AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EST
Boris Johnson claims 'powerful new mandate' for Brexit
LONDON (AP) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says it looks like his Conservative Party has won "a powerful new mandate to get Brexit done" in the country´s general election. He says the work of delivering Brexit will begin as soon as all the results are in.
Johnson called the election "historic" as he was announced the winner of his Uxbridge constituency in suburban London.
The Conservatives appear to be on course for a solid majority of seats in Parliament.
Johnson spoke shortly after Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn called Britain´s election result "very disappointing" for his party, but resisted pressure to step down right away. Corbyn said the divisive issue of Brexit has "contributed to the result."
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP´s earlier story follows below.
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House panel debates late for historic Trump impeachment vote
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House Judiciary Committee lumbered toward a historic vote late Thursday night to approve articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, splitting sharply along party lines in a grueling session. It was expected to end with charges being sent to the full House for action next week, before the holidays.
The committee, made up of some of the most strident Democrats and Republicans in Congress, clashed for more than 13 hours as Republicans insisted on lengthy debate on amendments designed to kill the two formal charges. They kept up the late-night endeavor though they won no votes from the majority Democrats and had no hope of winning any.
Trump is accused, in the first article, of abusing his presidential power by asking Ukraine to investigate his 2020 rival, Joe Biden, while holding military aid as leverage, and, in the second, of obstructing Congress by blocking the House's efforts to probe his actions.
Trump is only the fourth U.S. president to face impeachment proceedings and the first to be running for reelection at the same time. He insists he did nothing wrong and blasts the Democrats' effort daily as a sham and harmful to America. Republican allies seem unwavering in their opposition to expelling Trump, and he claims to be looking ahead to swift acquittal in a Senate trial.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi sounded confident Thursday that Democrats, who once tried to avoid a solely partisan effort, will have the votes to impeach the president without Republican support when the full House votes. But she said it was up to individual lawmakers to weigh the evidence.
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Russia probe report spurs calls for FBI surveillance changes
WASHINGTON (AP) - Revelations that the FBI committed serious errors in wiretapping a former Trump campaign aide have spurred bipartisan calls for change to the government´s surveillance powers, including from some Republicans who in the past have voted to renew or expand those authorities.
Anger over the errors cited in this week's Justice Department´s inspector general´s report of the Russia investigation has produced rare consensus from Democrats and Republicans who otherwise have had sharply different interpretations of the report's findings. The inspector general said the FBI was justified in investigating ties between the campaign and Russia, but criticized how the investigation was conducted.
The report cited flaws and omissions in the government's warrant applications under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, documenting problems with a surveillance program that Democrats and civil libertarians have long maintained is opaque, intrusive and operates with minimal oversight. They've now been joined by Republicans who are irate that FBI officials did not supply key information to judges when they applied to eavesdrop on former Trump aide Carter Page.
"I'm still trying to get my arms around the proposition that a whole bunch of conservative Republicans who've logged years blocking bipartisan FISA reforms are now somehow privacy hawks," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
It's unclear what steps, if any, Congress could or will take to rein in the FBI's power under the surveillance law, and it remains to be seen whether outrage over the way a Trump ally was treated will extend to less overtly political investigations.
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New Jersey attackers linked to anti-Semitic fringe movement
The deadly shooting rampage at a New Jersey kosher market has cast a spotlight on a fringe movement known for its anti-Semitic strain of street preaching and its role in a viral-video confrontation at the Lincoln Memorial this year.
Investigators believe that the man and woman who killed three people at the Jersey City grocery Tuesday in addition to gunning down a police officer at a cemetery hated Jews and law enforcement and had expressed interest in the Black Hebrew Israelites movement, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Thursday.
"But we have not definitively established any formal links to that organization or to any other group," he said. "Based on the available evidence, we believe that the two shooters were acting on their own."
