Clinton: Trump’s foreign policy ‘absolutely bewilders’ her
Clinton: Trump’s foreign policy ‘absolutely bewilders’ her
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Hillary Clinton vowed Tuesday to conduct a national security and foreign policy that Americans could be proud of, saying rival Donald Trump “just absolutely bewilders” her when he talks about his policies around the globe.
Clinton embraced the U.S. Olympic team’s success at a voter registration rally in Philadelphia, pointing to Team USA’s gold as an example of an optimistic nation that runs counter to what she considers Trump’s pessimism and negativity.
“It just absolutely bewilders me when I hear Donald Trump try to talk about national security,” Clinton said, pointing to Vice President Joe Biden’s dissection of Trump’s foreign policy at a Pennsylvania event on Monday. “What (Trump) often says hurts us. It sends the wrong message to friend and foe alike.” Turning to the Olympic team, she said, “Team USA is showing the world what this country stands for.”
Trump on Monday said the country’s national security requirements demanded “extreme” vetting of immigrants seeking admission to the United States, pointing to the threat of the Islamic State group and terrorism elements. But he offered few specifics about how the process might work or how it would be paid for by taxpayers. Tuesday night, he posted on Facebook a pledge to “reject bigotry and hatred and oppression in all its forms, and seek a new future built on our common culture and values as one American people.”
That’s a vastly different tone than he’s often used during his year-plus campaign, and it comes after he’s repeatedly refused to “pivot” from his appeal to Republican voters to the broader general electorate. During Trump’s campaign, he’s said that many Mexicans are rapists, feuded with the Muslim-American parents of an Army captain killed in Iraq and proposed to suspend immigration by Muslims and people from “terror countries.”
In a first, Russia uses Iran base to bomb targets in Syria
BEIRUT (AP) — Iran allowed Russian warplanes to take off from its territory to bomb targets in Syria on Tuesday, an unprecedented move that underscores the deepening cooperation between two powerhouses heavily invested in the Syrian civil war.
The Iranian deployment increases Russia’s foothold in the Middle East and widens Moscow’s bombing campaign in Syria, bolstering President Bashar Assad’s government ahead of a new round of peace talks the United Nations hopes to convene in coming weeks.
The long-range bombers took off early Tuesday near the Iranian city of Hamedan, 280 kilometers (175 miles) southwest of the Iranian capital, and struck targets in three provinces in northern and eastern Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The Russian warplanes then returned to Russia and no Russian forces remained stationed in Iran, said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak to reporters about the matter.
“Russia’s use of an Iranian base represents a turning point in Russia’s relations in the Middle East. … It sends a powerful message to the United States and regional powers that Russia is here to stay,” said Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics.
Tourist boat, speedboat collision in Greece leaves 4 dead
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A speedboat collided with a tourist vessel off the Greek island of Aegina near Athens Tuesday, killing four people, including a child, and injuring five others, the coast guard said.
Twenty people, including the injured, were rescued from the waters between Aegina and the small deserted islet of Moni, where the tourist boat was transporting holiday-makers for a swim, the coast guard said, revising an earlier figure of 21 people rescued. Two of the injured were in serious condition.
Authorities said no further people were reported missing, but a search and rescue operation involving several patrol boats, two helicopters, coast guard divers and nearby private vessels was continuing as a precaution.
More than 20 people were believed to have been on board the tourist boat when the collision occurred, sinking the small vessel, authorities said. The coast guard said the precise number of those who had been on the tourist vessel and details of how the accident occurred were unclear as rescue efforts were focused on locating survivors. The nationalities of the survivors were also not immediately clear.
Four bodies were recovered from the water: three men, one of them believed to have been the tourist boat captain, and that of a 9-year-old child.
The coast guard said four people had been on board the speedboat, none of whom were injured. The vessel’s captain was arrested while authorities launched an investigation into the crash.
Milwaukee is latest city to use curfew to tamp down unrest
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The neighborhood rocked by violent protests after a black officer fatally shot a black man was calmer after police pledged to strictly enforce a curfew for teenagers in Milwaukee, the latest place where authorities have invoked decades-old, often little-enforced laws to try to tamp down unrest.
But the measures are controversial, with some people saying curfews violate civil liberties. Researchers also argue there’s little to no evidence that the laws work, particularly when it comes to curbing juvenile crime. And in some cases, they say, the laws only make problems worse in the long term.
“The most useful aspect of a curfew is it gives the public an impression that the police are doing something,” said Kenneth Adams, a criminal justice professor at the University of Central Florida who has studied the laws. “It’s sending the message that ‘We the police are serious about restoring order, and we’re going to take steps.’”
Authorities in Ferguson, Missouri, issued curfews for all residents in 2014 in response to violence that erupted after a white officer shot and killed a black 18-year-old, a move that angered many in the community who saw it as further mistreatment of blacks. After a man died in police custody in Baltimore in 2015, the city’s mayor imposed a weeklong curfew, saying she did not want to see the city “destroyed by thugs.”
Milwaukee’s enforcement was aimed at teens and followed riots that started after the Saturday shooting of Sylville Smith. Police say the 23-year-old was fleeing a traffic stop and had a gun in his hand when he turned toward the officer, who opened fire. The state is investigating.
Pennsylvania attorney general resigns a day after conviction
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Kathleen Kane, Pennsylvania’s first elected female attorney general, announced her resignation Tuesday, a day after being convicted of abusing the powers of the state’s top law enforcement office to smear a rival and lying under oath to cover it up.
Kane’s exit completes a spectacular fall for the former county prosecutor who soared to victory four years ago as an outsider who promised to break up an “old-boys’ network” in state government. She squandered her early popularity, feuded with rivals and aides, and ultimately was undone by what prosecutors portrayed as a personal vendetta for her critics and perceived enemies.
Now, Kane is facing jail time and cannot even practice private law after the suspension of her law license.
Kane’s office issued a two-sentence statement saying she would resign at the end of the workday Wednesday.
“I have been honored to serve the people of Pennsylvania and I wish them health and safety in all their days,” said Kane, a Democrat.
John McLaughlin, host of confrontational TV show, dead at 89
NEW YORK (AP) — John McLaughlin, the conservative political commentator and host of the namesake long-running television show that pioneered hollering-heads discussions of Washington politics, has died. He was 89.
McLaughlin died Tuesday morning, according to an announcement on the Facebook page of “The McLaughlin Group” series. No cause of death was mentioned, but an ailing McLaughlin had missed the taping for this past weekend’s show — his first absence in the series’ 34 years.
Since its debut in April 1982, “The McLaughlin Group” upended the soft-spoken and non-confrontational style of shows such as “Washington Week in Review” and “Agronsky & Co.” with a raucous format that largely dispensed with politicians. It instead featured journalists quizzing, talking over and sometimes insulting each other. In recent years, the show billed itself as “The American Original” — a nod to all the shows that copied its format.
“John McLaughlin was a TV institution for generations of Americans,” tweeted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. “We will miss his contagious spirit & tireless dedication.”
In an interview with The Associated Press in 1986, McLaughlin said he felt talk shows hadn’t kept pace with changes in television.