Nation and World briefs for March 3

Sessions steps aside from Russia-contact investigation

WASHINGTON (AP) — Under growing pressure from Democrats and Republicans alike, Attorney General Jeff Sessions agreed Thursday to recuse himself from an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. His action followed revelations he twice met with the Russian ambassador and didn’t say so when pressed by Congress.

Sessions rejected any suggestion that he tried to mislead anyone about his contacts with the Russian, saying, “That is not my intent. That is not correct.”

He did allow, though, that he should have been more careful in his testimony, saying, “I should have slowed down and said, ‘But I did meet one Russian official a couple of times.’”

The attorney general said he made his decision to recuse himself after his staff recommended that he step aside from any investigation related to the Trump campaign, since he had been involved in that campaign. He said Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente would handle such matters.

Sessions added that his announcement “should not be interpreted as confirmation of the existence of any investigation.”

EU Parliament lifts Le Pen immunity over gruesome tweets

PARIS (AP) — The European Parliament voted Thursday to lift the immunity from prosecution for French far-right leader Marine Le Pen for tweeting gruesome images of Islamic State violence, a crime that carries up to three years in prison in France.

The legislature voted by a broad majority in Brussels to clear the way for the possible prosecution of Le Pen over tweets she made in December 2015 showing executions, including the killing of American reporter James Foley by Islamic State extremists.

French prosecutors in the city of Nanterre had asked lawmakers to lift the immunity that Le Pen enjoys as a member of the European Parliament.

Le Pen, a leading candidate in this year’s French presidential election, posted her tweets in response to a journalist who drew an analogy between her anti-immigration National Front party and IS extremists. She was trying to show the difference between the two groups but the effort backfired, drawing widespread condemnation.

Le Pen took down the tweet showing the killing of Foley after his family protested, but left up another image of violence by Islamic State extremists.

Drivers rebel against Uber’s price-cutting quest for growth

DETROIT (AP) — The face-off between Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and driver Fawzi Kamel illustrated a conflict between Uber, with its effort to grow by cutting prices to beat competitors, and drivers who have seen their pay reduced.

The video of the argument — caught on dashcam and now viewed more than 3 million times on YouTube — includes yelling and profanity, and ends with a combative Kalanick dismissing an agitated Fawzi’s claims that sharp reductions in fares forced the driver into bankruptcy.

Harry Campbell, who drives for Uber in California, says driver pay has gone down while Uber’s corporate valuation has grown to over $60 billion. “I think a lot of drivers feel that Uber always looked out for themselves first and foremost and relegated drivers to a second tier,” he says.

“What we’re looking at in that video is 21st-century mobility technology and 19th-century labor relations,” said Harley Shaiken, a labor expert and professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

The video exchange comes after a month of trouble for the ride-hailing behemoth including sexual harassment allegations from a female engineer, a lawsuit alleging technology theft, and a social media campaign encouraging riders to delete Uber’s app over claims that the company tried to capitalize when New York taxi drivers protested against President Trump’s immigration order.

Risk & reward: Stopping a cancer drug to see if you’re cured

Imagine you had a life-threatening cancer that a wonder drug had kept in remission for years. Would you risk quitting?

Thousands of people with a blood cancer called chronic myelogenous leukemia, or CML, now have that choice.

New treatment guidelines in the U.S. say certain patients can consider stopping Gleevec or similar drugs which were long thought to be needed for the rest of their lives. It’s just a pill or two a day but the drugs are expensive and have side effects.

A European study recently found it’s safe for carefully selected patients to try, and a U.S. study hoping to confirm that just finished enrollment.

“Our goal is to truly cure CML, which is essentially to have patients off drug,” said Dr. Ehab Atallah, a leukemia expert at the Medical College of Wisconsin who helps lead the U.S. study. “We’re hoping to figure out better who can and cannot stop.”

Ebola worker dies after childbirth as husband blames stigma

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Salome Karwah survived Ebola after it killed both her parents and seven other relatives, then returned to her clinic to help countless others as she had become immune to the deadly virus. Her face graced the cover of Time magazine when it recognized the brave health care workers battling Ebola in 2014.

But in a heartbreaking reminder of just how strong fear remains in Liberia, her husband says the nurses on duty were too afraid to touch Karwah when she experienced complications after childbirth last month.

“I personally went into the emergency ward to bring a wheelchair to take my wife into the operation room,” James Harris, a psychosocial counselor, told The Associated Press.

Karwah died two weeks ago at age 31, several days after her fourth child — a son named Solomon — was delivered by cesarian section. It was a tragic end for a woman who had fought tirelessly against the stigma of Ebola.

“Salome’s own experience of Ebola gave her incredible empathy for the patients that she worked so hard to care for,” said a statement from Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF. “Our many staff who remember working with her speak of her strength and compassion, but also of her smile.