Trump asks Turkey for audio, video evidence on Khashoggi
WASHINGTON — The U.S. has asked Turkey for a recording that could reveal gruesome details of what happened to Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Donald Trump said Wednesday. But he’s not confirming there is any such recording, as reported by Turkish media, and he’s continuing to urge patience while Saudi Arabia says it’s investigating.
Asked about a recording described by the Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak, Trump said, “We’ve asked for it, if it exists.” At another point, he said, “I’m not sure yet that it exists.”
Trump, who threatened punishment for Saudi Arabia when Khashoggi’s disappearance first came to light two weeks ago, has repeatedly noted Saudi leaders’ denials since then and insisted the U.S. must know the facts before taking action.
But when asked if he was “giving cover” to the Saudi leaders, he said Wednesday that he was not.
“No, not at all,” he declared.
Jubilant customers light up as pot sales begin in Canada
MONTREAL — Jubilant customers stood in long lines for hours then lit up and celebrated on sidewalks Wednesday as Canada became the world’s largest legal marijuana marketplace.
In Toronto, people smoked joints as soon as they rolled out of bed in a big “wake and bake” celebration. In Alberta, a government website that sells pot crashed when too many people tried to place orders.
And in Montreal, Graeme Campbell welcomed the day he could easily buy all the pot he wanted.
In the past, it was “hard to find people to sell to me because I look like a cop,” the clean-cut, 43-year-old computer programmer said outside a newly opened pot store.
Mexico Beach residents return home again — some to no home
MEXICO BEACH, Fla. — With stunned faces and tears, residents of hard-hit Mexico Beach returned home for the first time Wednesday about a week after Hurricane Michael hit to find pieces of their lives scattered across the sand and a community altered.
Nancy Register sobbed uncontrollably after finding no trace of the large camper where she’d lived with her husband. She was particularly distraught over the loss of an old, black-and-white photo of her mother, who died of cancer.
Husband Taylor Register said he found nothing but a stool that he uses for cutting his hair, a hose and a keepsake rock that was given to him by a friend 40 years ago.
“That’s my belongings,” he said, pointing to a small pile beside his red pickup truck. Choking up, he said: “I appreciate God humbling me. Everybody needs it.”
Police officer lectures black 11-year-old carrying BB gun
A police officer in Columbus, Ohio, instructed an 11-year-old caught Saturday with a BB gun to remember one name: Tyre King.
The 13-year-old King was killed in 2016 when another police officer responding to reports of an armed robbery saw him pull what appeared to be a gun from his waistband. By the time officers determined the object was a BB gun, it was too late.
When Officer Peter Casuccio stepped out of his patrol car to confront an 11-year-old on Saturday, his own weapon was drawn. Like King, the youngster pulled the gun from his waistband before dropping it onto the sidewalk. Casuccio said he knew it was a BB gun only when it broke into pieces on impact.
“You could’ve been gone,” Casuccio told the youngster in front of his family members. “Everything you wanted to do in this life could’ve been over in less than three seconds.”
Casuccio was patrolling the neighborhood when he heard a report of two young black males flashing a gun. Body camera video shows Casuccio telling the youths, ages 11 and 13, “this is getting kids killed all over the country.”
From wire sources
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Migrants moving again in Guatemala, Trump targets Democrats
CHIQUIMULA, Guatemala — More than 2,000 Honduran migrants traveling en masse through Guatemala resumed their journey toward the United States on Wednesday as U.S. President Donald Trump sought to turn the caravan into a political issue three weeks before midterm elections.
A day after warning Central American governments they risk losing U.S. aid if they don’t do something and saying that anyone entering the U.S. illegally would be arrested and deported, Trump turned his sights on Democrats and urged Republican allies to campaign on border security.
“Hard to believe that with thousands of people from South of the Border, walking unimpeded toward our country in the form of large Caravans, that the Democrats won’t approve legislation that will allow laws for the protection of our country. Great Midterm issue for Republicans!” Trump said in a Wednesday morning tweet.
“Republicans must make the horrendous, weak and outdated immigration laws, and the Border, a part of the Midterms!” he continued.
In Guatemala, the migrants rose early and many left without eating breakfast, bound for Zacapa, the next city on their route. Overcast skies and a light drizzle took the edge off the sweltering heat and humidity, making the trek more bearable.
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Banksy posts video saying incomplete shredding a malfunction
Banksy posted a new video to his website Tuesday implying the partial shredding of his “Girl With Balloon” at a London auction was supposed to have been complete.
The video shows the famously anonymous artist constructing the shredding mechanism inside an ornate frame and pushing a button in a black box to activate the destruction at Sotheby’s in London earlier this month. The act shocked the crowd, but the winning bidder, a European collector, went ahead and bought it anyway for $1.4 million, according to the auction house.
Sotheby’s did not name the buyer.
The partial shredding drew speculation that the act was a stunt to increase the value of the painting of a young girl reaching for a heart-shaped red balloon. The canvas was shredded to right above the girl’s head, leaving the balloon intact. The end of the new video notes: “In rehearsals it worked every time…” A complete shredding of the same design is then shown.
The nearly 3-minute long video is titled, “Shred the Love, the Director’s cut.” It shows hands and a hooded figure (Banksy is fond of hoodies) constructing the mechanism in a studio space, then it rolls on to the outside of Sotheby’s before the auction. People milling about sipping Champagne and nibbling hors d’oeuvres are next up, including some standing in front of the painting.