World Briefly: 3-22-17

BC-World Briefly/2148

BC-World Briefly/2148

AP News in Brief at 9:04 p.m. EDT

No promises and no one above law, Supreme Court pick says

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch declared Tuesday he’s made no promises to Donald Trump or anyone else about how he’ll vote on abortion or other issues and testified he’ll have no trouble as a justice holding anyone accountable, including the president who picked him.

Gorsuch also called Trump’s attacks on federal judges “disheartening” and “demoralizing.”

During the long second day of his Senate confirmation hearings, Gorsuch made two other notable statements in response to questions from members of the Judiciary Committee, and both also related to Trump, who nominated him.

Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina asked Gorsuch whether Trump had asked him to overturn Roe v. Wade, the case establishing a right to abortion, and what he would have done had Trump asked him to do so.

“Senator, I would have walked out the door,” Gorsuch replied. “That’s not what judges do.” Later in the day, Gorsuch acknowledged that he and Trump discussed abortion during his Supreme Court interview, but only how divisive an issue it is. Their conversation touched on abortion, Gorsuch said, after Trump bemoaned his loss of Gorsuch’s native Colorado in November.

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No new threat led to airline laptop limits, officials say

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. and British officials said Tuesday the decision to bar laptops and tablets from the cabins of some international flights wasn’t based on any specific threat but on longstanding concerns about terrorists targeting jetliners.

Unimpressed, some travelers and civil liberties groups denounced the ban, raising concerns that included lost worktime on long flights and worries that checking laptops in baggage will make them more vulnerable to theft.

Under the new bans, electronic devices larger than smartphones, such as laptops, tablets and gaming devices, will have to be checked on some international flights. American officials announced the U.S. ban early Tuesday, and the British followed later in the day after discussions between the countries.

The U.S. ban affects flights from Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City, Kuwait; Cairo; Istanbul; Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. About 50 flights a day, all on foreign carriers, will be affected. Senior Trump administration officials who briefed reporters about the ban said no U.S.-based airlines have nonstop flights from those cities to the U.S.

The British security rules will apply to flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.

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Q&A: A look at the electronics ban on some flights

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. and Britain, citing concerns about terrorist attacks, are not allowing passengers on some flights from mostly Middle Eastern and North African countries to bring laptops, tablets and certain other devices on board with them in their carry-on bags. All electronics bigger than a smartphone must be checked in.

Here are some questions and answers on the ban:

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WHICH FLIGHTS AND AIRPORTS DOES THIS AFFECT?

The U.S. ban applies to nonstop U.S.-bound flights from 10 international airports in Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City, Kuwait; Cairo; Istanbul; Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar; and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. About 50 flights a day, all on foreign airlines, are affected.

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10 Things to Know for Wednesday

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Wednesday:

1. NO ONE ABOVE LAW, TRUMP’S SUPREME COURT PICK SAYS

Neil Gorsuch testifies he’ll have no trouble as a justice holding anyone accountable, including the president who picked him.

2. HOW OFFICIALS EXPLAIN AIRLINE LAPTOP LIMITS

They say barring electronic devices from the cabins of some international flights isn’t based on any specific threat but on concerns about terrorists targeting jetliners.

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Trump to GOP: Pass health care bill or seal your fate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Time for talk running out, President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned wavering House Republicans that their jobs were on the line in next year’s elections if they failed to back a GOP bill that would upend Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

The countdown quickened toward an expected vote Thursday on legislation undoing much of the law that has provided coverage to some 20 million Americans. Trump huddled behind closed doors with rank-and-file Republicans just hours after GOP leaders unveiled changes intended to pick up votes by doling out concessions to centrists and hardliners alike.

“If we fail to get it done, fail to (meet) the promises made by all of us, including the president, then it could have a very detrimental effect to Republicans in ‘18 who are running for re-election,” said Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas. “If it fails, then there will be a lot of people looking for work in 2018.”

Trump’s message to Republicans: “If you don’t pass the bill there could be political costs,” said Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C.

Even with the revisions, the outlook for House passage remains dicey. After a day of cajoling votes, a senior administration official said the White House is trying to persuade about 20 to 25 House Republicans who are either opposed or undecided. House leaders and Trump can only afford to lose 21. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

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AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s claim of fleeing doctors rings false

WASHINGTON (AP) — Making the case for a Republican repeal and replacement of his predecessor’s health care law, President Donald Trump reached for a dire-sounding argument that’s unsupported by the data.

“Many of our best and brightest are leaving the medical profession entirely because of Obamacare,” Trump told his audience at a Monday night rally in Louisville, Kentucky.

In fact, the number of doctors in the U.S. actively caring for patients grew from 799,501 in 2010, when the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, to 860,939 in 2015, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The American College of Physicians, which represents internists, the largest specialty, says its enrollment of new doctors has increased every year since 2012. The American Academy of Family Physicians has seen its membership grow from 94,620 to 124,900 since 2008.

While there are anecdotes about doctors dropping out, “we see no significant number exiting related to the Affordable Care Act,” said Dr. Atul Grover, executive vice president of the medical colleges association. “There is also no evidence of a declining interest in medicine since the ACA took effect.”

