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Tourism for Tomorrow Friday January 18, 2019 T: 582-7800 | F: 582-7044 www.arubatoday.com Page 13 AArruubbaa’’ss OONNLLYY EEnngglliisshh nneewwssppaappeerr FLIGHT GROUNDED Trump denies Pelosi aircraft for trip abroad House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019. Associated Press Associated Press Speaker Nancy Pelosi, de- dress. ship as negotiations to end day, Trump said the shut- WASHINGTON (AP) — It took nying her an aircraft to visit The nation's two most pow- the monthlong partial gov- down would have to delay President Donald Trump troops abroad in apparent erful leaders appeared to ernment shutdown failed to her trip, which was to begin one day to flex his execu- response to her attempt to be engaged in a game of produce results. Thursday. tive power back at House delay his State of Union ad- constitutional one-upman- In a letter to Pelosi on Thurs- Continued on Page 3 A2 UP FRONT Friday 18 January 2019 U.S. shutdown stalls training, other prep for wildfire season PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Just "Even if the shutdown ends two months after a wildfire and we start hiring people, wiped out Paradise, Cali- we will have missed the fornia, officials are gearing cream of the crop," De- up for this year's fire season Grosky said. and fear the government The U.S. Forest Service said shutdown could make it in an email that the agen- even more difficult than cy was committed to hiring one of the worst in history. for temporary and perma- The winter months are criti- nent firefighting positions cal for wildfire managers and would continue critical who use the break from the training "to the extent fea- flames to prepare for the sible." next onslaught, but much The first session of an ap- of that effort has ground to prenticeship program for a halt on U.S. land because wildland firefighters went employees are furloughed. ahead this week, Forest Firefighting training courses Service spokeswoman Ka- are being canceled from tie O'Connor said. Tennessee to Oregon, piles "The agency is assessing of dead trees are unten- and prioritizing the activi- ded in federal forests and ties we are able to main- controlled burns to thin dry tain while in shutdown sta- vegetation aren't getting tus. We are unable to spec- done. ulate on specific impacts Although the furloughs only while the government shut- affect federal employees, down is ongoing and ever- In this Nov. 12, 2018 file photo a firefighter battles a fire along the Ronald Reagan Freeway, aka the collaborative nature of changing," O'Connor said state Highway 118, in Simi Valley, Calif. wildland firefighting means Associated Press in a statement. the pain of the four-week- Conservationists and fire long shutdown is having a need training classes, for lands are treading water. Similar classes were called managers say there are ripple effect — from fire- example, are scrambling Annual retreats where lo- off in Oregon and Tennes- other concerns. fighters on the ground to without federal instructors. cal, state and federal fire- see, and others face the Clearing and thinning proj- federal contractors and Conservation groups that fighting agencies strategize same fate as the shutdown ects and planned burns on top managers who control work with the U.S. Forest are being called off. drags on. President Donald federal land that could less- the firefighting strategy. Service to plan wildfire-pre- The fire season starts as Trump and congressional en fire danger by weeding State and local crews who vention projects on federal early as March in the south- Democrats are at odds out flammable debris also eastern United States, and over funding for a border are largely on hold in Cali- by April, fires pop up in the wall. fornia, Oregon and else- Southwest. Last year's most A dozen senators from Or- where. Private contractors devastating fire leveled the egon, California, New Mex- say they have received let- Northern California town ico, Washington, Colorado, ters telling them to stop the of Paradise just before Nevada, West Virginia and work. Thanksgiving, leaving just a Michigan sent a letter this There's already a backlog few months to prepare be- week to Trump warning of such projects in fed- tween seasons. that the shutdown would eral forests in Oregon and "I think a lot of people don't put lives at risk this coming Northern California, said understand that while fire season. Classes neces- Michael Wheelock, presi- there's not fire going on out sary for fire incident man- dent of Grayback, a pri- there right now, there's a lot agers, smokejumpers and vate contractor in Grants of really critical work going hotshot crews are in jeop- Pass, Oregon. on for the fire season — and ardy in the near future, the Intentional fires can only that's not getting done," senators said. be set in a narrow winter said Michael DeGrosky, Smokejumpers parachute window before tempera- chief of the Fire Protection into remote forests to battle tures and humidity falls — Bureau for the Montana blazes not accessible by and that is rapidly closing, Department of Natural Re- firefighters on the ground Wheelock said. sources and Conservation. and hotshot crews are small "Every week that goes by, It's especially important groups of elite firefighters it's going to start increasing with climate change mak- trained to battle the most the impact," he said. ing wildfire seasons longer, ferocious flames. Joyce McLean, who lost deadlier and more destruc- The winter is also when sea- her and her husband's tive. sonal firefighters apply for home in Paradise last No- DeGrosky was supposed to jobs, get the required drug vember, supports Trump's be teaching a course this tests and move to where push for a border wall but week for firefighters who they will train and work. In worries what will happen if want to qualify for the com- many cases, there's no one firefighters aren't prepared mand staff of a fire man- to answer the phone or for next time. agement team. But the process the applications, "I hope there are no more class was canceled with- and some potential recruits forest fires," said McLean, out instructors from federal may decide to work else- 74. "I wouldn't wish that on agencies. where to avoid the hassle. nobody."q U.S. NEWS A3 Friday 18 January 2019 BIG SPEECH the forum could have ad- Continued from Front equate security. Republi- "In light of the 800,000 great cans said she was merely American workers not re- trying to deny the president ceiving pay, I'm sure you the stage. would agree that post- While Pelosi did not imme- poning this public relations diately respond to being event is totally appropri- denied her trip, the No. 2 ate," he said. Democrat in the House, Pelosi spokesman Drew Rep. Steny Hoyer, called Hammill said she planned Trump's action "petty. It is to travel to Afghanistan small. It is vindictive." and Brussels to thank ser- Some Republicans also ex- vice members and obtain pressed frustration. Repub- briefings on national secu- lican Sen. Lindsey Graham rity and intelligence "from tweeted: "One sophomoric those on the front lines." He response does not deserve noted Trump had traveled another." He called Pelosi's to Iraq during the shutdown State of the Union move and said a Republican-led "very irresponsible and bla- congressional trip also had tantly political" but said taken place. Trump's effort was "also in- Internal Revenue Service employees, front row from the left, Brian Lanouette, of Merrimack, N.H., Mary Maldonado, of Dracut, Mass., and Maria Zangari, of Haverhill, Mass., display placards during The political tit-for-tat be- appropriate." a rally by federal employees and supporters, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019, in front of the Statehouse, in tween Trump and Pelosi Trump has still not said how Boston, held to call for an end of the partial shutdown of the federal government. underscored the tension he will handle Pelosi's at- Associated Press between the two leaders, tempt to have him post- both playing to their core pone his State of the Union brows among the U.S. dip- partment was "good" de- nearly 23 percent overseas supporters as they battle address until the govern- lomatic corps last week spite the shutdown and the had been furloughed and over the president's de- ment is reopened so work- when he proclaimed that fact that 40 percent of its the rest were working with- mand for money to build ers can be paid for provid- morale at the State De- employees in the U.S. and out pay.q a U.S.-Mexico border wall. ing security for the grand The sparring took place as Washington tradition. hundreds of thousands of Pelosi told reporters earlier federal workers go without Thursday: "Let's get a date pay and Washington's rou- when government is open. tine protocols — a presi- Let's pay the employees. dent's speech to Congress, Maybe he thinks it's OK a lawmaker's official trip — not to pay people who do become inflamed from the work. I don't." budget fight. Trump declined to address Pelosi would normally the stalemate over the make such a trip on a mili- speech Thursday during a tary aircraft supplied by the visit to the Pentagon, simply Pentagon. According to a promising that the nation defense official, Pelosi did will have "powerful, strong request Defense Depart- border security." ment support for overseas Pelosi reiterated she is will- travel and it was initially ap- ing to negotiate money for proved. The official wasn't border security once the authorized to speak by government is reopened, name about the matter, so but she said Democrats re- spoke on condition of ano- main opposed to Trump's nymity. long-promised wall. "I'm not The official said the presi- for a wall," Pelosi said twice, dent does have the au- mouthing the statement a thority to cancel the use of third time for effect. military aircraft. While the shutdown White House spokeswoman dragged on, the State De- Sarah Huckabee Sanders partment instructed all U.S. said Trump wanted Pelosi diplomats in Washington to stay in Washington be- and elsewhere to return to fore Tuesday, a deadline work next week with pay, to prepare the next round saying it had found mon- of paychecks for federal ey for their salaries at least workers. temporarily. In a notice to "We want to keep her in staff, the department said Washington," Sanders said. it can pay most of its em- "The president wants her ployees beginning Sunday here to negotiate." or Monday for their next Trump's move to ground pay period. They will not be the speaker came after paid for time worked since Pelosi threatened Trump's the shutdown began in De- planned Jan. 29 State of cember until the situation is the Union address, say- resolved, said the notice. ing the shutdown raised Secretary of State Mike concerns about whether Pompeo had raised eye- A4 U.S. NEWS Friday 18 January 2019 Cohen says he rigged online polls for Trump in 2014, 2015 NEW YORK (AP) — President "had no knowledge" of any University in Lynchburg, Vir- Donald Trump's estranged effort to manipulate polling ginia. His attorney declined former lawyer acknowl- data on his behalf. to comment. Cohen was edged Thursday that he He called Cohen a "liar" recently sentenced to three paid a technology compa- and a "thief" for seeking years in prison after plead- ny to rig Trump's standing in reimbursement for more ing guilty to tax crimes, two online polls before the money than he'd paid bank fraud and campaign presidential campaign. Gauger's company, Red- violations that were not re- Michael Cohen tweeted Finch Solutions LLC. lated to his dealings with that "what I did was at the Gauger is also the chief in- Gauger and the technol- direction of and for the sole formation officer at Liberty ogy company.q benefit of" Trump. "I truly regret my blind loy- Congressman who alty to a man who doesn't deserve it," he added. worked on Trump's PA Cohen was responding to In this Dec. 7, 2018 file photo, Michael Cohen, former lawyer to an article in The Wall Street President Donald Trump, leaves his apartment building in New Journal that said Cohen York. campaign is resigning stiffed the owner of the Associated Press technology company out Marino and former Rep. of tens of thousands of dol- ing glove Cohen claimed payments to two women Lou Barletta "thunder and lars he promised for work had been worn by a Brazil- who claim they had extra- lightning" when they co- that included using a com- ian mixed-martial arts fight- marital affairs with Trump. chaired his campaign in puter script to enter fake er. They said in a charging Pennsylvania. votes for Trump in a 2014 Cohen disputed he paid document that Cohen Trump nominated Marino CNBC poll asking people to cash, telling the Journal had been reimbursed by in 2017 to become the na- identify top business lead- that "all monies paid to Mr. the Trump Organization for tion's drug czar, but Ma- ers and a 2015 poll of po- Gauger were by check." payments to the women, rino withdrew his name tential presidential candi- He offered no further com- plus $50,000 for "tech ser- from consideration after dates. ment. vices" that he requested in reports he played a key The company owner, John Federal prosecutors re- a handwritten note. role in a law that weak- Gauger, told the newspa- ferred to a payment to Messages seeking com- ened federal power to per that Cohen promised Gauger's company— ment were sent to the stop companies from dis- him $50,000 for the work though not by name— Trump Organization Thurs- tributing opioids. but instead gave him a when Cohen was charged day. At the time, Marino de- blue Walmart bag stuffed last summer with violating Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giu- In this file photo from Dec. 15, fended his work on the with between $12,000 and campaign-finance laws liani, told The Associated 2016 Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., law, which passed with- $13,000 in cash, plus a box- by arranging hush-money Press that the president stands with other elected out opposition in the officials as then President- House and Senate and elect Donald Trump, departs was signed by President a rally in Hershey, Pa. Associated Press Barack Obama, and said it will help "facilitate a bal- By MARC LEVY and MARK anced solution" between SCOLFORO access to medication and Associated Press law enforcement's efforts HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — to prevent abuse. Tom Marino, a five-term Marino, who lives in Co- Republican congressman gan Station, was a U.S. who helped steer Don- attorney in the Middle Dis- ald Trump's successful trict of Pennsylvania under presidential campaign in President George W. Bush Pennsylvania, said Thurs- and has survived multiple day that he is resigning bouts of kidney cancer. just days into a new term. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Demo- In a statement, Marino crat, must schedule a spe- said his last day will be Jan. cial election to fill Marino's 23 and that he is taking a seat. job in the private sector. Marino's resignation is Marino and his office did likely to set off a furious not respond to questions scramble to secure votes about the announcement among the committee Thursday. members of the state Re- Marino easily won re-elec- publican Party who will tion in November in his select a nominee to run in heavily Republican district the special election. in northern Pennsylvania. The sprawling district cov- The 66-year-old former ers all or parts of 15 coun- county and federal pros- ties. Registered Republi- ecutor was one of Trump's cans outnumber Demo- earliest supporters in Con- crats there by nearly gress. Trump nicknamed 100,000.q U.S. NEWS A5 Friday 18 January 2019 Gov. Pritzker signs bill allowing Illinois to license gun dealers SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — for gun dealers to do busi- gun is in the dealer's inven- Gov. J.B. Pritzker authorized ness in Illinois, which is going tory or has been sold, not state regulation of firearms to hurt the smaller dealers. examining patterns or reg- dealers Thursday in a rever- "The action taken today is ularity of purchases. sal of his predecessor's pol- another assault on our 2nd "We can't think that this bill, icy and prompting a gun Amendment rights." however important it is, is owners group to threaten Pritzker, who already this the solution," Harmon said. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker holds paperwork after he signed legal action against Illinois. week reversed course on "It will help but there's more legislation that requires gun stores to get state licenses, Thursday, Pritzker, sworn in on Mon- GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner's work to be done."q Jan. 17, 2019 at Young Elementary School in Chicago. day, chose an elementary policies toward labor with Associated Press school in Chicago to sign pro-union action, said gun- legislation meant to cut rights organizations are "just down on illegal purchases wrong" in their criticism of of firearms through video the licensing bill. He add- monitoring, tighter inven- ed, "I'm going to continue tory control and gun-shop to make sure that we're employee training. standing up to the voices "We can prevent some- like the Illinois State Rifle As- one from buying a gun for sociation and the National someone else who is not Rifle Association to protect legally allowed to own a our families and our chil- gun," said Pritzker, stand- dren." ing next to Chicago Po- Lawmakers endorsed the lice Superintendent Eddie idea twice last year. Raun- Johnson, whose force con- er vetoed the first version fiscated 10,000 illegal guns in March. Democrats who last year. "Many of the inci- control the General As- dents of gun violence that sembly, led by Sen. Don occur in our city and all Harmon of Oak Park, OK'd across our state occur with it again in May but never illegal guns." sent it to Rauner for consid- The law affects about 2,400 eration. firearms dealers and its "Thank you for figuring out provisions take effect in six in four days what some oth- months. Each must show it er people couldn't figure is licensed with the federal out in four years," Chicago Bureau of Alcohol, Tobac- Mayor Rahm Emanuel said co, Firearms and Explosives to Pritzker. "You don't need and purchase a five-year a Ph.D. from Harvard to state permit — $1,500 for figure out that if you're go- retail shops and $300 for in- ing to regulate a barber dependent dealers. Each shop and a bar, maybe must install videotaping in you should regulate a gun retail sections of the store, dealer." maintain an electronic in- Harmon, who first intro- ventory and require annual duced the idea in 2003, employee training in spot- said the law is more about ting so-called straw pur- allowing the state to gath- chases. er information on straw The Illinois State Rifle Asso- purchases through video ciation promised a lawsuit monitoring and electronic challenging the plan. inventory and sales records "The federal government than it is about punishing already licenses gun deal- dealers. While the ATF au- ers. There is no need to dits gun shops, Harmon add yet another layer of said the federal agency bureaucracy on gun deal- has fewer than two dozen ers," executive director agents to oversee all of Il- Richard Pearson said in a linois' dealers. He contend- statement. "The only thing ed audits occur only once this measure is going to do every three to five years is make it cost more money and only verify whether a /arubatoday/ A6 U.S. NEWS Friday 18 January 2019 Watchdog: Thousands more children may have been separated were transferred to the cus- tody of Health and Human Services. The practice prompted an outcry, with church groups and lawmakers calling the separations inhumane. Trump ordered an end to the separations on June 20. At the time, a federal judge who was already hearing the case of a mother sep- arated from her son ruled that children must be re- united with their parents. Since the court order, 118 children have been sepa- rated. Despite "considerable" ef- fort by Health and Human Services to locate all the children placed in its care, the report said officials were still finding new cases as long as five months after the judge's order requiring In this Dec. 13, 2018, file photo, teen migrants walk in line inside the Tornillo detention camp in Tornillo, Texas. reunifications. Associated Press "There is even less visibility for separated children who By COLLEEN LONG and RI- took place as parents were dren who passed through The number of families fall outside the court case," CARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR criminally prosecuted for the agency's care during coming across the border investigators concluded. Associated Press illegally entering the coun- the 2017 budget year was has grown even as over- They said it's not clear the WASHINGTON (AP) — Thou- try under President Donald 40,810. The separated chil- all illegal border crossings system put in place to track sands more migrant chil- Trump's "zero tolerance" dren had already been re- have decreased dramati- separated children is good dren may have been split policy. leased to sponsors, who are cally compared with his- enough. And the lack of from their families than the "It's certainly more," Max- generally parents or other toric trends. Over the past detail from immigration au- Trump administration previ- well said. "But precisely how close relatives. three months, families thorities continues to be an ously reported, in part be- much more is unknown." The inspector general did made up the majority of issue. cause officials were step- Maxwell said investigators not say why the children Border Patrol arrests. The border remains a cru- ping up family separations didn't have specific num- had been separated be- The Administration for Chil- cible for the Trump ad- long before the border pol- bers, but that Health and fore the zero-tolerance dren and Families, the di- ministration, with a partial icy that prompted interna- Human Services staff had policy. Immigration officials vision under Health and government shutdown that tional outrage last spring, estimated the tally to be in are allowed to take a child Human Services that man- has dragged on nearly a a government watchdog the thousands. from a parent in certain ages the care of unac- month over the president's said Thursday. Lee Gelernt, an American cases — serious criminal companied minors, said it demand for $5.7 billion for It's unclear just how many Civil Liberties Union attor- charges against a parent, generally agreed with the a border wall that congres- family separations oc- ney who sued on behalf of concerns over the health findings and noted the re- sional Democrats are un- curred at the U.S.