Venezuela opposition calls strike, Trump threatens ‘actions’
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leaders called Monday for a 24-hour nationwide strike to increase pressure on the socialist government after more than 7 million people rejected a plan to rewrite the constitution and consolidate the ruling party’s power over the country, which has been stricken by shortages and inflation and riven by more than 100 days of clashes between protesters and police.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened “strong and swift economic actions” against President Nicolas Maduro’s government if it proceeds with plans for a July 30 election to choose an assembly to retool the constitution. Canada, Mexico, Brazil and the European Union have also come out against the assembly.
“The United States will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles,” Trump said in a strongly worded statement, adding that in that country “courageous actions continue to be ignored by a bad leader who dreams of becoming a dictator.”
Despite the global and domestic calls for him to cancel the constituent assembly, Maduro vowed to press ahead with it.
“I won’t be intimidated,” Venezuela’s president said Monday evening in a speech at the presidential palace.
Health plan hinges on the young, but they’re a tough sell
WASHINGTON (AP) — Julian Senn-Raemont isn’t convinced he needs to buy health insurance when he loses coverage under his dad’s plan in a couple of years — no matter what happens in the policy debate in Washington, or how cheap the plans are.
The 24-year-old musician hasn’t known a world without a health care safety net. But he hates being forced by law to get coverage, and doesn’t think he needs it.
“I’m playing the odds,” said Senn-Raemont, who lives in Woodstock, Illinois. He will go without insurance, he said, until he starts a family or gets a job with benefits. “I feel comfortable I could get care if I needed it.”
Senn-Raemont’s outlook could pose a major problem for Republicans who await a delayed vote on a replacement for the Affordable Care Act. Insurers need young and healthy enrollees like him to buy insurance because they keep premiums down for everyone. The current law attempts to do that by mandating that everyone get coverage. The Republican plan replaces that mandate with penalties for those who let coverage lapse, and aims to entice young adults by allowing insurance companies to sell bare-bones coverage that could be cheaper.
But cheap isn’t free, which turns off people like Senn-Raemont. And other young adults worry that opening the door to these bare-bones plans will make the more comprehensive coverage they know now too expensive or even unavailable.
Qatar: Alleged UAE hacking ‘unfortunate,’ violation of law
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar, the tiny Gulf state being isolated by its neighbors, said Monday the reported involvement of the United Arab Emirates in hacking its government news site in May is “unfortunate” and a breach of agreements among the Gulf countries.
The Washington Post, quoting unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, reported Sunday that the UAE orchestrated the hacking and planted a false story that was used as a pretext for the crisis between Qatar and four Arab countries.
The report said senior members of the Emirati government discussed the hacking plan a day before a story appeared on the official Qatar News Agency quoting Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, allegedly praising Iran and saying Qatar has a good relationship with Israel.
The UAE has denied involvement, calling the Post report “false” and insisting that the UAE “had no role whatsoever” in the alleged hacking.
The UAE along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties and severed air, land and sea links with Qatar in early June over allegations that it supports extremist ideology — a charge Qatar denied. The crisis has dragged on for more than a month with neither side showing signs of backing down.
White House briefing is off-camera again
NEW YORK (AP) — Cameras remained off Monday at the White House press briefing on orders of the Trump administration, sidelining one of daytime television’s most popular features on the same day that ABC announced new digital programming tied to it.
The last on-camera White House briefing was on June 29.
Following rules set by the White House, news networks only began airing press secretary Sean Spicer’s question-and-answer session after it was done. With still pictures of Spicer onscreen as he talked off-camera, it didn’t make for gripping television. Fox News Channel and MSNBC both broke away to other stories before the session was finished.
ABC News’ “The Briefing Room” started airing live Monday, with White House correspondents Jonathan Karl and Cecelia Vega providing analysis of Spicer’s session. The network has streamed past briefings online and on Facebook over the past several months; the new program is expected to air each day there is a White House briefing.
Without its own affiliated cable network, ABC is looking for different ways to take advantage of its expertise, said Rick Klein, the network’s political director.
Afghan girls robotics team competes after visa obstacles
WASHINGTON (AP) — Their team shirts didn’t say “Afghanistan” and their name badges were handwritten, not typed, suggesting the last-minute nature of their entry into the United States. But the Afghan girls competing Monday in an international robotics competition in Washington were clearly excited to be representing their nation.
The team of six teenage girls was twice rejected for U.S. visas before President Donald Trump intervened at the last minute. They arrived in Washington from their hometown of Herat, Afghanistan, early Saturday, and their ball-sorting robot competed in its first round Monday morning.
“We were so interested, because we find a big chance to show the talent and ability of Afghans, show that Afghan women can make robots, too,” said Rodaba Noori, one of the team members. She acknowledged, though, that the team “hadn’t long, or enough time to get ready for competition.”
The girls’ struggle to overcome war, hardship and U.S. bureaucracy on their journey to the U.S. capital has made their team stand out among more than 150 competing in the FIRST Global Challenge, a robotics competition designed to encourage youths to pursue careers in math and science.
The U.S. won’t say why the girls were rejected for visas, citing confidentiality rules. But Afghan Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib said that based on discussions with U.S. officials, it appears the girls, who are 14 to 16 years old, were turned away due to concerns they would not return to Afghanistan.
Netflix still piling up viewers — and big programming bills
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Netflix is pulling in new viewers and award nominations in droves, but the online video service still faces a long-term problem: Its acclaimed programming line-up is costing far more money than what subscribers pay for it.
That hasn’t been a big issue so far, thanks to investors’ willingness to accept scant profits in exchange for robust subscriber growth.
Netflix delivered on that front again Monday, announcing that it added 5.2 million subscribers in the second quarter covering April to June. That’s the largest increase ever during the period, which has always been the company’s slowest time of year.
Wall Street rewarded Netflix by driving up its stock by more than 10 percent to $178.30 in extended trading, putting the shares on track to hit a new high in Tuesday’s regular trading.
