Nation & World Glance
Lawyer: Russian developer’s staffer also at Trump Jr. meet
WASHINGTON — Revelations that a Russian developer’s representative was the eighth attendee at a Trump Tower campaign meeting arranged by President Donald Trump’s eldest son prompted a new round of castigation on Tuesday from Democrats. It also brought word that the special counsel investigating possible Trump campaign ties to Russia wants more information about the sitdown.
Officials from the office of special counsel Robert Mueller reached out over the weekend to a lawyer for Ike Kaveladze, who also goes by the name Irakly Kaveladze, attorney Scott Balber told The Associated Press. Kaveladze works for a Russian developer who once partnered with Trump to bring the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow,
Balber’s comments are the first public indication that Mueller is probing the June 2016 gathering in Trump’s namesake New York City skyscraper.
Officials: Aussie woman shot after cops heard loud sound
MINNEAPOLIS — An Australian woman who called 911 to report a possible assault was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer after the officer’s partner was startled by a loud sound near their squad car, the partner told investigators Tuesday.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Justine Damond, 40, approached the driver’s side window of the squad car immediately after the driver had been startled by the sound. The officer in the passenger seat, Mohamed Noor, fired his weapon, hitting Damond through the open driver’s side window, the BCA said.
The BCA said its information was based on an interview with the officer driving the car, Officer Matthew Harrity. Harrity was interviewed Tuesday, but Noor declined to be interviewed. The BCA said his attorney did not indicate when, or if, Noor would talk to investigators, and under the law an interview can’t be compelled.
Philippine rebel chief refuses to broker for city attackers
MANILA, Philippines — The leader of the Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group says Islamic Statelinked militants wanted his group to broker their possible withdrawal from Marawi city during the major military offensive against them but he refused to intervene.
Al Haj Murad Ebrahim of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front told The Associated Press in an interview late Tuesday that intervening would have been difficult because President Rodrigo Duterte has declared his government would not negotiate with terrorists.
The nearly two months of insurrection in Marawi is the worst he has seen in his more than four decades as a rebel in the country’s south, Murad said, adding the attackers are now wracked by infighting.