El diario Últimas Noticias presentará desde mañana, lunes 15 de febrero del 2016, un nuevo diseño, volverá a circular en horario vespertino y ofrecerá a sus lectores cinco suplementos que aparecerán a lo largo de la semana.
Volver a circular desde el mediodía, como fue su tradición, le permitirá al Diario presentar las noticias del día a la comunidad quiteña. “En gran medida, el nuevo diseño tiene que ver con esa posibilidad, pues estamos destinando las páginas principales para la información que se produzca en la mañana”, explica Carlos Mora, editor del Diario.
La información más noticiosa hablará primordialmente de Quito, pero también de política nacional y los hechos más relevantes del país y del Mundo.
Se ha procurado también que la navegación sea más sencilla, según explica Samuel Fernández, jefe de Diseño Editorial del periódico. “Tenemos, básicamente, tres secciones principales, la de las noticias, la de deportes y las de entretenimiento, más los nuevos cinco suplementos, que están concebidos para que sean coleccionables”.
Habrá un suplemento cada día. Los lunes el cuerpo principal del periódico vendrá acompañado de cuatro páginas de la revista El jefe eres tú, con información relevante para emprendedores, para empleados y desempleados y para cuidar la economía familiar.
Los martes estará la ya tradicional revista Vida sana, con información sobre prevención de enfermedades, nutrición, ejercicio, belleza y cocina.
Los miércoles circulará En las aulas, con material de trabajo para alumnos, maestros y padres de familia.
El suplemento En la casa aparecerá los jueves, con información práctica sobre decoración, jardinería, manualidades y mascotas.
Y una gran agenda de actividades para el fin de semana se presentará los viernes en el suplemento Ocio & fiesta.
Los sábados, aunque no a modo de suplemento, habrá información de Turismo. Todos los días, por supuesto, habrá información del espectáculo local e internacional.
Esta renovada presentación, a juicio de Mora, es a la vez una reafirmación de los principios que rigen al Diario desde su fundación, el 8 de junio de 1938. “Hay dos cosas que han caracterizado a Últimas Noticias”, asegura.
“Por un lado, su dedicación a los temas de Quito, a su historia, a su gente, con noticias donde los ciudadanos son protagonistas; y, por otro, el uso de un lenguaje muy cercano y coloquial, con sal quiteña. Y así seguirá siendo”.
A section of the U.S.-Mexico border fence as seen from Tijuana, Mexico. The California governor plans to split his state’s National Guard troops on the border into three new deployments.
Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images
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Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images
A section of the U.S.-Mexico border fence as seen from Tijuana, Mexico. The California governor plans to split his state’s National Guard troops on the border into three new deployments.
Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images
Gov. Gavin Newsom is rescinding former Gov. Jerry Brown’s deployment of California National Guard troops to the Mexican border, pulling most of 360 troops off their current missions but leaving some in the area to combat transnational drug smuggling.
“The border ’emergency’ is a manufactured crisis,” Newsom will say during his State of the State address Tuesday morning, according to advance excerpts provided by his office. “And California will not be part of this political theater.”
Each of the 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia maintain National Guard units. During peacetime, the Guard is under the command of each state governor and adjutant general and typically is called upon to respond to emergencies and natural disasters. In time of war, the president can place the Guard under military command.
The recent National Guard deployment to the southern border is something of a hybrid. Federal authorities asked governors to provide Guard troops to assist with border security. The federal government is paying the cost of deployment. But the Guard troops remain under the authority of their state governor and adjutant general.
The California governor is splitting the troops up into three new deployments in a move he will tell lawmakers will allow the National Guard to “refocus on the real threats facing our state”:
110 troops to support CalFire’s wildfire prevention and suppression efforts. Unlike the current deployment, which is funded by the federal government, the state will need to foot the bill for this new mission.
At least 150 troops to expand the California National Guard’s statewide Counterdrug Task Force — if the Trump administration’s Department of Defense agrees to fund the expansion.
100 troops for intelligence operations targeting drug cartels. The governor’s office says some of these troops who are “specially trained counter-narcotic screeners” will be deployed to California ports of entry — both at the Mexican border and elsewhere. The governor’s office says funding for this mission will continue to come from the federal government under the terms of the previous deployment agreed to by the Brown and Trump administrations.
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks in Sacramento, Calif. last month.
Rich Pedroncelli/AP
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Rich Pedroncelli/AP
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks in Sacramento, Calif. last month.
Rich Pedroncelli/AP
California National Guard troops have been deployed at the border since last spring, when Brown gave them what he called a “crystal clear” scope.
