Trump holdings will be constant source of criticism if not sold
NEW YORK (AP) — After Ivanka Trump appeared on CBS’s “60 Minutes” wearing a $10,800 bracelet from her jewelry line, someone at her company sent photos from the interview to fashion writers to drum up free publicity. A firestorm of criticism erupted about the impropriety of profiting off the presidency, and the company apologized.
If only the bracelet brouhaha was the end of it.
Experts on government ethics are warning President-elect Donald Trump that he’ll never shake suspicions of a clash between his private interests and the public good if he doesn’t sell off his vast holdings, which include roughly 500 companies in more than a dozen countries. They say just the appearance of conflicts is likely to tie up the new administration in investigations, lawsuits and squabbles, stoked perhaps by angry Oval Office tweets.
“People are itching to sue Donald Trump and stick him under oath,” said Richard Painter, chief White House ethics lawyer for George W. Bush.
In an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday, Trump insisted that the “law’s totally on my side,” and ethics experts agree that federal conflicts of interest rules don’t apply to the president so he can run his business pretty much the way he pleases while in office. His company, The Trump Organization, had no comment on the conflicts issue, other than a statement reiterating its plans to transfer control of the company to three of the president-elect’s adult children.
Pakistan: India attack kills 12, 10 troops die on both sides
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Artillery fire and shelling from India targeted several Pakistani villages and struck a passenger bus near the dividing line in the disputed region of Kashmir on Wednesday, killing 12 civilians wounding more than a dozen others, the Pakistani military and officials said.
Hours later, Pakistan’s military said three soldiers, including an army captain, were killed while responding to the Indian attack. It said seven Indian soldiers were also “killed in retaliatory fire” but there was no confirmation on the casualties from India.
The deadly violence marks the latest escalation in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is divided between the two nuclear-armed neighbors and claimed by both in its entirety.
According to Deputy Commissioner Waheed Khan, an artillery shell hit a passenger bus in the scenic Neelum Valley in the Pakistani part of Kashmir, killing 10 people — three died on the scene and seven later, at a hospital.
Another two civilians died when a mortar shell hit their house in the Nakyal sector in Kotli district, said police official Waseem Khan. The shelling sent residents fleeing in panic, he said.
At least 15 people were also wounded in the bus strike and elsewhere in Wednesday’s attacks. Pakistani Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz said the country’s Cabinet expressed grave concern over the latest escalation.
Thanksgiving travel expected to be heaviest since 2007
CHICAGO (AP) — Elizabeth Thompson can’t wait to leave the big city behind and decompress over the Thanksgiving holiday at her grandmother’s house in rural south-central Indiana. But first she has to get there.
On Wednesday, Thompson, 23, missed her Amtrak train from Chicago to Galesburg, Illinois, where she’d planned to catch a ride with a family member the rest of the way to Edinburgh, Indiana.
“It’s just where we go to unplug and escape,” said Thompson, who had to decide whether to wait several hours for the next train or hop on a bus and get going.
Americans took to the roads, air and railways Wednesday for what is expected to be the busiest Thanksgiving travel period in almost a decade. Almost 49 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more between Wednesday and Sunday, the most since 2007, because of lower gas prices and an improving economy, according to AAA.
And while they look forward to eating turkey and watching football, many are ready to abandon another, more recent, American pastime: rehashing the rancorous election between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.
“Joy” or “hope”? Holiday giving might depend on how you voted
NEW YORK (AP) — This holiday season, elves and “joy” may be on the way out and “peace” and “hope” on the way in. A divisive election that left half the country deflated and the other half rejuvenated could reverberate through the holiday shopping season in the gifts people give or how they spend.
Some retailers say they have seen a surge in feel-good items such as spa treatments, candles and comfort food, while executives at some major retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and Macy’s have said there’s no discernable shift in consumer behavior since the presidential election won by Republican Donald Trump.
The divide in the outlook may reflect the rift in the election, as Americans split along geographic lines as well as by income.
“I don’t need a comfort dog. I don’t need anybody to feel sorry for me,” said Rhondi Bleeker, 50, of Totowa, New Jersey. “I’m actually happy because I was for Trump.”
Bleeker, who owns an eyelash extension business, believes the economy will be better now. She says she’ll still be spending the same $3,000 as she does every holiday season, but she believes her business could do even better because whether people are sad or happy, most will want retail therapy.
Tennessee crash revives debate over school bus seat belts
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A crash that killed five children in Tennessee is reviving discussion over whether school buses — considered among the safest vehicles on the road because of their height and bulk — should also be equipped with seat belts.
Only six states require seat belts on large buses. Many others, including Tennessee, have considered but dropped such legislation in recent years out of concerns including cost.
Among those saying it is now time to reconsider is Tennessee state Rep. Joanne Favors, who responded to the scene of Monday’s crash in Chattanooga and was shaken by the sight of the yellow bus on its side, sliced through by a tree. Police say the driver, who has been charged with five counts of vehicular homicide, was speeding along a narrow, winding road when he crashed.
The bus did not have seat belts, and NTSB officials said it was too soon to know whether they would have made a difference.
Seat belt legislation introduced after two students and an aide died in a 2014 school bus crash in Knoxville did not make it out of committee, said Favors, a Chattanooga Democrat.
FBI: No hallucinogens found in system of face-biting suspect
STUART, Fla. (AP) — The Florida college student accused of randomly killing a couple and chewing on the dead man’s face had no detectable hallucinogenic drugs in his system, according an FBI toxicology report released Wednesday.
Austin Harrouff had a trace of amount of marijuana in his system when he allegedly beat and stabbed John Stevens, 59, and his 53-year-old wife, Michelle Mishcon, outside their Tequesta-area home Aug. 15, according to the report.
Martin County Sheriff William Snyder had previously speculated that Harrouff may have been on flakka or bath salts, but those drugs weren’t detected.
Harrouff, 19, was hospitalized for two months after the killings for a burned esophagus, possibly from ingesting chemicals found in the couple’s garage.
Nellie King, Harrouff’s attorney, said in a statement Wednesday that her client is mentally ill.
