News in Brief
MADRID (Reuters) -- The Spanish parliament’s governing body on Friday suspended the lawmaker rights of the four jailed Catalan members of parliament while they face trial over the northeastern region’s failed 2017 independence bid, lower house speaker Meritxell Batet said.
It was not immediately clear what would happen to the seats as it’s up to the four lawmakers to decide if they want to leave them empty for now or if they’d rather resign and pass the position to a fellow politician.
If the seats are left empty, the total number of lawmakers would drop which, in a deeply fragmented parliament, may work in favor of acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez who could then be reelected without the backing of the Catalans.
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LONDON (AFP) -- The Justice Department on Thursday charged WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with violating the U.S. Espionage Act by publishing military and diplomatic files in 2010, rejecting his claim that he is a journalist.
The department unveiled 17 new charges against Assange, accusing him of directing and abetting intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in stealing secret U.S. files, and also recklessly exposing confidential sources in the Middle East and China who were named in the files.
The charges against Assange, now 18 in total, reject his claim that he was simply a publisher receiving leaked material from Manning, an action that is protected under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of the press.
A new indictment alleges that Assange actively conspired with Manning to steal the hundreds of thousands of classified files "with reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation," the Justice Department said.
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WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Democratic congressional leader Nancy Pelosi says Donald Trump is angry that her party is not rushing to impeach him, as the relationship between the rivals reaches new lows.
Thursday was the second straight day of a very public war of words between Trump and the speaker of the House of Representatives, who earlier questioned the president's mental fitness for office and expressed hope that those close to Trump would stage an intervention "for the good of the country."
Trump responded by branding Pelosi "crazy Nancy," in what appeared to be the first time he has ascribed a pejorative nickname to the woman who is his congressional nemesis.
According to Pelosi, Trump's strategy is to get his opponents to commit themselves to impeachment -- a process that would almost certainly pass in the House, and then fail in the Republican-controlled Senate, ultimately energizing Trump's core voters during his re-election bid.
"The White House is just crying out for impeachment," she told journalists.
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — An outbreak of nasty storms spawned tornadoes that razed homes, flattened trees and tossed cars across a dealership lot, injuring about two dozen people in Missouri’s capital city and killing at least three others elsewhere in the state.
The tornado cut a path about 3 miles long and a mile wide from the south end of Jefferson City north toward the Missouri River, said police Lt. David Williams. Emergency workers reported about two dozen injuries, Williams said, and around 100 of people went to shelters. Hospitals reported treating injuries such as cuts and bruises.
There were no immediate reports of any deaths or missing people in the capital city of about 40,000, and it appeared everyone was accounted for after door-to-door checks that were nearly complete Thursday evening, police Lt. David Williams said.
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BERLIN (AP) — Protesters were holding rallies in several European Union countries to demand tougher action against global warming, as the 28-nation bloc votes to fill the European Parliament.
Thousands attended a rally Friday in Berlin, where mostly young people waved banners with slogans such as "There is no planet B” or "Plant trees, save the bees, clean the seas.”
Many protesters will be too young to vote when Germans cast ballots Sunday in the European Parliament election, but are pressing family and older friends to consider the world’s long-term future.
Clara Kirchhoff said the election for the EU’s 751-seat assembly was particularly important for tackling climate change on a continental level.
The 17-year-old said "there’s no point in Germany doing a lot for the climate and others not pulling their weight.”
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AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -- Dutch mainstream, EU-supporting political parties made gains in the first test of the European Parliament election, according to an exit poll that showed a surprise Labour victory and a weak showing for euroskeptics in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands and Britain were the first of 28 member states to vote in the EU election on Thursday. Irish and Czech voters were casting their ballots on Friday and the other 24 countries were due to vote on Sunday.
In Britain, where results will not be released until Sunday, opinion polls showed Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party hemorrhaging support to veteran euroskeptic Nigel Farage’s newly formed Brexit Party. May said on Friday she would resign as party leader on June 7 amid deep paralysis on Brexit.