Change in the medical profession has brought discontent among doctors, but the culprits are much larger than President Barack Obama’s health care law. A shift in the way doctors are paid — increasingly for results, rather than for specific procedures — and paperwork requirements driven by insurance companies and Medicare are leading factors, according to a 2016 survey of doctors by the Physicians Foundation.

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Closer US-Russia ties uncertain as Tillerson plans trip

WASHINGTON (AP) — With Russia-tinged investigations swirling around his administration, President Donald Trump has yet to fulfill a campaign pledge of closer cooperation with Moscow. A planned trip by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Russia could test if detente proves anything more than talk.

In a move alarming U.S. allies, Tillerson plans to skip a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Belgium next month, according to U.S. officials. The top American diplomat almost always attends such gatherings, and Tillerson will follow up his absence in Brussels by traveling to Russia’s capital shortly afterward.

The juxtaposition of the trips — one taken and one avoided — has reinforced concerns about America’s commitment to NATO, which Trump has repeatedly fueled by dressing down allies as deadbeats who aren’t paying enough for their own defense and who take U.S. help for granted.

So far, though, Trump has yet to make any major steps as president to bring Russia and the U.S. closer together.

As a candidate, Trump opened the door to potentially rolling back the sanctions imposed on Russia after its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014, a move Democrats and Republicans in Congress oppose. But as president, Trump has tamped down such suggestions as long as Russia fails to live up to its various commitments to end the fighting in Ukraine.

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Uber vows to change direction, become more humane company

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Uber is vowing to head down a new road and become a more humane company following a wave of ugly developments, including allegations of rampant sexual harassment and a video of a profanity-laced confrontation between the ride-hailing company’s CEO and a disgruntled driver.

The pledge came in a contrite conference call held Tuesday with some of the reporters who have been covering the incidents that have painted an unflattering portrait of the company, threatening to trigger a backlash among the riders and drivers who have propelled its rapid rise.

Even as it acknowledges past mistakes, Uber says the fallout hasn’t damaged its business yet. Ridership in the U.S. during the first 10 weeks of this year is up from the same time last year, according to Rachel Holt, who oversees Uber’s operations in the U.S. and Canada.

Holt was one of three women who handled Tuesday’s damage control, joining Uber’s only female board member, Arianna Huffington, and Liane Hornsey, the company’s head of human resources.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was conspicuously absent from Tuesday’s call, though he is in the eye of the storm thrashing the company. Company representatives said Kalanick couldn’t attend because he was busy interviewing the candidates vying to become the company’s chief operating officer, a helping hand that Kalanick has said he needs to “grow up” at the age of 40.

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Puerto Rico in scarce supply of hair dye amid baseball fever

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Pharmacies and beauty stores across Puerto Rico are running out of hair dye as a growing number of men go blond in support of the island’s baseball players who bleached their hair as a bonding ritual ahead of the World Baseball Classic.

What began as a joke among team members playing in California has spread across the island in a trend that spiked Tuesday just hours after Puerto Rico beat the Netherlands in 11 innings to reach the championship game undefeated in the tournament, which is held every four years. Puerto Rico will play Wednesday in the final against the winner of Tuesday night’s game between the United States and Japan.

“Ever since they began winning, this has not stopped,” said Myrna Rios, a manager at a Sally Beauty Supply store in the capital of San Juan. “We have run out of the product in most of our stores.”

Copper blond, platinum blond, golden blond — all shades of blond (even burnt orange) are turning heads in a U.S. territory where the majority of men have thick, dark hair and are now getting teased about looking like Ken dolls. Those who are bald have opted to dye their beards or goatees in a nod to Puerto Rico coach Carlos Delgado.

“We have been able to unite our country with our blond hair,” said star Carlos Correa, who hit a two-run homer and scored the winning run against the Netherlands. “That’s what we want as players to unite our country, our people, and give them the best.”

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Man named in Brady jersey case sought autographs, selfies

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican media executive suspected of stealing Tom Brady’s jersey went to the Super Bowl as a working journalist but spent the week collecting selfies and autographs from football greats and boasting to colleagues that he was there as a fan.

Mexican journalists who were in Houston for the game and interacted with Martin Mauricio Ortega, former director of the tabloid La Prensa, told The Associated Press that he brought multiple NFL memorabilia items, including a Kurt Warner jersey he hoped to sell to the former quarterback for thousands of dollars.

“When I met him he was carrying a football helmet and he was bragging about having the signatures of former Super Bowl MVPs, and he was a little disappointed that Marshall Faulk refused to sign it,” said Ariel Velazquez, who covered the game for the Mexican daily El Universal. “He also said that he was not there to work: ‘There are people here to do that.’”

Brady’s jersey went missing from the Patriots’ locker room after the game, and set off an investigation that stretched from Boston to the border. Working with U.S. investigators, Mexican authorities obtained a search warrant and recovered the jersey March 12, along with another Brady jersey that disappeared after the 2015 Super Bowl. A helmet belonging to a Denver Broncos player was also discovered, according to NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy.

Broncos spokesman Patrick Smyth said the team was in touch with NFL security because the helmet may belong to Von Miller, MVP at the 2016 Super Bowl. Ortega may have tried to sell it: A memorabilia dealer told the AP Tuesday that Ortega once asked him how much the helmet would be worth.