Nation and World briefs for July 4
Man who inspired ice bucket challenge is back in hospital
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BOSTON (AP) — The man who inspired people around the world to dump buckets of ice water over their heads to raise millions of dollars for Lou Gehrig’s disease research is back in the hospital and is keeping his sense of humor.
A Facebook post from the family of 32-year-old Pete Frates said he is resting comfortably at Massachusetts General Hospital and that “doctors, medicine, prayers and love continue to help him get stronger.”
After some news outlets erroneously reported Monday that he had died, Frates responded by posting a 45-second video on Twitter showing him lying in a hospital bed while the song “Alive” by Pearl Jam plays in the background.
Frates’ family said Sunday that he had returned to the hospital and was “battling this beast ALS like a Superhero.”
He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2012. The disease weakens muscles and impairs physical functioning. There is no known cure.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge raised more than $220 million when it took off worldwide on social media in 2014.
Frates is a native of Beverly, Massachusetts, and played baseball at Boston College. He played professionally in Germany after graduation and in amateur leagues upon his return to the U.S.
He received his diagnosis after getting hit on the wrist by a pitch and noticing it wasn’t healing properly.
Qatar crisis deadline extended by 2 days as nation responds
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Arab nations isolating Qatar extended a deadline Monday for the energy rich country to respond to their demands by another 48 hours, allowing its top diplomat to carry a handwritten response to Kuwait’s ruler in an effort to end the diplomatic crisis.
Whether another two days will be enough to end the crisis, however, may be a stretch.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain already have plans to meet in Cairo on Wednesday as the deadline expires to discuss their next moves. Meanwhile, Qataris signed a wall bearing a black-stencil likeness of their ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as officials in the host country of the 2022 FIFA World Cup maintain that they won’t allow other nations to dictate their foreign policy.
The crisis began June 5, as the countries cut off diplomatic ties to Qatar over their allegations that the world’s top producer of liquefied natural gas uses its wealth to fund extremist groups and has overly warm ties to Iran. Qatar long has denied funding terrorists, while it maintains communication with Iran as the two countries share a massive offshore natural gas field.
US nuclear inspection results now concealed
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has thrown a cloak of secrecy over assessments of the safety and security of its nuclear weapons operations, a part of the military with a history of periodic inspection failures and bouts of low morale.
Overall results of routine inspections at nuclear weapons bases, such as a “pass-fail” grade, had previously been publicly available. They are now off-limits. The change goes beyond the standard practice of withholding detailed information on the inspections.
The stated reason for the change is to prevent adversaries from learning too much about U.S. nuclear weapons vulnerabilities. Navy Capt. Greg Hicks, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the added layer of secrecy was deemed necessary.
“We are comfortable with the secrecy,” Hicks said Monday, adding that it helps ensure that “as long as nuclear weapons exist, the U.S. will maintain a safe, secure, and effective nuclear stockpile.”
Critics question the lockdown of information.
Christie feels the heat politically after a day at the beach
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — There’s Gov. Chris Christie, lounging in a beach chair in the Oval Office. There he is again, sitting in the sand as the lovers from the movie “From Here to Eternity” roll around in the surf. And there he is, relaxing outside the meat store from “The Sopranos.”
Christie is getting blistered online and in the real world after he was photographed with his family soaking up the sun on a beach that he had closed to the public over the Fourth of July weekend because of a government shutdown.
A deeply unpopular Republican serving out his final six months in office, Christie was lambasted Monday as selfish and arrogant, and jokesters online inserted the picture of him in sandals, shorts and a T-shirt into various photos and movie and TV scenes.
“Tell Gov. Christie: Get the hell off Island Beach State Park,” read a banner carried by a plane flying up and down the New Jersey coast Monday, mocking the time the tough-talking governor told people to “get the hell off the beach” during a hurricane in 2011.
New Jersey state beaches and parks were shut down over the weekend along with motor vehicle offices and other services deemed nonessential after Christie and the Democratic-controlled Legislature failed to agree on a budget for the new fiscal year that began Saturday.
British royals to bring the kids along on European tour
LONDON (AP) — Kensington Palace says the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will take their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, along with them when they tour Germany and Poland.
The palace says Monday that the five-day tour beginning July 17 in Warsaw will feature appearances by the royal children. The trip is being seen as an effort to bolster Britain’s goodwill ties with Europe amid the country’s negotiations to leave the 28-nation European Union.
The palace says the royals are looking “forward to a busy and impactful tour,” and are happy as a family to meet “such important friends of the United Kingdom.”
William and the former Kate Middleton also took George, 3, and Charlotte, 2, on an official tour to Canada last year.
In Europe, Trump may discover if 1st impressions stick
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will learn this week whether he gets a second chance to make a first impression as he returns to Europe and has his first encounter with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Trump’s first visit to the continent in May stirred anxieties among his European allies when he declined to endorse NATO’s common defense treaty explicitly and scolded world leaders for not spending more on their armed forces. This time, Trump will use stops in Poland and Germany to try to pull off the tricky balancing act of improving ties with Moscow at a time of particularly fraught relations while also presenting the U.S. as a check against Russian aggression.
In what may be the most-watched event of the four-day trip, the president will meet Putin on the sidelines of an international summit meeting in Hamburg, Germany. Every aspect of the meeting between the two unpredictable leaders is sure to be closely scrutinized as investigations press on into alleged Moscow meddling in the 2016 election and potential Trump campaign collusion.
With those investigations hanging heavy in the air, there is little expectation that the meeting will produce significant progress on difficult issues such as the crisis in Ukraine or the conflict in Syria.
“I can’t imagine any issue they can actually make major headway on, given the poison that surrounds the relationship,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, who suggested it might lay the groundwork for future cooperation.
Little Rock club performer faces weapons charge
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A rapper shot someone in the neck days before performing at a concert in Little Rock that was the site of a shooting that left 28 people injured, federal prosecutors said Monday.
U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Paulette Chappelle said Ricky Hampton, also known as Finese2Tymes, screamed at a person he believed was blocking his way on June 25 as Hampton was trying to leave Club Envy in Forrest City, Arkansas.
Chappelle said the Memphis, Tennessee, rapper entered his vehicle and continued screaming at the person, who was driving another vehicle before firing an “AK-style pistol,” shattering the rear window and striking the person in the neck.
Then Saturday, a shooting at Little Rock’s Power Ultra Lounge where Hampton was performing left 28 people hurt.
Hampton was arrested about 24 hours later in Alabama on outstanding charges of aggravated assault with a gun out of Forrest City in eastern Arkansas, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Taxi jumps curb at Boston airport, injuring 10 cabbies
BOSTON (AP) — A taxi crashed into a group of cab drivers near Boston’s airport on Monday, injuring 10 people in what police said appeared to be a “tragic accident.”
The 56-year-old driver’s vehicle jumped a curb around 1:40 p.m., police said, and struck a group of people gathered at an outdoor break area for cabbies. The area, known as the cab pool, is where drivers wait until they are called to pick up passengers at various locations around Logan International Airport.
A police official said it appears that the driver mistakenly pressed the gas pedal instead of the brake, and that it’s believed to be a case of “operator error.” The person was not authorized to comment on the record and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The crash briefly raised fears of terrorism akin to attacks in Britain and Nice, France. But Massachusetts state police Maj. Frank McGinn said there “does not appear at this time to be any indication of an intentional act, but more just a tragic accident.”
David Procopio, a spokesman for Massachusetts State Police, said that “at this preliminary point in the investigation, there is no information that suggests the crash was intentional.” He said the cab has been seized for further investigation.
