Porn actress offers to repay $130K so she can discuss Trump
LOS ANGELES — An adult film actress who said she had sex with President Donald Trump offered Monday to return the $130,000 she was paid for agreeing not to discuss the alleged relationship.
Stormy Daniels — whose real name is Stephanie Clifford — is willing to repay the money she received as part of a 2016 agreement, as long as she can speak openly about the situation, according to a copy of a letter from Clifford’s attorney obtained by the Associated Press.
The letter sent to Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, and his attorney, Lawrence Rosen, said the non-disclosure agreement would be considered “null and void” after she returned the money, and that would allow Clifford to speak about the relationship and the attempt to silence her while she publishes any text messages, photos and videos she might have.
The offer is valid until this afternoon, the letter said.
Chaos in two towns as Turkish and Syrian forces close in
BEIRUT — Parallel offensives waged by Turkey and the Syrian government on two separate towns Monday in Syria pushed residents into overcrowded shelters for safety as others tried to flee the advancing forces by road.
Residents and displaced families in the besieged town of Douma in the rebel-controlled Damascus suburbs of eastern Ghouta were sleeping in shops and in the streets as basements in the town filled up beyond capacity, said resident Haitham Bakkar.
“We are afraid of the assault,” Bakkar said about the government’s efforts to take the town amid a ferocious campaign of shelling and airstrikes. Blasts could be heard as he spoke via a messaging service.
Meanwhile, thousands of people were fleeing the northwestern town of Afrin as Turkish troops and Turkey-backed opposition fighters moved closer to completely encircling it.
Ebrahim Ebrahim, a Europe-based spokesman for the largest Kurdish group in Syria, the Democratic Union Party said those fleeing were heading toward government-controlled areas, fearful that Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters might commit atrocities against the Kurds and minority Christians, Alawites and Yazidis in the town.
Latest nor’easter could dump a foot or more of snow on New England
BOSTON — Winter-weary New Englanders prepared for blizzard conditions, more than a foot of snow and high winds as a third major nor’easter in two weeks moved closer to the Northeast on Monday.
The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for much of the Massachusetts coast, a winter storm warning for most of New England and a winter weather advisory for portions of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The storm is expected to last through most of today, disrupting road and air travel. American Airlines suspended all flight operations from Boston Logan International Airport today. The airline said arrivals and departures from Bangor, Maine; Burlington, Vt.; Manchester, N.H.; and New Haven, Conn., also will be shut down.
Amtrak suspended service from Boston to New York’s Penn Station until 11 a.m. today.
Immigrants sue US over end to temporary protected status
SAN FRANCISCO — The Trump administration’s decision to end a program that lets immigrants from four countries live and work legally in the U.S. was motivated by racism and leaves the immigrants’ American born children with an “impossible choice,” according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday.
Nine immigrants and five children filed the suit in federal court in San Francisco to reinstate temporary protected status for people from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan.
The status is granted to countries ravaged by natural disasters or war. It lets citizens of those countries remain in the U.S. until the situation improves back home.
The lawsuit — at least the third challenging the administration’s decision to end temporary protected status — cites President Donald Trump’s vulgar language during a meeting in January to describe African countries.
“They did it because of xenophobia, and we need to make sure that we say it loudly so that everyone knows,” said Martha Arevalo, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group Central American Resource Center.