China says ruling could lead to confrontation
China says ruling could lead to confrontation
MANILA, the Philippines (AP) — China’s ambassador to the United States says an international tribunal ruling that rejected its expansive claims on the South China Sea will intensify conflict and could lead to confrontation.
Ambassador Cui Tiankai also accused the Hague-based tribunal of “professional incompetence,” saying it was dealing with a sovereignty dispute, which is beyond its jurisdiction.
The case was brought by the Philippines, a U.S. ally.
Cui was speaking at a Washington think tank hours after the tribunal issued its ruling Monday.
U.S. officials say the ruling will narrow the geographical scope of territorial disputes in the South China Sea and could provide an impetus for fresh diplomacy among the claimant nations.
Cui said China always supports negotiations among the concerned parties, but the ruling will undermine the possibility of diplomacy.
Lynch defends decision on Clinton email inquiry
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Loretta Lynch deflected a barrage of Republican questions Tuesday about her decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton for her use of private email, saying it “would not be appropriate” in her role as the nation’s top law enforcement official.
GOP members of the House Judiciary Committee voiced frustration, with the panel’s chairman, Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, telling Lynch her reticence was “an abdication of your responsibility.” The panel’s Democrats tried to change to subject to issues of community policing and gun control in what seemed a warmup for the fall’s campaign season.
Lynch repeatedly referred the committee to last week’s testimony by FBI Director James Comey, who gave a detailed account of the investigation in a nearly five-hour appearance before another House panel and described the rationale for his advice that no charges be brought. Comey is a lifelong Republican who served as deputy attorney general during George W. Bush’s GOP administration.
“I accepted that recommendation. I saw no reason not to accept it,” Lynch testified. “The matter was handled like any other matter.”
Republicans demanded to know how Clinton could have avoided prosecution under a “gross negligence” law when Comey had described her and her aides as “extremely careless” in their handling of classified information. They also grilled Lynch over what she’d talked about with former President Bill Clinton in a June 27 tarmac conversation aboard her government plane.
Sheriff: Inmate who killed 2 at courthouse was cuffed in front
ST. JOSEPH, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan sheriff pledged Tuesday to review his department’s guidelines for transporting suspects charged with violent crimes after an inmate who was cuffed in front rather than behind his back wrested a gun from a deputy and killed two court bailiffs.
Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey initially told reporters that Larry Darnell Gordon was not handcuffed Monday during the brazen courthouse escape attempt. On Tuesday, Bailey revised that account, explaining that Gordon was cuffed in front but that the restraint was not attached to a belly chain, which security experts say is a safer way to restrict movement.
“We’re going to look at everything about why this happened and make sure that if there are things we can change so this never happens again, we will,” Bailey said. “We’ll be working with our chief judge about our protocols at the courthouse.”
Gary Klugiewicz, an inmate transport expert with security consultant Vistelar in Wisconsin and a retired Milwaukee County sheriff’s captain, said the lack of a transport belt could have played a major role in the fatal shootings.
“Somebody handcuffed in front is totally able to do just about anything if they’re not restrained to any type of belt,” he said.