Elsewhere News from the nation, world
Thursday, July 23, 2015 — Page 7
BRIEFS Gazette wire services
Trump visiting Mexican border NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Donald Trump, provocateur of the Republican presidential race, now plans to go the Mexican border, a flashpoint in the primary contest ever since he declared that immigrants from Mexico are rapists and drug dealers. He will travel today to Laredo, Texas, where he will hold a news conference at the border, meet members of the union that represents Border Patrol agents and speak to law enforcement officers, his campaign said. The plan signaled no backing down — indeed, a possible further escalation — in Trump’s feud with presidential rivals and other figures in the party.
Shell gets permits for limited drilling
Roof faces hate crime charges By ERIC TUCKER and MEG KINNARD Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Five weeks after nine people were slain at a black Charleston church, federal authorities have indicted the suspected shooter on dozens of new charges, including hate crimes, firearms violations and obstructing the practice of religion. The prosecution, particularly on hate crimes, has been expected since the June 17 shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, S.C. The suspected shooter, Dylann Roof, 21, is white and appeared in photos waving Confederate flags and burning or desecrating U.S. flags. He purportedly wrote online of fomenting racial violence, and federal authorities on Wednesday confirmed his use of a personal manuscript
in which he decried integration and used racial slurs to refer to blacks. Hate crimes cases can be tricky to bring, with the onus on authorities to prove a suspect’s motivations and precrime intentions. But one expert who has followed this case says some of the extenuating circumstances of Roof’s case could potentially make it easier for prosecutors — and more difficult for his defense team. “All a jury is going to have to do is look at the crime that was committed and the victims that he selected and then read what he wrote in advance, and then look at the photos, as well as things that he might have said to people about why he was committing the crimes,” Cornell Law School professor Jens Ohlin said. “This strikes me as an incredibly easy case for a federal prosecution. It’s not clear to me at all what kind of
DYLANN ROOF ... indicted on new charges defense strategy his lawyers could come up with.” Although what tack Roof’s defense lawyers might take is unclear, Ohlin said their job may be made even more difficult if Roof were to be unapologetic for any of the photos or writings. “Dylann Roof might object to his lawyers trying to defend him against the hate crimes charges,” Ohlin said. “If the lawyers go in there and say, ‘This wasn’t a hate crime’— he might not let his
lawyers say that. His view might be: ‘This was a hate crime, and I’m proud of it.’” The Justice Department has not decided whether it will seek the death penalty against Roof, nor whether its prosecution will come before a state case that includes murder charges and another potential death penalty prosecution. Because South Carolina has no state hate-crimes law, federal charges were needed to adequately address a motive that prosecutors believe was unquestionably rooted in racial hate, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said during a Wednesday news conference. Roof, Lynch said, had for several months prior to the shootings conceived a goal of “increasing racial tensions throughout the nation and seeking retribution for perceived wrongs he believed African-Americans had com-
House OKs bill to fight coal ash regulations
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Obama administration has given Royal Dutch Shell PLC approval to begin limited exploratory oil drilling off Alaska’s northwest coast. The two permits issued Wednesday clear the way for drilling in Chukchi Sea, but with conditions. Shell can only drill the top sections of wells because the company doesn’t have critical emergency response equipment on site to cap a well in case of a leak. That equipment is aboard a ship headed to Portland, Ore., for repairs. The Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in a statement that Shell could submit an amended application for deeper drilling when the capping stack can be deployed within 24 hours.
29 killed in Nigeria bus station blasts LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Bomb blasts at two bustling bus stations killed 29 people and wounded 105, officials said today after Nigeria’s new president warned that the U.S. refusal to sell his country strategic weapons is “aiding and abetting” Boko Haram. Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency called today for urgent blood donations to treat 105 wounded people, according to spokesman Sani Datti, who said at least 29 bodies have been recovered. Wednesday night’s bombings in the northeastern town of Gombe are the latest in a series by Islamic extremists that has spilled across Nigeria’s borders. In neighboring Cameroon on Wednesday, two suicide bombers killed at least 18 people at a marketplace near the border, officials said. Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, returned home today to the capital, Abuja, from a fourday visit to the United States where he was warmly received by President Barack Obama, but failed to get all he wanted.
Russian capsule docks with ISS BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) — A Soyuz space capsule carrying a Russian, an American and a Japanese docked smoothly today with the International Space Station. The capsule connected to the orbiting laboratory about 250 miles above Earth at 2:45 a.m. GMT today (10:45 p.m. EDT Wednesday). The rocket had lifted off from a Russian manned launch facility in Kazakhstan about 5 hours and 45 minutes earlier. The rocket reached orbit about 15 minutes after launch and circled the Earth four times before heading for the space station. The capsule carried Oleg Kononenko of Russia, NASA’s Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui of Japan. Lindgren and Yui are on their first trips into space.
mitted against white people.” To carry out those goals, he “decided to seek out and murder African-Americans because of their race,” Lynch said, adding he had purposefully selected the historic church to “ensure the greatest notoriety and attention to his actions.” He took advantage of his victims’ generosity when they welcomed Roof into their Bible-study group, she said. “The parishioners had Bibles. Dylann Roof had his .45-caliber Glock pistol and eight magazines loaded with hollow-point bullets.” Hate crime cases are often challenging for the government because it must prove that a defendant was primarily motivated by a victim’s race or religion as opposed to other factors frequently invoked by defense attorneys, such as drug addiction or mental illness.
By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press
THANASSIS STAVRAKIS/Associated Press
GREEK PRIME MINISTER Alexis Tsipras spoke today during an emergency parliament session in Athens.
Greece clears final reform hurdle before new talks By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS and MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s radical left-led government survived another revolt by rebels in the early hours today, passing reforms that should pave the way for the imminent start of bailout discussions with European creditors. The reforms to the judiciary and banking systems were the final hurdle the country had to clear before talks can start over a third bailout worth around 85 billion euros ($93 billion). Without the money Greece would be unable to pay the debts due over the coming three years and would likely be forced to leave the euro, Europe’s shared currency. Discussions over the details of the bailout program, which will involve economic targets as well as potential debt relief for Greece, should begin “as swiftly as possible,” according to the European Union’s executive commission. The hope on both sides is that the discussions will conclude by Aug. 20, when Greece has a payment of a little more than 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) due to the European Central Bank. The European Commission welcomed the Greek Parliament’s vote in favor of further reforms, saying it had taken “another important step toward implementing its commitments” made during a summit of
European leaders last week. Lawmakers voted 230-63 in favor of the measures, following a whirlwind debate that ended at 4 a.m. Another five members of the 300seat house voted present, a kind of abstention. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was unable to forestall a second revolt in a week among his Syriza party lawmakers, but had no trouble passing the draft legislation with the backing of pro-European opposition parties. Government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili conceded there is a clear rift within Syriza, but would not say whether rebels would be expelled. Tsipras has accused party critics of acting irresponsibly. “From this point on, party procedures will be followed in order to deal with the problem,” she said after the vote. The number of disaffected Syriza lawmakers, who see the reforms as a betrayal of the anti-austerity platform that brought their party to power in January, shrunk slightly compared to last week’s similar vote — from 38 to 36. Former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis voted in favor this time following his vote against last week’s austerity measures, which included big increases in sales taxes. Though the number of rebels diminished, it’s still roughly a quarter of all party lawmakers. Addressing parliament before the vote, Tsipras said the reforms
were a necessary price to keep Greece in the euro. “We have chosen a compromise that forces us to implement a program in which we do not believe, and we will implement it because the alternatives are tough,” he told lawmakers. “We are summoned today to legislate under a state of emergency.” Tsipras also ruled out resigning. “The presence of the left in this government isn’t about the pursuit of office, it’s a bastion from which to fight for our people’s interests,” he said. “And as far as I’m concerned, I won’t abandon this bastion, at least of my own free will.” Following the two parliamentary votes required by creditors, the Greek government hopes that the economy will stabilize following a crisis-ridden period that’s seen strict controls on capital imposed amid fears over the country’s future in the euro. After being shuttered for more than three weeks, the banks were able to reopen at the start of this week, albeit for limited transactions, as the European Central Bank has increased the amount of emergency liquidity it has made available to Greek banks. The reforms approved today are aimed at reducing the country’s court backlog and speeding up revenue-related cases. Greek lawyers’ associations oppose them, arguing that they will have the opposite effect.
