Clinton: He’s a national security danger. Trump: No, she is
Clinton: He’s a national security danger. Trump: No, she is
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Donald Trump said Tuesday night that Hillary Clinton’s handling of private emails disqualifies her to serve as president. His own temperament, Trump said, was his “single greatest asset” and not the national security danger that Clinton alleges.
Trump’s charge, delivered to a packed crowd in swing state North Carolina, marked a pointed escalation of the Republican White House hopeful’s case against his Democratic challenger as both court military families in key Southern battlegrounds. Clinton, meanwhile, accused Trump of insulting America’s veterans and pressing dangerous military plans around the globe.
Clinton, addressing supporters in Florida, warned that Trump would lead the nation back to war in the Middle East. And to military vets and their families, she pointed anew to his summertime dust-up with the Muslim parents of a slain American soldier.
“His whole campaign has been one long insult to all those who have worn the uniform,” the Democratic nominee said at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Trump, trying emphasize his military support, released a letter from 88 retired generals and admirals citing an urgent need for a “course correction” in America’s national security policy. It was aimed at rebutting Clinton’s arguments that she would be best positioned to lead the military and reassuring Republicans who have openly worried that his provocative statements might undermine U.S. alliances.
Frenchwoman who got world’s 1st face transplant dies at 49
PARIS (AP) — Isabelle Dinoire, a Frenchwoman who received the world’s first partial face transplant, has died more than a decade after a complex and daring operation that set the stage for dozens of similar transplants worldwide. She was 49.
Her life with a new face was a miracle to many, but was also marred by infections, kidney trouble and hypertension linked to her treatment. In announcing her death Tuesday, the Amiens University Hospital in northern France said Dinoire’s experience “illustrates perfectly the high stakes of face transplants.”
The hospital said Dinoire died in April, but didn’t announce it until Tuesday because the family wanted to mourn privately.
After being severely disfigured by her pet Labrador, Dinoire was given a new nose, chin and lips in a ground-breaking, 15-hour operation in 2005 led by doctors Bernard Devauchelle and Jean-Michel Dubernard in the Amiens hospital. When she first appeared in public with her new face four months later, her speech was slurred and a scar clearly visible — but the fact that she could speak to reporters of having a “face like everyone else” and almost smile was seen as a medical breakthrough.
However, despite what the hospital described as a “remarkable” transplant, she had health issues for years linked to the medication she took to keep her body from rejecting the new face, and underwent new surgery in January.
80 million unexploded bombs: Obama pledges US help for Laos
VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — Declaring a “moral obligation” to heal the wounds of a secret war, President Barack Obama on Tuesday pledged help to clear away the 80 million unexploded bombs the U.S. dropped on Laos a generation ago — more than 10 for every one of the country’s 7 million people.
Half a century ago, the United States turned Laos into history’s most heavily bombed country, raining down some two million tons of ordnance in a covert, nine-year chapter of the Vietnam War. The first U.S. president to set foot in Laos while in office, Obama lamented that many Americans remain unaware of the “painful legacy” left behind by a bombardment that claims lives and limbs to this day.
“The remnants of war continue to shatter lives here in Laos,” Obama said before an audience of students, businessmen and orange-robed Buddhist monks who held up cellphones to snap photos of the American president. “Even as we continue to deal with the past, our new partnership is focused on the future,” he said.
To that end, Obama announced the U.S. would double its spending on bomb-clearing efforts to $90 million over three years — a relatively small sum for the U.S. but a significant investment for a small country in one of the poorer corners of the world. Obama plans to put a human face on the issue when he meets Wednesday in Vientiane with survivors of bombs that America dropped.
The president did not come to apologize. Instead, he called the conflict a reminder that “whatever the cause, whatever our intentions, war inflicts a terrible toll — especially on innocent men, women and children.”
Hurricane Newton slams into Mexico’s Los Cabos resorts
CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Newton shattered windows, downed trees and knocked out power in parts of the twin resorts of Los Cabos on Tuesday, but residents were spared the kind of extensive damage seen two years ago when they were walloped by a stronger storm.
Newton made landfall at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula in the morning as a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 90 mph (150 kph), pelting the area with torrential rain as residents hunkered down in their homes and tourists huddled in hotels.
Palm trees were toppled along Cabo San Lucas’ coastal boulevard and some windows were broken. But there was calm in the city as firefighters cleaned refuse from the streets during the day.
“There are only minor damages — fallen branches, some fallen banners, some cables. … In general, no victims,” army Col. Enrique Rangel said.
“Just trying to make it through the day, with a little help,” Mark Hernandez, a tourist from California, said as he raised a can of beer at one of the few bars open in Cabo San Lucas. “We pray for the city of Cabo San Lucas. It was a rough one as you can see.”
Carlson settles lawsuit against Ailes for $20 million
NEW YORK (AP) — Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson settled her sexual harassment lawsuit against Roger Ailes for a reported $20 million and a public apology Tuesday, ending the case that triggered the downfall of the cable channel’s chief executive.
Carlson alleged in a lawsuit filed two months ago that she was demoted and let go at Fox because she rejected Ailes’ sexual advances and complained about workplace harassment.
In a statement, Fox parent company 21st Century Fox said: “We regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect and dignity that she and all of our colleagues deserve.”
Carlson was paid $20 million, according to a person familiar with the settlement who spoke on condition of anonymity because the terms were confidential. Ailes did not pay any of the settlement, said his lawyer, Susan Estrich.
Carlson said she is ready to move on to the next chapter in her life and promised to work to help women in the workplace. She thanked “all the brave women” who came forward to tell their own stories and others who supported her.