Jan. 6 panel probes Trump's 'siren call' to extremists
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Jan. 6 committee is preparing to highlight the way violent far-right extremists answered Donald Trump’s “siren call” to come to Washington for a big rally, as some now facing rare sedition charges over the deadly U.S. Capitol attack to overturn the presidential election.
The panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol siege is set to convene Tuesday for a public hearing probing what it calls the final phase of Trump's multi-pronged effort to halt Joe Biden's victory. As dozens of lawsuits and false claims of voter fraud fizzled, Trump tweeted the rally invitation, a pivotal moment, the committee said. The far-right Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and others now facing criminal charges readily answered.
“We will lay out the body of evidence that we have that talks about how the president’s tweet on the wee hours of December 19th of ‘Be there, be wild,’ was a siren call to these folks,” said one panel member, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., over the weekend on “Meet the Press.” In fact, Trump tweeted, "Be there, will be wild!”
This is the seventh hearing in a series that has presented numerous blockbuster revelations from the Jan. 6 committee. Over the past month, the panel has created a stark narrative of a defeated Trump “detached from reality,” clinging to his false claims of voter fraud and working feverishly to reverse his election defeat. It all culminated with the deadly attack on the Capitol, the committee said.
What the committee intends to probe Tuesday is whether the extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and QAnon adherents who had rallied for Trump before, coordinated with White House allies for Jan. 6. The Oath Keepers have denied there was any plan to storm the Capitol.
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Japanese say final goodbye to assassinated former leader Abe
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese bid their final goodbye to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday as a family funeral was held at a temple days after his assassination shocked the nation.
Abe, the country's longest-serving prime minister, remained influential even after stepping down two years ago for health reasons. He was gunned down Friday during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.
Hundreds of people, some in formal dark suits, filled sidewalks outside Zojoji temple in downtown Tokyo to bid farewell to Abe, whose nationalistic views drove the governing party's conservative policies.
Mourners took photos and some called out “Abe san!” as a motorcade with the hearse carrying his body accompanied by his widow, Akie Abe, slowly drove by the packed crowd.
Only she and other close family members, along with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and senior party leaders, attended the funeral at the temple.
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Abe's complicated legacy looms large for current Japan PM
TOKYO (AP) — Assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was perhaps the most divisive leader in recent Japanese history, infuriating liberals with his revisionist views of history and his dreams of military expansion. He was also the longest serving and, by many estimations, the most influential.
For current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, this complicated legacy will loom large as he considers taking up his mentor's unachieved policy goals after a big win for their ruling Liberal Democratic Party in parliamentary elections Sunday, just days after Abe's death.
Kishida has gained considerable political strength, riding a surge of emotion and vows of resilience from voters after the assassination, but he’s also lost the most powerful force in his party — Abe.
“Kishida now faces an increasingly murky political situation,” the liberal-leaning Asahi newspaper said in an editorial. “The death of Abe, who headed the largest LDP wing, will certainly change the party’s power balance.”
Kishida made his immediate priorities clear after the election: “Party unity is more important than anything else."
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Putin set to visit Iran next week
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week, the Kremlin said Tuesday, a day after the U.S. warned that Tehran could provide Moscow with drones for its action in Ukraine.
During a trip to Tehran next Tuesday, Putin will attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, the so-called Astana format of meetings for Syria-related talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Putin's visit to Iran will follow U.S. President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week, where Iran’s nuclear program and malign activities in the region will be a key subject of discussion.
Peskov told reporters that on the visit to Tehran, Putin will also have a separate meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In March, Erdogan helped mediate talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Istanbul, Turkey. Peskov said there was no discussion about a new round of such negotiations.
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Some Ukrainians won't flee areas caught in crosshairs of war
KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AP) — Burned-out cars and splintered trees smolder in the aftermath of a missile strike on Kramatorsk, a city in eastern Ukraine. A body lies on the ground, covered by a sheet. Wounded residents sit dazed and covered in blood. A crater has been gouged in the center of a once-calm, sunlit courtyard.
Across the beleaguered city, Valerii Ilchenko sits under the shade of the trees, working on a crossword puzzle. The 70-year-old widower now has difficulty walking, and this daily ritual in the fresh air gets him through the day.
Just last week, the governor of Donetsk province urged its 350,000 remaining residents to move to safer places in western Ukraine. But like many other civilians who have come under fire in the nearly 5-month-old war, Ilchenko has no intention of leaving — no matter how close the fighting gets.
“I don’t have anywhere to go and don’t want to either. What would I do there? Here at least I can sit on the bench, I can watch TV,” he told The Associated Press in an interview in his one-room apartment where he lives alone.
Moscow and Kyiv are battling for control of the Donbas, a fertile and industrial region in eastern Ukraine where a conflict with Russia-backed separatists has raged since 2014. In recent weeks, Russia has made significant gains and is poised to fully occupy Luhansk province, which along with Donetsk province makes up the region. Attacks on key cities like Kramatorsk and Sloviansk have increased dramatically, killing and wounding scores of civilians weekly.
