In Brief: Nation & World: 8-23-16

Malian extremist pleads guilty to Timbuktu rampage

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Expressing “deep regret” for his actions, an Islamic extremist pleaded guilty Monday to orchestrating the destruction of historic mausoleums in the Malian desert city of Timbuktu.

Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, wearing a dark suit and striped tie, stood and calmly told judges he was entering the guilty plea “with deep regret and great pain” and advised Muslims around the world not to commit similar acts, saying “they are not going to lead to any good for humanity.”

The guilty plea was a landmark for the court, which has struggled to bring suspects to justice since its establishment in 2002. It was the first guilty plea and the first time prosecutors have launched a trial for the crime of deliberately attacking buildings of religious or cultural significance.

“Our cultural heritage is not a luxury good,” Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the three-judge panel. She said Al Mahdi’s guilty plea “will set a clear precedent, sending an important and positive message to the entire world.”

She compared the case to the destruction last year of historic ruins in the Syrian city of Palmyra by Islamic State extremists.

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Trump vows ‘fair, but firm’ approach to illegal immigration

NEW YORK (AP) — Republican Donald Trump promised on Monday to be “fair, but firm” toward the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally, a shift in tone that raised questions on whether he’s backtracking from previous pledges to push for mass deportations.

The billionaire businessman, whose hard-line approach to immigration and fierce rhetoric propelled him to the GOP presidential nomination, insisted that he’s not “flip-flopping” on the divisive issue as he works to broaden his support two and half months to the general election. Polls show him trailing Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in both national polls and battleground states.

But in a meeting with Hispanic activists on Saturday, Trump indicated that he was open to considering allowing those who have not committed crimes, beyond their immigration offenses, to obtain some form of legal status — though attendees made clear Trump has yet to make up his mind.

“The impression I got was that the campaign is working on substantive policy to help the undocumented that are here, including some type of status so they would not be deported,” said Pastor Mario Bramnick, president of the Hispanic Israel Leadership Coalition, who was in attendance.

Bramnick said he’d left the meeting “very encouraged” and “hopeful in anticipating the policy and language” Trump’s campaign is expected to release in the coming weeks.

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Racism and talk of religious war: Trump staff’s online posts

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s paid campaign staffers have declared on their personal social media accounts that Muslims are unfit to be U.S. citizens, ridiculed Mexican accents, called for Secretary of State John Kerry to be hanged and stated their readiness for a possible civil war, according to a review by The Associated Press of their postings.

The AP examined the social media feeds of more than 50 current and former campaign employees who helped propel Trump through the primary elections. The campaign has employed a mix of veteran political operatives and outsiders. Most come across as dedicated, enthusiastic partisans, but at least seven expressed views that were overtly racially charged, supportive of violent actions or broadly hostile to Muslims.

A graphic designer for Trump’s advance team approvingly posted video of a black man eating fried chicken and criticizing fellow blacks for ignorance, irresponsibility and having too many children. A Trump field organizer in Virginia declared that Muslims were seeking to impose Sharia law in America and that “those who understand Islam for what it is are gearing up for the fight.”

The AP’s findings come at a time when Trump is showing new interest in appealing to minority voters, insisting he will be fair in dealing with the 11 million people in the U.S. illegally and explicitly pitching himself to African-Americans, saying “what do you have to lose?”

Since Trump declared his candidacy last summer, he has paid about 120 people on his campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Over the weekend, the campaign reported about 70 people drawing salaries, a number that did not include a few dozen more working as consultants. A slew of hires in early August were not yet reflected in Trump’s filings.

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As Clinton asks for cash, campaign pitch remains a mystery

PROVINCETOWN, Mass. (AP) — It was a very busy, very lucrative weekend for Hillary Clinton in the summer playground of the East Coast’s moneyed elite.

She brunched with wealthy backers at a seaside estate in Nantucket, snacking on shrimp dumplings and crab cakes. A few hours later, she and her husband dined with an intimate party of 30 at a secluded Martha’s Vineyard estate. And on Sunday afternoon, she joined the singer Cher at a “LGBT summer celebration” on the far reaches of Cape Cod.

By Sunday evening, Clinton had spoken to more than 2,200 campaign donors. But what she told the crowds remains a mystery.

Clinton has refused to open her fundraisers to journalists, reversing nearly a decade of greater transparency in presidential campaigns and leaving the public guessing at what she’s saying to some of her most powerful supporters.

It’s an approach that differs from the Democratic president she hopes to succeed. Since his 2008 campaign, President Barack Obama has allowed reporters traveling with him into the backyards and homes of wealthy donors to witness some of his remarks.

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Iran: Russia has stopped using Iran base for Syria strikes

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Russia has stopped using an Iranian air base for launching airstrikes on Syria for the time being, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday, just hours after the Iranian defense minister criticized Moscow for having “kind of show-off and ungentlemanly” attitude by publicizing their actions.

Moscow, which had used the Shahid Nojeh Air Base to refuel its bombers striking Syria at least three times last week, confirmed that all Russian warplanes that were based in Iran have returned to Russia.

