THE SUMTER ITEM ·
TUESAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2016
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Trump, Putin vow ‘strongest relationship’ President-elect, Chinese leader speak David Jackson USA TODAY
2015 PHOTO BY MATT CAMPBELL, EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
Heavy traffic crawls on the Massachusetts Turnpike near Grafton, Mass., as travelers head for the Thanksgiving holiday. Nearly nine in 10 people will travel by car this Thanksgiving.
Thanks, economy: 1 million more to travel on holiday AAA sees highest volume since 2007 Maureen Groppe @mgroppe USA TODAY
Pack up the pumpkin pie, and give thanks to the economy. One million more Americans are expected to travel this Thanksgiving than last year because of a boost in consumer confidence, according to the auto club AAA’s travel forecast released Tuesday. The projected 1.9% increase in travelers would mark the eighth consecutive year of growth, boosting totals to the highest volume since 2007. Nearly nine in 10 people will travel by automobile, despite recent incremental increases in the national average price of gasoline. “Others will fly, take the bus or set off on a cruise to celebrate with their loved one,” said Mar-
shall Doney, CEO of AAA. The top four destinations, based on AAA.com bookings, are the warm weather spots of Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego and Orlando. New York City, home of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, ranks fifth. The increase in travel is spurred by improvements in the economy during the second half of the year, including rising wages, increased consumer spending and strength in consumer confidence, AAA said. Most drivers will pay the second-cheapest Thanksgiving gas prices since 2008, when the national average was $1.85. Airfares are projected to increase 21%. Hotel rates are relatively flat; travelers are spending an average $155 per night. The projection for 48.7 million travelers from Nov. 23 through
THANKSGIVING TRAVEL A projected 48.7 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home this Thanksgiving, an increase of 1 million from 2015. Travelers in millions 50
50.6
48.7
President-elect Donald Trump spoke by phone Monday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, whom he praised as a strong leader during the U.S. presidential campaign. “During the call, the two leaders discussed a range of issues including the threats and challenges facing the United States and Russia, strategic economic issues and the historical U.S.-Russia relationship that dates back over 200 years,” the Trump transition team said in a statement. Trump spoke late Sunday with another key world leader: Chinese President Xi Jinping. They agreed to meet “at any early date,” according to statements from both camps. As for Putin, a statement from the Trump camp said, “The leaders established a clear sense of mutual respect for one another, and President-elect Trump stated that he believes the two leaders will have one of the strongest relationships for both countries moving forward.” The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin congratulated Trump, and pledged to build “dialogue with the new administra-
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SOURCE AAA.com
GEORGE PETRAS, USA TODAY
Nov. 27 is based on economic forecasting by IHS Global Insight. The expected 43.5 million travelers on the road would be the most since 2005. Airplanes will carry the most passengers since 2007.
POOL PHOTO BY MICHAEL KLIMENTYEV
Vladimir Putin pledged to have a dialogue of “mutual respect.”
Three of 9 Minneapolis men sentenced in ISIL plot
IN BRIEF LADY LIBERTY AND THE SUPERMOON
Aamer Madhani @AamerISmad USA TODAY
AP
Zacharia Abdurahman
JULIO CORTEZ, AP
The supermoon shines near the Statue of Liberty on Monday in New York. The lunar phenomenon brings the moon the closest it has been to the earth since 1948. TRIAL BEGINS FOR SUSPECT IN MURDER OF BRITISH MP
The trial of the man accused of murdering British lawmaker Jo Cox in a street attack that shocked the United Kingdom began in London Monday. Cox, 41, a politician for the opposition Labor Party, was stabbed and shot in Birstall, a village in her northern English constituency in West Yorkshire, on June 16. Thomas Mair, 53, is charged with murdering Cox, causing grievous bodily harm to a 77year-old bystander who tried to help her, and possessing a firearm and a dagger. The incident led to a suspension of campaigning in the runup to the June 23 referendum that resulted in Britons voting to leave the European Union. Cox favored remaining in the EU. — Jane Onyanga-Omara ICC PROSECUTOR: U.S. FORCES MAY HAVE USED TORTURE
International Criminal Court prosecutors say that a preliminary probe indicates that members of the United States armed forces and the CIA may have committed war crimes by torturing detainees in Afghanistan. The prosecution office said in a report issued late Monday that U.S. armed forces personnel “appear to have subjected at least 61
tion on the principles of equality, mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of each other.” The U.S. and Russian leaders also agreed to set up a face-toface meeting soon. The two men “agreed to assess the current very poor state of Russian-American relations” and to work for “constructive cooperation on a wide range of issues.” Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton criticized Trump over his praise of Putin during the campaign. She and other Trump critics pointed to a U.S. intelligence assessment that Russian interests were behind the hackings of Democrat Party members and may have tried to influence the U.S. elections. Putin denied the allegations. Trump also expressed skepticism, and said the United States should seek better relations with Putin and Russia. The Kremlin said that Putin and Trump “agreed to continue contacts on the phone and in the future to provide for a personal meeting.” The Trump team said that he “noted to President Putin that he is very much looking forward to having a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the people of Russia.”
