G-20 LEADERS LINE UP BEHIND PARIS ACCORD
European leaders said Thursday they are ready to defend the Paris climate accord and free trade when they face President Donald Trump at the Group of 20 summit. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe was “more determined than ever” to see the climate deal succeed.
The Trump administration’s “America First” approach to trade has caused widespread concern internationally, as has its decision to pull out of the Paris accord. Trump announced the withdrawal shortly after returning from last month’s Group of 7 summit in Italy.
Merkel told the German parliament that “we cannot expect easy talks in Hamburg” on climate issues when leaders of the global economic powers meet in the city July 7-8.
“The disagreement is obvious, and it would be dishonest to gloss over it,” she said. “I won’t do that, in any case.”
Still, meeting later Thursday with European participants in the G-20, she sought to downplay prospects of an outright clash with Trump. She and French President Emmanuel Macron said there is agreement on issues such as fighting terrorism.
Cyberattack may have aimed for havoc, not extortion. PARIS»
The cyberattack that locked up computers around the world while demanding a ransom may not be an extortion attempt after all, but an effort to create havoc in Ukraine, security experts say.
“There may be a more nefarious motive behind the attack,” Gavin O’Gorman, an investigator with U.S. antivirus firm Symantec, said in a blog post . “Perhaps this attack was never intended to make money, rather to simply disrupt a large number of Ukrainian organizations.”
The rogue program landed its heaviest blows on the Eastern European nation, where the government, dozens of banks and other institutions were sent reeling. It disabled computers at government agencies, energy companies, cash machines, supermarkets, railways and communications providers. Many of these organizations had recovered by Thursday.
The program, known by a variety of names, including NotPetya, initially appeared to be ransomware, a type of malicious software that encrypts its victims’ data and holds it hostage until a payment is made, usually in bitcoins, the hard-to-trace digital currency often used by criminals.
Somali children at risk of starvation, group says.
MOGADISHU, SOMALIA» An aid group is warning that more than 20,000 children in drought-hit Somalia could starve to death in the coming months without continued international assistance.
Save the Children said Thursday that the number of cases of severe acute malnutrition has “skyrocketed” in several of the nine Somali districts assessed.
The new survey warns of “famine-like conditions” in parts of the Horn of Africa nation.
The aid group says that without $1.5 billion in assistance, Somalia could face a hunger crisis as severe as the one in 2011, when famine killed more than a quarter-million people. Half of the victims were children.
Thousands have been killed in the latest drought as Somalis struggle with poor rains and a cholera outbreak, with many people trapped in areas controlled by extremist group al-Shabab.
Democrat wins panel vote to debate authorization for war. WASHINGTON»
A GOP-controlled House committee unexpectedly agreed Thursday to a proposal by a strongly anti-war Democrat to force a debate on a new war authorization.
The proposal would cut off the sweeping 2001 authorization to use military force against terrorism. The move by California Democrat Barbara Lee unexpectedly won voice vote approval by the House Appropriations Committee as it debated a Pentagon funding bill.
Lee wants to force a debate on a new war authorization, and some Republicans agree that debate is a good idea.
A surprised Lee took to Twitter to claim victory.
“Whoa. My amdt to sunset 2001 AUMF was adopted,” Lee tweeted, using Washington code for authorization of military force. “GOP & Dems agree: a floor debate & vote on endless war is long overdue.”
Lee’s amendment would repeal the 2001 law — which has been broadly interpreted to permit military operations beyond those contemplated at the time — 240 days after the bill is enacted, which Lee said in a statement “would allow plenty of time for Congress to finally live up to its constitutional obligation to debate and vote on any new AUMF.”
The proposal has a long way to go before becoming law. For starters, it would likely be knocked out of the spending bill on procedural grounds during floor debate since spending bills technically aren’t supposed to carry policy language.
Greta Van Susteren out as MSNBC host. NEW
YORK» Greta Van Susteren’s stop at a third cable news network proved to be short. MSNBC said Thursday that she’s out after less than six months at the network, to be replaced by Ari Melber.
Van Susteren began hosting a Washingtonbased 6 p.m. weeknight show at MSNBC on Jan. 9, joining the network after her 14-year run at Fox News Channel ended last summer following a financial disagreement. Before joining Fox, she had her own show at CNN.
But with the Fox and MSNBC audiences usually diametrically opposed, it proved a poor fit. MSNBC has had its best ratings in network history in 2017, but Van Susteren hasn’t shared in the riches. It was the least-watched show on MSNBC between 5 p.m. and midnight both Monday and Tuesday of this week, according to the Nielsen company.
On Monday, for example, MSNBC’s “Meet the Press Daily” at 5 p.m. had 970,000 viewers, and Van Susteren’s show dipped to 797,000. When Chris Matthews’ “Hardball” started at 7 p.m., the network’s audience jumped to 1.45 million, Nielsen said.
Watchdog concludes sarin was used in Syria attack. THE HAGUE,
NETHERLANDS» An investigation by the international chemical weapons watchdog has concluded that sarin or a sarin-like substance was used as a chemical weapon in an April 4 attack on a Syrian town that left more than 90 people dead, diplomats said Thursday.
The report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons into the Khan Sheikhoun attack was not publicly released, but two diplomats who saw its contents confirmed the key finding that sarin was used.
One of the diplomats spoke on the condition of anonymity because the report had not been made public.
U.S. envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley issued a written statement expressing confidence in the report.