A statement issued by the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that as long as Iran agreed, Russia could use the Iranian air base again, “depending on the situation” in Syria.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told reporters in Tehran that the Russian airstrikes on militants in Syria were “temporary, based on a Russian request.”

“It is finished, for now,” Ghasemi said, without elaborating.

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Judge in Texas temporarily blocks Obama’s transgender rules

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge in Texas has blocked the Obama administration’s order that requires public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity.

In a temporary injunction signed Sunday, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that the federal education law known as Title IX “is not ambiguous” about sex being defined as “the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth.”

The judge said the order would apply nationwide. The ruling, he said, was not about the policy issues of transgender rights but about his conclusion that federal officials simply did not follow rules that required an opportunity for comment before such directives are issued.

“This case presents the difficult issue of balancing the protection of students’ rights and that of personal privacy … while ensuring that no student is unnecessarily marginalized while attending school,” he wrote.

The ruling was the second recent setback for transgender advocates. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Virginia school board can block for now a transgender male from using the boys’ restroom while justices decide whether to fully intervene.

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Turkey vows to ‘cleanse’ border of IS after deadly attack

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey vowed Monday to fight Islamic State militants at home and to “cleanse” the group from its borders after a weekend suicide bombing at a Kurdish wedding, an attack that came amid recent gains by Syrian Kurdish militia forces against the extremists in neighboring Syria.

The bombing Saturday in the southern city of Gaziantep, near the border with Syria, killed at least 54 people — many of them children. Nearly 70 others were wounded in the attack, the deadliest in Turkey this year.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but officials said it appeared to be the work of the Islamic State group. Authorities were trying to identify the attacker, who President Recep Tayyip Erdogan initially said was a child. However, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Monday that it was unclear whether the bomber was “a child or a grown-up.”

“A clue has not yet been found concerning the perpetrator,” Yildirim told reporters following a weekly Cabinet meeting. He said the earlier assertion that the attacker was child was a “guess” based on witness accounts.

At least 22 of those killed were children younger than 14, according to a Turkish official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with Turkish government rules.

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Long, hard recovery slog begins in flood-ravaged Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Storm victims spill out of the waiting rooms, some clutching water-stained documents, others with the long stare of those stricken by disaster, each with a story of personal tragedy about the Louisiana flood’s devastation to their homes and their lives.

The line for the makeshift Federal Emergency Management Agency recovery center started to gather before the facility opened Monday at a substance abuse treatment site run by a local Baptist church. The stream of traffic has been steady ever since.

Edward Shaw, 62, has been staying at a local Motel 6 since last week’s flooding inundated the house he was renting, the water rising to the top of the front door. He lost his furniture and his car, and hasn’t heard from his landlord about when the house might be repaired.

FEMA started covering his motel costs Sunday, though he’s not sure for how long.

“I hope to God FEMA give me enough so I can start all over again,” Shaw said.

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Voting rights restored again for 13K felons in Virginia

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A defiant Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Monday that he again restored the voting rights of about 13,000 felons who served their time after his previous attempt was thwarted by Republican lawmakers and the state Supreme Court.

Virginia’s highest court ruled in July that governors cannot restore rights en masse, but must consider each offender on a case-by-case basis. That ruling invalidated a sweeping executive order issued by McAuliffe in April that had given back the voting rights of more than 200,000 felons who completed their sentences.

McAuliffe blasted the court Monday for ignoring the “the clear text of the Constitution” and accused Republicans of trying to suppress voters’ voices. But he pledged to move forward, saying he won’t let the felon disenfranchisement “destroy lives and families, and destabilize communities.”

“These individuals are gainfully employed. They send their children and their grandchildren to our schools. They shop in our grocery stores and they pay taxes. And I am not content to condemn them for eternity as inferior second-class citizens,” McAuliffe said during an event at the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial.

Rights-restoration letters were mailed Friday to the roughly 13,000 people who had registered to vote before their rights were taken away by the court, McAuliffe said. His administration processed each felon’s paperwork individually to comply with the ruling, he said.

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Speedo USA, 3 other sponsors drop Lochte after Rio incident

Less than 24 hours after the close of the Rio Olympics, Ryan Lochte took a major financial hit Monday for a drunken incident he initially tried to pass off as an armed robbery.

In quick succession, four sponsors announced they were dumping the swimmer, who has since apologized and conceded that he embellished what happened during a now-infamous stop at a Rio gas station.

Swimsuit company Speedo USA, clothing giant Ralph Lauren and skin-care firm Syneron-Candela issued statements less than three hours apart, all with the same message: Lochte is out. Before the day was done, Japanese mattress maker airweave followed suit, essentially wiping out Lochte’s income away from the pool.

In addition, Speedo USA said $50,000 that would’ve gone to the 12-time Olympic medalist was being donated to Save The Children to benefit needy youngsters in Brazil.

“While we have enjoyed a winning relationship with Ryan for over a decade and he has been an important member of the Speedo team, we cannot condone behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for,” the prominent swimsuit company said. “We appreciate his many achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from this experience.”