“This will not be a mission to build a new wall,” Brown wrote in an April 11 letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and then-Defense Secretary James Mattis. “It will not be a mission to round up women and children or detain people escaping violence and seeking a better life. And the California National Guard will not be enforcing federal immigration laws.”
But the National Guard has been aiding federal efforts along the border by handling duties that otherwise would have had to be performed by U.S. troops and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, including vehicle maintenance, administrative support and operating cameras on the border.
Aside from state National Guards, the president has ordered thousands of active-duty troops to the border. As NPR’s Greg Myre has reported, the National Guard and other troops at the border are limited to providing surveillance and other support roles. They cannot act as a police force or make arrests. Every president since Ronald Reagan has called on the National Guard for limited, temporary missions along the frontier.
After initially praising Brown for agreeing to his deployment request, President Trump then criticized him for not supporting, in his words, a safe and secure border.
Newsom’s reversal of Brown’s deployment is no surprise. During the gubernatorial campaign, Newsom said he disagreed with Brown’s decision. And on his first full day in office last month, Newsom said he had directed California National Guard Adjutant General David Baldwin to prepare “a menu of options.”
“What’s appropriate, what would be inappropriate, what was our commitment under the executive order Gov. Brown signed, how does remuneration work, what exactly is the work currently being done versus the work that was initiated when the executive order wasn’t in place,” Newsom said that day.
He added: “I can assure you I have not deviated from my previous statements in terms of my desire to move in a different direction.”
DALLAS – A 23-year-old transgender woman seen on a widely circulated video being beaten in front of a crowd of people was found dead over the weekend in a Dallas shooting, police said.
Muhlaysia Booker was found face-down in a street early Saturday and no suspect has been identified, police Maj. Vincent Weddington said Sunday. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
There is no apparent link to the April 12 beating Booker suffered after she was involved in a minor traffic accident . A police affidavit released at the time said Booker accidentally backed into a vehicle before the driver of that vehicle pointed a gun at her and refused to let her leave unless she paid for the damage.
As a crowd gathered, someone offered $200 to a man to beat the woman, who suffered a concussion, fractured wrist and other injuries, police said at the time. Other men also struck Booker, with one stomping on her head. Edward Thomas, 29, was arrested and jailed on a charge of aggravated assault.
A cellphone recording showed her being beaten as the crowd hollered and watched. Video of the incident was shared on social media.
Booker attended a rally the following week where she said she was grateful to have survived the attack.
“This time I can stand before you, where in other scenarios, we’re at a memorial,” The Dallas Morning News reported her as saying.
Weddington said Sunday that the investigation into the April attack continues.
“We’re still attempting to identify other people that were seen assaulting Muhlaysia in the video,” he said.
Una rotura fibrilar de grado I en el bíceps femoral izquierdo había dejado a Gastón Silva sin actividad en las últimas semanas y se estimaba que fuera baja para la próxima doble fecha de Eliminatorias en la que Uruguay recibirá a Ecuador y luego visitará a Chile.
Pero el defensor celeste se sumó el martes a los trabajos junto al plantel del Granada y hoy estuvo a la orden, en el banco de suplentes, en el encuentro que su equipo empató 1-1 con el Deportivo La Coruña por la Liga de España.
En tal sentido, todo hace indicar que Silva, citado a la selección por el maestro Tabárez, no tendrá ningún problema para vestir la Celeste en la próxima doble fecha de Eliminatorias rumbo al Mundial de Rusia 2018.
Submit your calendar items and notices to… mlopez@lasvegasoptic.com
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• If you are a non-profit or church and need volunteers on a regular basis, contact the San Miguel County DWI Office at 425-7998.
• The “Sí Se Puede” group of Narcotics Anonymous meets at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights at 310 Mills Ave. Everyone is welcome. For more information, call the NA helpline: 800-925-4186 or Frances at 575-815-8544.
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Police are seeking a gunman after he opened fire on a crowd gathered for a post-funeral meal at a Minneapolis community center this weekend, authorities said.
The shooting broke out around 3:30 p.m. local time on Saturday at the Cora McCorvey Health and Wellness Center, where about 100 people were gathered for a meal following a funeral service, police said.
Witnesses told police that a gunman entered the center and started arguing with people attending the meal before pulling a gun and opening fire on the crowd, Garrett Parten, a spokesperson for the Minneapolis Police Department, told ABC affiliate KSTP in St. Paul.
