Merkel, German states agree deal to streamline handling of migrant influx
BRUSSELS (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel and Germany’s 16 state governors agreed on measures designed to streamline the country’s handling of the migrant influx — including declaring three Balkan countries “safe” states of origin and cutting some cash payments to newcomers.
Merkel said Thursday that Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro will be declared safe countries as part of efforts to reduce the stream of people from those countries who have arrived. The agreement calls for “pocket money” paid to people at initial reception centers to be switched to benefits in kind.
Tour vehicle, charter bus collide on busy Seattle bridge; 4 killed, dozens more hurt
SEATTLE (AP) — A “duck boat” tour vehicle and a charter bus carrying foreign college students collided on a busy Seattle bridge Thursday, killing four people and sending dozens to hospitals.
The collision happened on the Aurora Avenue bridge, which carries one of the city’s main north-south highways over a lake.
At least 12 people were in critical condition, and many others suffered minor injuries, Fire Chief Harold Scoggins said.
There was no immediate word about the cause of the crash, which involved a military-style tour bus that can also be operated on water. Initial reports described the accident as a head-on collision.
A driver who was behind the duck boat said the tour bus and duck boat were headed in opposite directions.
More than 700 people killed in crush of hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia near holy site
MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Two giant waves of Muslim pilgrims collided at an intersection Thursday near a holy site in Saudi Arabia, and more than 700 people were crushed and trampled to death in the worst disaster at the hajj in a quarter-century.
“People were climbing over one another just to breathe,” said Abdullah Lotfy of Egypt. “It was like a wave. You go forward and suddenly you go back.”
The hajj, which drew 2 million people from over 180 countries this year, is a huge logistical challenge for Saudi Arabia. The kingdom has spent billions of dollars to accommodate the growing number of pilgrims and maintain safety and security at Islam’s holy cities of Mecca and Medina for the annual event.
Saudi authorities began an investigation, said Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, adding that initial reports showed two crowds coming from opposing directions converged at an intersection in Mina, on the outskirts of Mecca, when the pushing and shoving started.
“Unfortunately, these incidents happen in a moment,” al-Turki said at a news conference.
McConnell offers bipartisan stopgap spending bill after bid to punish Planned Parenthood fails
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate’s top Republican moved swiftly to avoid a government shutdown in six days, pushing legislation that would keep agencies operating without a contentious fight over money for Planned Parenthood.
The action of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., followed a decisive Senate vote blocking a bill that would have stripped Planned Parenthood of its taxpayer funding while keeping the government running through Dec. 11.
The vote was 47-52, falling short of a majority and well shy of the 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster led by Democrats. Eight Republicans, several of whom support abortion rights, voted with 42 Democrats and two independents to kill the measure.
McConnell immediately offered a bipartisan stopgap spending bill free of the Planned Parenthood dispute that’s expected to easily clear the Senate next week by a wide bipartisan margin. He has for almost a year promised that Republicans controlling Congress won’t repeat the government shutdown of two years ago.
In the House, GOP leaders called a meeting of their fractious rank and file for Friday morning to discuss whether to accept the Senate’s move or reject it at the risk that continuing the fight over Planned Parenthood would lead to a government shutdown.
Pope, after historic talk to Congress, arrives in New York for evening prayers; UN trip awaits
NEW YORK (AP) — Pope Francis, who on Thursday urged Congress and the nation to abolish the death penalty, fight global warming and embrace immigrants, arrived to a warm welcome on his first visit to New York, where he planned sunset evening prayers at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
On Friday, Francis’ schedule includes addressing world leaders at the United Nations, participating in an interfaith service at the Sept. 11 memorial museum at ground zero, visiting a school and taking a processional drive through Central Park. He also will celebrate Mass at the Madison Square Garden arena.
In Washington earlier Thursday, the pope had waded into bitter disputes while speaking to Congress, entreating the nation to share its immense wealth with those less fortunate. Lawmakers gave rousing ovations to the leader of the world’s Catholics despite obvious disagreements over some of his pleas.
After he addressed Congress, the first pontiff to do so, he underscored his message by traveling directly to a downtown Washington church, where he mingled with needy and homeless people, blessed their noontime meal and walked among them while they ate.
Soon after, he headed by plane to New York, second stop on his three-city first visit to the U.S. After arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, he boarded a helicopter to Manhattan, where the cathedral is located. He addresses the U.N. on Friday and wraps up his visit this weekend in Philadelphia, where he speaks in front of Independence Hall and celebrates Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Seeing their story in Syrian refugees’ plight at sea, Vietnamese Americans reach out to help
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — When Jonathan Huynh heard the haunting story of two young Syrian boys and their mother fleeing their country and drowning when their small rubber boat capsized on its way to Greece, he saw himself.
The 37-year-old California chiropractor was a toddler when his family took to the seas to flee communist Vietnam. They survived and wound up at a Malaysian refugee camp.
“I just felt like history is repeating itself,” said Huynh, who along with other Vietnamese Americans is helping organize a walk-a-thon in Fountain Valley, California, to send medical aid to Syrians fleeing their country’s 4 ½ year-civil war.
Seeing their community’s story in the plight of those boarding tiny, rickety boats for Europe, some Vietnamese Americans are reaching out to help. In addition to the 4-mile walk, some in California have started a Twitter campaign to generate compassion for those taking to the seas and a fundraising drive to support migrant rescue efforts.
More than three decades ago, Vietnamese began fleeing in tiny boats after their country fell to communist rule. Some died, and others wound up in refugee camps before heading to the United States.
Xi and Obama at the White House: Efforts to build personal ties yield only mixed results
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has invested more time building personal ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping than with most other world leaders. But as Xi arrives in Washington late Thursday for a grand state visit, it’s clear that Obama’s overtures have produced decidedly mixed results.
During intimate walks and hours of private discussion around the world, Obama and Xi forged a historic breakthrough to combat climate change and collaborated on efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear program. But there’s been little progress on a pair of vexing security issues that will be at the forefront of their latest round of discussions: China’s cyberspying in the U.S. and its disputed territorial claims in the Asian Pacific.
“The assumptions that many people had, that cooperation on transnational threats like climate change would ameliorate problems in geopolitical arenas were wrong,” said Michael Green, White House Asian Affairs director under President George W. Bush and current senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Before plunging into the pageantry of the state visit, Obama and Xi were to meet for dinner Thursday night at Blair House, the guest residence steps from the White House. They’ll be joined by Vice President Joe Biden, who has also played a central role in building the administration’s relationship with the Chinese leader.
Biden was on hand to greet Xi when his plane touched down at a military base near Washington.
