Memo reveals Trump’s plan to slash size of GOP platform
(NYTimes) Donald Trump’s top advisers are planning to scale back and simplify the official platform of the Republican Party, according to a memo sent to the party’s platform committee that was reviewed by The New York Times. The memo, signed by Trump’s two lead advisers, described efforts to cut the platform “to ensure our policy commitments to the American people are clear, concise and easily digestible.” The move is likely to prompt skirmishes among some conservatives and party activists: Anti-abortion activists, in particular, have been gearing up for a fight in case the Trump team seeks to dilute or delete long-standing language to make Trump appear more moderate on the issue.
Oklahoma law criminalizing immigrants without legal status is blocked
(NYTimes) A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked Oklahoma from enforcing a new immigration law that would make it a crime to enter the state without legal authorization to be in the United States. The law was set to go into effect Monday. U.S. District Judge Bernard Jones wrote in his ruling that the state “may have understandable frustrations with the problems caused by illegal immigration,” but the state “may not pursue policies that undermine federal law.” He issued a preliminary injunction, pausing enforcement of the law while a case over the law’s constitutionality continues. The Justice Department maintains that only the federal government can regulate and enforce immigration.
Reformist reaches runoff in Iran’s presidential election
(NYTimes) A reformist candidate critical of many of the Iranian government’s policies will compete Friday against a hard-line conservative in a runoff election for the country’s presidency, Iran’s interior ministry announced Saturday. The runoff follows a special vote called after the death last month of the previous leader, Ebrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash. The second round of voting will pit reformist Masoud Pezeshkian against Saeed Jalili, an ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator. The runoff was in part the result of low voter turnout and a field of three main candidates, two of whom competed for the conservative vote. The winner must receive more than 50% of all votes cast.
Defendants acquitted in Panama papers money-laundering trial
(NYTimes) In a striking verdict for a money-laundering case associated with the Panama Papers scandal, a Panamanian judge Friday acquitted all 28 defendants, among them former employees of law firm Mossack Fonseca, the source of the leaked documents that set off a worldwide furor in 2016. The verdict came eight years after a partnership of media outlets published an explosive investigation into 11.5 million documents leaked from the Panama-based firm. The leak exposed the offshore banking industry, prompted international tax investigations and brought down heads of state. Among the original 29 defendants were the shuttered firm’s co-founders, Jürgen Mossack, 76, and Ramón Fonseca, who died in May at age 71.
Years later, Philippines reckons with Duterte’s brutal drug war
(NYTimes) When Rodrigo Duterte was running for president eight years ago, he vowed to order the police and the military to find drug users and traffickers to kill them, promising immunity for such killings. In the months after, police officers and vigilantes mercilessly gunned down tens of thousands of people in summary executions. In recent months, the legacy of Duterte’s so-called war on drugs has slowly begun to get more official attention. Lawmakers are holding several public hearings into the violence. Senior police officers spoke at the congressional hearing, as did victims’ relatives, who relived their horrors and again pleaded for justice.