AP News in Brief 10-22-18

Ragged, growing caravan of migrants resumes march toward US

TAPACHULA, Mexico — A growing caravan of Honduran migrants streamed through southern Mexico on Sunday heading toward the United States, after making an end-run around Mexican agents who briefly blocked them at the Guatemalan border.

They received help at every turn from sympathetic Mexicans who offered food, water and clothing. Hundreds of locals driving pickups, vans and cargo trucks stopped to let them clamber aboard.

Besi Jaqueline Lopez of the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula carried a stuffed polar bear in a winter cap that seemed out of place in the tropical heat. It’s the favorite — and only — toy of her two daughters, 4-year-old Victoria and 3-year-old Elisabeth, who trudged beside her, gleaming with sweat.

A business administration graduate, Lopez said she couldn’t find work back home and hopes to reach the United States, but would stay in Mexico if she could find employment here.

“My goal is to find work for a better future for my daughters,” she said.

Democrats look to Latinos to provide midterm support

LAS VEGAS — Patricia Lugo rattled off a string of fierce adjectives describing life under the Trump administration — “ugly,” ”bad,” ”terrible.”

She joined a cluster of other Latinos in a Las Vegas shopping center in listing grievances against the president that included referring to Mexican immigrants as rapists and separating parents from children at the border.

Lugo is determined to support Democrats as they fight back, but she’s alarmed that a handful of friends and family have given up on voting.

“They say it doesn’t do anything,” said Lugo, 56, a promoter for a footwear chain. “And it doesn’t matter who votes because (politicians) do whatever they want anyway.”

Trump rode to his improbable victory in 2016 by winning a troika of Rust Belt states where there are relatively few Latinos. This was supposed to be the election Latinos struck back.

Democrats eye revival of Russia probe if they win House

WASHINGTON — House Democrats are expected to re-open the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election if they win the majority in November. But they would have to be selective in what they investigate.

California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence panel, has said his party would have to “ruthlessly prioritize the most important matters first.”

The Republican-led Intelligence Committee was the only House panel to investigate Russian meddling, and its investigation is now closed. Republicans say they found no evidence of collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump’s campaign.

Democrats say Republicans ignored key facts and important witnesses and want to restart parts of the investigation if they win the House. But some Democrats also worry that there could be a political cost if they overreach.

Schiff and other lawmakers say they are closely watching special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and the Senate’s Russia probe to look for gaps that they could fill. And if Mueller issues any findings, their investigative plans could change.

Dozens hurt in floor collapse at S. Carolina condo party

CLEMSON, S.C. — The floor of a condominium clubhouse near Clemson University collapsed during a large private party early Sunday, hurtling dozens of people into the basement, authorities said.

About 30 people were taken to local hospitals after the center of the floor caved in at the clubhouse near the South Carolina university. Clemson City Police said nobody was trapped and none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.

Video posted on social media shows a large part of the first floor falling as people danced, causing many of them to tumble to the floor below.

Clemson sophomore Larissa Stone told the Independent Mail of Anderson that the room was “packed” and a popular song was playing when the floor collapsed.

“So everyone was jumping. The beat was about to drop and literally the whole floor collapsed,” she said. “It happened so quickly. I stood up, and everyone was trying to climb out. People are under other people. People are hurt. People are bleeding. I had blood on my sneakers. It was really bad.”

Turkey to reveal details of probe into Khashoggi’s killing

ISTANBUL — In a sign of growing pressure on Saudi Arabia, Turkey said it will announce details of its investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday and U.S. congressional leaders said the Gulf kingdom — in particular its crown prince — should face severe consequences for the death of the writer in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The announcement on Sunday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he will “go into detail” about the Khashoggi case in a speech in parliament heightened hopes for some clarity in a case that has been shrouded in mystery, conflicting accounts and shocking allegations since Khashoggi, a critic of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, disappeared after entering the consulate on Oct 2.