-Mexico a mother separated from and welfare of a child or port did not find that the willing to provide. border; immigration of- her son, said the separa- medical concerns. That agency lost track of chil- The inspector general's of- ficials are allowed under tion policy "was a cruel di- policy has long been in dren under its care. It also fice was also looking into longstanding policy to sep- saster from the start. This place. noted new policies were in other aspects of the sepa- arate families under cer- report reaffirms that the Katie Waldman, a spokes- place to help track newly rations, including the health tain circumstances. Health government never had a woman for Homeland Se- separated children. And and mental well-being of and Human Services, the clear picture of how many curity, said the report rein- the court never instructed the children who had been agency tasked with car- children it ripped from their forced what officials have officials to determine the separated. It expects to ing for migrant children, parents." long said. number of children sepa- have other reports on the did not adequately track Most of the tens of thou- "For more than a decade rated before the June 26 topic. them until after a judge sands of children who come it was and continues to be ruling. Democratic Rep. Bennie ruled that children must be into government custody standard for apprehended Last spring, then-Attorney Thompson of Mississippi, reunited with their families, cross the border alone. But minors to be separated General Jeff Sessions said chairman of the House according to the report the report found that in late when the adult is not the anyone caught crossing Homeland Security Com- by the agency's inspector 2016, 0.3 percent of chil- parent or legal guardian, the border illegally would mittee, said he would hold general. dren turned over to Health the child's safety is at risk" or be criminally prosecuted. the government account- Ann Maxwell, assistant in- and Human Services had there's a record of a "seri- Families were brought into able in the matter. "The spector general for evalu- crossed with a parent and ous criminal activity by the custody by U.S. Border Trump administration, with ations, said the number of were separated. By the adult," she said. patrol officials, then their its unique blend of incom- children removed from their summer of 2017, that per- In some cases, however, parents taken to criminal petence, cruelty, and dis- parents was certainly larger centage had grown to 3.6 Homeland Security officials court. If the parents were regard for basic decency, than the 2,737 listed by the percent, officials said. The said a parent had a crimi- gone longer than 72 hours misled the American public government in court docu- watchdog did not give ex- nal history but did not offer — the length of time Border on one of its most heinous ments. Those documents act numbers, but the total details on the crimes, the Patrol is allowed to hold policies to date," he said in chronicled separations that number of migrant chil- watchdog reported. children — the children a statement.q U.S. NEWS A7 Friday 18 January 2019 $10 Judge acquits 3 Chicago officers of Laquan McDonald cover-up By DON BABWIN and MI- doing by their colleagues. was imminent," she said. "It CHAEL TARM "The next officer is going to was borne out in the video CHICAGO (AP) — A judge think twice about filing a that McDonald continued on Thursday acquitted false police report. Do they to move after he fell to the three Chicago officers of want to go through this?" ground" and refused to re- trying to cover up the 2014 Special prosecutor Patri- linquish a knife. shooting of Laquan Mc- cia Brown Holmes said she The video appeared to Donald, dismissing as just hoped the verdict would show the teen collapsing one perspective the shock- not make officers reluctant in a heap after the first few ing dashcam video of the to come forward when shots and moving in large black teenager's death they see misconduct. Her part because bullets kept that led to protests, a fed- key witness, officer Dora striking his body for 10 more This combination of Nov. 28, 2018 file photos shows former Chi- eral investigation of the po- Fontaine, described how seconds. cago Police officer Joseph Walsh, left, former detective David lice department and the she had become a pariah The judge said it's not un- March and former officer Thomas Gaffney, accused of trying to cover up the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald, during a rare murder conviction of in the department and was usual for two witnesses to bench trial before Judge Domenica A. Stephenson at Leighton an officer. called a "rat" by fellow of- describe events in starkly Criminal Court Building in Chicago. In casting off the prosecu- ficers. different ways. "It does not Associated Press tion's entire case, Judge The shooting has provoked necessarily mean that one Domenica Stephenson periodic street protests is lying," she said. sync with what millions of lice SUV and continuing to seemed to accept many since 2015, when the video The judge also noted sev- people saw in the video. shoot the 17-year-old while of the same defense argu- came to light, and the ac- eral times that the vantage Both Van Dyke's trial and he was lying on the street. ments that were rejected in quittals could renew that points of various officers that of the three other of- Police were responding to October by jurors who con- movement. who witnessed the shoot- ficers hinged on the video, a report of a male who was victed officer Jason Van "We will be down here to- ing were "completely dif- which showed Van Dyke breaking into trucks and Dyke of second-degree morrow by the hundreds, ferent." That could explain opening fire within seconds stealing radios on the city's murder and aggravated and we will cry out for jus- why their accounts did not of getting out of his po- South Side.q battery. He is scheduled to tice for Laquan," activist be sentenced Friday. Eric Russell said. The judge said the video The trial was watched showed only one viewpoint closely by law enforcement of the confrontation and and critics of the depart- that there was no indica- ment, which has long had tion the officers tried to a reputation for condoning hide evidence. police brutality. "The evidence shows just Officer Joseph Walsh, of- the opposite," she said. She ficer Thomas Gaffney and singled out how they pre- detective David March served the graphic video were accused of conspir- at the heart of the case. acy, official misconduct McDonald's family ques- and obstruction of justice. tioned how the two cases All but Gaffney have since could produce such differ- left the department. They ent decisions. His great un- asked the judge, rather cle, the Rev. Marvin Hunter, than a jury, to hear the evi- told reporters that the ver- dence. dict means "that if you are After the verdict, Walsh a police officer you can lie, would say only that the or- cheat and steal." deal of being charged and "To say that these men are tried was "heart-breaking not guilty is to say that Ja- for my family, a year and a son Van Dyke is not guilty." half." He added: "It is a sad day In her ruling , the judge re- for America." jected prosecution argu- Prosecutor Ron Safer tried ments that the video dem- to put a positive spin on the onstrated officers were ly- verdict. ing when they described "This case was a case where McDonald as moving and the code of silence was on posing a threat even after trial," he said, referring to he was shot. the long tradition that of- "An officer could have rea- ficers don't report wrong- sonably believed an attack A8 WORLD NEWS Friday 18 January 2019 UN health chief orders probe into misconduct By MARIA CHENG The author of the anony- Associated Press mous WHO emails also LONDON (AP) — The head charged there were of the World Health Orga- "crooked recruitment and nization has ordered an selection" processes that internal investigation into were "tantamount to fraud, allegations the U.N. health corruption and abuse of agency is rife with racism, authority." sexism and corruption, af- In the latest anonymous ter a series of anonymous message, the author sin- emails with the explosive gled out the supposedly charges were sent to top flawed hiring process of managers last year. a senior director in WHO's Three emails addressed to emergencies department, WHO directors — and ob- suggesting that might tained by the Associated have led to mistakes being Press — complained about made by incompetent of- "systematic racial discrimi- ficials involved in efforts to nation" against African stop Ebola in Congo. staffers and alleged other Some staffers feared that instances of wrongdoing, funds donated to stem the including claims that some spread of the deadly virus of the money intended to "have not been used ju- fight Ebola in Congo was diciously," the email said, In this Tuesday Aug. 14, 2018 file photo, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the misspent. warning such blunders World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a press conference at the European headquar- Last month, WHO Director- could undermine WHO's ters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland General Tedros Adhanom Associated Press credibility. Ghebreyesus told staff- "A plane was hired to trans- ers he had instructed the lished said the agency was chief. es "have all my support" port three vehicles from head of WHO's office of "aware" of such allegations However, critics doubt that and that he would provide the warehouse in Dubai at internal oversight to look and has "zero tolerance WHO can effectively in- more resources if neces- the cost of $1 million. Why into the charges raised by for misconduct or discrimi- vestigate itself and have sary. would WHO ship vehicles the emails. He confirmed nation of any kind." The called for the probe to be "To those that are giving us from Dubai? We would that directive to the AP on statement said Tedros has made public. feedback, thank you," he appreciate the rationale Thursday. "championed openness, The first email, which was told a meeting of WHO's when jeeps in DRC (Con- A WHO statement issued transparency and diversity" sent last April, claimed country representatives in go) can be purchased at after the AP story was pub- since he became WHO's there was "systematic ra- Nairobi last month. $80,000 per vehicle," the cial discrimination against "We will do everything email said, claiming that Africans at WHO" and that to correct (it) if there are "corruption stories about lo- African staffers were being problems." gisticians and procurement "abused, sworn at (and) But Tedros refuted claims in WHO's (Geneva emer- shown contempt to" by that WHO's hiring policies gencies department) are their Geneva-based col- are skewed, arguing that legendary." leagues. his top management team Sarah Russell, a WHO Two further emails ad- was more geographically spokeswoman, said WHO dressed to WHO directors diverse and gender-bal- shipped 10 vehicles out of complained that senior anced than any other U.N. Dubai last May because officials were "attempting organization after adopt- there were no vehicles to stifle" investigations into ing measures to be more available for sale in Congo such problems and also inclusive. that met minimum safety alleged other instances "There is change already standards at the time. She of wrongdoing, including happening," he said during said it cost $237,801 to allegedly misspent Ebola the December staff meet- transport them. funds. ing, according to an audio David Webb, director of The last email, sent in De- recording provided to the WHO's office of internal cember, labeled the be- AP. oversight, told staffers that havior of a senior doctor WHO's in-house investiga- Tedros had asked him "to helping to lead the re- tion into misconduct comes conduct an appropriate sponse