In Brief: Nation & World: 7-4-17

FBI, groups at odds over efforts to ID immigrant remains

HOUSTON (AP) — Rolando Arriaza has visited hospitals, morgues and even the harsh, mesquite-covered terrain in South Texas that his brother trekked nearly two years ago after illegally crossing into the U.S. — all as part of an ongoing effort to find his sibling’s remains and bring his family closure.

“You want to know if he died and you want to find the body,” said Arriaza, whose 50-year-old brother Hugo Arriaza, from Guatemala, disappeared in August 2015 after being abandoned by a smuggler when he became ill.

Like many family members of missing immigrants, Arriaza, 45, has submitted DNA so it can be compared to remains found along the Texas-Mexico border. But while Arriaza, who lives in Philadelphia, submitted DNA to U.S. authorities, many others choose a different path that complicates potential identification of their loved ones’ remains. Many missing immigrant family members living outside the U.S., or who live in the country but fear going to authorities due to concerns about their immigration status, instead give their DNA to non-governmental organizations working on this issue.

But advocacy groups say these families’ DNA samples are being denied access to an FBI database used to make matches in missing persons cases because law enforcement didn’t collect the sample. The groups say this issue has gone unresolved for years, leaving unused a valuable source of genetic data that could bring closure to hundreds of cases.

How big is the problem, and how somber are the findings? More than 2,900 immigrants have died while crossing the Texas-Mexico border alone since 1998, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. But it’s unclear how many remain unidentified.

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AP Exclusive: US nuclear inspection results now concealed

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has thrown a cloak of secrecy over assessments of the safety and security of its nuclear weapons operations, a part of the military with a history of periodic inspection failures and bouts of low morale.

Overall results of routine inspections at nuclear weapons bases, such as a “pass-fail” grade, had previously been publicly available. They are now off-limits. The change goes beyond the standard practice of withholding detailed information on the inspections.

The stated reason for the change is to prevent adversaries from learning too much about U.S. nuclear weapons vulnerabilities. Navy Capt. Greg Hicks, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the added layer of secrecy was deemed necessary.

“We are comfortable with the secrecy,” Hicks said Monday, adding that it helps ensure that “as long as nuclear weapons exist, the U.S. will maintain a safe, secure, and effective nuclear stockpile.”

Critics question the lockdown of information.

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‘Pope’s hospital’ put children at risk as it chased profits

ROME (AP) — Doctors and nurses at the Vatican’s showcase pediatric hospital were angry: Corners were being cut. Safety protocols were being ignored. And sick children were suffering.

The Vatican’s response was swift. A secret three-month Vatican-authorized investigation in early 2014 gathered testimony and documentation from dozens of current and former staff members and confirmed that the mission of “the pope’s hospital” had been lost and was “today more aimed at profit than on caring for children.”

What happened next surprised many involved: The report was never made public. While some of the recommendations were implemented, others were not. And the Vatican commissioned a second inquiry in 2015 that — after a three-day hospital visit — concluded nothing was amiss after all.

An Associated Press investigation has found that Bambino Gesu (Baby Jesus) Pediatric Hospital, a cornerstone of Italy’s health care system, did indeed shift its focus in ways big and small under its past administration. Under leadership that governed from 2008 to 2015, the hospital expanded services and tried to make a money-losing Vatican enterprise turn a profit — and children sometimes paid the price.

Among the AP’s findings:

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Trump’s Twitter battle with press may come with a price

WASHINGTON (AP) — Whether by whim or design, President Donald Trump keeps adding fuel to his incendiary Twitter battle against the media. The press is an easy target for the Republican president, and one his supporters love to hate.

But the escalating conflict has diverted attention not just from Trump’s failures but his claimed successes as well.

Trump tweeted Monday that “at some point the Fake News will be forced to discuss our great jobs numbers, strong economy, success with ISIS, the border &so much else!”

It’s his own campaign against the press, though, that keeps changing the subject from that more substantive policy debate Trump claims to crave. And it has hindered Trump’s ability to push his agenda through Congress, where Republicans complain about the president’s lack of focus as his health-care plan is struggling, work on next year’s budget is stuck and talk of a big infrastructure deal is fading.

Trump’s latest bash was a repurposed old video he tweeted on the weekend of him fake-pummeling a wrestling promoter whose face had been replaced by the CNN logo.

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DC appeals court orders EPA to move ahead with methane rule

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court in Washington ruled Monday that the head of the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped his authority in trying to delay implementation of an Obama administration rule requiring oil and gas companies to monitor and reduce methane leaks.

In a split decision, the three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered the EPA to move forward with the new requirement that aims to reduce planet-warming emissions from oil and gas operations.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced in April that he would delay by 90 days the deadline for oil and gas companies to follow the new rule, so that the agency could reconsider the measure. The American Petroleum Institute, the Texas Oil and Gas Association and other industry groups had petitioned Pruitt to scrap the requirement, which had been set to take effect in June.

Last month, Pruitt announced he intended to extend the 90-day stay for two years. A coalition of six environmental groups opposed the delay in court, urging the appeals judges to block Pruitt’s decision.

In a detailed 31-page ruling, the court disagreed with Pruitt’s contention that industry groups had not had sufficient opportunity to comment before the 2016 rule was enacted. The judges also said Pruitt lacked the legal authority to delay the rule from taking effect.