A man and a woman were hit by the gunfire, and both were taken to a hospital in critical condition, Parten said. The names of injured people were not released.
The assailant immediately fled the center. No arrests have been made.
Police did not provide a description of the gunman, and investigators were working Sunday to determine what relationship, if any, the perpetrator had to the mourners gathered at the center.
“There seems to be a lack of sensitivity to the sanctity of life, and that leaves many of us aching for understanding as to how something like this could happen,” Parten said. “This is very hard for family and friends and loved ones who gathered to grieve and honor someone that they had loved.”
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California has overhauled its sex education guidance for public school teachers, encouraging them to talk about gender identity with kindergarteners and giving advice to help LGBT teenagers navigate relationships and practice safe sex.
LGBT advocates praised the new recommendations for giving such attention to a community that often is left out of sex education policies. But some parents and conservative groups assailed the more than 700-page document as an assault on parental rights, arguing those issues should be taught by parents in the home.
The guidance approved by the California State Board of Education on Wednesday does not require teachers to teach anything. But it is designed to expose them to the latest research and help them make sure students are meeting state standards. It’s also influenced by a 2015 state law that made California one of the first states to address LGBT issues as part of sex education.
Much of the pushback has focused not on the framework itself, but on the books it recommends students read. One suggested book for high schoolers is “S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-to-Know Sexuality Guide to Get You Through Your Teens and Twenties.” It includes descriptions of anal sex, bondage and other sexual activity. Several parents read from the book and held it up so board members could see the pictures, which many described as “obscene.”
But Wednesday, the State Board of Education removed that book, and a few others, from the guidance. State Board of Education member Feliza I. Ortiz-Licon said the books had “created panic” and distracted from the framework’s goals, including teaching students about consent and sex trafficking.
“It’s important to know the board is not trying to ban books. We’re not staying that the books are bad,” she said. “But the removal will help avoid the misunderstanding that California is mandating the use of these books.”
More than 200 people signed up to speak during a public hearing on Wednesday that lasted for several hours. Supporters and opponents mingled together in the lobby of the California Department of Education, where parents handed out snacks to appease their young children while waiting for their number to appear on dry-erase board telling them it was their turn to get one minute of time at the microphone.
Speakers included 16-year-old Phoenix Ali Rajah, a transgender boy who said he is rarely taught information for people like him during sex education classes at his Los Angeles area high school.
“I’m never taught about how to be in a relationship with gay men,” he said, adding that the “conversation with sex starts from a different place.”
Patricia Reyes traveled more than 400 miles from her home in Southern California to bring her six children to the hearing, all of whom attend or have attended public schools. They included her 4-year-old daughter, Angeline, who held a sign that read: “Protect my innocence and childhood.”
“It’s just scary what they are going to be teaching. It’s pornography,” she said. “If this continues, I’m not sending them to school.”
The framework tells teachers that students in kindergarten can identify as transgender and offers tips for how to talk about that, adding “the goal is not to cause confusion about the gender of the child but to develop an awareness that other expressions exist.”
It gives tips for discussing masturbation with middle-schoolers, including telling them it is not physically harmful, and for discussing puberty with transgender teens that creates “an environment that is inclusive and challenges binary concepts about gender.”
Tatyana Dzyubak, an elementary school teacher in the Sacramento area, said she would have a hard time teaching the material. “I shouldn’t be teaching that stuff. That’s for parents to do,” she said.
California’s education standards tell school districts what students should know about a particular subject at the end of every grade level. The state’s curriculum framework gives teachers ideas on how to do that. The state updated its health education standards in 2008. But because of a budget crisis, state officials delayed giving schools a framework for how to teach them. That changed Wednesday.
“As a mom myself, whether you are ready for your kid to have those questions or not, they have them. And they need medically accurate information,” said Cheri Greven, public affairs director with Planned Parenthood of Mar Monte. “Otherwise, who knows what they will find on their own.”
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El Mausoleo al Che Guevara es uno de los sitios turísticos más visitados de Santa Clara, una provincia en el centro de Cuba
-¿Dónde tú vives? -le dijo el policía.
-Allá abajo -respondió Raudel, un joven de 19 años, señalando con el dedo índice de su mano derecha hacia las casuchas que se levantan del matorral.
-Pero tú sabes que no puedes estar aquí arriba, que hay turistas a esta hora -dijo el otro policía.
-Pero yo vivo aquí -volvió a responder Raudel, que antes se había levantado de una piedra ovalada y alta, y había soltado el palito de madera con el que dibujaba círculos en la tierra húmeda.