Uber growth unhampered in deal with NYC By JONATHAN LEMIRE Associated Press
NEW YORK — Uber cars can continue to be a growing presence on the streets of New York City now that an agreement has been reached between the ride-hailing company and the city. Just before a City Council vote that could have capped the number of cars Uber can have on city streets, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration announced late Wednesday that Uber agreed to a four-month study on the impact of the cars on the city’s traffic and the environment.
The agreement contrasts sharply with the legislation the council was set to vote on today, which called for a 1 percent cap on the San Francisco-based company’s growth within New York City during a yearlong study. Uber has steadfastly opposed any cap, and the company and City Hall had traded increasingly nasty barbs over the past week. Under the deal, the city will not cap Uber’s growth during those four months. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a growing number of public officials who had been calling for the council to delay the vote, instead cheered the agreement. City
Council Speaker Melissa MarkViverito announced that the study will be passed today but no longer carry a cap. The surprise arrangement also included a commitment to turn over far more data to the city on the location and duration of its rides. The company also agreed to discuss working toward making more of its vehicles handicap-accessible and contributing to the region’s mass transit network. The $40 billion company has become a dominant force on the streets of New York, dispatching 25,000 cars compared to 13,000 of the city’s iconic yellow taxis.
WASHINGTON — Defying a White House veto threat, the Republican-controlled House on Wednesday approved a bill granting states authority to regulate waste generated from coal burned for electricity. The bill, approved 258-166, would largely bypass a federal rule issued last year by the Environmental Protection Agency. The rule set the first national standards for so-called coal ash, treating it more like household garbage than a hazardous material. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., said it was needed because the EPA rule leaves open the possibility that coal ash could be designated as hazardous, creating uncertainty for industry. The White House said in its veto threat that the House bill would undermine public health and environmental protections provided by the EPA rule. The 2008 failure of a coal ash containment site in Tennessee, and a massive spill last year in North Carolina serve as “stark reminders” of the need for safe disposal and management of coal ash, the White House said.
“WITHOUT THIS legislative action, regulatory uncertainty that swirls around coal ash will continue, as it has for 35 years.” Rep. David McKinley, bill’s sponsor
The EPA rule “articulates clear and consistent national standards to protect public health and the environment, prevent contamination of drinking water and minimize the risk of catastrophic failure at coal ash surface impoundments,” the White House said. The House bill would weaken these protections, in part by eliminating restrictions on how close to drinking water sources coal ash containment sites can be located. McKinley, a strong supporter of the coal industry and a staunch critic of the EPA, hailed the agency’s decision not to treat coal ash as hazardous waste. “That gives the recyclers, the utility companies, all a chance to take a deep breath and proceed,” McKinley said. At the same time, language in the rule says the EPA can reverse its decision in the future, causing uncertainty for industry and regulators alike, McKinley said. “Without this legislative action, regulatory uncertainty that swirls around coal ash will continue, as it has for 35 years,” McKinley said, calling that unfair to more than 300,000 workers employed by coal ash recyclers and related industries. McKinley’s bill would allow states to set up a coal ash permit program, using the federal rule as a minimum requirement. States that choose not to set up a program would be subject to regulation established by the EPA. Environmental groups and some Democrats said the bill would strip important safety requirements in the EPA rule, including restrictions on proximity to drinking water sources. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., called the bill “unnecessary and dangerous” and said it would roll back important protections put in place by the EPA “after years of hard work and public process.” Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., have introduced a similar bill in the Senate.