Update on the latest news, sports, business and entertainment at 7:20 am EDT - WTOP

Update on the latest news, sports, business and entertainment at 7:20 am EDT - WTOP

CHINA-TRADE-THE LATEST

The Latest: China’s August imports from US fall 22.5%

BEIJING (AP) — China has reported that August imports from US fall 22.5% amid a tariff war with Washington, while exports to US fall 16%.

Chinese customs data reported Sunday shows imports of U.S. goods fell to $10.3 billion following Chinese tariff hikes and orders to companies to cancel orders. Exports to the United States sank to $44.4 billion.

Chinese exporters also face pressure from weakening global demand at a time when Beijing is telling them to find other markets to replace the United States.

TRUMP-AFGHANISTAN

Trump says he called of secret Taliban meeting at Camp David

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he was set this weekend to meet at Camp David with leaders of the Taliban to negotiate a peace deal in Afghanistan.

But Trump says he called off that meeting, and a separate one with Afghanistan’s president, after a Taliban bombing that killed an American soldier and 11 other people.

In a tweet Saturday evening, Trump questioned why the insurgent group thought a deadly bombing would improve their negotiating position.

The president has been under pressure from the Afghan government and some U.S. lawmakers who mistrust the Taliban and think it’s too early to withdraw American forces.

Trump has pledged to withdraw the remaining 13,000 to 14,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan and end U.S. involvement in a conflict that is closing in on 18 years.

BC-TROPICAL WEATHER-THE LATEST

The Latest: Widespread blackouts as Dorian continues march

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — Dorian is continuing to weaken as it moves toward Canada’s Newfoundland island, but forecasters caution that it still remains “powerful.”

The post-tropical cyclone has top sustained winds of 80 mph (129 kph) and is moving north-northeast at 26 mph (42 kph). The Canadian Hurricane Center has discontinued all warnings for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, west of Ecum Secum on the southern coast and west of Brule along the northern coast. The hurricane watch for Prince Edward Island has also been lifted.

Dorian’s top sustained winds are occurring mainly over water, and are forecast to drop below hurricane strength after passing Newfoundland later Sunday.

The center of the storm was around 100 miles (160 kilometers) north-northeast of the Magdalen Islands and 80 miles (129 kilometers) west of Cape St. George as of 5 a.m.

TRUMP-HURRICANE DORIAN

NOAA assailed for defending Trump’s Hurricane Dorian claim

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former top officials of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are assailing the agency for undermining its weather forecasters as it defends President Donald Trump’s claim that Hurricane Dorian had threatened Alabama.

They say NOAA’s action risks the credibility of the nation’s weather and science agency and may even risk lives.

The critics served both Republican and Democratic presidents. Among them are four former top NOAA officials and a former disaster response chief.

On Friday, a NOAA statement from an anonymous spokesperson lent support to Trump’s warning days earlier that Alabama faced danger from Dorian. Alabama had never been included in official hurricane advisories and his information was outdated.

The statement undermined a National Weather Service tweet from Sunday that had said Alabama would see no impact from Dorian.

JEFFREY EPSTEIN-MIT-THE LATEST

The Latest: Researcher tied to Epstein quits NY Times board

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The director of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology research lab who resigned from the university over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein has also resigned from the boards of The New York Times Co. and of two foundations.

Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger and the company’s president, Mark Thompson, said in a companywide email Saturday that former Media Lab director Joi Ito has resigned from the board “effective immediately.”

The MacArthur Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced Ito’s resignation from their boards, as well.

The New Yorker reported Friday that Media Lab had a more extensive fundraising relationship with Epstein than it previously acknowledged and tried to conceal the extent of the relationship.

Epstein killed himself in jail in New York on Aug. 10 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

ELECTION 2020-BIDEN

In NH, Biden lacks enthusiasm to match front-runner status

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Joe Biden was greeted with the respect that comes with being a former vice president when he took the stage at a New Hampshire Democratic convention.

Some of his closest rivals were greeted like rock stars.