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Christie feels the heat politically after a day at the beach

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — There’s Gov. Chris Christie, lounging in a beach chair in the Oval Office. There he is again, sitting in the sand as the lovers from the movie “From Here to Eternity” roll around in the surf. And there he is, relaxing outside the meat store from “The Sopranos.”

Christie is getting blistered online and in the real world after he was photographed with his family soaking up the sun on a beach that he had closed to the public over the Fourth of July weekend because of a government shutdown.

A deeply unpopular Republican serving out his final six months in office, Christie was lambasted Monday as selfish and arrogant, and jokesters online inserted the picture of him in sandals, shorts and a T-shirt into various photos and movie and TV scenes.

“Tell Gov. Christie: Get the hell off Island Beach State Park,” read a banner carried by a plane flying up and down the New Jersey coast Monday. The banner plane was paid for by Joshua Henne, a progressive New Jersey-based political consultant, and mocked the time the tough-talking governor told people to “get the hell off the beach” during a hurricane in 2011.

New Jersey state beaches and parks were shut down over the weekend along with motor vehicle offices and other services deemed nonessential after Christie and the Democratic-controlled Legislature failed to agree on a budget for the new fiscal year that began Saturday.

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Little Rock club performer faces weapons charge

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A rapper shot someone in the neck days before performing at a concert in Little Rock that was the site of a shooting that left 28 people injured, federal prosecutors said Monday.

U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Paulette Chappelle said Ricky Hampton, also known as Finese2Tymes, screamed at a person he believed was blocking his way on June 25 as Hampton was trying to leave Club Envy in Forrest City, Arkansas.

Chappelle said the Memphis, Tennessee, rapper entered his vehicle and continued screaming at the person, who was driving another vehicle before firing an “AK-style pistol,” shattering the rear window and striking the person in the neck.

Then Saturday, a shooting at Little Rock’s Power Ultra Lounge where Hampton was performing left 28 people hurt.

Hampton was arrested about 24 hours later in Alabama on outstanding charges of aggravated assault with a gun out of Forrest City in eastern Arkansas, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

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In Europe, Trump may discover if 1st impressions stick

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will learn this week whether he gets a second chance to make a first impression as he returns to Europe and has his first encounter with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Trump’s first visit to the continent in May stirred anxieties among his European allies when he declined to endorse NATO’s common defense treaty explicitly and scolded world leaders for not spending more on their armed forces. This time, Trump will use stops in Poland and Germany to try to pull off the tricky balancing act of improving ties with Moscow at a time of particularly fraught relations while also presenting the U.S. as a check against Russian aggression.

Trump is leaving Washington for Europe on Wednesday. In what may be the most-watched event of the four-day trip, the president will meet Putin on the sidelines of an international summit meeting in Hamburg, Germany. Every aspect of the meeting between the two unpredictable leaders is sure to be closely scrutinized as investigations press on into alleged Moscow meddling in the 2016 election and potential Trump campaign collusion.

With those investigations hanging heavy in the air, there is little expectation the meeting will produce significant progress on difficult issues such as the crisis in Ukraine or the conflict in Syria.

“I can’t imagine any issue they can actually make major headway on, given the poison that surrounds the relationship,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, who suggested it might lay the groundwork for future cooperation.

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With fight for Mosul in final stage, militants strike back

MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — With the fight for Mosul in its final stage Monday, Islamic State militants sent female suicide bombers hidden among fleeing civilians, while Iraqi forces and the U.S.-led coalition unleashed punishing airstrikes and artillery fire that set dozens of buildings ablaze.

At least one Iraqi soldier was killed and five were wounded in the two separate suicide attacks, the military said. On Sunday, a bomber in women’s clothing killed 14 people at a camp for displaced residents in Anbar province, a provincial official said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

“These tactics don’t surprise me,” said Sgt. Ahmed Fadil, who patrolled Mosul’s Old City just 50 meters (yards) from the front.

The militants “have nowhere to go. They’re trapped,” he said.

Monday’s two suicide bombings against Iraqi soldiers followed three other such attacks by women — some of them teenagers — in the previous two days, said Sgt. Ali Abdullah Hussein.

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Taxi jumps curb near airport in ‘accident’; 10 cabbies hurt

BOSTON (AP) — A taxi crashed into a group of cab drivers near the city’s airport on Monday, injuring 10 people in what police said appeared to be a “tragic accident.”

The driver’s vehicle jumped a curb Monday afternoon and struck a group of people gathered at an outdoor break area for cabbies. The area, known as the cab pool, is where drivers wait until they are called to pick up passengers at various locations around Logan International Airport.

A police official said it appears the driver mistakenly pressed the gas pedal instead of the brake and it’s believed to be a case of “operator error.” The official was not authorized to comment on the record and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

The driver, who’s from Cambridge, just west of Boston across the Charles River, remained at the scene, was interviewed by state police troopers and was allowed to leave after the interview, state police said. There was no information to suggest the crash was intentional, they said, and no charges were filed.

The crash briefly raised fears of terrorism akin to attacks in Britain and Nice, France. But state police Maj. Frank McGinn said there “does not appear at this time to be any indication of an intentional act, but more just a tragic accident.”