-¡Enséñame tu carnet de identidad! -ordenó el primer policía.
Derechos de autor de la imagen Getty Images
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La policía suele pedir identificaciones a cubanos cuando se acercan a sitios turísticos
-No lo tengo aquí, pero además mi barrio no tiene calles ni nombre. Nosotros le decimos “el hueco”, pero así le decimos nada más la gente de aquí.
-Bueno, es la segunda vez que te decimos que no puedes estar aquí, tendrás que acompañarnos a la estación.
El sol radiante pegó en el techo blanquísimo de la patrulla policial. Algunas nubes dejaron de moverse y se quedaron tranquilas en el cielorraso. El carro arrancó.
Raudel, solo en el asiento trasero, volteó la cabeza y por las ventanillas lo único que encontró fue la enorme figura de bronce de 21 pies del Che Guevara con su brazo enyesado atravesando la alfombra azul que se acuesta allá arriba.
Debajo de su efigie, la expresión más enigmática de Fidel Castro y la revolución cubana: “Hasta la victoria siempre”.
Derechos de autor de la imagen Getty Images
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Monumento al Che Guevara, con la frase de Fidel Castro.
…
“El hueco” es “el hueco” solo para los que viven en “el hueco”.
Para el resto de las personas no tiene nombre, no existe. En el mapa de la Asamblea Provincial del Poder Popular de Villa Clara, que muestra todo el territorio dividido en municipios, no sale, no lo contempla.
El barrio es un caserío pobre e indigente que está a solo unos metros de la Plaza de la Revolución de Santa Clara.
Una manzana, no más, envuelta en un arrabal de matas y árboles que crecen en un fango escamoso. No hay calles, solo un trillo de tierra que se desmarca de la hierba alta y va de puerta en puerta, de casa en casa, de choza en choza.
Los carteros no van a entregar los correos postales porque no hay direcciones.
La empresa de comunales no pasa a recoger la basura ni poda los árboles y por eso los pocos cables que hay en el barrio viven enredándose con las ramas y haciendo cortes eléctricos. Cortes que dejan sin electricidad, días y días, a las pocas casuchas que gozan del privilegio de oír la radio o ver la televisión.
La empresa eléctrica no puede ir a un lugar que no existe -legalmente-. Y como no existen -legalmente-, las personas del barrio sin nombre tampoco pueden levantar casas o hacerlas de mamposterías.
La ley les impide, incluso, asomarse en la Plaza de la Revolución, porque las “conductas de asedio al turismo” son penadas.
Por eso, a unos metros de su casa, la policía se llevó a Raudel bajo ese supuesto cargo.
…
1987 fue el año de la desgracia para el barrio. Año en el que se construyó la Plaza de la Revolución de Santa Clara y en el que el gobierno provincial declaró los alrededores del sitio como “zona vedada”.
Derechos de autor de la imagen AFP
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“El hueco” se encuentra a unos metros del lugar donde están los restos del Che Guevara
La mayoría de las más de 300 personas que viven aquí lo hacen de manera ilegal.
Los únicos hogares que están autorizados a permanecer son los que estaban construidos antes de que se levantara la Plaza de la Revolución. Que son tres casas, las únicas de mampostería, el resto, las ilegales, son de madera y cartón mojado.
Según Remberto Suárez del Ministerio de la Construcción, el estado cubano considera un hecho fuera de la ley “el asentamiento, la estancia y la convivencia de ciudadanos en las zonas declaradas inhabitables y vedadas”.
Según la Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas, en el último censo de población y vivienda publicado en 2012, los habitantes de este barrio quedaron fuera del conteo final que declaró que en Villa Clara residían 833.424 personas y de ellas 210.220 ciudadanos en Santa Clara, la capital provincial.
…
Derechos de autor de la imagen Abraham Jiménez
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Carlos tiene un puesto de viandas (en Cuba vegetales, legumbres y hortalizas) y eso le ha ganado el reconocimiento en el barrio
“Nosotros estamos incomunicados. Del camino de la Plaza hacia dentro no hay teléfonos. Aquí la gente vive a timbales”, dice el gordo Carlos desde un taburete viejo.
La casa de Carlos es la de mejores condiciones en todo el barrio. Es de ladrillos y eso ya es un lujo, es grande y tiene varias habitaciones.
Cuando hay mal tiempo y la lluvia arrecia y las casas de madera o cartón se hunden en el fango tragón, cuando hay ciclones y huracanes, Carlos le abre la puerta de su casa a todos los del vecindario y allí se amontonan hasta que pase la tempestad.
