Top Stories Today – July 10, 2019
Top Stories Today – July 10, 2019
Justice Department trying to block Mueller team testimony
The Justice Department is trying to prevent two former members of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team from testifying behind closed doors as Mueller prepares to make a public appearance before lawmakers next week, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. The department said last week it opposed testimony by Aaron Zebley and James Quarles before the Democratic-led House of Representatives’ Intelligence and Judiciary Committees, a senior congressional official told the paper. A Justice Department official confirmed the account and had instructed the men not to appear, the paper said.
A person familiar with the matter told Reuters the former Mueller team members were in negotiations to testify before the two panels behind closed doors. The person could not confirm that the Justice Department had instructed them not to testify. Mueller is due to testify in open session before the House of Representatives Judiciary and Intelligence Committees on July 17. Reuters
British ambassador to Washington quits
Britain’s ambassador to Washington resigned on Wednesday after Donald Trump labeled him “stupid” and “wacky” following the release of confidential memos from the envoy in which he branded the US president’s administration inept.
Memos from Kim Darroch were leaked to a British Sunday newspaper, infuriating Trump who launched a stinging Twitter attack on both the envoy and British Prime Minister Theresa May who had given him her full support. In a growing spat between the two close allies, Trump said he would no longer deal with Darroch and called May “foolish”. In his resignation letter, Darroch said his position was no longer tenable. Reuters
Migrant children abused at US facility
Dozens of migrant children held at a border station in Yuma, Arizona, have shared with government case managers incidents of misconduct at the facility, including sexual assault and retaliation after kids spoke out against poor conditions, NBC News reports. In one report obtained by NBC News, a 15-year-old girl from Honduras said during a pat down, a Customs and Border Protection agent groped her as he put his hands inside her bra and pulled down her underwear.
He did this publicly, she said, and laughed about it with other agents. A 16-year-old Guatemalan boy said after he complained about the taste of the water and food being served, agents took the mats out of his cell, and everyone was forced to sleep on the concrete floor. A Customs and Border Protection spokesman told NBC News the sexual assault allegation is under investigation. NBC News via The Week
Qatar’s emir visits Washington
Qatar’s emir has used his visit to Washington this week to highlight his nation’s growing economic and defense ties with the United States, but has said nothing about his apparent bid to mediate US-Iran tensions. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday and Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper at the Pentagon a day earlier, with both sides praising what they called “increasingly close” strategic and defense relations. They cited Qatari purchases of and agreements to buy US-made aircraft, jet engines and missile defense systems, the joint development of a Qatari petrochemicals complex and Qatar’s expansion of the Al Udeid Airbase hosting US forces.
Qatar not only serves as a US ally by hosting the US military’s Central Command forward headquarters at the Al Udeid Airbase, but it also serves as Shi’ite-majority Iran’s best friend among Sunni-led Gulf Arab nations that have largely shunned Tehran in retaliation for its support of anti-Sunni insurgencies in the region. The Voice of America
Women and children killed in PNG tribal massacre
Children and pregnant women are among those murdered in a tribal massacre in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands area. At least 24 people are confirmed to have died in a brutal flare-up of violence between rival tribes over several days in Hela province. Some reports put the death toll higher.
PM James Marape called the news “one of the saddest days of my life”, promising to track down the perpetrators. It is one of the worst outbreaks of tribal violence in PNG for years.
Authorities say the region has for years struggled with violence, at times driven by disputes over the distribution of land and resource wealth. BBC
Australian to vote on recognition of indigenous people
Australia will hold a national vote within three years on whether to include recognition of indigenous people in its constitution, the government said on Wednesday, an issue that has spurred decades of often heated debate.
Australia has struggled to reconcile with descendants of its first inhabitants, who arrived on the continent about 50,000 years before British colonists but are not recognized in the national constitution. However, with public support on the issue growing, Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt promised a referendum before 2022. The Voice of America
Judge Rejects DOJ from replacing lawyers in census case
A federal judge in New York on Tuesday rejected the Justice Department’s request to switch its legal team midway through a case challenging the Trump administration’s effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. On Sunday, the Justice Department said it was replacing the legal team defending the citizenship question. But on Tuesday, as a new team of lawyers began to notify the court of its appearance in the case, Judge Furman barred the old lawyers from leaving until they met a legal requirement to satisfactorily explain their departure and show that it would not impede the case.
Last week, the Department of Justice said it was giving up its fight to get the question on the census, but Trump pushed back, saying he is considering an executive order to ensure it is included. The New York Times