Secret Service officer is arrested

WASHINGTON – A uniformed officer in the Secret Service’s Foreign Missions Branch was put on leave and his security clearance suspended Friday after he was arrested in Washington, the agency said.

Metropolitan Police arrested Arthur Baldwin early Friday in northeast Washington on a felony charge of first-degree attempted burglary and destruction of property.

According to a police report of the incident, Baldwin is accused of being armed with his service weapon when he tried to break in to his girlfriend’s house early Friday morning. The report said two windows were broken and the hinges to a door were damaged.

Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy ordered that Baldwin be placed on administrative leave and suspended his security clearance after his arrest.

Carter faults role of China in disputes

SEOUL, South Korea – U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter gently chided China on Friday for its approach to territorial disputes in the South China Sea, suggesting Beijing has been isolated by its strong-arm tactics.

Speaking at a news conference with his South Korean counterpart, Carter implicitly accused the Chinese of militarizing the issue, highlighted in recent days by evidence of Chinese land reclamation projects that have turned a number of previously submerged reefs in the Spratlys archipelago into artificial islands. The islands could be used for military facilities to bolster China’s territorial claims.

“One of the consequences” of not dealing with territorial disputes “in a multilateral, diplomatic fashion is it’s hard to have friends and allies that way,” Carter said.

Associated Press