Dutchman Frans Timmermans, a vice president of the executive European Commission who is now the leading center-left candidate to head that body, defied opinion polls with a surprise victory for his Labor Party, the Ipsos exit poll showed.
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It was not immediately clear what would happen to the seats as it’s up to the four lawmakers to decide if they want to leave them empty for now or if they’d rather resign and pass the position to a fellow politician.
If the seats are left empty, the total number of lawmakers would drop which, in a deeply fragmented parliament, may work in favor of acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez who could then be reelected without the backing of the Catalans.
***
LONDON (AFP) -- The Justice Department on Thursday charged WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with violating the U.S. Espionage Act by publishing military and diplomatic files in 2010, rejecting his claim that he is a journalist.
The department unveiled 17 new charges against Assange, accusing him of directing and abetting intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in stealing secret U.S. files, and also recklessly exposing confidential sources in the Middle East and China who were named in the files.
The charges against Assange, now 18 in total, reject his claim that he was simply a publisher receiving leaked material from Manning, an action that is protected under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of the press.
A new indictment alleges that Assange actively conspired with Manning to steal the hundreds of thousands of classified files "with reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation," the Justice Department said.
***
WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Democratic congressional leader Nancy Pelosi says Donald Trump is angry that her party is not rushing to impeach him, as the relationship between the rivals reaches new lows.
Thursday was the second straight day of a very public war of words between Trump and the speaker of the House of Representatives, who earlier questioned the president's mental fitness for office and expressed hope that those close to Trump would stage an intervention "for the good of the country."
Trump responded by branding Pelosi "crazy Nancy," in what appeared to be the first time he has ascribed a pejorative nickname to the woman who is his congressional nemesis.
According to Pelosi, Trump's strategy is to get his opponents to commit themselves to impeachment -- a process that would almost certainly pass in the House, and then fail in the Republican-controlled Senate, ultimately energizing Trump's core voters during his re-election bid.
"The White House is just crying out for impeachment," she told journalists.
***
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — An outbreak of nasty storms spawned tornadoes that razed homes, flattened trees and tossed cars across a dealership lot, injuring about two dozen people in Missouri’s capital city and killing at least three others elsewhere in the state.
The tornado cut a path about 3 miles long and a mile wide from the south end of Jefferson City north toward the Missouri River, said police Lt. David Williams. Emergency workers reported about two dozen injuries, Williams said, and around 100 of people went to shelters. Hospitals reported treating injuries such as cuts and bruises.
There were no immediate reports of any deaths or missing people in the capital city of about 40,000, and it appeared everyone was accounted for after door-to-door checks that were nearly complete Thursday evening, police Lt. David Williams said.
***
BERLIN (AP) — Protesters were holding rallies in several European Union countries to demand tougher action against global warming, as the 28-nation bloc votes to fill the European Parliament.
Thousands attended a rally Friday in Berlin, where mostly young people waved banners with slogans such as "There is no planet B” or "Plant trees, save the bees, clean the seas.”
Many protesters will be too young to vote when Germans cast ballots Sunday in the European Parliament election, but are pressing family and older friends to consider the world’s long-term future.
Clara Kirchhoff said the election for the EU’s 751-seat assembly was particularly important for tackling climate change on a continental level.
The 17-year-old said "there’s no point in Germany doing a lot for the climate and others not pulling their weight.”
***
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -- Dutch mainstream, EU-supporting political parties made gains in the first test of the European Parliament election, according to an exit poll that showed a surprise Labour victory and a weak showing for euroskeptics in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands and Britain were the first of 28 member states to vote in the EU election on Thursday. Irish and Czech voters were casting their ballots on Friday and the other 24 countries were due to vote on Sunday.
In Britain, where results will not be released until Sunday, opinion polls showed Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party hemorrhaging support to veteran euroskeptic Nigel Farage’s newly formed Brexit Party. May said on Friday she would resign as party leader on June 7 amid deep paralysis on Brexit.
Dutchman Frans Timmermans, a vice president of the executive European Commission who is now the leading center-left candidate to head that body, defied opinion polls with a surprise victory for his Labor Party, the Ipsos exit poll showed.
***