against Ebola as after other U.N. agencies investigation" into the is- "unacceptable, unprofes- have been rocked by ha- sues raised in the emails. sional and racist," citing a rassment complaints. Webb said he and his team November incident at a At UNAIDS, chief Michel would scrutinize those ac- meeting where the doc- Sidibe agreed to step cusations, in addition to the tor reportedly "humiliated, down after an indepen- approximately 150 other disgraced and belittled" a dent report concluded in claims that have been subordinate from the Mid- December that his "defec- reported to his office this dle East. tive leadership" had creat- year. Tedros — a former health ed a toxic working environ- "My team is trying their best minister of Ethiopia and ment, with staffers asserting to go to DRC (Congo), to WHO's first African director- there was rampant sexual go to where the allegations general — said investiga- harassment, bullying and are with an effort to find tors looking into the charg- abuse of power. the facts," he said.q WORLD NEWS A9 Friday 18 January 2019 Italy's Berlusconi rebounds again to run for EU parliament By NICOLE WINFIELD income to needy Italians Associated Press looking for work and re- ROME (AP) — Silvio Berlus- forming unpopular pension coni is back. Again. regulations. The three-time Italian pre- At a press conference in mier, who has made a ca- Rome, Deputy Premier reer out of rebounding from Luigi Di Maio proudly an- legal woes, personal scan- nounced the government dal, heart trouble and polit- had "founded a new wel- ical setbacks, announced fare state in Italy...a revolu- Thursday he is running for tion in the world of work." the European Parliament in Media mogul Berlusconi May elections. stressed in his first campaign The 82-year-old Berlusconi remarks that he wanted to said he wanted to "bring see a united center-right my voice to a Europe that in Europe. It was evidence should change, a Europe of his continued hope that that has lost profound think- the League, which was a ing about the world." junior partner in all his gov- Berlusconi had been ernments, would eventually barred from running for abandon the 5-Stars at the public office for nearly five national level and come years due to a tax fraud back to the traditional cen- conviction. Citing his good ter-right fold. Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi waves during a visit to Monserrato, near Cagliari, Italy, conduct, a court last year "A center-right that is unit- Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019. ruled that he could once Associated Press ed and victorious, with its again run. values and ideals, is the Berlusconi's Forza Italia par- digits behind the two par- anti-establishment 5-Stars. details of how it intends to future of Italy, Europe and ty, which dominated Italian ties in western Europe's first He announced his cam- fulfill two campaign prom- the world," Berlusconi said politics for a quarter-cen- populist government, the paign on the same day ises made by the coalition in Sardinia, where he keeps tury, is now polling in single right-wing League and the Italy's government unveiled parties: providing a basic a huge estate.q Striking Greek school teachers shut down traffic in Athens Associated Press stay until lawmakers voted teachers' demands, al- ATHENS, Greece (AP) — on the proposed hiring sys- though the walkout mainly Striking school teachers tem. affected schools. Classes and other Greek civil ser- Greece's left-wing govern- were canceled in most vants shut down central ment has promised to hire public schools in Athens Athens for hours Thursday 15,000 full-time teachers and many were elsewhere during a protest of new hir- over the next three years, in Greece. ing criteria for teachers that starting this fall. Unions say A few dozen protesters were under consideration the hiring system is unfairly briefly clashed with police in parliament. weighted against teach- officers blocking their ac- About 3,000 people took ers who have worked for cess to parliament, but no part in the protest outside years on short-time con- injuries or arrests were re- the parliament building, tracts. They also want more ported. Teachers previously disrupting public transpor- teachers to be hired. held two protest marches in School teachers protest in central Athens, on Thursday, Jan. 17, tation for about five hours The umbrella civil servants' Athens over the hiring plan. 2019. Hundreds of striking Greek civil servants, mostly school while police diverted traf- union, Adedy, called a 24- Both resulted in clashes be- teachers, are marching through central Athens to protest the fic away from Syntagma hour public sector strike tween some demonstrators proposed new hiring criteria for state school teachers. Square. They planned to for Thursday to back the and riot police.q Associated Press A10 WORLD NEWS Friday 18 January 2019 Ukraine OKs property law that could affect 12,000 churches Associated Press wide autonomy under the of a parish to put their sig- MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Russian Orthodox Church natures on a vote to join Ukraine's parliament on was considered legitimate another community. If the Thursday adopted a bill and two others in Ukraine vote is not unanimous, that spelling out procedures for were regarded as schis- part of the community that transferring church proper- matic. The new church prefers to stay with the Rus- ty after a new unified Ukrai- unites the two formerly sia-affiliated church should nian Orthodox church was schismatic bodies. be allowed to rent the granted independence. Many Ukrainians had re- premises and use them for The bill could potentially af- sented the status of the their own rites. fect some 12,000 church- Moscow-affiliated church. Ukrainian President Petro es in Ukraine and vast The push for a full-fledged Poroshenko, who spear- amounts of property, in- Ukrainian church was bol- headed efforts to make the cluding the gems of Ortho- stered by Russia's annexa- Ukrainian church indepen- dox Christianity like the vast tion of Crimea in 2014 and dent, hailed the vote at the Pechersk Monastery in the fighting in eastern Ukraine Supreme Rada, saying that Ukrainian capital of Kiev. between government forc- it will prevent "bloodshed." The Ecumenical Patriarch es and Russia-backed reb- He said over 100 parishes of Constantinople earlier els that has killed at least have already indicated this month granted inde- 10,000 people. their intention to join the pendence to a new Ukrai- The Supreme Rada on new church. nian Orthodox Church, Thursday voted for the bill Poroshenko, who has been formally severing its centu- that spells out the proce- touring the country in re- Metropolitan Epiphanius, the head of the independent Ukrainian ries-long ties with the Rus- dures for transferring church cent weeks with the Tomos, Orthodox Church, leads the Christmas service in the St. Sophia sian Orthodox Church. The property if a parish decides a scroll containing the in- Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, Jan. 7, 2019. move forces clergy and be- to join a new church. The Associated Press dependence decree, has lievers in Ukraine to choose bill has yet to be signed by been criticized for using the between belonging to the president. warning of sectarian vio- jority vote and a show of church split with Moscow Moscow-backed churches The Russian Orthodox lence. hands, caused concerns in to boost his popularity. He is or the new Ukrainian one. Church has staunchly op- The first reading of the bill, the European Union. expected to seek re-elec- Until the decree, the Ortho- posed the creation of the which allowed for a trans- The bill that was voted on tion in the March 31 presi- dox church that enjoyed new Ukrainian church, fer of property by a ma- Thursday requires two-thirds dential vote.q Vladimir Putin gets lavish welcome on visit to ally Serbia By DUSAN STOJANOVIC to Serbia and then on to authoritarian regime." Associated Press Hungary, "but in the end, It said that Putin's visit "indi- BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — everything will depend on cates that the Serbian rul- Vladimir Putin received a other countries, including ers are ready to sacrifice hero's welcome in ally Ser- the European Union." human rights and better bia on Thursday as the Rus- Putin's visit come as thou- living standards of citizens sian president attempted sands have been holding because of their servile to maintain political and weekly demonstrations attitude toward Putin's re- economic influence in the against Vucic because of gime." Balkans, which is increas- what they see as his auto- Russia's interest in Serbia re- ingly looking Westward. cratic rule. lates to its strategic position Putin's presidential plane Tens of thousands of Vucic's between East and West. was escorted over Serbian right-wing party supporters Of Serbia's eight neighbors, airspace by MiG-29 fighter were bused into the capi- five are NATO members jets he recently donated tal on Thursday to gather and two more are seeking to Serbia as he arrived for in front of the St. Sava Or- membership; and four are Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, right, and Russian President the one-day visit. Church thodox church, which the in the EU and two more are Vladimir Putin, center, attend an official welcome ceremony bells tolled, guns saluted two presidents visited. They working toward accession. prior to their talks in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019. and people waved Russian Associated Press were chanting slogans in- Serbia remains Moscow's and Serbian flags on Putin's cluding "Serbia-Russia, we only ally in the region. route through the Serbian mer communist countries independence in 2008, don't need the European Unlike NATO, Putin formally capital, Belgrade. of Eastern Europe. and added that "however Union!" does not oppose Serbia's Serbia has maintained Putin and his host, Serbian small," Serbia has been a Vucic's critics say the gath- EU path and analysts be- close links with traditional President Aleksandar Vu- "reliable partner" to Russia. ering was staged to sug- lieve that this is because he Slavic ally Russia despite cic, praised the relationship Several bilateral agree- gest that the Serbian leader wants a staunch ally — or formally seeking Europe- between the two countries. ments were signed, includ- has many more supporters perhaps a Trojan horse — an Union membership. It Putin handed a top Russian ing on the supply of Russian than opponents, who have within the 28-nation bloc. has refused to join West- honor to Vucic, who gave gas and weapons to Ser- been marching the same Putin's popularity in Serbia is ern sanctions against Rus- a puppy of a Serb dog bia. route since December to mostly because the Krem- sia over Ukraine and has breed to the Russian presi- On the gas, Putin said Rus- demand free elections and lin is supporting Serbia in pledged to stay out of dent. sian companies are ready media. its rejection of Kosovo's in- NATO. Vucic thanked Russia for its to invest about $1.4 billion Several liberal Serbian rights dependence. In contrast, Putin has recently stepped support for Serbia's claim into a stretch of a pipeline groups issued a statement most Western countries up efforts to restore Mos- over Kosovo, a former that would go from Turkey on Thursday protesting "glo- have recognized Kosovo's cow's influence in the for- province that declared via EU-member Bulgaria rification of Vladimir Putin's statehood.q

