Nation and World briefs for June 24
Trump signs law to make VA more accountable for vets’ care
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed a bill into law Friday that will make it easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire employees, part of a push to overhaul an agency that is struggling to serve millions of military vets.
“Our veterans have fulfilled their duty to our nation and now we must fulfill our duty to them,” Trump said during a White House ceremony. “To every veteran who is here with us today, I just want to say two very simple words: Thank you.”
Trump repeatedly promised during the election campaign to dismiss VA workers “who let our veterans down,” and he cast Friday’s bill signing as fulfillment of that promise.
“What happened was a national disgrace and yet some of the employees involved in these scandals remained on the payrolls,” Trump said. “Outdated laws kept the government from holding those who failed our veterans accountable. Today we are finally changing those laws.”
The measure was prompted by a 2014 scandal at the Phoenix VA medical center, where some veterans died as they waited months for care. The VA is the second-largest department in the U.S. government, with more than 350,000 employees, and it is charged with providing health care and other services to military veterans.
London council evacuates residents amid fire safety concerns
LONDON (AP) — A local London council has decided to evacuate some 800 households in apartment buildings it owns because of safety concerns following the devastating fire that killed 79 people in a west London high-rise.
The move comes amid escalating concerns among residents of thousands of tower blocks around Britain. The Camden Council is the first to take such a dramatic step in light of June 14 fire at Grenfell Tower.
Council leader Georgia Gould says the borough made the decision to empty the buildings after the London Fire Brigade and council experts had conducted a joint inspection of the properties.
“Camden Council is absolutely determined to ensure that our residents are safe and we have promised them that we will work with them, continue to act swiftly and be open and transparent,” Gould said in a statement.
British Prime Minister Theresa May offered a message of sympathy to the affected residents, taking to Twitter to pledge she would work with relevant authorities to offer support.
Five GOP senators now oppose health bill — enough to sink it
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nevada Republican Dean Heller became the fifth GOP senator to declare his opposition to the party’s banner legislation to scuttle much of Barack Obama’s health care overhaul on Friday, more than enough to sink the measure and deliver a stinging rebuke to President Donald Trump unless some of them can be brought aboard.
Echoing the other four, Heller said he opposes the measure “in this form” but does not rule out backing a version that is changed to his liking. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said he’s willing to alter the measure to attract support, and next week promises plenty of back-room bargaining as he tries pushing a final package through his chamber.
Nonetheless, Heller’s announcement underscores the scant margin of error Republican leaders must deal with. Facing unanimous Democratic opposition, McConnell can afford to lose just two of the 52 GOP senators and still prevail.
Besides the five who’ve announced outright opposition, several other GOP senators — conservatives and moderates — have declined to commit to the new overhaul. The measure resembles legislation the House approved last month that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said would mean 23 million additional uninsured people within a decade and that recent polling shows is viewed favorably by only around 1 in 4 Americans.
Heller, facing a competitive re-election battle next year, said he was opposing the legislation because of the cuts it would make in Medicaid. The federal-state program provides health care to the poor, disabled and many nursing home patients.
Qatar weighs demands to end crisis amid threat of long siege
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — With just days to decide, Qatar on Friday weighed an onerous list of demands by its neighbors as a way out of a regional crisis, and a top Emirati official warned the tiny country to brace for a long-term economic squeeze unless it is willing to acquiesce.
Qatar did not immediately respond after receiving a clear set of demands for the first time, but the ultimatum was quickly rejected by its ally, Turkey, and blasted as an assault on free speech by Al-Jazeera, the Qatari broadcaster that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others are demanding to be shut down.
Qatar’s neighbors insisted the 13-point list of demands was their bottom line, not a starting point for negotiations. The Arab countries signaled that if Qatar refuses to comply by the 10-day deadline, they will continue to restrict its access to land, sea and air routes indefinitely amid mounting economic pressure on the Persian Gulf nation.
“The measures that have been taken are there to stay until there is a long-term solution to the issue,” Yousef al-Otaiba, ambassador to the U.S. from the United Arab Emirates, told The Associated Press.
Still, he suggested the penalties would only be economic and diplomatic, adding: “There is no military element to this whatsoever.”
Senators ask military to review AP report on Yemen torture
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two senior U.S. senators are asking Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to investigate reports that U.S. military interrogators worked with forces from the United Arab Emirates accused of torturing detainees in Yemen.
Sen. John McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the ranking Democrat, Jack Reed, called the reports “deeply disturbing.”
The reports were revealed in an investigation by The Associated Press published Thursday.
That same day, McCain and Reed wrote a letter to the defense secretary asking him to conduct an immediate review of the reported abuse and what U.S. forces knew.
“Even the suggestion that the United States tolerates torture by our foreign partners compromises our national security mission by undermining the moral principles that distinguishes us from our enemies— our belief that all people possess basic human rights,” the senators wrote Mattis. “We are confident that you find these allegations as extremely troubling as we do.”
