Trump to push conservative view of government
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump sends Congress a proposed budget this week that will sharply test Republicans’ ability to keep long-standing promises to bolster the military, making politically painful cuts to a lengthy list of popular domestic programs.
The Republican president will ask his adopted political party, which runs Capitol Hill, to cut domestic agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development, along with grants to state and local governments and community development projects. The spending plan, set for release Thursday, would make the Pentagon the big winner with a $54 billion boost to defense spending.
Trump has promised to “do a lot more with less,” but his blueprint faces a reality test with Republicans, many of whom are already protesting.
Republicans have groused about some of the preliminary plans, including elimination of the $3 billion community development block grant program that’s popular among local GOP officials, a 25 percent cut to the EPA and elimination of 3,000 jobs, and essentially scuttling a $300 million per-year program to clean up the Great Lakes.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, is joining with Democrats to push back on that last proposed reduction. Cuts to the Coast Guard are meeting Republican resistance. Trump’s plan to eliminate community development block grants was dismissed on Capitol Hill by those who remember how a modest cut to the program sank a spending bill not long ago.
Turkish leader says Dutch will ‘pay the price’ for insult
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intensified his dispute with European nations Sunday, claiming that “Nazism is alive in the West” after two of his ministers were prevented from campaigning in the Netherlands and promising that the Dutch would “pay the price” for their unusual action.
While Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte worked to contain the diplomatic damage, Erdogan made it clear that Turkey would not be easily appeased.
He said Ankara would retaliate for the treatment of the Turkish family affairs minister, who on Saturday was blocked by police in riot gear from entering her country’s consulate in Rotterdam.
That came hours after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was denied airport landing rights to address crowds at a Rotterdam rally.
Saying that he was wrong to think Nazism was over, Erdogan made the comment to an audience in Istanbul. The remarks were similar to ones he made about Germany earlier this month.
46 killed, dozens missing in Ethiopia garbage dump landslide
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — A mountain of trash gave way in a massive garbage dump on the outskirts of Ethiopia’s capital, killing at least 46 people and leaving several dozen missing, residents said, as officials vowed to relocate those who called the landfill home.
Addis Ababa city spokeswoman Dagmawit Moges said most of the 46 dead were women and children, and more bodies were expected to be found in the coming hours.
It was not immediately clear what caused Saturday night’s collapse at the Koshe Garbage Landfill, which buried several makeshift homes and concrete buildings. The landfill has been a dumping ground for the capital’s garbage for more than 50 years.
About 150 people were there when the landslide occurred, resident Assefa Teklemahimanot told The Associated Press. Addis Ababa Mayor Diriba Kuma said 37 people had been rescued and were receiving medical treatment. Dagmawit said two had serious injuries.
Many people at the landfill had been scavenging items to make a living, but others live there because renting homes, largely built of mud and sticks, is relatively inexpensive.
Fearful immigrants offered anti-deportation training
NEW YORK (AP) — Don’t open the front door if immigration officials knock. If you are taken into custody, tell them your name and nothing else. Definitely don’t sign anything.
That is some of the advice being given in New York City and around the country at training sessions, put on by advocacy organizations, aimed at helping immigrants living in the country illegally get in as little trouble as possible if they encounter U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
Called “know your rights” training, the sessions have been pushed by some groups as a way to prepare for a possible crackdown on illegal immigration under President Donald Trump. Similar trainings are scheduled in New Mexico and El Paso.
The idea, organizers said, is to give immigrants guidance on how to legitimately push back against attempts to detain them, mostly using tactics designed to keep agents from learning anything they don’t already know. The government can’t deport someone unless they can prove they are in the U.S. illegally.
At a training session Tuesday in Queens, a little more than two dozen people sat in a room listening to Yaritza Mendez, an outreach coordinator at the pro-immigrant advocacy group Make the Road New York. She spoke about various ways ICE agents can find a person, and what to do if they come knocking.
Northeast blizzard could dump 18 inches of snow on New York
NEW YORK (AP) — The Northeast is bracing for winter’s last hurrah — a blizzard expected to sweep the New York region starting Monday with possibly the season’s biggest snowstorm dumping up to 18 inches on Central Park.
The National Weather Service issued a blizzard watch Sunday for coastal regions including New York City and surrounding areas of Long Island, Westchester County and Connecticut.
A winter storm watch was in effect for a larger area of the Northeast: New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New England.
In New York City, forecasters said the first snow is expected late Monday or just after midnight Tuesday, with up to 4 inches falling by dawn. Heavy snow the rest of the day could pile 10 to 14 inches more, with sustained winds of about 30 mph and wind gusts of up to 50 mph.
“This would certainly be the biggest snowstorm of the 2017 winter season in New York City,” said Faye Barthold, a weather service meteorologist based on Long Island.
By wire sources.