In Brief: Nation & World: 6-12-17

Republicans urge Trump on tapes; Sessions to testify Tues

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fellow Republicans pressed President Donald Trump on Sunday to come clean about whether he has tapes of private conversations with former FBI Director James Comey and provide them to Congress if he does — or possibly face a subpoena, as a Senate investigation into collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice extended to a Trump Cabinet member.

It was a sign of escalating fallout from riveting testimony from Comey last week of undue pressure from Trump, which drew an angry response from the president on Friday that Comey was lying.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was in for sharp questioning by senators on the Senate Intelligence committee Tuesday. Whether that hearing will be public or closed is not yet known.

“I don’t understand why the president just doesn’t clear this matter up once and for all,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of that committee, referring to the existence of any recordings.

She described Comey’s testimony as “candid” and “thorough” and said she would support a subpoena if needed. Trump “should voluntarily turn them over,” Collins said.

———

A mix of pride and anger at LGBT rights marches across US

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supporters of LGBT rights marched and rallied in the nation’s capital and dozens of other U.S. cities on Sunday, celebrating gains but angry over threats posed by the administration of President Donald Trump.

The centerpiece event, the Equality March in Washington, was endorsed by virtually every major national advocacy group working on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

Activists have been embittered by the Trump administration’s rollback of federal guidance advising school districts to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice.

They also complain that Trump, who campaigned as a potential ally of gays and lesbians, has stocked his administration with foes of LGBT rights, including Vice President Mike Pence, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

Throngs of marchers, many thousands strong, paraded past the White House and toward the Capitol, trailing behind a giant rainbow flag near the head of the procession.

———

Macron’s takeover of French politics is all but complete

PARIS (AP) — Emmanuel Macron’s takeover of French politics is all but complete. The newly elected French leader’s gamble that voters wanted to throw out old faces and try something new is paying off in full — first by giving him the presidency and, on Sunday, the crucial first step toward securing the legislative power to deliver on his pledge of far-reaching change.

As when voters turned the previously unelected Macron into France’s youngest president last month, Sunday’s first round of voting in two-stage legislative elections again brought stinging black eyes to traditional parties that, having monopolized power for decades, are being utterly routed by Macron’s political revolution.

His fledgling Republic on the Move! — contesting its first-ever election and fielding many candidates with no political experience at all — was on course to deliver him a legislative majority so crushing that Macron’s rivals fretted that the 39-year-old president will be able to govern France almost unopposed for his full five-year term.

Record-low turnout, however, took some shine off the achievement. Less than 50 percent of the 47.5 million electors cast ballots — showing that Macron has limited appeal to many voters.

Macron intends to set his large and likely pliant cohort of legislators, all of them having pledged allegiance to his program, to work immediately. He wants, within weeks, to start reforming French labor laws to make hiring and firing easier, and legislate a greater degree of honesty into parliament, to staunch the steady flow of scandals that over decades have eroded voter trust in the political class.

———

Services to mark 1 year since 49 killed in Orlando gay club

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Church bells will toll throughout the Orlando area as residents reflect on the 49 patrons killed during a massacre at the gay nightclub Pulse in the worst mass shooting in recent U.S. history.

Starting in the early hours Monday, and continuing almost 24 hours later, survivors, victims’ families, city officials and central Florida residents will remember the victims with four services.

The first service is closed to the public, and it’s being held at the nightclub for survivors, local officials and club employees. It will overlap with the exact time that gunman Omar Mateen began firing shots — a little after 2 a.m. on June 12, 2016.

It is followed by another midday service at the nightclub, and an evening gathering in the heart of downtown Orlando. A final, music-filled late-night service is being held at the nightclub.

Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State during the attack and was eventually killed by police during a shootout after a three-hour standoff. His wife, Noor Salman, is facing charges of aiding and abetting and obstruction in federal court, and she has pleaded not guilty to helping her husband.

———

AP Exclusive: Moonlighting police leave body cameras behind

When police officers in America’s cities put on their uniforms and grab their weapons before moonlighting in security jobs at nightclubs, hospitals, and ballparks, there’s one piece of equipment they often leave behind — their body camera.

That’s because most police agencies that make the cameras mandatory for patrol shifts don’t require or won’t allow body cameras for off-duty officers even if they’re working in uniform, leaving a hole in policies designed to increase oversight and restore confidence in law enforcement.

Police departments contend that they have only a limited number of body cameras or that there are too many logistical hurdles and costs involved. But that argument doesn’t sit well with those who say it shouldn’t matter whether an officer is on patrol or moonlighting at a shopping mall.

“As long as they have real bullets, they need to have the body cameras,” said John Barnett, a civil rights leader in Charlotte, North Carolina, where shootings involving police have put use of the cameras under scrutiny.

