Trump shrugs off widespread outrage over proposed Muslim ban ADVERTISING Trump shrugs off widespread outrage over proposed Muslim ban MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s call to block Muslims from entering the United States is being
Trump shrugs off widespread outrage over proposed Muslim ban
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s call to block Muslims from entering the United States is being met with a chorus of near-universal condemnation from across the country and around the globe.
From the halls of Congress to 10 Downing Street, Trump’s statement Monday advocating a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” was blasted as bigoted, unconstitutional and potentially dangerous for American interests abroad.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, breaking the custom of British leaders not commenting on U.S. presidential contenders, slammed it as “divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong.” U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon denounced “any kind of rhetoric that relies on Islamophobia, xenophobia, any other appeal to hate any groups.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement in support of religious freedom.
Even Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling weighed in, decrying Trump on Twitter as worse than her fictional villain Lord Voldemort.
“This is not conservatism,” Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters after a closed-door GOP caucus meeting. “What was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for, and more importantly it’s not what this country stands for.”
Trump’s Muslim ban idea pushes GOP toward chaos
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States is shoving the Republican Party to the edge of chaos, abruptly pitting GOP leaders against their own presidential front-runner and jeopardizing the party’s longtime drive to attract minorities.
Unbowed, Trump fired a searing warning Tuesday via Twitter to fellow Republicans carping about his proposal. A majority of his supporters, he tweeted, “would vote for me if I departed the GOP & ran as an independent.”
The crossfire between Trump and frustrated Republicans became a furious blur the day after the billionaire businessman announced his plan. Beleaguered 2016 rivals condemned his proposal and complained that his divisive positions were dominating attention in the crowded Republican contest. Party elders, meanwhile, warned that too much criticism might indeed push him to abandon the GOP and launch a third-party bid that could hand the presidential election to the Democrats.
And Republicans up for re-election in the Senate grew terse in the Capitol hallways as they were asked again and again to respond to Trump’s remarks — a glimpse of their political futures if the former reality show star captures the GOP nomination.
“This is not conservatism,” declared House Speaker Paul Ryan, the Republican Party’s top elected leader. “What was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for. And more importantly, it’s not what this country stands for.”
Cardinal: If climate talks stall, pope might gently intervene
LE BOURGET, France (AP) — If international climate talks really stall, don’t be surprised if there might be an ever-so-slight intervention by Pope Francis.
Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace who helped draft the pope’s June encyclical on global warming, said the pontiff has “deep trust” that negotiators in Paris will get the job done. But just in case they don’t, the pope might possibly send a gentle message, he said.
“If it gets to a stalemate or whatever, he may utter a statement or make a comment or whatever, but he will refrain from exercising any coercive power on the things over here, because that would not belong to his style,” Turkson told The Associated Press after a press conference by Vatican officials Tuesday at the Paris climate talks.
If the pope did intervene with a gentle statement if negotiations bog down, it would “show the gravity of the situation and highlight what’s at stake,” said Jennifer Morgan, global climate program director for the World Resources Institute.
Joe Ware, a protestant spokesman for Christian Aid, welcomed the remark, saying such action “would just give that final nudge to the negotiations.”
Syrian refugees resettled in resistant Texas, Indiana
DALLAS (AP) — Syrian families have been settled in Texas and in Indiana, the groups helping them said Tuesday, defying efforts by the conservative states’ governors to stop their arrival.
A family of six went to live Monday near relatives already living in the Dallas area, said Lucy Carrigan, a spokeswoman for the International Rescue Committee.
“They seem very happy,” Carrigan said, noting that they were put up in an apartment with basic furniture and a stocked refrigerator. “And it was almost like breathing a sigh of relief that they have arrived. This has been a long journey for them, and it’s been a long journey for a lot of Syrian refugees.”
Carrigan declined to make family members available for an interview, but she said they were not fazed by the state’s fight or concerns that they might not be welcome in Texas. Fifteen more Syrians are expected to arrive in Houston this week, according to court filings made by federal officials.
Meanwhile, a Syrian couple and their two small children arrived safely Monday night in Indianapolis, where they have relatives, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis said in a statement. It said the family fled Syria three years ago and underwent two years of security checks before being allowed to enter the U.S.
US official: Iran tested another ballistic missile in November
WASHINGTON (AP) — Iran tested a ballistic missile last month, a U.S. official said Tuesday, describing the second such test since this summer’s nuclear agreement. The State Department said only that it was conducting a “serious review” of such reports.
The test occurred Nov. 21, according to the official, coming on top of an Oct. 10 test Iran confirmed at the time. The official said other undeclared tests occurred earlier than that, but declined to elaborate. The official wasn’t authorized to speak on the matter and demanded anonymity.
Ballistic missiles are especially sensitive with Iran because they could provide the delivery system for a nuclear warhead. As part of nuclear negotiations with world powers, Iran in July accepted an eight-year extension of a U.N. ban on its ballistic missile program.
The November test was first reported by Fox News, which said a mid-range missile with a range of 1,200 miles was launched from a known site near the Gulf of Oman.
The test may reflect an effort by Iranian hardliners to derail the nuclear pact, coming on top of the recent arrests of an American citizen and U.S. resident, and reports that Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian was sentenced to an unspecified prison term following an espionage conviction.
Chicago police misconduct has frayed relations with blacks
CHICAGO (AP) — A South Side police commander and his officers tortured black suspects into confessing to crimes they didn’t commit. Another rogue unit shook down drug dealers on the West Side for drugs and money. A different group of officers accepted payments from drug dealers to warn them of police raids.
And for years, whenever Chicago officers did something wrong, their colleagues covered for them.
The city’s longstanding reputation for police misconduct and brutality shattered relations with the black community long before the federal government announced this week that it was launching a wide-ranging civil-rights investigation of the Chicago Police Department. The probe was prompted by a video showing a white officer shooting a black teen 16 times and revelations that other officers filed false reports about what happened.
“There is a deep mistrust, and it really becomes a cancer here in Chicago because it eats away at respect for authority and respect for the law … that becomes toxic,” said the Rev. Marshall Hatch of New Mt. Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church. He said some communities feel like they’re being occupied by police rather than protected by them.
Craig Futterman is an attorney who helped win the release of video showing the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. He said the footage underscored two things: A pervasive code of silence at all levels of the department has allowed misconduct and brutality to fester, and previous reform efforts have done little to solve the problem.
