Boy Scouts chief expected fiery Trump speech
Boy Scouts chief expected fiery Trump speech
NEW YORK (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America says it anticipated President Donald Trump would spark controversy with a politically tinged speech at its national jamboree in West Virginia but felt obliged to invite him out of respect for his office.
Boy Scouts president Randall Stephenson tells The Associated Press in his first public comments on the furor over Trump’s speech he’d be “disingenuous” if he suggested he was surprised by the Republican president’s comments. Stephenson also is chief executive officer of Dallas-based AT&T and spoke to the AP by phone on Wednesday.
Other U.S. presidents have addressed Boy Scouts jamborees with speeches steering clear of partisan politics.
Trump promoted his political agenda and assailed his enemies in his speech on Monday. He induced some scouts to boo at the mention of Barack Obama, his Democratic predecessor.
Venezuela leader’s foes levy new sanctions and fresh strike
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Opponents of President Nicolas Maduro at home and abroad tried again Wednesday to pressure the socialist leader into halting his plans to rewrite Venezuela’s constitution though there was no public sign their efforts were working.
The Trump administration announced sanctions on 13 current and former members of Maduro’s administration, freezing their U.S. assets and barring Americans from doing business with them. The U.S. also joined with a dozen other regional governments in urging Maduro to suspend Sunday’s election of a national assembly for rewriting the charter.
Far from derail Maduro, the Venezuelan leader appeared emboldened by the sanctions, praising those accused by the U.S. government of undermining the nation’s democracy and abusing human rights.
“We don’t recognize any sanction,” he said. “For us, it’s a recognition of morality, loyalty to the nation, and civic honesty.”
Those moves came as a coalition of Venezuelan opposition groups organized a second national strike in a week. Highways were mostly empty and businesses shuttered across the country as millions of people observed the 48-hour strike and activists threw up roadblocks in many neighborhoods to keep others from getting to work.
By late afternoon, clashes between police and protesters erupted at some roadblocks in Caracas, and the chief prosecutor’s office reported at least one person killed. That increased the official count of dead in nearly four months of demonstrations to at least 98.
Mexican government reuniting smuggling victims with families
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Mexican government officials said Wednesday they were working to reunite families with some of the survivors of a failed human smuggling operation and had been assured by U.S. immigration officials that they would not question relatives about their legal status in the United States.
Ten immigrants, including seven from Mexico, died after a sweltering ride from the Texas border city of Laredo in a tractor-trailer without air conditioning on Sunday. Another of the dead was identified as being from Guatemala; two others were not publicly identified.
At least 29 immigrants survived, according to U.S. officials. Twelve remained hospitalized Wednesday in San Antonio.
The driver of the big rig, James Matthew Bradley Jr., waived a detention hearing that had been scheduled for Thursday and remained in federal custody, charged with illegally transporting immigrants for financial gain, resulting in death. Federal court records indicated a new hearing was set for Aug. 23, when Bradley was expected to a give video deposition. The 60-year-old Florida trucker could face the death penalty, if convicted.
Latin American diplomats worked, meanwhile, to confirm names of the dead and injured, most of who were not publicly identified.
US, Brazil investigate sect accused of abuse, trafficking
(AP) Ten former members of the Word of Faith Fellowship church say they have been contacted by U.S. federal and state authorities investigating allegations of abuse, forced labor and visa fraud after a series of Associated Press stories about the North Carolina-based evangelical sect, which has branches in Brazil and Ghana and affiliations in other countries.
In Brazil, the federal police told AP the justice department has asked for a 2012 inquiry to be reopened into complaints that Word of Faith Fellowship’s two churches in the country were illegally sending minors to the United States. The country’s foreign ministry said it was contacting the U.S. consulates in Brazil and U.S. law enforcement agencies for more information, and added that its embassy in Washington, D.C., was trying to reach Brazilians who came to the U.S. via the church.
In February, the AP published its initial story about Word of Faith Fellowship in which 43 former members said congregants were regularly punched and choked in an effort to “purify” sinners by beating out devils. This week, AP revealed how Word of Faith Fellowship took over two congregations in Brazil and created a pipeline of young laborers who say they were brought to the U.S. and forced to work for little or no pay.
Neither church founder Jane Whaley nor the pastors at the Word of Faith Fellowship branches in the Brazilian cities of Sao Joaquim de Bicas and Franco da Rocha responded to repeated requests for comment.
The latest AP stories quoted 16 Brazilians who said they were brought to the U.S. on tourist and student visas and forced to work at the church’s rural compound in Spindale, North Carolina, or at businesses owned by senior church leaders — a violation of the visas’ stipulations.
Wildfires threaten French Riviera, inadequate aircraft cited
BORMES-LES-MIMOSAS, France (AP) — Backed by planes dropping water and fire retardant, more than 1,000 firefighters battled wildfires Wednesday that billowed smoke into the sky over France’s southern Cote d’Azur coast and forced the evacuation of at least 12,000 people.
France’s prime minister, visiting the area, predicted a grim day ahead.
Large swaths of Mediterranean forest have been left bare and blackened after three days of fires. About 250 trailer homes, a hangar, an atelier and several vehicles were burned in the blazes, but no one has been injured so far, the prefect of the Var region said.
Residents and tourists were evacuated early Wednesday after a ferocious fire whipped by strong Mistral winds spread from La Londe-Les-Maures to dense forests around the picturesque hilltop town of Bormes-Les-Mimosas. About 60 people were evacuated by boat from nearby Cap Benat.
“There will be more fires tomorrow,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said. He traveled to Bormes on Wednesday night, flew over the devastated region and met with firefighting personnel.
Firefighting aircraft made more than 500 drops of water or retardant on Wednesday, Phillipe said, and only three fires remained active in the Var region — out of dozens that started Wednesday.
Jury: Michael Jackson estate owes Quincy Jones $9.4 million
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury on Wednesday found that Michael Jackson’s estate owes Quincy Jones $9.4 million in royalties and production fees from “Billie Jean,” ”Thriller” and more of the superstar’s biggest hits.
The award from a Los Angeles Superior Court jury fell short of the $30 million the legendary producer sought in the lawsuit filed nearly four years ago. The Jackson estate had put the figure at about $392,000.
The jury of 10 women and two men had been deliberating since Monday.
“This lawsuit was never about Michael, it was about protecting the integrity of the work we all did in the recording studio and the legacy of what we created,” Jones wrote in a statement. “Although this (judgment) is not the full amount that I was seeking, I am very grateful that the jury decided in our favor in this matter. I view it not only as a victory for myself personally, but for artists’ rights overall.”
Jones claimed in the lawsuit that Jackson’s estate and Sony Music Entertainment owed him for music he had produced that was used in the concert film “This Is It” and two Cirque du Soleil shows that used Jackson’s songs.