Not all sects of the movement spew hateful rhetoric, but many Black Hebrew Israelites subscribe to an extreme set of anti-Semitic beliefs. Those followers view themselves as the true "chosen people" and believe that blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans are the true descendants of the 12 Tribes of Israel, said Oren Segal, director of the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism.
"They view white people as agents of Satan," Segal said. They believe "Jews are liars and false worshippers of God. They view blacks as the true Israelites, and not the impostor Jews."
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Chile: Plane that vanished en route to Antarctica found
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Searchers combing Antarctic seas have recovered parts of a military transport plane and human remains belonging to some of the 38 people aboard who vanished en route to the frozen continent, Chilean officials said Thursday.
Air Force Gen. Arturo Merino said at a news conference that based on the condition of the remains, he believed it would be "practically impossible" that any survivors would be pulled from the water alive.
An international team of searchers continued the hunt, while officials on shore said they would use DNA analysis to identify the crash victims.
Among the recovered items, searchers have found a landing wheel, sponge-like material from the fuel tanks and part of the plane's inside wall. Personal items include a backpack and a shoe, officials said.
"Remains of human beings that are most likely the passengers have been found among several pieces of the plane," Merino said. "I feel immense pain for this loss of lives."
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Anti-Semitism order raises tough issue of defining prejudice
NEW YORK (AP) - President Donald Trump´s order to expand the scope of potential anti-Semitism complaints on college campuses is raising the stakes of an already tense battle over how to define discrimination against Jews.
The executive order Trump signed on Wednesday tells the Education Department, when vetting alleged Civil Rights Act violations that can lead to a loss of schools´ federal funding, to consider a definition of anti-Semitism that could include some criticism of Israel. Several major Jewish American organizations hailed the order, but more liberal-leaning groups warned it could be used to muffle campus organizing against the Israeli government and in support of Palestinian rights.
Behind that divide are politically volatile questions: When does speech about Israel cross the line into anti-Semitism, and who is qualified to draw that line?
For supporters of Trump´s order -- which is aligned with bipartisan legislation that had stalled -- the distinction is a clear matter of reining in those who would question Israel´s right to exist as a Jewish state.
"There is no question that people have the right to criticize Israel. Jews, and non-Jews, do it very well," said World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, who has financially backed the GOP but recently launched a $25 million project aimed at fighting anti-Semitism on both sides of the aisle.
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Preservation or development? Brazil´s Amazon at a crossroads
TRAIRAO, Brazil (AP) - Night falls in Brazil´s Amazon and two logging trucks without license plates emerge from the jungle. They rumble over dirt roads that lead away from a national forest, carrying trunks of trees hundreds of years old.
After pulling onto a darkened highway, the truckers chug to their turnoff into the woods, where they deliver their ancient cargo. By morning, the trunks are laid out for hewing at the remote sawmill, its corrugated metal roof hardly visible from the highway.
The highway known as BR-163 stretches from soybean fields to a riverside export terminal. The loggers were just south of the road´s juncture with BR-230, known as the Trans-Amazon. Together the highways cover more than 5,000 miles, crossing the world´s fifth-biggest country in the state of Para.
Carved through jungle during Brazil´s military dictatorship in the 1970s, the roads were built to bend nature to man´s will in the vast hinterland. Four decades later, there´s development taking shape, but also worsening deforestation - and locals harbor concerns that progress may pass them by.
