Nation and World briefs for March 23

4 dead in vehicle, knife attack at British Parliament

LONDON (AP) — A knife-wielding man went on a deadly rampage in the heart of Britain’s seat of power Wednesday, plowing a car into pedestrians on London’s Westminster Bridge before stabbing a police officer to death inside the gates of Parliament. Four people were killed, including the assailant, and about 20 others were injured in what Prime Minister Theresa May condemned as a “sick and depraved terrorist attack.”

Lawmakers, lords, staff and visitors were locked down after the man was shot by police within the perimeter of Parliament, just yards (meters) from entrances to the building itself and in the shadow of the iconic Big Ben clock tower. He died, as did two pedestrians on the bridge, and the police officer.

A doctor who treated the wounded from the bridge said some had “catastrophic” injuries. Three police officers, several French teenagers on a school trip and two Romanian tourists were among the casualties.

Police said they were treating the attack as terrorism. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Metropolitan Police counterterrorism chief Mark Rowley said police believed there was only one attacker, “but it would be foolish to be overconfident early on.”

Trump feels ‘somewhat’ vindicated after Nunes intel briefing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Communications of Donald Trump’s transition officials — possibly including the incoming president himself — may have been scooped up in legal surveillance but then improperly distributed throughout the intelligence community, the chairman of the House intelligence committee said Wednesday.

In an extraordinary set of statements to reporters, Republican Rep. Devin Nunes said the intercepted communications do not appear to be related to the ongoing FBI investigation into Trump associates’ contacts with Russia or any criminal warrants.

Nunes, who served on Trump’s transition team, said he believes the intelligence collections were done legally but that identities of Trump officials and the content of their communications may have been inappropriately disseminated in intelligence reports.

“What I’ve read bothers me, and I think it should bother the president himself and his team,” Nunes said Wednesday after briefing Trump privately at the White House.

Nunes briefed reporters before sharing the information with Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee. Schiff decried Nunes’ handling of the matter, saying the chairman had created “profound doubt” about the credibility of their committee’s investigation.

Manafort has served top US pols and a sketchy cast abroad

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pick any decade over the past half-century, and Paul Manafort has had a starring role in the rise (and maybe fall) of somebody big.

This lobbyist/political operative/hired gun has been there for prominent American politicians including Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole, George H.W. Bush and, more recently, Donald Trump.

He’s also been at the service of a global cast of sketchier characters like Philippine strongman Ferdinand Marcos, Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi and, more recently, leaders of Ukraine’s ruling pro-Russian political party.

Manafort, 67, was fired as Trump’s campaign chairman in August after word surfaced that he had orchestrated a covert lobbying operation on behalf of pro-Russian interests in Ukraine. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Manafort also represented a Russian billionaire a decade ago with the goal of advancing the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The latest disclosure adds new intrigue as the FBI investigates whether Russia attempted to influence last year’s U.S. presidential election in favor of Trump, and whether the Trump campaign cooperated in such an endeavor.

LAPD: Latinos report fewer sex crimes amid immigration fears

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The police chief of Los Angeles, a city that is half Latino, found himself in the middle of the national immigration debate on Wednesday after saying there’s a correlation between the Trump administration’s call for stiffer immigration policies and a drop in the number of Hispanics reporting sexual abuse and domestic violence.

“Imagine your sister, your mother, not reporting a sexual assault for fear that their family will be torn apart,” LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said Tuesday.

Since the beginning of this year, sexual assaults reported by Latinos in Los Angeles have dropped 25 percent, and domestic violence reports by Latinos have decreased by 10 percent compared to the same period last year.

Crime statistics show there were 164 sexual assaults reported by Latinos in the first two months of 2016, compared to 123 in the first two months of 2017. There was also a decrease of 118 reports of domestic violence during the same periods among Latinos.

Beck said there was a “strong correlation” between the timing of the decreased reporting and fears about President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on the estimated 11 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S.

Leaders need votes for health bill on eve of House showdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — Their top legislative priority dangling in peril, President Donald Trump and Republican leaders cajoled recalcitrant GOP lawmakers Wednesday to back their health care overhaul. A day ahead of a long-awaited House showdown roll call, conservatives insisted they had the votes to torpedo the measure and the number of lawmakers publicly expressing opposition snowballed.

Trump huddled at the White House with 18 lawmakers, a mix of supporters and opponents, Vice President Mike Pence saw around two dozen and House GOP leaders held countless talks with lawmakers at the Capitol. The sessions came as leaders rummaged for votes on a roll call they can ill afford to lose without wounding their clout for the rest of the GOP agenda.

Asked by reporters if he’d keep pushing a health overhaul if the House rejects the measure, Trump said, “We’ll see what happens.”

In a count by The Associated Press, at least 25 Republicans said they opposed the bill, more than enough to narrowly defeat the measure. That number was in constant flux amid the flurry of eleventh-hour lobbying by the White House and GOP leaders.

Including vacancies and absentees, Republicans will likely need 215 votes to prevail.

For some airline passengers, new warnings bring new hurdles

NEW YORK (AP) — As far as the indignities of modern air travel go, the latest ban on laptops and tablets on some international flights falls somewhere between taking off shoes at the security checkpoint and testing baby food and milk for bomb residue.

It’s yet another impediment in the name of security for already weary travelers, especially those from or passing through the 10 mostly Middle Eastern and North African countries covered by new U.S. and British policies. While not quite as disruptive as an outright ban on smartphones — much less a travel ban based on nationality — the restrictions loom large for some.

“Why are only Middle Eastern airlines subject to this ban?” asked Kelsey Norman, a doctoral student who plans to fly home Friday to Los Angeles from Beirut — and expects to have to check her laptop, a Kindle tablet and her DSLR camera. “Overall this policy is inconvenient, discriminatory, and continues to hurt America’s rapidly deteriorating reputation globally.”

BAN LOGIC

New restrictions from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security prohibit the transportation in carry-on baggage of laptop computers, tablets, Kindles, some gaming devices, cameras and other electronics larger than a smartphone. The U.S. government cited unspecified threats as the reason. The U.K. government instituted a similar ban; neither government’s restrictions affect U.S. airlines.

Gorsuch to Democrats: No return to “horse and buggy” era

WASHINGTON (AP) — Assured of support from majority Republicans, Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch was wrapping up two days of Senate questioning Wednesday to glowing GOP reviews but complaints from frustrated Democrats that he concealed his views from the American public.

Gorsuch, a federal appeals court judge in Denver, refused repeated attempts to get him to talk about key legal and political issues of the day. But he did tell Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who worried that Gorsuch would vote to restrict abortion, that “no one is looking to return us to horse and buggy days.”

The Supreme Court itself threw one surprise Gorsuch’s way when it ruled unanimously Wednesday in a case involving learning-disabled students, overturning a standard for special education that Gorsuch had endorsed in an earlier case on the same topic.

The decision prompted sharp questioning from committee Democrats.

“Why in your early decision did you want to lower the bar so low?” Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois asked.