Carlos es como el patrón de la zona. Tiene un puesto de hortalizas. Eso aquí basta para que todos lo vean como un rey.
…
Derechos de autor de la imagen Abraham Jiménez
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Teresa tiene un riñón enfermo.
En tiempo de huracanes, los primeros que siempre llegan a casa de Carlos son Teresa -60 años- y su hijo -29 años-. Teresa, postrada en su sillón de ruedas. El hijo, con los ojos idos, balbuceando algo, algo que no se entiende.
Llegan de primeros porque no tienen agua en la casa, porque no confían en los pedazos de madera podrida que tienen de techo y porque se han quedados solos en la vida.
A Teresa le falta un riñón y tiene el otro enfermo, una insuficiencia renal la tiene cada vez más disminuida, más ausente, más hablando bajito.
El hijo nació con alguna malformación congénita por la que no he querido preguntar, a su edad apenas puede encadenar tres palabras con esfuerzo, pero cruza todos los días la ciudad para ir a la escuela donde trabajaba su padre como custodio y buscarle la comida a su madre.
También atraviesa toda la ciudad empujando la silla de ruedas donde va Teresa cuando ella se pone mal o cuando tiene algún turno médico de rigor.
Hay unos dos kilómetros entre el barrio sin nombre y el hospital, dos kilómetros que el hijo de Teresa tendrá que empujarla a todo gas.
Su tratamiento médico al igual que la educación de los que viven en el hueco sí son gratuitas y están garantizadas, como para el resto de los cubanos.
Antes de caerse de la mata de coco y fallecer, el esposo de Teresa le pidió al estado un subsidio para construir una casa en mejores condiciones. El estado los atendió pero aún no le han dado respuesta a la familia. Solo les han mandado un trabajador social que los visita dos veces al mes.
“Yo no soy maga, yo hago lo que pueda según los recursos del estado. Ellos están en una situación crítica pero recuerda que son ilegales”, dice Yusmary Alcántara, la trabajadora social que atiende a Teresa y su hijo.
Teresa y su hijo viven con los 242 pesos cubanos -casi 11 dólares- que les dejo la pensión del fallecido.
…
Derechos de autor de la imagen Abraham Jiménez
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En el techo de la casa de “El negro” hay un palomar
“El negro” no quiere decir su nombre porque estuvo preso y dice que eso lo puede complicar de nuevo. “El negro” me dice que pase y adentro tiene nylon por todas partes para cuando llueva no llueva adentro también.
De sus 49 años, lleva 40 en el barrio. “Esto era un monte y tuve chapearlo para levantar la casa para mi mujer y mi hijo. Pero así y todo se me ha caído dos veces”, dice.
Hace unos días, al negro, como le llaman los vecinos, le dieron la buena noticia de que el estado le iba a otorgar un terreno y un subsidio para que pudiera levantar otra casa. El préstamo es de 1.875 pesos cubanos -78 dólares- a pagarlo en 60 días y el terreno de 8×20 metros.
Como están ilegales, la mujer del negro no tiene trabajo y él lo único que ha podido encontrar, tras salir de prisión, es una brigada de chapeadores. Ahí le pagan poco, no me dice cuánto. El tiempo pasa y es su mayor enemigo.
Afuera de su casa hay dos perras recién paridas. Tiene palomares en el techo
…
Derechos de autor de la imagen Abraham Jiménez
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Ramón cree que la situación de su barrio se debe a la construcción del Mausoleo Che Guevara
“Por culpa de ese señor que está ahí parado, a todas estas casas que están a su alrededor las han querido tumbar”, dice Ramón mirando al Che y sacando un clavo de una madera en la entrada de tierra de su casa.
Ramón vive en la casa de su mujer Gladys. Desde la puerta se puede ver la efigie de bronce del Che Guevara.
Ramón -55 años- lleva un reloj Seiko en su mano izquierda, a la derecha, le faltan los dedos índice y anular. Gladys -41 años-, de arriba abajo está llena de bisuterías baratas.
A parte de los jarrones de hervir agua y los sartenes para cocinar, en casa de Ramón y Gladys lo único de valor que hay es una vieja grabadora Sharp y un televisor chino Atec-Panda que tiene de antena un palo de caña brava.
“Ya no voy a las reuniones. Allá arriba lo que hay es mucha mentira” dice Ramón refiriéndose a su antigua militancia del partido comunista. “Pero mis ideas nadie me las quita, no me voy a meter en esa mierda de la disidencia”, agrega.
