In Balmedie, the real estate mogul is both praised and blamed for building a deluxe international golf course in a previously pristine spot. Some believe he’s delivered the jobs and benefits he promised; others think American voters should beware a fast-talking scoundrel.

“He is a strange fish,” said Susan Munro, a shop worker who has lived on land adjacent to the new Trump resort for more than 35 years. “If he doesn’t get his own way, he just loses it.” As she sees it, “He would be a disaster for everyone.”

In diverse parts of the world, many see the ascendant Trump candidacy with a mixture of bemusement, astonishment and alarm. It’s striking how many people know of him at all.

Amid unrest in West Bank, Israel demolishes homes of Palestinian militants in east Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military on Tuesday demolished homes of two Palestinian militants in east Jerusalem, the army’s first concrete steps following a late night Cabinet meeting in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised a “strong hand” to quell recent deadly attacks.

The demolitions come amid weeks of heightened Palestinian unrest in east Jerusalem and the West Bank and a bloody holiday weekend in which four Israelis were killed in shooting and stabbing attacks. Israeli forces have killed four Palestinians during violent protests.

The violence threatens a new Israeli-Palestinian escalation at a time when a political solution to the conflict is increasingly distant and Palestinian frustrations are mounting after years of diplomatic paralysis.

The homes demolished early Tuesday belonged to the families of a man who killed four worshippers and a police officer in a Jerusalem synagogue last year, and a second attacker who killed one person when he rammed a bulldozer into traffic. Although the attackers were immediately killed, Israel often carries out such demolitions of the homes of militants’ families, believing it will deter future attacks.

Also Tuesday, troops sealed off a room at the home of a third attacker, who tried to kill a prominent Orthodox Jewish activist last year, ahead of its potential demolition.

The heat is on: Neighbors breath fire over hazardous haze from Indonesia’s burning forests

SINGAPORE (AP) — For weeks now, the quality of life in parts of Southeast Asia has been left to sheer chance — the direction of the wind. Every day, it alone determines which city will be shrouded by peaty white smoke blowing from burning forests in Indonesia.

Like neighbors who must tolerate the bad habits of the family next door, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have endured the annual problem of smoke that stings the eyes, irritates the throats and shuts down schools and airports. Now their patience is wearing thin, and harsh words are flying across the borders in a departure from region’s non-confrontational etiquette.

“We all see it, breathe it; and there is no hiding,” former Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong wrote on Facebook.

Some days, the smoke is so bad that the gleaming skylines of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur disappear in an all-encompassing grayness. More than 7,000 schools in peninsular Malaysia were shut on Monday and Tuesday, forcing some 4 million students to stay home. Fifteen final races of the Swimming World Cup meet in Singapore were canceled last week. Tourists are staying away. Respiratory problems are on the rise.

Some have tried to make light of the situation, including wedding couples in Singapore who have commissioned haze-themed photo shoots against famous backdrops.