Elizabeth Warren labels Trump a loser, bully — but a threat
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Elizabeth Warren labeled Donald Trump a loser, a bully and a threat on Monday, continuing a fierce war of words between the liberal icon and the front-running Republican presidential candidate that has played out on social media and The New York Times.
“@RealDonaldTrump knows he’s a loser. His insecurities are on parade: petty bullying, attacks on women, cheap racism, flagrant narcissism,” the Massachusetts Democrat wrote on her campaign’s Twitter account on Monday, part of a rapid-fire burst of eight tweets attacking the billionaire television personality.
“But just because @realDonaldTrump is a loser everywhere else doesn’t mean he’ll lose this election,” Warren warned her allies.
A week ago, Warren took to Facebook to try stirring up Trump opponents to speak out.
“Donald Trump is a bigger, uglier threat every day that goes by — and it’s time for decent people everywhere — Republican, Democrat, Independent – to say No More Donald,” she wrote.
Witness, funeral helped lead police to Paris attacks suspect
BRUSSELS (AP) — A keen-eyed witness who spotted a pale, slender figure fleeing an apartment near a Brussels auto plant one week ago set in motion a vast police dragnet that within 72 hours led to the capture of Salah Abdeslam, the most-wanted man in Europe.
Another key — if unwitting — helper in leading authorities to the hideout of their high-value quarry was a pallbearer at the burial of the fugitive’s brother.
Abdeslam is being held in a Belgian high-security prison, with France seeking his extradition so he can stand trial for his alleged role in the Nov. 13 rampage of gunfire and suicide bombings that killed 130 people.
The 26-year-old Frenchman was arrested Friday after being run to ground by investigators in the same gritty Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels where he grew up. Much remains unclear about Abdeslam’s movements in the four months he managed to elude authorities multiple times.
“We’re still far from completing the puzzle,” Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw acknowledged Monday.
Russia says might use force on cease-fire violators in Syria
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Monday warned the United States that it will start responding unilaterally to cease-fire violations in Syria if the U.S. refuses to coordinate rules of engagement against violators. The U.S. State Department insisted that Moscow and Washington were working constructively to monitor the truce and warned Russia against taking unilateral action.
The Russian military has accused the U.S. of dragging its feet on responding to Moscow’s proposals on rules for joint monitoring of the Syria cease-fire and response to violations. It said that further delays are leading to civilian casualties.
Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian General Staff said in a statement on Monday that if the U.S. fails to respond to its proposals on a joint response, the Russian military will have to start unilaterally using force against those who break the cease-fire, starting Tuesday.
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a separate but similar statement.
In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. and Russia were working together to collect and analyze information about cease-fire violations, and that any unilateral Russian action to punish transgressors goes against “the spirit of the cessation of hostilities.”
Greece sets up detention camps as refugee deal hits delays
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece detained hundreds of refugees and migrants on its islands Monday, as officials in Athens and the European Union conceded a much-heralded agreement to send thousands of asylum-seekers back to Turkey is facing delays.
Migrants who arrived after the deal took effect Sunday were being led to previously open refugee camps on the islands of Lesbos and Chios and held in detention, authorities on the islands said.
EU countries are trying to avoid a repeat of the mass migration in 2015, when more than a million people entered the bloc. Most were fleeing civil war in Syria and other conflicts, traveling first to Turkey and then to the nearby Greek islands in dinghies and small boats. Efforts to limit migration have run into multiple legal and practical obstacles.
Under the deal, Greek authorities will detain and return newly arrived refugees to Turkey. The EU will settle more refugees directly from Turkey and speed up financial aid to Ankara. The two sides, however, are still working out how migrants will be sent back.
“We are conscious of the difficulties,” EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said in Brussels.
Pianist’s estranged wife charged with killing 2 daughters
DALLAS (AP) — Texas police on Monday accused the estranged wife of internationally renowned pianist Vadym Kholodenko of killing the couple’s two young daughters before stabbing herself.
Sofya Tsygankova faces two counts of capital murder in the deaths of 5-year-old Nika Kholodenko and 1-year-old Michela Kholodenko. Police say Vadym Kholodenko arrived Thursday at his wife’s home in Benbrook, a Fort Worth suburb, to pick up the girls and found them dead in their beds and Tsygankova in an “extreme state of distress.”
Benbrook police Cmdr. David Babcock said Monday that Tsygankova was served with arrest warrants in the Fort Worth hospital where she is undergoing a mental health evaluation. Authorities had said earlier that she suffered knife wounds.
It’s not clear how the girls died. The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office said Monday that it had not completed autopsies. Police have said the children had no visible trauma.
Babcock said Tsygankova’s bond would be set at $2 million. An attorney for Tsygankova did not immediately return phone and email messages for comment Monday.