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Tourism for Tomorrow Friday January 18, 2019 T: 582-7800 | F: 582-7044 www.arubatoday.com Page 13 AArruubbaa’’ss OONNLLYY EEnngglliisshh nneewwssppaappeerr FLIGHT GROUNDED Trump denies Pelosi aircraft for trip abroad House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019. Associated Press Associated Press Speaker Nancy Pelosi, de- dress. ship as negotiations to end day, Trump said the shut- WASHINGTON (AP) — It took nying her an aircraft to visit The nation's two most pow- the monthlong partial gov- down would have to delay President Donald Trump troops abroad in apparent erful leaders appeared to ernment shutdown failed to her trip, which was to begin one day to flex his execu- response to her attempt to be engaged in a game of produce results. Thursday. tive power back at House delay his State of Union ad- constitutional one-upman- In a letter to Pelosi on Thurs- Continued on Page 3 A2 UP FRONT Friday 18 January 2019 U.S. shutdown stalls training, other prep for wildfire season PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Just "Even if the shutdown ends two months after a wildfire and we start hiring people, wiped out Paradise, Cali- we will have missed the fornia, officials are gearing cream of the crop," De- up for this year's fire season Grosky said. and fear the government The U.S. Forest Service said shutdown could make it in an email that the agen- even more difficult than cy was committed to hiring one of the worst in history. for temporary and perma- The winter months are criti- nent firefighting positions cal for wildfire managers and would continue critical who use the break from the training "to the extent fea- flames to prepare for the sible." next onslaught, but much The first session of an ap- of that effort has ground to prenticeship program for a halt on U.S. land because wildland firefighters went employees are furloughed. ahead this week, Forest Firefighting training courses Service spokeswoman Ka- are being canceled from tie O'Connor said. Tennessee to Oregon, piles "The agency is assessing of dead trees are unten- and prioritizing the activi- ded in federal forests and ties we are able to main- controlled burns to thin dry tain while in shutdown sta- vegetation aren't getting tus. We are unable to spec- done. ulate on specific impacts Although the furloughs only while the government shut- affect federal employees, down is ongoing and ever- In this Nov. 12, 2018 file photo a firefighter battles a fire along the Ronald Reagan Freeway, aka the collaborative nature of changing," O'Connor said state Highway 118, in Simi Valley, Calif. wildland firefighting means Associated Press in a statement. the pain of the four-week- Conservationists and fire long shutdown is having a need training classes, for lands are treading water. Similar classes were called managers say there are ripple effect — from fire- example, are scrambling Annual retreats where lo- off in Oregon and Tennes- other concerns. fighters on the ground to without federal instructors. cal, state and federal fire- see, and others face the Clearing and thinning proj- federal contractors and Conservation groups that fighting agencies strategize same fate as the shutdown ects and planned burns on top managers who control work with the U.S. Forest are being called off. drags on. President Donald federal land that could less- the firefighting strategy. Service to plan wildfire-pre- The fire season starts as Trump and congressional en fire danger by weeding State and local crews who vention projects on federal early as March in the south- Democrats are at odds out flammable debris also eastern United States, and over funding for a border are largely on hold in Cali- by April, fires pop up in the wall. fornia, Oregon and else- Southwest. Last year's most A dozen senators from Or- where. Private contractors devastating fire leveled the egon, California, New Mex- say they have received let- Northern California town ico, Washington, Colorado, ters telling them to stop the of Paradise just before Nevada, West Virginia and work. Thanksgiving, leaving just a Michigan sent a letter this There's already a backlog few months to prepare be- week to Trump warning of such projects in fed- tween seasons. that the shutdown would eral forests in Oregon and "I think a lot of people don't put lives at risk this coming Northern California, said understand that while fire season. Classes neces- Michael Wheelock, presi- there's not fire going on out sary for fire incident man- dent of Grayback, a pri- there right now, there's a lot agers, smokejumpers and vate contractor in Grants of really critical work going hotshot crews are in jeop- Pass, Oregon. on for the fire season — and ardy in the near future, the Intentional fires can only that's not getting done," senators said. be set in a narrow winter said Michael DeGrosky, Smokejumpers parachute window before tempera- chief of the Fire Protection into remote forests to battle tures and humidity falls — Bureau for the Montana blazes not accessible by and that is rapidly closing, Department of Natural Re- firefighters on the ground Wheelock said. sources and Conservation. and hotshot crews are small "Every week that goes by, It's especially important groups of elite firefighters it's going to start increasing with climate change mak- trained to battle the most the impact," he said. ing wildfire seasons longer, ferocious flames. Joyce McLean, who lost deadlier and more destruc- The winter is also when sea- her and her husband's tive. sonal firefighters apply for home in Paradise last No- DeGrosky was supposed to jobs, get the required drug vember, supports Trump's be teaching a course this tests and move to where push for a border wall but week for firefighters who they will train and work. In worries what will happen if want to qualify for the com- many cases, there's no one firefighters aren't prepared mand staff of a fire man- to answer the phone or for next time. agement team. But the process the applications, "I hope there are no more class was canceled with- and some potential recruits forest fires," said McLean, out instructors from federal may decide to work else- 74. "I wouldn't wish that on agencies. where to avoid the hassle. nobody."q U.S. NEWS A3 Friday 18 January 2019 BIG SPEECH the forum could have ad- Continued from Front equate security. Republi- "In light of the 800,000 great cans said she was merely American workers not re- trying to deny the president ceiving pay, I'm sure you the stage. would agree that post- While Pelosi did not imme- poning this public relations diately respond to being event is totally appropri- denied her trip, the No. 2 ate," he said. Democrat in the House, Pelosi spokesman Drew Rep. Steny Hoyer, called Hammill said she planned Trump's action "petty. It is to travel to Afghanistan small. It is vindictive." and Brussels to thank ser- Some Republicans also ex- vice members and obtain pressed frustration. Repub- briefings on national secu- lican Sen. Lindsey Graham rity and intelligence "from tweeted: "One sophomoric those on the front lines." He response does not deserve noted Trump had traveled another." He called Pelosi's to Iraq during the shutdown State of the Union move and said a Republican-led "very irresponsible and bla- congressional trip also had tantly political" but said taken place. Trump's effort was "also in- Internal Revenue Service employees, front row from the left, Brian Lanouette, of Merrimack, N.H., Mary Maldonado, of Dracut, Mass., and Maria Zangari, of Haverhill, Mass., display placards during The political tit-for-tat be- appropriate." a rally by federal employees and supporters, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019, in front of the Statehouse, in tween Trump and Pelosi Trump has still not said how Boston, held to call for an end of the partial shutdown of the federal government. underscored the tension he will handle Pelosi's at- Associated Press between the two leaders, tempt to have him post- both playing to their core pone his State of the Union brows among the U.S. dip- partment was "good" de- nearly 23 percent overseas supporters as they battle address until the govern- lomatic corps last week spite the shutdown and the had been furloughed and over the president's de- ment is reopened so work- when he proclaimed that fact that 40 percent of its the rest were working with- mand for money to build ers can be paid for provid- morale at the State De- employees in the U.S. and out pay.q a U.S.-Mexico border wall. ing security for the grand The sparring took place as Washington tradition. hundreds of thousands of Pelosi told reporters earlier federal workers go without Thursday: "Let's get a date pay and Washington's rou- when government is open. tine protocols — a presi- Let's pay the employees. dent's speech to Congress, Maybe he thinks it's OK a lawmaker's official trip — not to pay people who do become inflamed from the work. I don't." budget fight. Trump declined to address Pelosi would normally the stalemate over the make such a trip on a mili- speech Thursday during a tary aircraft supplied by the visit to the Pentagon, simply Pentagon. According to a promising that the nation defense official, Pelosi did will have "powerful, strong request Defense Depart- border security." ment support for overseas Pelosi reiterated she is will- travel and it was initially ap- ing to negotiate money for proved. The official wasn't border security once the authorized to speak by government is reopened, name about the matter, so but she said Democrats re- spoke on condition of ano- main opposed to Trump's nymity. long-promised wall. "I'm not The official said the presi- for a wall," Pelosi said twice, dent does have the au- mouthing the statement a thority to cancel the use of third time for effect. military aircraft. While the shutdown White House spokeswoman dragged on, the State De- Sarah Huckabee Sanders partment instructed all U.S. said Trump wanted Pelosi diplomats in Washington to stay in Washington be- and elsewhere to return to fore Tuesday, a deadline work next week with pay, to prepare the next round saying it had found mon- of paychecks for federal ey for their salaries at least workers. temporarily. In a notice to "We want to keep her in staff, the department said Washington," Sanders said. it can pay most of its em- "The president wants her ployees beginning Sunday here to negotiate." or Monday for their next Trump's move to ground pay period. They will not be the speaker came after paid for time worked since Pelosi threatened Trump's the shutdown began in De- planned Jan. 29 State of cember until the situation is the Union address, say- resolved, said the notice. ing the shutdown raised Secretary of State Mike concerns about whether Pompeo had raised eye- A4 U.S. NEWS Friday 18 January 2019 Cohen says he rigged online polls for Trump in 2014, 2015 NEW YORK (AP) — President "had no knowledge" of any University in Lynchburg, Vir- Donald Trump's estranged effort to manipulate polling ginia. His attorney declined former lawyer acknowl- data on his behalf. to comment. Cohen was edged Thursday that he He called Cohen a "liar" recently sentenced to three paid a technology compa- and a "thief" for seeking years in prison after plead- ny to rig Trump's standing in reimbursement for more ing guilty to tax crimes, two online polls before the money than he'd paid bank fraud and campaign presidential campaign. Gauger's company, Red- violations that were not re- Michael Cohen tweeted Finch Solutions LLC. lated