detained persons to torture” in Afghanistan, mainly in 2003-2004. The report adds that CIA operatives may have tortured at least 27 detainees in Afghanistan and elsewhere mainly in the same time period. Prosecutors say they will decide “imminently” whether to seek authorization to open a fullscale investigation in Afghanistan. The United States is not a member of the court, but its citizens could face prosecution if they commit crimes in a country that is a member, such as Afghanistan. — The Associated Press
AP
Abdirizak Warsame
AP
Abdirahman Yasin Daud
ASSANGE QUESTIONED OVER RAPE ALLEGATION
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was questioned by prosecutors Monday at the Ecuadorean Embassy over a rape allegation in Sweden. The 45-year-old Australian has been holed up in the embassy in central London since he sought political asylum there in June 2012 after a European arrest warrant was issued against him by Swedish authorities. Assange denies the rape allegation, which dates from 2010. He faces arrest by British police if he leaves the embassy. — Jane Onyanga-Omara
AP
Mohamed Farah
AP
Guled Ali Omar
Three young men of Somali descent from the Minneapolis area were sentenced on Monday to prison terms, ranging from time served to 10 years behind bars, for their parts in a wide-ranging plot to join the terror group Islamic State. Abdullahi Yusuf, 20, who helped build a case against eight of his friends who plotted to join the group, also known by the acronym ISIL or ISIS, will get out of prison with time served, but spend 20 years under supervised release for his role in the conspiracy, U.S. District Judge Michael Davis ruled. Yusuf, who was arrested in 2014 and pleaded guilty to his part in the conspiracy, played a key role in helping federal prosecutors unravel an ISIL plot to recruit at least a dozen young people from Minnesota’s large Somali community to join the extremist group’s fight in Syria and Iraq. Yusuf, the first to plead guilty, took part in an experimental jihadi rehabilitation program and was expected to get the lightest sentence. Davis also ordered Yusuf to spend the next year in a Minneapolis halfway house. U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger noted Yusuf’s cooperation. “The hard work of rehabilitating those who seek to engage in ideological violence must continue,” Luger said. “Judge Davis recognized that fact today by a sentence for Abdullahi Yusuf that allows him to continue his rehabilitation. The United States thanks Mr. Yusuf for his cooperation.” A second co-conspirator, Zacharia Abdurahman, 21, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and a third man, Abdiriza Warsame, was sentenced Monday to 30 months in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release. Warsame, 21, has been in custody for nearly a year. Six others who pleaded guilty
or were convicted in the plot are scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday and Wednesday. Warsame, who also cooperated with prosecutors, told the judge that he’s “done some horrible things,” but that he now wants to work against radical extremism. “I know what it’s like to be manipulated and tricked,” Warsame said, according to KARE-TV. Prosecutors are seeking the toughest sentences for three members of the plot — Abdirahman Yasin Daud, Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, and Guled Ali Omar — who were convicted in June by a jury for their part in the conspiracy. Yusuf and Warsame testified that the group intended to travel to Syria where they all expected to kill on behalf of ISIL. Prosecutors also used secret recordings made by a paid FBI informant to help make their case. In the recordings, the defendants and others in the conspiracy could be heard talking brashly about ISIL and plotting how to make their way to Syria to join the terror organization. Two other men that were part of the group, Abdi Nur and Yusuf Jama, traveled successfully to Syria without getting caught. Nur, who is believed to still be in Syria,
Somali men get range of punishment for roles in conspiracy; others to hear their fate this week
“Judge Davis recognized that fact today by a sentence for Abdullahi Yusuf that allows him to continue his rehabilitation.” U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger
has been charged in the case; authorities believe Jama was killed in the fighting. During the trial, an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force officer testified that a relative of Nur from Minnesota, Mohamad Roble, also had traveled to Syria in October 2014. The FBI informant said some members of the Minneapolis group reached out to Roble in 2014 to seek money, so they could make the trip to Syria to join ISIL. Yusuf was prevented from getting on a Turkey-bound flight in May 2014 and was charged months later.