Authorities: Last activists should leave wildlife preserve
Authorities: Last activists should leave wildlife preserve
BURNS, Ore. (AP) — A day after the leaders of an armed anti-government group were arrested, authorities on Wednesday urged a handful of activists remaining at an Oregon wildlife refuge to abandon the site they have occupied for more than three weeks, saying it was “time to move on.”
Meanwhile, details began to emerge about the confrontation that occurred on a remote highway between here and the small town of John Day. Followers of Ammon Bundy gave conflicting accounts of how one of the men in the two-vehicle convoy was killed during a traffic stop.
One of Bundy’s followers said Robert Finicum charged at FBI agents, who then shot him. A member of the Bundy family said Finicum did nothing to provoke the agents.
There was no immediate way to confirm either account. Authorities refused to release any details about the encounter or even to verify that it was Finicum who was killed. It was unclear if Finicum or the others were armed, or if they exchanged gunfire with officers.
Federal agents surrounded the refuge where the remnants of Bundy’s group were still refusing to give up on the occupation that began Jan. 2.
France asks EU partners for new sanctions on Iran
PARIS (AP) — France has asked its European Union partners to consider new sanctions on Iran for its recent missile tests, officials have told The Associated Press, even as Paris welcomed the president of the Islamic Republic, which is flush with funds from the lifting of other sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program.
The ambiguous signals emerging Wednesday from France came as President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate elected in 2013, signed billions of dollars in business deals on an earlier stop in Italy and met with Pope Francis in the first such Iranian foray into Europe since 1999.
France hopes for similarly lucrative deals during Rouhani’s two-day visit, along with regional peacemaking efforts as the once-pariah state emerges from decades of isolation.
But amid the courting of Iran, two officials from EU nations told AP that the request for new sanctions came shortly after the EU and the U.S. lifted sanctions on Tehran on Jan. 16 in exchange for U.N. certification that Iran had scaled back its nuclear programs. Iran said those programs were peaceful but critics feared it wanted to build nuclear weapons.
The two officials said the French request came after the United States had imposed new sanctions on Iran over the firing of a medium-range ballistic missile.
Chaotic run-up to Syria peace talks reflects enormous gap
BEIRUT (AP) — The invitations are sent and preparations are underway at the U.N.’s Palais des Nations in Geneva, where the first peace talks in two years on the conflict in Syria are to begin Friday.
But two days before the talks, it is unclear who will attend — or even if the U.N. special envoy to Syria will be able to move the needle on any of the thorny issues on the agenda to help end the war that has killed 250,000 people in the last five years.
In the chaotic run-up to the talks, the warring sides and their international backers have bickered over who should be present and what should be discussed, with some threatening to boycott if their conditions are not met.
The drama continued Wednesday with a major opposition bloc saying it would only join the talks if progress is made toward lifting sieges on blockaded towns in Syria and implementing U.N. Security Council resolutions on other humanitarian issues. The Saudi-backed bloc known as the Higher Negotiating Committee was meeting to make a final decision on whether to go to Geneva.
The U.S. on Wednesday called on the opposition to attend the talks.
Brazil: 270 of 4,180 suspected microcephaly cases confirmed
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — New figures released Wednesday by Brazil’s Health Ministry as part of a probe into the Zika virus have found fewer confirmed cases of a rare brain defect than first feared.
So far, only 270 of 4,180 suspected cases have been confirmed as microcephaly, with the brain damage associated with the defect ruled out in 462 cases. Researchers are still studying 3,448 of the cases, which were recorded from Oct. 22
Brazilian officials still say they believe there’s a sharp increase in cases of microcephaly and strongly suspect the Zika virus, which appeared in the country last year, is to blame. The concern is strong enough that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned pregnant women to reconsider visits to areas where Zika is present.
The rare birth defect, which also can be caused by factors such as infections, malnutrition or drugs, means babies have unusually small heads, 32 centimeters (12.6 inches) or less in circumference, and it can cause lasting developmental problems.
The cases reported to the Health Ministry include delivered infants, stillborn and miscarried babies, and fetuses shown to have unusually small heads by ultrasound or other diagnostic tests, the ministry said. It then tests to see if neurological imaging shows the brain has been affected.
Debate feud injects fresh chaos into GOP primary
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An explosive feud between Donald Trump and Fox News is overshadowing the final sprint to Iowa’s presidential caucuses, injecting a new sense of chaos into the 2016 Republican contest.
On the eve of the final debate before Iowa voters weigh in, Trump refused to back off his decision to boycott Thursday’s prime-time faceoff. His campaign insisted that debate host Fox News crossed a line with a sarcastic statement mocking him and continued to criticize moderator Megyn Kelly. In turn, Fox accused Trump’s camp of trying to terrorize its employees.
“They think they can toy with Mr. Trump,” campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” ”Mr. Trump doesn’t play games.”
As the public clash intensified, Trump’s Republican competitors hunkered down for a day of private debate preparations filled with uncertainty. Skeptical that he would follow through on his boycott, the other campaigns held practice sessions with and without someone playing Trump.
Some thought the absence of Trump could make another leading Iowa contender, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a prime target for campaigns eager to spark a last-minute shakeup. Cruz challenged Trump to a separate one-on-one debate, a challenge that was dismissed by his opponent.
Film academy reforms spark new round of protests
NEW YORK (AP) — Since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said it was altering membership rules in response to an outcry over the diversity of its voters and nominees, another uproar has erupted around Hollywood. Many academy members are protesting that the new measures unjustly scapegoat older academy members and imply they’re racist.
Fiery letters have poured into the academy. Trade magazines are littered with critical op-eds from members. Meanwhile, civil rights leaders and others say the academy’s actions didn’t go far enough. More steps are needed, they say, to make the Oscars and the industry more inclusive.
Reforms meant to calm a crisis seem to have only further enflamed it. This year’s Feb. 28 Academy Awards are looking less like a glitzy gala and more like a battlefield.
“We all have to calm down a bit. The conversation has become unduly vitriolic,” says Rod Lurie, the writer-director of “Straw Dogs” and “The Contender” and a member of the academy’s directors’ branch. “Nobody in the academy should dignify any accusations of racism,” Lurie said in an interview, “but there obviously are biases that are created by the demographics of the academy.”
The typically slow-moving academy acted swiftly last week, holding an emergency meeting of its Board of Governors. In the wake of a second straight year of all-white acting nominees — and calls for a boycott of the Oscars broadcast — the 51-member board unanimously voted to revamp membership rules in an effort to change the makeup of the largely white, male and older association of some 7,000 exclusive members.