Trump’s threat to close border stirs fears of economic harm
EL PASO, Texas — President Donald Trump’s threat to shut down the southern border raised fears Monday of dire economic consequences in the U.S. and an upheaval of daily life in a stretch of the country that relies on the international flow of not just goods and services but also students, families and workers.
Politicians, business leaders and economists warned that such a move would block incoming shipments of fruits and vegetables, TVs, medical devices and other products and cut off people who commute to their jobs or school or come across to go shopping.
“Let’s hope the threat is nothing but a bad April Fools’ joke,” said economist Dan Griswold at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia. He said Trump’s threat would be the “height of folly,” noting that an average of 15,000 trucks and $1.6 billion in goods cross the border every day.
“If trade were interrupted, U.S. producers would suffer crippling disruptions of their supply chains, American families would see prices spike for food and cars, and U.S. exporters would be cut off from their third-largest market,” he said.
Trump brought up the possibility of closing ports of entry along the southern border Friday and revisited it in tweets over the weekend because of a surge of Central Americans migrants who are seeking asylum. Trump administration officials have said the influx is straining the immigration system to the breaking point.
As he threatens to shut down the southern border, Trump is considering bringing on a “border” or “immigration czar” to coordinate immigration policy across various federal agencies, according to four people familiar with the discussions.
Trump is weighing at least two potential candidates for the post: former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, according to the people, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the conversations publicly.
Kobach and Cuccinelli are far-right conservatives with strong views on immigration. Cuccinelli was seen at the White House on Monday.
UK Parliament rejects alternatives to May’s Brexit deal
LONDON — Britain’s Parliament has spoken — and it has said no, again.
Lawmakers seeking a way out of the country’s Brexit morass on Monday rejected four alternatives to the government’s unpopular European Union divorce deal that would have softened or even halted Britain’s departure.
With just 12 days until the U.K. must come up with a new plan or crash out of the bloc in chaos, the House of Commons threw out four options designed to replace Prime Minister Theresa May’s thrice-rejected Brexit deal — though in some cases by a whisker.
The result leaves May’s Conservative government facing difficult and risky choices. It can gamble on a fourth attempt to push May’s unloved deal through Parliament, let Britain tumble out of the bloc without a deal, or roll the dice by seeking a snap election to shake up Parliament.
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the government would continue to seek support for a “credible” plan for leaving the EU.
Biden team blasts ‘trolls’ amid scrutiny over behavior
WASHINGTON — Aides to Joe Biden struck a more aggressive tone on Monday as the former vice president faced scrutiny over his past behavior toward women.
In a statement, Biden spokesman Bill Russo blasted “right wing trolls” from “the dark recesses of the internet” for conflating images of Biden embracing acquaintances, colleagues and friends in his official capacity during swearing-in ceremonies with uninvited touching.
The move came on a day in which a second woman said Biden had acted inappropriately, touching her face with both hands and rubbing noses with her in 2009. The allegation by Amy Lappos, a former aide to Democratic Rep. Jim Hines of Connecticut, followed a magazine essay by former Nevada politician Lucy Flores, who wrote that Biden kissed her on the back of the head in 2014.
The developments underscored the challenge facing Biden should he decide to seek the White House. Following historic wins in the 2018 midterms, Democratic politics is dominated by energy from women. The allegations could leave the 76-year-old Biden, long known for his affectionate mannerisms, appearing out of touch with the party as the Democratic presidential primary begins.
Lappos told The Associated Press that she and other Himes aides were helping out at a fundraiser in a private home in Hartford, Connecticut, in October 2009 when Biden entered the kitchen to thank the group for pitching in.
Detailed and public, Kim Jong Nam murder may never be solved
KUAL LUMPUR, Malaysia — The murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s estranged half brother at an airport in Malaysia was brazen, intricately orchestrated and, thanks to scores of security cameras, witnessed by millions around the world.
The real masterminds behind the killing, however, may never be brought to justice.
The murder charge was dropped against an Indonesian woman, who was freed last month. Her co-defendant, a Vietnamese woman who is the only suspect in custody, pleaded guilty — not to murder, but to the lesser charge of using a deadly weapon to cause injury — and will be freed as early as next month.
Her guilty plea and sentencing on Monday concluded more than two years of legal proceedings. But it cleared up none of the mystery.
Here’s a look back at the crime, the missing masterminds and the ending.
Analysis: Thai polls show divisions and instability remain
BANGKOK — Thailand’s junta leader looks set to return as prime minister after a general election stacked heavily in his favor, but the process reveals that more than a decade’s polarization in Thai politics is as strong as ever.
Rather than ensuring stability, the sharply divided vote almost guarantees new struggles over power, which could involve parliament, street protests or even fresh military intervention.
A self-declared “democratic front” of seven political parties says a preliminary vote count from the March 24 election shows it will be able to put together a majority in the House of Representatives.
But the junta-appointed Senate also takes part in the vote for prime minister, meaning junta leader and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha will likely need to win only one-quarter of the elected representatives in the lower house to get his job back.
Prayuth as army commander led the 2014 coup that toppled an elected government, and many people would see his taking power again through a carefully manipulated process as just the latest instance of Thai voters having their choices overruled by legal or extralegal means.
Venezuelan judge moves to strip opposition leader’s immunity
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s chief justice on Monday asked lawmakers to strip opposition leader Juan Guaido of immunity, taking a step toward prosecuting him for alleged crimes as he seeks to oust President Nicolas Maduro.
Supreme Court Justice Maikel Moreno said Guaido should be prosecuted for violating a ban on leaving the country when he went on a tour of Latin American nations that back a change in Venezuela’s government. The opposition leader is also accused of inciting violence linked to street protests and receiving illicit funds from abroad.
It’s unclear when the pro-Maduro National Constituent Assembly will consider whether to remove Guaido’s immunity from prosecution as head of the National Assembly.
Guaido dismissed the Maduro-stacked high court and Constituent Assembly as illegitimate and continued his calls for Maduro to step down.
“We must unite now more than ever,” said Guaido at a Caracas university earlier Monday. “We must mount the biggest demonstration so far to reject what’s happening.”