An Associated Press survey of the 20 biggest U.S. cities found that nearly all have officers wearing or testing body cameras, but that only five — Houston; San Antonio; San Francisco; Fort Worth, Texas; and San Jose, California — have rules requiring them for uniformed officers working outside their regular hours.

———

Tottering Theresa May names new UK Cabinet as critics circle

LONDON (AP) — Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May appointed ministers to her shaky government Sunday, as some Conservative colleagues rallied to support her — and others said her days were numbered after last week’s disastrous election.

May is seeking a deal with a Northern Irish party to prop up the Conservative minority administration, and lawmakers said the rebuff from voters meant the government will have to abandon planned policies and re-think its strategy for European Union exit talks.

A stream of senior lawmakers entered May’s 10 Downing St. office Sunday afternoon, to learn what roles they had been given in government.

May’s weakened position in the party ruled out big changes. All the most senior ministers — including Treasury chief Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Defense Secretary Michael Fallon and Home Secretary Amber Rudd — kept their jobs and there were few changes in the Cabinet lineup.

Damian Green, a lawmaker in the pro-EU wing of the party, was promoted to first secretary of state — effectively deputy prime minister.

———

50 years after Loving, 1 in 6 new couples are racially mixed

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fifty years after Mildred and Richard Loving’s landmark legal challenge shattered the laws against interracial marriage in the U.S., some couples of different races still talk of facing discrimination, disapproval and sometimes outright hostility from their fellow Americans.

Although the racist laws against mixed marriages are gone, several interracial couples said in interviews they still get nasty looks, insults and sometimes even violence when people find out about their relationships.

“I have not yet counseled an interracial wedding where someone didn’t have a problem on the bride’s or the groom’s side,” said the Rev. Kimberly D. Lucas of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.

She often counsels engaged interracial couples through the prism of her own 20-year marriage — Lucas is black and her husband, Mark Retherford, is white.

“I think for a lot of people it’s OK if it’s ‘out there’ and it’s other people but when it comes home and it’s something that forces them to confront their own internal demons and their own prejudices and assumptions, it’s still really hard for people,” she said.

———

Some hope California winner of $447M Powerball helps area

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A sole winning Powerball ticket worth $447.8 million and matching all six numbers was sold in Southern California, and whoever owns it will claim the 10th largest lottery prize in U.S. history, lottery officials said Sunday.

The winning ticket was sold at Marietta Liquor &Deli in the small city of Menifee, the California Lottery said in a statement. Lottery officials said the earliest the ticket could be redeemed is 8 a.m. Monday, and the winner has one year to claim the prize.

The store just off a highway caters to retirees who live in the part of Menifee known as Sun City, which was developed as a retirement community in the 1960s. It also is a common stop for motorists passing through the area about 80 miles (130 kilometers) from Los Angeles.

Liquor store owner Matthew Alberre said he does not know which of his customers won the jackpot or what his family will do with the $1 million bonus set aside for the retailer that sells the winning ticket.

“We’re so blessed for this to happen,” said Alberre, who owns the store with his father.

———

Puerto Rican voters back statehood in questioned referendum

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor announced that the U.S. territory overwhelmingly chose statehood on Sunday in a nonbinding referendum held amid a deep economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of islanders to the U.S. mainland.

Nearly half a million votes were cast for statehood, about 7,600 for free association/independence and nearly 6,700 for the current territorial status, according to preliminary results. Voter turnout was just 23 percent, leading opponents to question the validity of a vote that several political parties had urged their supporters to boycott.

And the U.S. Congress has final say in any changes to Puerto Rico’s political status.

But that didn’t stop Gov. Ricardo Rossello from vowing to push ahead with his administration’s quest to make the island the 51st U.S. state and declaring that “Puerto Rico voted for statehood.” He said he would create a commission to ensure that Congress validate the referendum’s results.

“In any democracy, the expressed will of the majority that participates in the electoral processes always prevails,” Rossello said. “It would be highly contradictory for Washington to demand democracy in other parts of the world, and not respond to the legitimate right to self-determination that was exercised today in the American territory of Puerto Rico.”

———

Perfect 10: Nadal routs Wawrinka for record 10th French Open

PARIS (AP) — As he sat in front of a TV to watch last year’s French Open final, sidelined by an injured left wrist, Rafael Nadal had no way to know for sure, of course, that he would return to the height of his powers.

For the second time in a row, the most important match at the most important clay-court tournament was being contested without him. As the 2017 edition at Roland Garros began, Nadal’s drought without a Grand Slam title was stretching to three full years.

“It was difficult,” said Nadal’s uncle and coach, Toni. “We were asking ourselves whether he would be able achieve this one more time.”

Turned out he could, and he did, as masterful as at any time. Overwhelmingly good from start to finish in Sunday’s final, and for the entire two weeks, Nadal won his record 10th French Open title with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 victory over 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka.

“A perfect Roland Garros for me,” Nadal said.