to his dealings with that "what I did was at the Gauger is also the chief in- Gauger and the technol- direction of and for the sole formation officer at Liberty ogy company.q benefit of" Trump. "I truly regret my blind loy- Congressman who alty to a man who doesn't deserve it," he added. worked on Trump's PA Cohen was responding to In this Dec. 7, 2018 file photo, Michael Cohen, former lawyer to an article in The Wall Street President Donald Trump, leaves his apartment building in New Journal that said Cohen York. campaign is resigning stiffed the owner of the Associated Press technology company out Marino and former Rep. of tens of thousands of dol- ing glove Cohen claimed payments to two women Lou Barletta "thunder and lars he promised for work had been worn by a Brazil- who claim they had extra- lightning" when they co- that included using a com- ian mixed-martial arts fight- marital affairs with Trump. chaired his campaign in puter script to enter fake er. They said in a charging Pennsylvania. votes for Trump in a 2014 Cohen disputed he paid document that Cohen Trump nominated Marino CNBC poll asking people to cash, telling the Journal had been reimbursed by in 2017 to become the na- identify top business lead- that "all monies paid to Mr. the Trump Organization for tion's drug czar, but Ma- ers and a 2015 poll of po- Gauger were by check." payments to the women, rino withdrew his name tential presidential candi- He offered no further com- plus $50,000 for "tech ser- from consideration after dates. ment. vices" that he requested in reports he played a key The company owner, John Federal prosecutors re- a handwritten note. role in a law that weak- Gauger, told the newspa- ferred to a payment to Messages seeking com- ened federal power to per that Cohen promised Gauger's company— ment were sent to the stop companies from dis- him $50,000 for the work though not by name— Trump Organization Thurs- tributing opioids. but instead gave him a when Cohen was charged day. At the time, Marino de- blue Walmart bag stuffed last summer with violating Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giu- In this file photo from Dec. 15, fended his work on the with between $12,000 and campaign-finance laws liani, told The Associated 2016 Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., law, which passed with- $13,000 in cash, plus a box- by arranging hush-money Press that the president stands with other elected out opposition in the officials as then President- House and Senate and elect Donald Trump, departs was signed by President a rally in Hershey, Pa. Associated Press Barack Obama, and said it will help "facilitate a bal- By MARC LEVY and MARK anced solution" between SCOLFORO access to medication and Associated Press law enforcement's efforts HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — to prevent abuse. Tom Marino, a five-term Marino, who lives in Co- Republican congressman gan Station, was a U.S. who helped steer Don- attorney in the Middle Dis- ald Trump's successful trict of Pennsylvania under presidential campaign in President George W. Bush Pennsylvania, said Thurs- and has survived multiple day that he is resigning bouts of kidney cancer. just days into a new term. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Demo- In a statement, Marino crat, must schedule a spe- said his last day will be Jan. cial election to fill Marino's 23 and that he is taking a seat. job in the private sector. Marino's resignation is Marino and his office did likely to set off a furious not respond to questions scramble to secure votes about the announcement among the committee Thursday. members of the state Re- Marino easily won re-elec- publican Party who will tion in November in his select a nominee to run in heavily Republican district the special election. in northern Pennsylvania. The sprawling district cov- The 66-year-old former ers all or parts of 15 coun- county and federal pros- ties. Registered Republi- ecutor was one of Trump's cans outnumber Demo- earliest supporters in Con- crats there by nearly gress. Trump nicknamed 100,000.q U.S. NEWS A5 Friday 18 January 2019 Gov. Pritzker signs bill allowing Illinois to license gun dealers SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — for gun dealers to do busi- gun is in the dealer's inven- Gov. J.B. Pritzker authorized ness in Illinois, which is going tory or has been sold, not state regulation of firearms to hurt the smaller dealers. examining patterns or reg- dealers Thursday in a rever- "The action taken today is ularity of purchases. sal of his predecessor's pol- another assault on our 2nd "We can't think that this bill, icy and prompting a gun Amendment rights." however important it is, is owners group to threaten Pritzker, who already this the solution," Harmon said. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker holds paperwork after he signed legal action against Illinois. week reversed course on "It will help but there's more legislation that requires gun stores to get state licenses, Thursday, Pritzker, sworn in on Mon- GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner's work to be done."q Jan. 17, 2019 at Young Elementary School in Chicago. day, chose an elementary policies toward labor with Associated Press school in Chicago to sign pro-union action, said gun- legislation meant to cut rights organizations are "just down on illegal purchases wrong" in their criticism of of firearms through video the licensing bill. He add- monitoring, tighter inven- ed, "I'm going to continue tory control and gun-shop to make sure that we're employee training. standing up to the voices "We can prevent some- like the Illinois State Rifle As- one from buying a gun for sociation and the National someone else who is not Rifle Association to protect legally allowed to own a our families and our chil- gun," said Pritzker, stand- dren." ing next to Chicago Po- Lawmakers endorsed the lice Superintendent Eddie idea twice last year. Raun- Johnson, whose force con- er vetoed the first version fiscated 10,000 illegal guns in March. Democrats who last year. "Many of the inci- control the General As- dents of gun violence that sembly, led by Sen. Don occur in our city and all Harmon of Oak Park, OK'd across our state occur with it again in May but never illegal guns." sent it to Rauner for consid- The law affects about 2,400 eration. firearms dealers and its "Thank you for figuring out provisions take effect in six in four days what some oth- months. Each must show it er people couldn't figure is licensed with the federal out in four years," Chicago Bureau of Alcohol, Tobac- Mayor Rahm Emanuel said co, Firearms and Explosives to Pritzker. "You don't need and purchase a five-year a Ph.D. from Harvard to state permit — $1,500 for figure out that if you're go- retail shops and $300 for in- ing to regulate a barber dependent dealers. Each shop and a bar, maybe must install videotaping in you should regulate a gun retail sections of the store, dealer." maintain an electronic in- Harmon, who first intro- ventory and require annual duced the idea in 2003, employee training in spot- said the law is more about ting so-called straw pur- allowing the state to gath- chases. er information on straw The Illinois State Rifle Asso- purchases through video ciation promised a lawsuit monitoring and electronic challenging the plan. inventory and sales records "The federal government than it is about punishing already licenses gun deal- dealers. While the ATF au- ers. There is no need to dits gun shops, Harmon add yet another layer of said the federal agency bureaucracy on gun deal- has fewer than two dozen ers," executive director agents to oversee all of Il- Richard Pearson said in a linois' dealers. He contend- statement. "The only thing ed audits occur only once this measure is going to do every three to five years is make it cost more money and only verify whether a /arubatoday/ A6 U.S. NEWS Friday 18 January 2019 Watchdog: Thousands more children may have been separated were transferred to the cus- tody of Health and Human Services. The practice prompted an outcry, with church groups and lawmakers calling the separations inhumane. Trump ordered an end to the separations on June 20. At the time, a federal judge who was already hearing the case of a mother sep- arated from her son ruled that children must be re- united with their parents. Since the court order, 118 children have been sepa- rated. Despite "considerable" ef- fort by Health and Human Services to locate all the children placed in its care, the report said officials were still finding new cases as long as five months after the judge's order requiring In this Dec. 13, 2018, file photo, teen migrants walk in line inside the Tornillo detention camp in Tornillo, Texas. reunifications. Associated Press "There is even less visibility for separated children who By COLLEEN LONG and RI- took place as parents were dren who passed through The number of families fall outside the court case," CARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR criminally prosecuted for the agency's care during coming across the border investigators concluded. Associated Press illegally entering the coun- the 2017 budget year was has grown even as over- They said it's not clear the WASHINGTON (AP) — Thou- try under President Donald 40,810. The separated chil- all illegal border crossings system put in place to track sands more migrant chil- Trump's "zero tolerance" dren had already been re- have decreased dramati- separated children is good dren may have been split policy. leased to sponsors, who are cally compared with his- enough. And the lack of from their families than the "It's certainly more," Max- generally parents or other toric trends. Over the past detail from immigration au- Trump administration previ- well said. "But precisely how close relatives. three months, families thorities continues to be an ously reported, in part be- much more is unknown." The inspector general did made up the majority of issue. cause officials were step- Maxwell said investigators not say why the children Border Patrol arrests. The border remains a cru- ping up family separations didn't have specific num- had been separated be- The Administration for Chil- cible for the Trump ad- long before the border pol- bers, but that Health and fore the zero-tolerance dren and Families, the di- ministration, with a partial icy that prompted interna- Human Services staff had policy. Immigration officials vision under Health and government shutdown that tional outrage last spring, estimated the tally to be in are allowed to take a child Human Services that man- has dragged on nearly a a government watchdog the thousands. from a parent in certain ages the care of unac- month over the president's said Thursday. Lee Gelernt, an American cases — serious criminal companied minors, said it demand for $5.7 billion for It's unclear just how many Civil Liberties Union attor- charges against a parent, generally agreed with the a border wall that congres- family separations oc- ney who sued on behalf of concerns over the health findings and noted the re- sional Democrats are un- curred at the U.S.