Erdogan spoke after Saudi Arabia, in a statement early Saturday, finally acknowledged that 59-year-old Khashoggi had died in the consulate, though its explanation that he was killed in a “fistfight” was met with international skepticism and allegations of a cover-up designed to absolve Prince Mohammed of direct responsibility. Saudi Arabia said 18 Saudis were arrested and that several top intelligence officials were fired.

Pro-government media in Turkey have reported a different narrative, saying a Saudi hit squad of 15 people traveled to Turkey to kill the columnist for The Washington Post before leaving the country hours later in private jets.

“Why did these 15 people come here? Why were 18 people arrested? All of this needs to be explained in all its details,” Erdogan said.

From wire sources

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AP Exclusive: Stephen Hawking wheelchair, thesis up for sale

LONDON — Stephen Hawking was a cosmic visionary, a figure of inspiration and a global celebrity.

His unique status is reflected in an upcoming auction of some of the late physicist’s possessions: It includes complex scientific papers, one of the world’s most iconic wheelchairs and a script from “The Simpsons.”

The online sale announced Monday by auctioneer Christie’s features 22 items from Hawking, including his doctoral thesis on the origins of the universe, some of his many awards, and scientific papers such as “Spectrum of Wormholes” and “Fundamental Breakdown of Physics in Gravitational Collapse.”

Thomas Venning, head of Christies’ books and manuscripts department, said the papers “trace the development of his thought — this brilliant, electrifying intelligence.”

“You can see each advance as he produced it and introduced it to the scientific community,” Venning said.

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Melting glacier in China draws tourists, climate worries

YULONGXUESHAN, China — The loud crack rang out from the fog above the Baishui No. 1 Glacier as a stone shard careened down the ice, flying past Chen Yanjun as he operated a GPS device.

More projectiles were tumbling down the hulk of ice that scientists say is one of the world’s fastest melting glaciers.

“We should go,” said the 30-year-old geologist. “The first rule is safety.”

Chen hiked away and onto a barren landscape once buried beneath the glacier. Now there is exposed rock littered with oxygen tanks discarded by tourists visiting the 15,000-foot (4,570-meter) -high blanket of ice in southern China.

Millions of people each year are drawn to Baishui’s frosty beauty on the southeastern edge of the Third Pole __ a region in Central Asia with the world’s third-largest store of ice after Antarctica and Greenland that’s roughly the size of Texas and New Mexico combined.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus feted for career achievement in comedy

WASHINGTON — Julia Louis-Dreyfus is one of the best-known comedic actresses of her generation, and now she’s being recognized with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor for a lifetime in comedy.

She is the 21st person the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has honored with the award. Jerry Seinfeld, Stephen Colbert and 2010 Mark Twain recipient Tina Fey are among those offering testimonials to her talent.

Fey paid tribute to Louis-Dreyfus at the award ceremony by tracking the similarities between their lives.

“We both started comedy in Chicago. We both moved on the ‘Saturday Night Live.’ We both lost our virginity to Brad Hall,” referring to Louis-Dreyfus’ husband and former SNL castmate sitting next to the honoree. Fey praised the “secret precision” of Louis-Dreyfus’ comedy and her willingness to make her Seinfeld character so flawed.

“Julia let Elaine be selfish and petty and sarcastic and a terrible, terrible dancer,” Fey said.

Bolton faces tense talks with Russia over nuclear treaty

MOSCOW — U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton faces two days of high-tension talks in Moscow beginning Monday after President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw from a landmark nuclear weapons treaty.

Trump’s announcement that the United States would leave the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, treaty brought sharp criticism on Sunday from Russian officials and from former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who signed the treaty in 1987 with President Ronald Reagan.

Trump said Russia has violated terms of the treaty that prohibit the U.S. and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying ground-launched nuclear cruise missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (300 to 3,400 miles).

Russia has repeatedly denied allegations that it has produced and tested such a missile.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as telling state news agency Tass that leaving the treaty “would be a very dangerous step.”