Russia sanctions.
The White House announced Friday evening that President Trump will sign a package of financial sanctions that were passed by Congress. Moscow had already responded by ousting some diplomats.
WASHINGTON» President Donald Trump will sign a package of stiff financial sanctions against Russia that passed Congress with overwhelming support, the White House said Friday. Moscow has already responded, ordering a reduction in the number of U.S. diplomats in Russia and closing the U.S. Embassy’s recreation retreat.
Trump’s willingness to support the measure is a remarkable acknowledgement that he has yet to sell his party on his hopes for forging a warmer relationship with Moscow. His vow to extend a hand of cooperation to Russian President Vladimir Putin has been met with resistance as skeptical lawmakers look to limit the president’s leeway to go easy on Moscow over its meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
The Senate passed the bill, 98-2, two days after the House pushed the measure through by an overwhelming margin, 419-3. Both were veto-proof numbers.
Taxpayers pay $6.6 million to guard Mar-a-Lago.
As the Trump administration threatened hefty budget cuts for the U.S. Coast Guard, the military service was spending more than $6.6 million protecting the president’s waterfront Mar-a-Lago Club during his seven weekend trips there this spring, documents show.
The Coast Guard deployed cutters, patrol boats, helicopters and antiterror specialists from across the country to safeguard the luxury Palm Beach, Florida, estate.
The records, released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, offer a glimpse into the intricate costs and demands for a military force tasked with defending the president during his frequent getaways to his private businesses.
They also highlight how taxpayers have helped finance the unusually elaborate lifestyle of Trump and his family in ways that can also benefit his company. In this case, Mar-a-Lago, which Trump has dubbed a “Winter White House,” is also a for-profit, members-only club.
Honolulu high-rise had outdated alarms.
Documents show a Honolulu residential high-rise where a July 14 blaze killed three people didn’t update its fire alarms to meet safety standards.
City records show no upgrades were made after an engineering firm recommended them for the 36-story building after another fire four years ago.
But the residential tower wasn’t required to meet the standards because they weren’t part of the fire code when it was built in 1971, so property managers broke no laws.
Husband kills wife on anniversary cruise.
» A ANCHORAGE, ALASKA
Utah couple was celebrating their wedding anniversary aboard an Alaska cruise when the husband was found covered in blood next to his wife’s lifeless body.
Kristy Manzanares was found dead in a bloodsplattered cabin Tuesday night. Her husband has been charged with murder after he was discovered with blood on his hands and clothes, and with blood spread throughout the cabin on the Princess Cruises ship, according to a criminal complaint.
Manzanares told investigators his wife “would not stop laughing at me.”
Stabbing kills one.
BERLIN» A rejected asylum applicant from the United Arab Emirates killed one person and injured six others in a stabbing rampage at a Hamburg supermarket on Friday, officials said, an attack that could reignite debate over security and immigration as the German election approaches.
The 26-year-old suspect, whose identity wasn’t released, couldn’t be deported because he lacked identity papers, Hamburg Mayor Olaf Scholz said in a statement late Friday.
Fear spreads. CARACAS, VENEZUELA»
Venezuela prepared Friday for a possible showdown between opposition protesters and government forces ahead of a vote that critics decry as a final step toward authoritarian rule in the South American nation.
Ahead of Sunday’s vote, the socialist government of President Nicolás Maduro the anointed successor of leftist firebrand Hugo Chávez, who died in 2013 issued a ban on public gatherings and protests through Tuesday. The opposition answered with a vow to pour into the streets nationwide, although exactly how many would heed that call remained unclear.
Couric leaves Yahoo news site.
YORK» Katie NEW Couric is leaving the online company Oath, formerly Yahoo, where she has been conducting interviews and reporting news since 2014.
The former “Today” show host and “CBS Evening News” anchor will be concentrating on production work. with projects for National Geographic and Netflix.
A representative for Couric said she turned down a short-term contract extension at Oath.