Minefield as Trump fires FBI Director
BERLIN: German authorities arrested a second soldier on allegations he was part of a farright plot to assassinate prominent political figures and blame the attack on refugees in a case that has raised concerns about extremism within the country’s military. Maximilian T., 27, was arrested in the southwestern city of Kehl on charges of preparing an act of violence PRESIDENT Donald Trump has abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey, dramatically ousting the nation’s top law enforcement official in the midst of an FBI investigation into whether Trump’s campaign had ties to Russia’s meddling in the election.
In a letter to Mr Comey, Mr Trump said the firing was necessary to restore “public trust and confidence” in the FBI.
Mr Comey has come under intense scrutiny in recent months for his public comments on an investigation into Democrat Hillary Clinton’s email practices.
In announcing the firing, the White House circulated a scathing memo, written by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, criticising Mr Comey’s handling of the Clinton probe, including the director’s decision to hold a news conference announcing its findings and releasing “derogatory information” about Ms Clinton.
Since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the bureau’s Trump-Russia probe, Mr Rosenstein has been in charge.
This is only the second firing of an FBI director in history. President Bill Clinton dismissed William Sessions amid allegations of ethical lapses in 1993.
Mr Comey was speaking to agents at the FBI’s field office in Los Angeles when the news VILNUIS: US President Donald Trump has approved arms supplies to Kurdish YPG fighters to support an operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State, despite fierce opposition from NATO ally Turkey. The US believes arming the Kurds “is necessary to ensure a clear victory.” of his firing screens.
Democrats slammed Mr Trump’s action, comparing it with President Richard Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre” decision to fire the independent special prosecutor overseeing the Watergate investigation in 1973, which prompted the resignations of the Justice Department’s top two officials.
The Democrats expressed deep scepticism about the stated reasons for Tuesday’s firing, raising the prospect of a White House effort to stymie the investigations by the FBI and congressional panels.
The White House said the search for a replacement had begun immediately. Comey’s deputy, Andrew McCabe, takes over in the interim. flashed on TV PUEBLA: An explosion at a fireworks warehouse killed 14 people, all but three of them children, in a poor Mexican village as it celebrated a religious festival. A firework landed in a house where pyrotechnic material was being stored, causing an explosion which brought down the roof. MILAN: Former President Barack Obama says he is confident that the US would keep moving “in the right direction” on climate change, although the process might slow down under the current administration. Speaking at a food industry conference he said the US and China needed to lead the way. MANAGUA: A pastor and several followers were sentenced on Tuesday to 30 years in prison for a fatal exorcism in a remote part of Nicaragua in which a woman was thrown naked onto a fire. Pastor Juan Rocha, 23, and four others received the maximum 30-year term for murdering the victim, 25-year-old mother-oftwo Vilma Trujillo. Rocha belongs to a group known as the Assemblies of God. PATTANI: Suspected insurgents detonated a car bomb on Tuesday outside a busy shopping centre in southern Thailand, wounding more than 50 people in a huge blast that ripped the building apart and sent people running for their lives. Muslim separatists have waged a bloody insurgency for years in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces