Nation & World Glance
MOSCOW — The Trump administration veered toward deeper conflict with Russia Tuesday as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Moscow, gambling that an unpredictable new president armed with the willingness to threaten military action gives the U.S. much-needed leverage to end Syria’s carnage.
Yet there were no guarantees Tillerson’s arguments would prove any more successful than the Obama administration’s failed effort to peel Russia away from its Syrian ally. Tillerson’s mission, coming days after 59 Tomahawk missiles struck a Syrian air base, also carries serious risks: If Russia brushes off the warnings, President Donald Trump could be forced into another show of force in Syria or see his credibility wane.
“I hope that what the Russian government concludes is that they have aligned themselves with an unreliable partner in Bashar al-Assad,” Tillerson said before flying to the Russian capital, referring to Syria’s embattled leader.
“The reign of the Assad family is coming to an end,” he confidently predicted.
CEO issues new apology as details of passenger emerge
CHICAGO — After people were horrified by video of a passenger getting dragged off a full United Express flight by airport police, the head of United’s parent company said the airline was reaching out to the man to “resolve this situation.”
Hours later on Monday, his tone turned defensive. He described the man as “disruptive and belligerent.”
By Tuesday afternoon, almost two days after the Sunday evening confrontation in Chicago, CEO Oscar Munoz issued his most contrite apology yet as details emerged about the man seen on cellphone videos recorded by other passengers at O’Hare Airport.
“No one should ever be mistreated this way,” Munoz said.
The passenger was identified as physician David Dao, 69, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, who was convicted more than a decade ago of felony charges involving his prescribing of drugs and spent years trying to regain his medical license.
North Korea decries U.S. carrier dispatch as parliament meets
PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea’s parliament convened Tuesday amid heightened tensions on the divided peninsula, with the United States and South Korea conducting their biggest-ever military exercises and the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier heading to the area in a show of American strength.
North Korea vowed a tough response to any military moves that might follow the U.S. decision to send the carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula.
“We will hold the U.S. wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions,” a spokesman for its Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
Musician John Warren Geils Jr. dies in Massachusetts
GROTON, Mass. — Musician John Warren Geils Jr., founder of The J. Geils Band known for such hits as “Love Stinks,” ‘‘Freeze Frame” and “Centerfold,” has died in his Massachusetts home at 71.
Groton police said officers responded to Geils home around 4 p.m. Tuesday for a well-being check and found him unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The J. Geils Band was founded in 1967 in Worcester, Massachusetts, while Geils was studying at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The band released 11 studio albums before breaking up in 1985. They reunited off and on until recent years.
Germany: Pregame blasts rock soccer team bus
DORTMUND, Germany — Three explosions went off near the team bus of Borussia Dortmund, one of Germany’s top soccer clubs, as it set off for a Champions League quarterfinal match on Tuesday evening. One of Dortmund’s players was injured.
Police said they were working on the assumption that the blasts were directed at the Dortmund team and caused by “serious explosive devices,” which may have been hidden in a hedge near a car park.
The explosions happened as the team was departing its hotel for a first-leg match against Monaco. The game was called off shortly before kickoff and rescheduled for Wednesday.
A letter claiming responsibility was found near the site of the blasts, prosecutor Sandra Luecke told a late evening conference.