Ramón es granitero de profesión. Ha trabajado toda su vida puliendo losas y mosaicos de pisos. Cuando en la década de los 80 comenzó la construcción de la Plaza de la Revolución de Santa Clara, Ramón fue uno de sus obreros.
Derechos de autor de la imagen AFP
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Raúl Castro es el primer secretario del Partido Comunista de Cuba
Hoy dice: “¿Quién nos iba a decir que esa plaza nos iba a poner en esta situación? Aquí no llega el agua del acueducto, nos enfermamos y los carros no entran, no hay comunicación, no nos dejan pararnos en la plaza por asedio al turismo y además el gobierno dice que no puede invertir porque es una zona de afectación”.
Ramón canta una canción mexicana: “tenía un chorro de voz y ahora queda solo un hilito”.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — An appeals court on Wednesday upheld a freeze on Pentagon money to build a border wall with Mexico, casting doubt on President Donald Trump’s ability to make good on a signature campaign promise before the 2020 election.
A divided three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed with a lower court ruling that prevented the government from tapping Defense Department counterdrug money to build high-priority sections of wall in Arizona, California and New Mexico.
The decision is a setback for Trump’s ambitious plans. He ended a 35-day government shutdown in February after Congress gave him far less than he wanted. He then declared a national emergency that the White House said would free billions of dollars from the Pentagon.
The case may still be considered, but the administration cannot build during the legal challenge.
“As for the public interest, we conclude that it is best served by respecting the Constitution’s assignment of the power of the purse to Congress, and by deferring to Congress’s understanding of the public interest as reflected in its repeated denial of more funding for border barrier construction,” wrote Judges Michelle Friedland, a Barack Obama appointee, and Richard Clifton, a George W. Bush appointee.
A freeze imposed by U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. of Oakland in May prevented work on two Pentagon-funded wall contracts — one spanning 46 miles (74 kilometers) in New Mexico and another covering 5 miles (8 kilometers) in Yuma, Arizona.
Honduran migrant Joel Mendez, 22, passes his eight-month-old son Daniel through a hole under the U.S. border wall to his partner, Yesenia Martinez, 24, who had already crossed in Tijuana, Mexico, Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. Moments later Martinez surrendered to waiting border guards while Mendez stayed behind in Tijuana to work, saying he feared he’d be deported if he crossed. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Honduran migrant Joel Mendez, 22, feeds his eight-month-old son Daniel as his partner Yesenia Martinez, 24, crawls through a hole under the U.S. border wall, in Tijuana, Mexico, Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. Moments later Martinez surrendered to waiting border guards while Mendez stayed behind in Tijuana to work, saying he feared he’d be deported if he crossed. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Honduran migrant Leivi Ortega, 22, wearing a rosary, looks at her phone while she, her partner and their young daughter, wait in hopes of finding an opportunity to cross the U.S. border from Playas de Tijuana, Mexico, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. In early December, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that the San Diego sector experienced a “slight uptick” in families entering the U.S. illegally with the goal of seeking asylum. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
In a photo taken from the Tijuana, Mexico, side of the border wall, a guard on the U.S. side, at left, watches Honduran migrants jump the wall into the United States, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018. Thousands of migrants who traveled via caravan are seeking asylum in the U.S., but face a decision between waiting months or crossing illegally, because the U.S. government only processes a limited number of cases a day at the San Ysidro border crossing in San Diego. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
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While the order applied only to those first-in-line projects, Gilliam made clear that he felt the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued on behalf of the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition, was likely to prevail in their argument that Trump ignored Congress’ wishes by diverting Defense Department money.
Gilliam went a step further Friday by ruling definitively that the administration couldn’t use Pentagon counterdrug money for the two projects covered in his May order or to replace 63 miles (101 kilometers) in the Border Patrol’s Tucson, Arizona, sector and 15 miles (24 kilometers) in its El Centro, California, sector.
The administration immediately appealed.
N. Randy Smith, a George W. Bush appointee, strongly disagreed with the appeals court ruling, saying it misread constitutional separation of powers.
“The majority here takes an uncharted and risky approach — turning every question of whether an executive officer exceeded a statutory grant of power into a constitutional issue,” he wrote in his dissent. “This approach is in contradiction to the most fundamental concepts of judicial review.”
The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Its attorneys argued that the freeze on Pentagon funds showed a “fundamental misunderstanding of the federal appropriations process.”
At stake is billions of dollars that would allow Trump to make progress on a major 2016 campaign promise heading into his race for a second term.