COLONIZATION DREAM
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'Lemonade' by Beyoncé is named the AP's album of the decade
NEW YORK (AP) - The top 15 albums of the decade by Associated Press Music Editor Mesfin Fekadu:
1. Beyoncé, "Lemonade": At the beginning of this decade, Beyoncé was already the greatest singer of her generation. She won a record six Grammys in a single night, had women AND MEN "oh-oh-oh´ing" to the fun sound of "Single Ladies" and continued to be a beast of a performer. But somehow Superwoman - shoot, she´s Superman, too! - found a way to do more: Like a boss she launched her own company, Parkwood Entertainment, and really took the bull by the horns of her career. In 2011, she released the R&B adventure "4," featuring classics like "Countdown," "Love on Top," "Party," "End of Time," "I Care" and "I Miss You." Three years later - in surprise form - came "Beyoncé," her bold, audacious and daring album that showcased a new side of Beyoncé: Goodbye was the girl who cared about topping the charts, and born was an artist, a true storyteller, a grown woman. Somehow, she topped herself again with "Lemonade," which still tastes as good as it did when it was released in 2016. The usually private Beyoncé bares her soul on the album, singing about a troubled relationship, black pride and motherhood in a brave way. Lyrically, she´s on point and honest over beats and sounds that range from rap to rock to country and pop. "Who the (expletive) do you think I am," she brashly asks on "Don´t Hurt Yourself," which co-stars Jack White. The answer: the greatest of all time.
2. Rihanna, "Anti": Something was in the water in 2016: Beyoncé delivered "Lemonade" and Rihanna gave us the best album of her career with "Anti." Rihanna had been moving like the Energizer Bunny since releasing her first album in 2005. She also put out albums in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 - showing that she was a singer who knew how to pick a hit, record it and make it sound better than any other artist could. But she took four years to create "Anti," and the time was used wisely. No need to hit the skip button on this album as Rihanna shows her sultry side on "Kiss It Better," her twerk side on "Work" and her vocal chops on "Love on the Brain." Her hard work, work, work, work, work, work has truly paid off.
3. Beyoncé, "Beyoncé": See earlier entry.
4. Adele, "21": Back in my day - well in 2010 - record labels sent albums months in advance, and in November 2010 I received Adele´s "21." Everything else around had to be turned off. I was sucked in. Months later, so was the world. THE ENTIRE WORLD. Adele was impressive on her 2008 debut, especially on "Hometown Glory," but with "21" she went deep, too deep, she was rolling in the deep! Literally. Each song made you feel something - sad, lonely, bouncy, fired up, calm, angry, lost. And nine years later, each song sounds as classic as they did at first listen, especially "Turning Tables," "Set Fire to the Rain" and the incomparable "Someone Like You."
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Former NBA Commissioner Stern has emergency brain surgery
NEW YORK (AP) - The NBA says former Commissioner David Stern suffered a sudden brain hemorrhage Thursday and had emergency surgery.
The league said in a statement its thoughts and prayers are with the 77-year-old Stern's family.
Stern served exactly 30 years as the NBA's longest-tenured commissioner before Adam Silver replaced him on Feb. 1, 2014. Stern has remained affiliated with the league with the title of commissioner emeritus and has remained active in his other interests, such as sports technology.
Stern oversaw the growth of the NBA into a league whose games were televised in more than 200 countries and territories and in more than 40 languages. The league was playing a regular-season game in Mexico City between Dallas and Detroit on Thursday night when it announced the news about Stern.
Stern stayed busy after stepping down as commissioner, taking trips overseas on the league's behalf, doing public speaking and consulting. He was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.
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10 ex-NFL players charged with defrauding healthcare program
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ten former NFL players were charged in a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud the league´s health care benefit program by submitting false claims for medical equipment, including devices used on horses, the Justice Department said Thursday.
The players were charged in two separate indictments filed in federal court in Kentucky, accusing them of conspiracy, wire fraud and healthcare fraud. Prosecutors allege they submitted nearly $4 million in phony claims, leading to payouts of about $3.4 million between June 2017 and December 2018.
Those charged include five former players on the Washington Redskins, including Clinton Portis and Carlos Rogers.
Prosecutors allege the players targeted the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Health Reimbursement Account Plan, which was established as part of a collective bargaining agreement in 2006. It provides tax-free reimbursement of out-of-pocket medical care expenses that were not covered by insurance and that were incurred by former players, their spouses and dependents.
"As outlined in the indictments, a group of former players brazenly defrauded the plan by seeking reimbursements for expensive medical equipment that they never purchased," said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski, who leads the Justice Department´s criminal division.