-Mexico a mother separated from and welfare of a child or port did not find that the willing to provide. border; immigration of- her son, said the separa- medical concerns. That agency lost track of chil- The inspector general's of- ficials are allowed under tion policy "was a cruel di- policy has long been in dren under its care. It also fice was also looking into longstanding policy to sep- saster from the start. This place. noted new policies were in other aspects of the sepa- arate families under cer- report reaffirms that the Katie Waldman, a spokes- place to help track newly rations, including the health tain circumstances. Health government never had a woman for Homeland Se- separated children. And and mental well-being of and Human Services, the clear picture of how many curity, said the report rein- the court never instructed the children who had been agency tasked with car- children it ripped from their forced what officials have officials to determine the separated. It expects to ing for migrant children, parents." long said. number of children sepa- have other reports on the did not adequately track Most of the tens of thou- "For more than a decade rated before the June 26 topic. them until after a judge sands of children who come it was and continues to be ruling. Democratic Rep. Bennie ruled that children must be into government custody standard for apprehended Last spring, then-Attorney Thompson of Mississippi, reunited with their families, cross the border alone. But minors to be separated General Jeff Sessions said chairman of the House according to the report the report found that in late when the adult is not the anyone caught crossing Homeland Security Com- by the agency's inspector 2016, 0.3 percent of chil- parent or legal guardian, the border illegally would mittee, said he would hold general. dren turned over to Health the child's safety is at risk" or be criminally prosecuted. the government account- Ann Maxwell, assistant in- and Human Services had there's a record of a "seri- Families were brought into able in the matter. "The spector general for evalu- crossed with a parent and ous criminal activity by the custody by U.S. Border Trump administration, with ations, said the number of were separated. By the adult," she said. patrol officials, then their its unique blend of incom- children removed from their summer of 2017, that per- In some cases, however, parents taken to criminal petence, cruelty, and dis- parents was certainly larger centage had grown to 3.6 Homeland Security officials court. If the parents were regard for basic decency, than the 2,737 listed by the percent, officials said. The said a parent had a crimi- gone longer than 72 hours misled the American public government in court docu- watchdog did not give ex- nal history but did not offer — the length of time Border on one of its most heinous ments. Those documents act numbers, but the total details on the crimes, the Patrol is allowed to hold policies to date," he said in chronicled separations that number of migrant chil- watchdog reported. children — the children a statement.q U.S. NEWS A7 Friday 18 January 2019 $10 Judge acquits 3 Chicago officers of Laquan McDonald cover-up By DON BABWIN and MI- doing by their colleagues. was imminent," she said. "It CHAEL TARM "The next officer is going to was borne out in the video CHICAGO (AP) — A judge think twice about filing a that McDonald continued on Thursday acquitted false police report. Do they to move after he fell to the three Chicago officers of want to go through this?" ground" and refused to re- trying to cover up the 2014 Special prosecutor Patri- linquish a knife. shooting of Laquan Mc- cia Brown Holmes said she The video appeared to Donald, dismissing as just hoped the verdict would show the teen collapsing one perspective the shock- not make officers reluctant in a heap after the first few ing dashcam video of the to come forward when shots and moving in large black teenager's death they see misconduct. Her part because bullets kept that led to protests, a fed- key witness, officer Dora striking his body for 10 more This combination of Nov. 28, 2018 file photos shows former Chi- eral investigation of the po- Fontaine, described how seconds. cago Police officer Joseph Walsh, left, former detective David lice department and the she had become a pariah The judge said it's not un- March and former officer Thomas Gaffney, accused of trying to cover up the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald, during a rare murder conviction of in the department and was usual for two witnesses to bench trial before Judge Domenica A. Stephenson at Leighton an officer. called a "rat" by fellow of- describe events in starkly Criminal Court Building in Chicago. In casting off the prosecu- ficers. different ways. "It does not Associated Press tion's entire case, Judge The shooting has provoked necessarily mean that one Domenica Stephenson periodic street protests is lying," she said. sync with what millions of lice SUV and continuing to seemed to accept many since 2015, when the video The judge also noted sev- people saw in the video. shoot the 17-year-old while of the same defense argu- came to light, and the ac- eral times that the vantage Both Van Dyke's trial and he was lying on the street. ments that were rejected in quittals could renew that points of various officers that of the three other of- Police were responding to October by jurors who con- movement. who witnessed the shoot- ficers hinged on the video, a report of a male who was victed officer Jason Van "We will be down here to- ing were "completely dif- which showed Van Dyke breaking into trucks and Dyke of second-degree morrow by the hundreds, ferent." That could explain opening fire within seconds stealing radios on the city's murder and aggravated and we will cry out for jus- why their accounts did not of getting out of his po- South Side.q battery. He is scheduled to tice for Laquan," activist be sentenced Friday. Eric Russell said. The judge said the video The trial was watched showed only one viewpoint closely by law enforcement of the confrontation and and critics of the depart- that there was no indica- ment, which has long had tion the officers tried to a reputation for condoning hide evidence. police brutality. "The evidence shows just Officer Joseph Walsh, of- the opposite," she said. She ficer Thomas Gaffney and singled out how they pre- detective David March served the graphic video were accused of conspir- at the heart of the case. acy, official misconduct McDonald's family ques- and obstruction of justice. tioned how the two cases All but Gaffney have since could produce such differ- left the department. They ent decisions. His great un- asked the judge, rather cle, the Rev. Marvin Hunter, than a jury, to hear the evi- told reporters that the ver- dence. dict means "that if you are After the verdict, Walsh a police officer you can lie, would say only that the or- cheat and steal." deal of being charged and "To say that these men are tried was "heart-breaking not guilty is to say that Ja- for my family, a year and a son Van Dyke is not guilty." half." He added: "It is a sad day In her ruling , the judge re- for America." jected prosecution argu- Prosecutor Ron Safer tried ments that the video dem- to put a positive spin on the onstrated officers were ly- verdict. ing when they described "This case was a case where McDonald as moving and the code of silence was on posing a threat even after trial," he said, referring to he was shot. the long tradition that of- "An officer could have rea- ficers don't report wrong- sonably believed an attack A8 WORLD NEWS Friday 18 January 2019 UN health chief orders probe into misconduct By MARIA CHENG The author of the anony- Associated Press mous WHO emails also LONDON (AP) — The head charged there were of the World Health Orga- "crooked recruitment and nization has ordered an selection" processes that internal investigation into were "tantamount to fraud, allegations the U.N. health corruption and abuse of agency is rife with racism, authority." sexism and corruption, af- In the latest anonymous ter a series of anonymous message, the author sin- emails with the explosive gled out the supposedly charges were sent to top flawed hiring process of managers last year. a senior director in WHO's Three emails addressed to emergencies department, WHO directors — and ob- suggesting that might tained by the Associated have led to mistakes being Press — complained about made by incompetent of- "systematic racial discrimi- ficials involved in efforts to nation" against African stop Ebola in Congo. staffers and alleged other Some staffers feared that instances of wrongdoing, funds donated to stem the including claims that some spread of the deadly virus of the money intended to "have not been used ju- fight Ebola in Congo was diciously," the email said, In this Tuesday Aug. 14, 2018 file photo, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the misspent. warning such blunders World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a press conference at the European headquar- Last month, WHO Director- could undermine WHO's ters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland General Tedros Adhanom Associated Press credibility. Ghebreyesus told staff- "A plane was hired to trans- ers he had instructed the lished said the agency was chief. es "have all my support" port three vehicles from head of WHO's office of "aware" of such allegations However, critics doubt that and that he would provide the warehouse in Dubai at internal oversight to look and has "zero tolerance WHO can effectively in- more resources if neces- the cost of $1 million. Why into the charges raised by for misconduct or discrimi- vestigate itself and have sary. would WHO ship vehicles the emails. He confirmed nation of any kind." The called for the probe to be "To those that are giving us from Dubai? We would that directive to the AP on statement said Tedros has made public. feedback, thank you," he appreciate the rationale Thursday. "championed openness, The first email, which was told a meeting of WHO's when jeeps in DRC (Con- A WHO statement issued transparency and diversity" sent last April, claimed country representatives in go) can be purchased at after the AP story was pub- since he became WHO's there was "systematic ra- Nairobi last month. $80,000 per vehicle," the cial discrimination against "We will do everything email said, claiming that Africans at WHO" and that to correct (it) if there are "corruption stories about lo- African staffers were being problems." gisticians and procurement "abused, sworn at (and) But Tedros refuted claims in WHO's (Geneva emer- shown contempt to" by that WHO's hiring policies gencies department) are their Geneva-based col- are skewed, arguing that legendary." leagues. his top management team Sarah Russell, a WHO Two further emails ad- was more geographically spokeswoman, said WHO dressed to WHO directors diverse and gender-bal- shipped 10 vehicles out of complained that senior anced than any other U.N. Dubai last May because officials were "attempting organization after adopt- there were no vehicles to stifle" investigations into ing measures to be more available for sale in Congo such problems and also inclusive. that met minimum safety alleged other instances "There is change already standards at the time. She of wrongdoing, including happening," he said during said it cost $237,801 to allegedly misspent Ebola the December staff meet- transport them. funds. ing, according to an audio David Webb, director of The last email, sent in De- recording provided to the WHO's office of internal cember, labeled the be- AP. oversight, told staffers that havior of a senior doctor WHO's in-house investiga- Tedros had asked him "to helping to lead the re- tion into misconduct comes conduct an appropriate sponse against Ebola as after