AP News in Brief at 9:04 p.m. EDT – CP

Source: The Associated Press
Sep 30, 2018 

FBI interviews accuser; Yale friend remembers heavy drinker

WASHINGTON (AP) _ FBI agents on Sunday interviewed one of the three women who have accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct as Republicans and Democrats quarreled over whether the bureau would have enough time and freedom to conduct a thorough investigation before a high-stakes vote on his nomination to the nation’s highest court.

The White House insisted it was not “micromanaging” the new one-week review of Kavanaugh’s background but some Democratic lawmakers claimed the White House was keeping investigators from interviewing certain witnesses. President Donald Trump, for his part, tweeted that no matter how much time and discretion the FBI was given, “it will never be enough” for Democrats trying to keep Kavanaugh off the bench.

And even as the FBI explored the past allegations that have surfaced against Kavanaugh, another Yale classmate came forward to accuse the federal appellate judge of being untruthful in his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the extent of his drinking in college.

In speaking to FBI agents, Deborah Ramirez detailed her allegation that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party in the early 1980s when they were students at Yale University, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of a confidential investigation.

Kavanaugh has denied Ramirez’s allegation.

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APNewsBreak: Pentagon’s immigrant recruit program stymied

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Stricter Trump administration immigration policies have stymied Pentagon plans to restart a program that allowed thousands of people with critical medical or Asian and African language skills to join the military and become American citizens, according to several U.S. officials.

The decade-old program has been on hold since 2016 amid concerns that immigrant recruits were not being screened well enough, and security threats were slipping through the system. Defence officials shored up the vetting process, and planned to relaunch the program earlier this month.

But there was an unexpected barrier when Homeland Security officials said they would not be able to protect new immigrant recruits from being deported when their temporary visas expired after they signed a contract to join the military, the U.S. officials said. They were not authorized to publicly describe internal discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The program is called Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program, or MAVNI. The plan to restart it was backed by Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, who believes that noncitizens can bring key skills, language abilities, and cultural knowledge to the military.

Mattis, a combat veteran of multiple war tours, has fought with and commanded foreign nationals, and he believes their service adds to the lethality of America’s fighting force, according to the officials.

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California governor signs tough net neutrality bill

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the nation’s toughest net neutrality measure Sunday, requiring internet providers to maintain a level playing field online.

Advocates of net neutrality hope the move in the home of the global technology industry will have national implications, prompting Congress to enact national net neutrality rules or encouraging other states to follow suit.

It’s the latest example of the nation’s most populous state seeking to drive public policy outside its borders and rebuff President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Brown did not explain his reasons for signing the bill when the decision was announced.

“This is a historic day for California. A free and open internet is a cornerstone of 21st century life: our democracy, our economy, our health care and public safety systems, and day-to-day activities,” said Democratic Sen. Scott Weiner, the law’s author.

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New Tesla chair must rein in CEO Musk at key moment

WASHINGTON (AP) _ It won’t be an easy job.

Whoever becomes the new chairman of Tesla Motors will face the formidable task of reining in Elon Musk, the charismatic, visionary chief executive with an impulsive streak, while also helping Musk achieve his dream of turning Tesla into a profitable, mass-market producer of environmental-friendly electric cars.

Musk is giving up the chairman’s role under a settlement announced Saturday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Besides a new chairman, Tesla was also ordered to appoint two new, independent members to its board. A more assertive board could provide the kind of tighter oversight that many legal experts, and Tesla investors, say is overdue for a company of Tesla’s market value.

The settlement stemmed from a lawsuit the SEC filed charging Musk with misleading investors in August with a tweet that said he had “funding secured” for taking the company private.

Yet a more forceful board, coupled with a domineering CEO like Musk, could create conflicts at a risky time for the company. Visionary CEOs such as Apple’s Steve Jobs and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey have been forced out by strong boards of directors, though both eventually returned to their companies.

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Warning system might have saved lives in Indonesian tsunami

MAKASSAR, Indonesia (AP) _ An early warning system that might have prevented some deaths in the tsunami that hit an Indonesian island on Friday has been stalled in the testing phase for years.

The high-tech system of seafloor sensors, data-laden sound waves and fiber-optic cable was meant to replace a system set up after an earthquake and tsunami killed nearly 250,000 people in the region in 2004. But inter-agency wrangling and delays in getting just 1 billion rupiah ($69,000) to complete the project mean the system hasn’t moved beyond a prototype developed with $3 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation.

It is too late for central Sulawesi, where walls of water up to 6 metres (20 feet) high and a magnitude 7.5 earthquake killed at least 832 people in the cities of Palu and Donggala, tragically highlighting the weaknesses of the existing warning system and low public awareness about how to respond to warnings.

“To me this is a tragedy for science, even more so a tragedy for the Indonesian people as the residents of Sulawesi are discovering right now,” said Louise Comfort, a University of Pittsburgh expert in disaster management who has led the U.S. side of the project, which also involves engineers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Indonesian scientists and disaster experts.

“It’s a heartbreak to watch when there is a well-designed sensor network that could provide critical information,” she said.