Trump declared a national emergency after losing a fight with the Democratic-led House that led to the 35-day shutdown. Congress agreed to spend nearly $1.4 billion on barriers in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings, which was well below the $5.7 billion the president requested.
Trump grudgingly accepted the money but declared the emergency to siphon cash from other government accounts, finding up to $8.1 billion for wall construction. The money includes $3.6 billion from military construction funds, $2.5 billion from Defense Department counterdrug activities and $600 million from the Treasury Department’s asset forfeiture fund.
Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper has yet to approve transferring the military construction funds. The Treasury Department funds have so far survived legal challenges.
The president’s adversaries say the emergency declaration was an illegal attempt to ignore Congress.
The administration said the U.S. needed emergency protection to fight drug smuggling. Its arguments did not mention illegal immigration or unprecedented numbers of Central American families seeking asylum at the U.S. border , which have dominated public attention in recent months.
The administration has awarded $2.8 billion in contracts for barriers covering 247 miles (390 kilometers), with all but 17 miles (27 kilometers) of that to replace existing barriers not expand coverage. It is preparing for a flurry of construction that the president is already celebrating at campaign-style rallies.
Trump inherited barriers spanning 654 miles (1,046 kilometers), or about one-third of the border with Mexico. Of the miles covered under Trump-awarded contracts, more than half is with Pentagon money.
The Army Corps of Engineers recently announced several large Pentagon-funded contacts.
SLSCO Ltd. of Galveston, Texas, won a $789 million award to replace the New Mexico barrier. Southwest Valley Constructors of Albuquerque, New Mexico, won a $646 million award for the work in Tucson. Barnard Construction Co. of Bozeman, Montana, won a $141.8 million contract to replace barrier in Yuma and El Centro.
The two were photographed together there in the 1990s and early 2000s, Mr. Trump always in a tie, Mr. Epstein always without. And in Manhattan, they attended many of the same dinner parties, like the one that Mr. Epstein hosted for Prince Andrew, where the guest list also included Ron Perelman and Mort Zuckerman, among others.
But longtime Trump associates played down their closeness, saying that was simply how Mr. Trump treated any guest at his club — checking on their steaks, bragging about his meatloaf, scanning the room for a better table so guests felt like they were getting special treatment.
Since Mr. Trump’s decision to enter the presidential race in 2015, his aides and allies have been eager to minimize any connection to Mr. Epstein, knowing that Mr. Epstein’s relationship with Mr. Clinton would be investigated at a time Hillary Clinton was likely to be his opponent.
Roger J. Stone Jr., the former Trump adviser, wrote in his book “The Clintons’ War on Women,” which was published during the campaign, that Mr. Trump “turned down many invitations to Epstein’s hedonistic private island and his Palm Beach home.” Once when Mr. Trump visited Mr. Epstein at his Palm Beach home, Mr. Stone wrote, he later seemed to joke about the scene of underage girls he witnessed there.
“The swimming pool was filled with beautiful young girls,” Mr. Trump later told a Mar-a-Lago member, according to Mr. Stone. “‘How nice,’ I thought, ‘he let the neighborhood kids use his pool.’”
Sam Nunberg, a former campaign aide to Mr. Trump, said he raised concerns about the candidate’s involvement with Mr. Epstein before Mr. Trump officially began his presidential campaign. But Mr. Trump assured Mr. Nunberg that he had barred Mr. Epstein from entering his clubs after Mr. Epstein had tried to recruit a woman who worked at Mar-a-Lago.
“Trump said, ‘I kicked him out of the clubs when this stuff became public, and I made sure NBC knew,’” Mr. Nunberg recalled.
Before their 2017 changes, the U.S. had the highest corporate rate among developed countries, and many companies were stockpiling profits overseas to avoid the tax. A growing number of companies were moving their headquarters abroad in so-called inversions to escape the IRS.
But that argument fell flat with many voters, and Democrats handily won the public relations battle pointing to things like a wave of stock buybacks on Wall Street.
Biden wants to increase the corporate rate to 28 percent, which is actually what the Obama administration had proposed when he was vice president. That would raise about $700 billion.
He would generate even more savings with a flurry of other, more arcane, tax increases with acronyms like QBAI and FDII, that won’t mean much to average voters but will set off alarm bells in corporate tax departments.
Many of those provisions focus on toughening a minimum tax known among experts as “GILTI” that Republicans imposed as part of their 2017 law on U.S. companies operating overseas.
Biden would double its tax rate, eliminate a special deduction against the levy and change how companies go about calculating the tax, among other things.