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Ukrainian rocket strike targets Russian ammunition depot
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian ammunition depot was apparently targeted by Ukrainian forces overnight, resulting in a massive blast captured on social media.
The Ukrainian military’s southern command said the rocket strike targeted the depot in Russian-held Nova Kakhovka, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) east of the important Black Sea port city of Kherson, which is also occupied by Russian forces.
Video on social media showed a massive explosion. The nature of the strike suggested that Ukrainian forces used U.S-supplied multiple-launch High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, to strike the area.
Russia’s Tass news agency offered a different account, saying that the target was a mineral fertilizer storage facility that exploded, and that a market, hospital and houses were damaged. Some of the ingredients in fertilizer can be used for ammunition.
Ukrainian authorities also said that Russian fire struck the southern city of Mykolaiv on Tuesday morning, hitting two medical facilities and residential buildings. Four people were wounded in the shelling attack, Mykolaiv regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.
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Biden to discuss immigration, trade with Mexico's president
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Tuesday for discussions the White House says will showcase the underlying strength of a relationship that of late has been more notable for the leaders' disagreements on issues including energy and Ukraine policy.
López Obrador declined Biden’s invitation to the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles last month after unsuccessfully urging the U.S. to include the leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela — all countries with anti-democratic regimes. The Mexican leader also has called U.S. support for Ukraine in its war with Russia “a crass error” and criticized the U.S. for moving more swiftly to provide military funding to Ukraine than financial aid to Central America.
There also are political crosscurrents in Washington, where top Republicans have pointed to a rising number of people from Mexico and Central America crossing the southern U.S. border illegally and have criticized the Democratic president's administration for not doing more to curb the migration.
It will be the second in-person meeting between Biden and López Obrador at the White House. In addition, they spoke virtually amid the coronavirus pandemic last year and have held several calls. First lady Jill Biden hosted Mexican first lady Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller during this spring’s White House celebration of Cinco de Mayo.
Tuesday's discussions come just before Biden leaves for Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia.
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High UAE gas prices stand out where cheap fuel was the norm
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Mere years ago, fuel was cheaper than bottled water in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates. Now, long lines snake outside gas stations on the eve of price hikes each month.
Fuel prices in the major OPEC producer, set in line with global oil price benchmarks, have soared over 70% since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, accentuating differences with neighboring petrostates that heavily subsidize gasoline.
The contrast has stoked complaints among Emiratis who receive generous cradle-to-grave welfare and prompted the government to boost social spending for low-income citizens.
The UAE's relaxing of fuel subsidies in 2015, which had been costing the government billions of dollars, put the country at the forefront of long-delayed fiscal reforms in the region as oil prices slumped. Even now, Gulf Arab rulers getting a windfall from sky-high oil prices know it can't last forever, as the world’s economies move away from fossil fuels.
“The UAE is really standing out,” said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. “Its policy focus remains firmly on reforms."
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Amazon Prime Day comes amid slowdown in online sales growth
Amazon is heading into its annual Prime Day sales event on Tuesday much differently than how it entered the pandemic.
The company has long used the two-day event — one of its biggest all year — to lure people to its Prime membership, for which Amazon recently raised the price to $139 a year from $119 a year.
Amazon doesn’t disclose total Prime Day sales, though growth estimates for last year’s event had ranged from 7% to 9%. Research firm Insider Intelligence suggests sales could grow even more this year in part because of the event’s mid-July timing, which compared to last year’s June date would allow the company to capture more consumers doing back-to-school shopping.
Amazon could use the boost amid a slowdown in overall online sales. Once the darling of the pandemic economy, the company posted a rare quarterly loss in April as well as its slowest rate of revenue growth in nearly two decades — at 7%. Inflation had added roughly $2 billion in costs.
Amazon also acknowledged it had too many workers and expects its excess capacity from its massive warehouse expansion during the pandemic to total $10 billion in extra costs for the first half of this year.
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'Squid Game,' 'Abbott Elementary' vying for Emmy nominations
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Succession” and “Ted Lasso” are in the hunt for Emmy nominations that could add to their previous trophy hauls, but they're up against hungry newcomers.
When the bids are announced Tuesday, the social satire “Succession,” a 2020 top-drama winner, may face a showdown with “Squid Game.” The South Korean hit about a brutal survival contest is vying to become the first non-English language Emmy nominee.
The Emmys once were dominated by broadcast networks and then cable, with the rise of streaming services changing the balance of power and perhaps the awards themselves. The possibility of Netflix's “Squid Game” joining the Emmy mix is the result of streaming's global marketplace focus.
Other possible drama contenders include the modern Western “Yellowstone,” workplace thriller “Severance” and “Yellowjackets,” a hybrid survival and coming-of-age tale.
Potential competition for “Ted Lasso," which claimed seven trophies including best comedy last year, includes the inaugural seasons of “Abbott Elementary" and “Only Murders in the Building” — both popular and critical successes.
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