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Kavanaugh case unfolds as DeVos readies sexual assault rule

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Choking back tears, she testified that he sexually assaulted her. Defensive and angry and choking back tears, he swore that he did not.

The dramatic Senate testimony last week by Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh came as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos considers new guidelines that could drastically change the way allegations of sexual violence are investigated on college campuses.

Brett Sokolow, a lawyer who heads an association of sexual harassment investigators on campuses, said his colleagues closely watched the hearing and may use it for future trainings.

“If this was a student, would I believe them, would I not?” Sokolow said. “Who comes out being credible?”

DeVos has argued that the policy put in place under President Barack Obama is skewed against the accused. She is expected to issue new rules in the near future.

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3 dead after car explosion; perpetrator ‘probably killed’

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) _ A car explosion that rocked downtown Allentown left three males dead, including the likely “perpetrator,” officials said Sunday as federal authorities who are leading the investigation looked ahead to autopsies.

“We know there’s been a criminal incident,” District Attorney James Martin told reporters at a news conference Sunday. “We have a high degree of confidence that the perpetrator was probably killed in the incident.”

Authorities released no information about the possible cause of Saturday night’s blast, including whether it was a bomb, but Martin said, “Loads of us in law enforcement” are confident “this was A. an isolated incident and B. there’s no continuing threat.”

Authorities are seeking the public’s help in getting clues and asked anyone with information to call the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is leading the investigation.

The blast occurred a block from the PPL Center sports arena and two blocks from the popular Hamilton Street dining area in Allentown, a city of about 120,000 about 60 miles (95 kilometres) northwest of Philadelphia. The block where it occurred is a mixture of residences and small businesses, including a restaurant and a bar.

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Macedonia: Referendum approves name change, but turnout low

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) _ A referendum on changing Macedonia’s name as part of a deal that would pave the way for NATO membership won overwhelming support Sunday, but low voter turnout highlighted the hurdles that still remain for the Balkan country to join the alliance.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev had hoped for a strong show of support in the referendum on whether to accept a June deal with Greece changing the country’s name to North Macedonia. That would help him with the next step of winning parliamentary support for the required constitutional amendments.

Results from more than 97 per cent of polling stations showed 91.3 per cent of voters approving the deal. But turnout stood at just 36.8 per cent, a far cry from the massive support the government had hoped for.

Opponents to the name change had called for a boycott of the vote and celebrated in the street outside Parliament when turnout figures were announced, chanting slogans and waving flags.

Nevertheless, Zaev declared the vote a success.

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Kavanaugh hearing spurs sex crimes victims to come forward

NEW YORK (AP) _ The high-profile airing of sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has led victims around the country to flood support centre lines with calls, come forward with reports of rapes and publicly share long-held stories of their own experiences of being attacked.

For many who had stifled painful memories for years, hearing Christine Blasey Ford share her accusation against Kavanaugh reopened old wounds. For others dealing with a recent experience of assault, it has spurred them to report the crimes or seek counselling or other help.

“Having this in the news all the time has flipped their lives upside down,” said Kristen Houlton Shaw, executive director of the Sexual Violence Center in Minnesota, where the number of first-time callers has increased in the past week. “So many different things can trigger people, and this time it’s the news.”

Kavanaugh has denied any wrongdoing and gave an impassioned defence of himself at a Senate hearing on Thursday. It was Ford’s words, though, that resonated with many who survived an assault and were stirred by testimony recounting terror they understood lasts a lifetime.

“It’s a real mixed bag and a real mix of emotions about both the power of this moment and the pain,” said Jess Davidson, who leads the advocacy group End Rape on Campus and said she has heard from many survivors of sexual assault in recent days who are sharing their stories for the first time. “I don’t think there’s any way we walk away from the conversation that our country is having this week without seeing a shift.”

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AP Top 25: Ohio State up to 3, Notre Dame at 6; 5 new teams

After winning top-10 matchups, Ohio State moved up to No. 3 and Notre Dame rose to No. 6 in The Associated Press college football poll. For the second straight week, there was major turnover at the bottom of the Top 25.

No. 1 Alabama and Georgia mainted the top two spots in the media ranking . The Crimson Tide received 58 first-place votes on Sunday. Ohio State moved past Clemson after rallying in the fourth quarter at Penn State. Clemson slipped to No. 4 after a close victory at home against Syracuse. The Buckeyes and Tigers each received a first-place vote.

LSU held steady at No. 5 and Notre Dame moved up two spots after beating Stanford. Oklahoma fell to No. 7 and No. 9 West Virginia returned to the top 10 for the first time since 2012, when it reached No. 5 early in the season. Washington also moved into the top 10 after routing BYU.

POLL POINTS

For the second straight week, seven ranked teams lost, though with five games matching ranked teams that was not much of a surprise. Still, it is only the second time since the poll expanded to 25 teams in 1989 that there were consecutive weeks in which at least five teams dropped out. On Sept. 19, 1999, five teams dropped out; six teams did the following week.

INDEX: INTERNATIONAL