Democrats contend the targeted provisions encourage companies to move their operations overseas, though the evidence is hardly clear on that score.
Investment and jobs in the U.S. increased in 2018, the first year the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was in effect, according to JCT.
Republicans say Democrats’ plans will recreate a lot of the problems they were trying to solve because it would leave the U.S. once again with a high corporate tax rate compared to other developed countries.
Under Biden’s plan, businesses would face a combined 32.3 percent corporate tax, including state levies, which would be the highest among developed countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (Excluding the US, the average corporate tax among OECD countries is 23.4 percent).
“Hastily changing the tax system purely for purposes of raising revenues will bring back inversions and foreign takeovers of U.S. companies,” said Sen. Mike Crapo, the top Republican on the Finance committee.
The administration acknowledges the risk of more inversions but says it can address the issue through regulations while also pressing other countries to adopt similar approaches to taxing corporations.
President Donald Trump said Thursday he had nothing to with directing the U.S. Navy to keep a warship named for the late Sen. John McCain out of sight during his visit to Japan this week, insisting, “I would never do a thing like that.” (May 30) AP, AP
WASHINGTON – The U.S, Navy acknowledged Saturday it had received a request to shield a U.S. warship bearing the name of former political rival John McCain from President Donald Trump’s view during the commander-in-chief’s visit to Japan last week – but did not comply.
“A request was made to the U.S. Navy to minimize the visibility of USS John S. McCain, however, all ships remained in their normal configuration during the President’s visit,” according to a statement from Rear Adm. Charlie Brown, Chief of Navy Information, that the Pentagon released.
The one-paragraph statement did not mention who made the request and a Pentagon spokesperson did not respond to a request for further information.
In his statement, Brown also said there were “no intentional efforts” to exclude sailors on the McCain from attending the president’s address on Memorial day aboard the USS Wasp at Yokosuka Naval Base, south of Tokyo. The McCain is docked there for repairs.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report that White House officials wanted the guided-missile destroyer to be kept “out of sight” during Trump’s visit to Japan, apparently fearful that the president would be upset at having to see the name of the late Arizona senator, a frequent target of the president’s anger.
The ship was named after McCain’s father and grandfather, both decorated admirals. The Navy added the name of Sen. McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam who emerged from captivity a war hero, to the ship in 2018, according to the Journal.
Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan announced Thursday that he asked his chief of staff to investigate what was behind obscuring the name of the USS John McCain during President Donald Trump’s visit to Japan.
“The Navy is fully cooperating with the review of this matter tasked by the Secretary of Defense,” Brown said in the statement released by the Pentagon.
Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, has opened an investigation into former President Donald Trump over his efforts to pressure Georgia state officials to illegally overturn legitimate election results, Reuters reported.
Raffensperger’s office said that the inquiry was “fact-finding and administrative in nature” and that findings would be referred to the Republican-majority Georgia board of elections.
The investigation centers on a call Trump made to Raffensperger in January, during Trump’s final days in office, when the president asked the state’s top official to “find 11,780 votes” to help him win Georgia.
Raffensperger, a Republican, pushed back against Trump’s claims during the call that cast doubt on the integrity of the election. Election officials across Georgia disputed Trump’s claims that the election was fraudulent or unfair.
Once the state completes its investigation into the call, it could refer findings to the state’s attorney general or elsewhere for prosecution.
“The secretary of state’s office investigates complaints it receives,” Walter Jones, a spokesman for the office, told Reuters in a statement Monday. “The investigations are fact-finding and administrative in nature. Any further legal efforts will be left to the attorney general.”
The New York Times reported that Fani Willis, the Democratic district attorney of Fulton County, was also considering launching a criminal inquiry into Trump’s actions.
Trump also repeatedly called and pressured Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, and taunted him on Twitter in an attempt to have Kemp call a special legislative session to overturn the state’s election results.
David Worley, the only Democrat on Georgia’s elections board, told Reuters the administrative inquiry could preface criminal charges.
“Any investigation of a statutory violation is a potential criminal investigation depending on the statute involved,” he said, adding, “The complaint that was received involved a criminal violation.”
Worley also said he would initiate a motion at Wednesday’s elections board meeting to formally refer the inquiry to the Fulton County district attorney’s office.
Jason Miller, a senior advisor to Trump, told the Associated Press there was “nothing improper or untoward about a scheduled call between President Trump, Secretary Raffensperger and lawyers on both sides.”
Insider has reached out to the Trump Organization, the Georgia secretary of state’s office, and the state election board for comment.
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