Trump labors to make Mueller-Comey tie a key talking point
WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert Mueller, the somber-faced and demanding FBI director who led the bureau through the Sept. 11 attacks, and James Comey, his more approachable and outwardly affable successor, may be poles apart stylistically but both command a wealth of respect in the law enforcement and legal community.
That hasn’t stopped President Donald Trump and his associates from repeatedly trying to draw unflattering attention to their relationship, insinuating a personal bond they suggest could disqualify Mueller from credibly serving as special counsel in charge of the Russia investigation. Most recently, in an interview that aired Friday on “Fox & Friends,” Trump claimed Mueller was “very, very good friends with Comey, which is bothersome.”
The emphasis on their ties, besides being aimed at undermining Mueller’s credibility and the legitimacy of his investigation, could also be an attempt by Trump to make the case for an eventual Mueller dismissal on conflict of interest grounds.
But the truth is more complicated and not squarely on the president’s side.
Mueller and Comey, both known for their integrity and self-assuredness, served closely alongside each other in the Bush administration Justice Department. They played pivotal roles in a 2004 White House confrontation and have spoken warmly of each other over the years, with Comey describing Mueller as “one of the finest people I’ve ever met.” But they’re not known to be especially close friends, and legal experts say whatever connection they do have doesn’t come close to meriting Mueller’s removal.
Pride and prejudice? Race tinges LGBT celebrations
NEW YORK (AP) — Gay pride marches in New York City, San Francisco and in between this weekend will have plenty of participants — and also protests directed at them from other members of the LGBT community, speaking out against what they see as increasingly corporate celebrations that prioritize the experiences of gay white men and ignore issues facing black and brown LGBT people.
The protests disrupted other pride events earlier this month. In Washington, D.C., the No Justice No Pride group blocked the parade route. In Columbus, Ohio, four people were arrested after a group set out to protest violence against minority LGBT people and the recent acquittal of a police officer in the shooting death of Philando Castile, a black man, during a traffic stop.
“Nobody wants to feel dropped in a community that prides itself on diversity,” said Mike Basillas, one of the organizers of the planned New York City protest action by No Justice No Pride.
In Minneapolis, organizers of Sunday’s Twin Cities Pride Parade initially asked the police department to limit participation following the acquittal of police officer Jeronimo Yanez in the death of Castile. But organizers changed their minds after meeting Thursday with Janee Harteau, the city’s openly gay police chief who called the decision divisive and hurtful to LGBT officers.
On Friday, the organizers apologized and said they had neglected to consider other alternatives. They said the officers are welcome to march after all.
Ferguson attorney: Brown family settlement $1.5 million
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The $1.5 million awarded this week to the parents of Michael Brown is the latest of several large settlements involving killings of black people by police, but it’s far from the largest.
A federal judge in St. Louis on Tuesday approved the settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Michael Brown Sr. and Lezley McSpadden. Their 18-year-old son was unarmed on Aug. 9, 2014, when he was fatally shot by white officer Darren Wilson during a street confrontation in Ferguson, Missouri.
The shooting launched months of protests and led to a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that found racial bias in Ferguson’s police and court system. But a St. Louis County grand jury and the Justice Department declined to prosecute Wilson, who resigned in November 2014.
Brown’s parents sued the city, former Police Chief Tom Jackson and Wilson in 2015, citing a police culture hostile to black residents and claiming Wilson used excessive force. Ferguson, Jackson and Wilson denied the allegations.
The case is among many in which settlements have been reached out of court, including many in which officers, like Wilson, were cleared of criminal wrongdoing.
A 2nd mistrial: Jury deadlocks in Ohio cop’s murder retrial
CINCINNATI (AP) — A second mistrial was declared Friday in the case of a white University of Cincinnati officer who killed an unarmed black motorist during a traffic stop. It’s the latest racially charged police shooting case to show the reluctance of U.S. jurors to convict officers.
Hamilton County Judge Leslie Ghiz declared a mistrial after more than 30 hours of jury deliberations over five days. The jurors had said earlier Friday that they were unable to reach a verdict in Officer Ray Tensing’s trial, but Ghiz had sent them back to try again on the counts of murder and voluntary manslaughter.
Instead, they sent her another note some three hours later, saying: “We are almost evenly split regarding our votes.” The note said they didn’t foresee reaching a unanimous verdict.
Tensing looked down, his hand on his face, as the judge announced the mistrial over the death of 43-year-old Sam DuBose, who was shot in the head while driving away from the traffic stop on July 19, 2015. Tensing and his family left quickly without comment.
The first trial against the 27-year-old Tensing also ended in a mistrial after the jury deliberated 25 hours over four days in November without reaching a verdict.
