SCHUMER ADMITS HE “SHOULD NOT HAVE USED” CRITICAL WORDS
WASHINGTON» Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday he “should not have used the words I used” when he declared at a rally in front of the Supreme Court that two justices would “pay the price” for their decision in an abortion case.
Republicans chastised Schumer for the remark, and Chief Justice John Roberts in a rare rebuke said the words were “inappropriate” and “dangerous.”
Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Schumer’s words “astonishingly reckless and completely irresponsible” and said they could have “horrific unintended consequences.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, floated the idea of a censure.
Schumer directed the comments at Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh while a significant abortion case was being argued at the high court.
Watchdog: Data on children separated at border may be flawed. WASHINGTON» The Trump administration’s effort to track children separated from their families at the border is plagued by communication problems that raise questions about the accuracy of the data, a watchdog reported Thursday.
The administration created the tracking system after enacting its “zero tolerance” policy in 2018, in which more than 2,500 children were separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, although the watchdog has estimated that figure could be much higher.
Immigration officials have continued to separate some children from their parents at the border for certain reasons, including a parent’s suspected criminal history, and have said the tracking system will help avoid some of the chaos, confusion and trauma suffered by separated children.
Russia, Turkey reach cease-fire deal in northwestern Syria.
» The presidents of Russia MOSCO W and Turkey said they reached agreement on a cease-fire that was to begin at midnight Thursday in northwest Syria, where escalating fighting had threatened to put forces from the two countries into direct conflict.
The deal struck by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also would set up a security corridor along a key eastwest highway in Idlib province.
Putin is hopeful that the agreement will serve as a “good basis for ending the fighting in the Idlib de-escalation zone, put an end to suffering of civilian population and contain a growing humanitarian crisis.”
Judge: Dubai ruler threatened wife, had daughters abducted. LONDON» The ruler of Dubai conducted a campaign of fear and intimidation against his estranged wife and ordered the abduction of two of his daughters, a British judge ruled in documents that were unsealed Thursday.
A judge at the High Court in London found that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, 70, “acted in a manner from the end of 2018 which has been aimed at intimidating and frightening” his ex-wife Princess Haya, 45.
Judge Andrew McFarlane also said the sheikh “ordered and orchestrated” the abductions and forced return to Dubai of two of his adult daughters from another marriage: Sheikha Shamsa in August 2000 and Sheikha Latifa in 2002 and again in 2018.
Turkey sends elite police to stop Greece’s migrant pushback. Turkey is
A NK A R A, TURKE Y sending elite special operations police to the border to stop Greek officers from driving back people who try to cross over to Europe, Turkish authorities said Thursday.
Thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers have tried to enter Greece from the land and sea in the week since Turkey declared its previously guarded gateways to Europe open.
Greek police fired tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons to repel people trying to breach the land border from Turkey’s side. Turkish authorities allege that Greece’s officers also fired live ammunition and killed a migrant, an assertion
Greece denied. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Ankara intends to bring a case before the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of the dead migrant.
Man scratched by black bear outside Florida home.
GULF
A black bear attacked BREE Z E , FL A. a man and scratched him on the chest outside his Panhandle home, officials said.
The man was not seriously injured in his brush with the bear Wednesday night.
The attack occurred near Gulf Breeze, just south of Pensacola, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission news release.
The man was on his porch when the bear approached and scratched him on the chest, officials said in a statement. The man declined medical attention. Santa Rosa deputies and wildlife commission workers went to the scene, but no bears were present. Traps were set to capture the bear, officials said. Wildlife officers were speaking with residents about bear activity and how to avoid conflicts.