The scene in New Hampshire highlights one of the riddles of Biden’s candidacy. He maintains a lead in nearly every poll, but his campaign often lacks the look and feel of a front-runner.

His crowds are warm, but rarely high-energy. His organization is solid, but doesn’t always show up in force at key events that help shape the perceptions of political power brokers.

Biden’s team insists such optics are overrated as indicators of a candidate’s strength, saying he is unique among Democrats because of a reservoir of goodwill from a broad group of supporters.

ELECTION 2020-REPUBLICANS

State Republican parties mull canceling primaries, caucuses

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republicans in several states are set to decide whether they’ll cancel plans to hold presidential preference selections before the 2020 election. It wouldn’t be unusual move by the party of the White House incumbent seeking a second term.

In meetings Saturday, Republican parties in South Carolina, Kansas and Nevada are expected to debate canceling primaries, caucuses or other voting. Arizona is expected to make a decision later in the month.

Several challengers to President Donald Trump have emerged, including Bill Weld , a former Massachusetts governor, and Joe Walsh , a former Illinois congressman. Others may join them.

In years past, both Republicans and Democrats have scrapped state nominating contests when an incumbent president from their party ran for a second term.

___

Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

BOAT FIRE-CALIFORNIA-VICTIMS

Pain of scuba diving deaths off California felt across globe

The pain of the ill-fated scuba diving tour was felt across the United States and far beyond.

An exceptional group of people had boarded the Conception vessel for the three-day excursion in California’s rugged Channel Islands before the boat erupted in fire on Labor Day and sank, killing 34 people.

They included highly accomplished engineers, biologists, computer scientists, nurses, artists and photographers. Several had graduated from top universities with advanced degrees. All shared a love of nature and adventure.

After reading some of the names of those identified so far, Santa Barbara County Bill Brown said those killed were from throughout California, across the United States and from around the world. He vowed investigators will determine the cause of the fire.

OPIOID CRISIS-PURDUE

Opioid talks at impasse; Purdue bankruptcy filing expected

CLEVELAND (AP) — Attempts to reach a nationwide settlement over the opioid crisis with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma have hit an impasse, and the company is expected to file for bankruptcy.

State attorneys general for Tennessee and North Carolina have been leading the negotiations. They sent a message Saturday to other attorneys general saying the Sackler family, which owns Purdue, had rejected two offers from the states and declined to offer counterproposals.

As a result, the attorneys general said they expect Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue to file “for bankruptcy protection imminently.”

Purdue spokeswoman Josephine Martin said the company would decline to comment.

The breakdown puts the first federal trial over the opioid epidemic on track to begin next month and sets the stage for a complex bankruptcy involving more than 30 states and 2,000 local governments.

___

Mulvihill reported from New Jersey.

BREXIT

Ex-UK minister says Johnson not trying to get a Brexit deal

LONDON (AP) — A senior minister who quit British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Cabinet says the government is making little or no effort to secure a Brexit agreement with the European Union, despite Johnson’s insistence that he wants a deal.

Amber Rudd says “there is no evidence of a deal. There are no formal negotiations taking place.”

Rudd stepped down as work and pensions secretary late Saturday, in the latest blow to the embattled British prime minister.

Johnson says Britain must leave the EU as scheduled Oct. 31 even if there is no divorce agreement with the bloc. But his plan is meeting fierce resistance, including from some members of his own party.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid insisted on Sunday that the government was “straining every sinew to get a deal.”

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

2019-09-08 10:38:04Z
https://wtop.com/national/2019/09/update-on-the-latest-news-sports-business-and-entertainment-at-1220-a-m-edt-181/
CBMicmh0dHBzOi8vd3RvcC5jb20vbmF0aW9uYWwvMjAxOS8wOS91cGRhdGUtb24tdGhlLWxhdGVzdC1uZXdzLXNwb3J0cy1idXNpbmVzcy1hbmQtZW50ZXJ0YWlubWVudC1hdC0xMjIwLWEtbS1lZHQtMTgxL9IBAA

Bagikan Berita Ini