Nation and World briefs for December 14

Elections chief: Automatic recount unlikely in Alabama race

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Still-uncounted ballots are unlikely to change the outcome of the U.S. Senate race in Alabama enough to spur an automatic recount, the state’s election chief said Wednesday as Democratic victor Doug Jones urged Republican Roy Moore to concede.

Speaking during an afternoon news conference in Birmingham, Jones said a concession from Moore is the “right thing” to do, and that ‘it’s time to heal.”

But Moore hasn’t budged after a stunning loss in a reliably GOP state.

“Realize, when the vote is this close, it is not over,” he told supporters at his election-night party in Montgomery late Tuesday. Moore did not make any public statements or appearances Wednesday.

Jones is leading Moore by about 20,000 votes, or about 1.5 percent, with all precincts counted.

Abbas says UN should replace US as Mideast mediator

ISTANBUL (AP) — Breaking with years of courting the U.S., Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Wednesday for the United Nations to replace Washington as a Mideast mediator and suggested he might not cooperate with the Trump administration’s much-anticipated effort to hammer out an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

At a summit in Turkey, Arab and Muslim leaders “rejected and condemned” President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital — the trigger for Abbas’ sharp policy pivot — but stopped short of backing his more combative approach toward Washington.

A possible Palestinian refusal to engage with the U.S. and growing backlash against Trump’s shift on Jerusalem, including from Arab allies, cast new doubt over the administration’s already seemingly remote chances of brokering a deal and succeeding where its predecessors have failed.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Wednesday the administration would continue to work on a Mideast plan that it believes will benefit Israelis and Palestinians. Referring to Abbas, she said that the “type of rhetoric that we heard has prevented peace in the past, and it’s not necessarily surprising that those types of things would be said.”

In shunning the U.S., Abbas would find himself in uncharted territory.

GOP says it’s got a deal on taxes; cuts coming for next year

WASHINGTON (AP) — Confident congressional Republicans forged an agreement Wednesday on a major overhaul of the nation’s tax laws that would provide generous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans — Donald Trump among them — and deliver the first major legislative accomplishment to the GOP president.

Middle- and low-income families would get smaller tax cuts, though Trump and GOP leaders have billed the package as a huge benefit for the middle class. The measure would scrap a major tax requirement of Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, a step toward the ultimate GOP goal of unraveling the law.

“The cynical voices that opposed tax cuts grow smaller and weaker, and the American people grow stronger,” Trump said at the White House. “This is for people of middle income, this is for companies that are going to create jobs. This is for very, very special people, the great people of America.”

The business tax cuts would be permanent, but reductions for individuals would expire after a decade — saving money to comply with Senate budget rules. In all, the bill would cut taxes by about $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years, adding billions to the nation’s mounting debt.

The legislation, which is still being finalized, would cut the top tax rate for the wealthy from 39.6 percent to 37 percent, slash the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent and allow homeowners to deduct interest only on the first $750,000 of a new mortgage.

Justice official defends Mueller, sees no cause for firing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, facing congressional questions about anti-Donald Trump text messages exchanged between two FBI officials assigned to the Russia probe, defended special counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday and said he had seen no cause to fire him and had not been pressured to do so.

Rosenstein appeared before the House Judiciary Committee one day after the Justice Department provided congressional committees with hundreds of text messages between an FBI counterintelligence agent assigned to Mueller’s team and an FBI lawyer who was on the same detail.

Those messages, which occurred before Mueller was appointed in May to investigate potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, show the officials using words like “idiot” and “loathsome human” to characterize Trump as he was running for president in 2016. One of the officials said in an election night text that the prospect of a Trump victory was “terrifying.”

The disclosures of the text messages added to concerns among members of Congress that Mueller’s team is tainted by political bias.

But when Rosenstein was asked by lawmakers if he had seen good cause to fire Mueller, whom he appointed and whose work he oversees, he replied that he had not. Rosenstein also defended the credentials of Mueller, a former FBI director, and said he was an appropriate choice to run the Justice Department’s Russia investigation after the firing of FBI Director James Comey.

Rock Hall 2018 class: Nina Simone, Bon Jovi, the Moody Blues

NEW YORK (AP) — Iconic singer Nina Simone and New Jersey rockers Bon Jovi lead the 2018 class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, which includes four first-time nominees.

The Cars, as well as first-time contenders Dire Straits, The Moody Blues and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, also are part of the 2018 class announced Wednesday. They will be inducted on April 14, in Cleveland, Ohio.

The six inductees were chosen from a group of 19 nominees, including Radiohead, who were expected to enter in the Rock Hall in their first year of eligibility, but didn’t make it.

Tharpe, a pioneering guitarist who performed gospel music and was known to some as “the godmother of rock ‘n’ roll,” will be inducted with the “Award for Early Influence.” She died in 1973. The other five acts will be inducted as performers.

The jazzy and soulful Simone, also a first-time nominee, was a leader in pushing for civil rights and influenced the likes of Alicia Keys and Aretha Franklin before her death in 2003.

Fed rate increase is 3rd this year; foresees 3 more in 2018

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is raising its key interest rate for the third time this year and foresees three additional hikes in 2018, a vote of confidence that the U.S. economy remains on solid footing 8½ years after the end of the Great Recession.

The Fed said Wednesday that it’s lifting its short-term rate by a modest quarter-point to a still-low range of 1.25 percent to 1.5 percent. It is also continuing to slowly shrink its bond portfolio. Together, the two steps could lead over time to higher loan rates for consumers and businesses and slightly better returns for savers.

The central bank said in a statement after its latest policy meeting that it expects the job market and the economy to strengthen further. Partly as a result, it expects to keep raising rates at the same incremental pace next year under the leadership of Jerome Powell, who will succeed Janet Yellen as Fed chair in February.

Chris Probyn, chief economist at State Street Global Advisors, said he was surprised that Fed officials upgraded their forecast for economic growth next year and lowered their forecast for unemployment yet signaled no additional rate hikes.

“They’re saying, ‘We’re going to get more growth, we’re going to get lower unemployment, but we’re not going to respond to it with any more tightening,’” he said. “They are prepared to let the economy run a little hotter.”