other U.N. agencies investigation" into the is- "unacceptable, unprofes- have been rocked by ha- sues raised in the emails. sional and racist," citing a rassment complaints. Webb said he and his team November incident at a At UNAIDS, chief Michel would scrutinize those ac- meeting where the doc- Sidibe agreed to step cusations, in addition to the tor reportedly "humiliated, down after an indepen- approximately 150 other disgraced and belittled" a dent report concluded in claims that have been subordinate from the Mid- December that his "defec- reported to his office this dle East. tive leadership" had creat- year. Tedros — a former health ed a toxic working environ- "My team is trying their best minister of Ethiopia and ment, with staffers asserting to go to DRC (Congo), to WHO's first African director- there was rampant sexual go to where the allegations general — said investiga- harassment, bullying and are with an effort to find tors looking into the charg- abuse of power. the facts," he said.q WORLD NEWS A9 Friday 18 January 2019 Italy's Berlusconi rebounds again to run for EU parliament By NICOLE WINFIELD income to needy Italians Associated Press looking for work and re- ROME (AP) — Silvio Berlus- forming unpopular pension coni is back. Again. regulations. The three-time Italian pre- At a press conference in mier, who has made a ca- Rome, Deputy Premier reer out of rebounding from Luigi Di Maio proudly an- legal woes, personal scan- nounced the government dal, heart trouble and polit- had "founded a new wel- ical setbacks, announced fare state in Italy...a revolu- Thursday he is running for tion in the world of work." the European Parliament in Media mogul Berlusconi May elections. stressed in his first campaign The 82-year-old Berlusconi remarks that he wanted to said he wanted to "bring see a united center-right my voice to a Europe that in Europe. It was evidence should change, a Europe of his continued hope that that has lost profound think- the League, which was a ing about the world." junior partner in all his gov- Berlusconi had been ernments, would eventually barred from running for abandon the 5-Stars at the public office for nearly five national level and come years due to a tax fraud back to the traditional cen- conviction. Citing his good ter-right fold. Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi waves during a visit to Monserrato, near Cagliari, Italy, conduct, a court last year "A center-right that is unit- Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019. ruled that he could once Associated Press ed and victorious, with its again run. values and ideals, is the Berlusconi's Forza Italia par- digits behind the two par- anti-establishment 5-Stars. details of how it intends to future of Italy, Europe and ty, which dominated Italian ties in western Europe's first He announced his cam- fulfill two campaign prom- the world," Berlusconi said politics for a quarter-cen- populist government, the paign on the same day ises made by the coalition in Sardinia, where he keeps tury, is now polling in single right-wing League and the Italy's government unveiled parties: providing a basic a huge estate.q Striking Greek school teachers shut down traffic in Athens Associated Press stay until lawmakers voted teachers' demands, al- ATHENS, Greece (AP) — on the proposed hiring sys- though the walkout mainly Striking school teachers tem. affected schools. Classes and other Greek civil ser- Greece's left-wing govern- were canceled in most vants shut down central ment has promised to hire public schools in Athens Athens for hours Thursday 15,000 full-time teachers and many were elsewhere during a protest of new hir- over the next three years, in Greece. ing criteria for teachers that starting this fall. Unions say A few dozen protesters were under consideration the hiring system is unfairly briefly clashed with police in parliament. weighted against teach- officers blocking their ac- About 3,000 people took ers who have worked for cess to parliament, but no part in the protest outside years on short-time con- injuries or arrests were re- the parliament building, tracts. They also want more ported. Teachers previously disrupting public transpor- teachers to be hired. held two protest marches in School teachers protest in central Athens, on Thursday, Jan. 17, tation for about five hours The umbrella civil servants' Athens over the hiring plan. 2019. Hundreds of striking Greek civil servants, mostly school while police diverted traf- union, Adedy, called a 24- Both resulted in clashes be- teachers, are marching through central Athens to protest the fic away from Syntagma hour public sector strike tween some demonstrators proposed new hiring criteria for state school teachers. Square. They planned to for Thursday to back the and riot police.q Associated Press A10 WORLD NEWS Friday 18 January 2019 Ukraine OKs property law that could affect 12,000 churches Associated Press wide autonomy under the of a parish to put their sig- MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Russian Orthodox Church natures on a vote to join Ukraine's parliament on was considered legitimate another community. If the Thursday adopted a bill and two others in Ukraine vote is not unanimous, that spelling out procedures for were regarded as schis- part of the community that transferring church proper- matic. The new church prefers to stay with the Rus- ty after a new unified Ukrai- unites the two formerly sia-affiliated church should nian Orthodox church was schismatic bodies. be allowed to rent the granted independence. Many Ukrainians had re- premises and use them for The bill could potentially af- sented the status of the their own rites. fect some 12,000 church- Moscow-affiliated church. Ukrainian President Petro es in Ukraine and vast The push for a full-fledged Poroshenko, who spear- amounts of property, in- Ukrainian church was bol- headed efforts to make the cluding the gems of Ortho- stered by Russia's annexa- Ukrainian church indepen- dox Christianity like the vast tion of Crimea in 2014 and dent, hailed the vote at the Pechersk Monastery in the fighting in eastern Ukraine Supreme Rada, saying that Ukrainian capital of Kiev. between government forc- it will prevent "bloodshed." The Ecumenical Patriarch es and Russia-backed reb- He said over 100 parishes of Constantinople earlier els that has killed at least have already indicated this month granted inde- 10,000 people. their intention to join the pendence to a new Ukrai- The Supreme Rada on new church. nian Orthodox Church, Thursday voted for the bill Poroshenko, who has been formally severing its centu- that spells out the proce- touring the country in re- Metropolitan Epiphanius, the head of the independent Ukrainian ries-long ties with the Rus- dures for transferring church cent weeks with the Tomos, Orthodox Church, leads the Christmas service in the St. Sophia sian Orthodox Church. The property if a parish decides a scroll containing the in- Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, Jan. 7, 2019. move forces clergy and be- to join a new church. The Associated Press dependence decree, has lievers in Ukraine to choose bill has yet to be signed by been criticized for using the between belonging to the president. warning of sectarian vio- jority vote and a show of church split with Moscow Moscow-backed churches The Russian Orthodox lence. hands, caused concerns in to boost his popularity. He is or the new Ukrainian one. Church has staunchly op- The first reading of the bill, the European Union. expected to seek re-elec- Until the decree, the Ortho- posed the creation of the which allowed for a trans- The bill that was voted on tion in the March 31 presi- dox church that enjoyed new Ukrainian church, fer of property by a ma- Thursday requires two-thirds dential vote.q Vladimir Putin gets lavish welcome on visit to ally Serbia By DUSAN STOJANOVIC to Serbia and then on to authoritarian regime." Associated Press Hungary, "but in the end, It said that Putin's visit "indi- BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — everything will depend on cates that the Serbian rul- Vladimir Putin received a other countries, including ers are ready to sacrifice hero's welcome in ally Ser- the European Union." human rights and better bia on Thursday as the Rus- Putin's visit come as thou- living standards of citizens sian president attempted sands have been holding because of their servile to maintain political and weekly demonstrations attitude toward Putin's re- economic influence in the against Vucic because of gime." Balkans, which is increas- what they see as his auto- Russia's interest in Serbia re- ingly looking Westward. cratic rule. lates to its strategic position Putin's presidential plane Tens of thousands of Vucic's between East and West. was escorted over Serbian right-wing party supporters Of Serbia's eight neighbors, airspace by MiG-29 fighter were bused into the capi- five are NATO members jets he recently donated tal on Thursday to gather and two more are seeking to Serbia as he arrived for in front of the St. Sava Or- membership; and four are Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, right, and Russian President the one-day visit. Church thodox church, which the in the EU and two more are Vladimir Putin, center, attend an official welcome ceremony bells tolled, guns saluted two presidents visited. They working toward accession. prior to their talks in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019. and people waved Russian Associated Press were chanting slogans in- Serbia remains Moscow's and Serbian flags on Putin's cluding "Serbia-Russia, we only ally in the region. route through the Serbian mer communist countries independence in 2008, don't need the European Unlike NATO, Putin formally capital, Belgrade. of Eastern Europe. and added that "however Union!" does not oppose Serbia's Serbia has maintained Putin and his host, Serbian small," Serbia has been a Vucic's critics say the gath- EU path and analysts be- close links with traditional President Aleksandar Vu- "reliable partner" to Russia. ering was staged to sug- lieve that this is because he Slavic ally Russia despite cic, praised the relationship Several bilateral agree- gest that the Serbian leader wants a staunch ally — or formally seeking Europe- between the two countries. ments were signed, includ- has many more supporters perhaps a Trojan horse — an Union membership. It Putin handed a top Russian ing on the supply of Russian than opponents, who have within the 28-nation bloc. has refused to join West- honor to Vucic, who gave gas and weapons to Ser- been marching the same Putin's popularity in Serbia is ern sanctions against Rus- a puppy of a Serb dog bia. route since December to mostly because the Krem- sia over Ukraine and has breed to the Russian presi- On the gas, Putin said Rus- demand free elections and lin is supporting Serbia in pledged to stay out of dent. sian companies are ready media. its rejection of Kosovo's in- NATO. Vucic thanked Russia for its to invest about $1.4 billion Several liberal Serbian rights dependence. In contrast, Putin has recently stepped support for Serbia's claim into a stretch of a pipeline groups issued a statement most Western countries up efforts to restore Mos- over Kosovo, a former that would go from Turkey on Thursday protesting "glo- have recognized Kosovo's cow's influence in the for- province that declared via EU-member Bulgaria rification of Vladimir Putin's statehood.q

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