Obama proposes body cams for police
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said Monday he wants to ensure the U.S. isn’t building a “militarized culture” within police departments, while maintaining federal programs that provide the type of military-style equipment that were used to dispel racially charged protests in Ferguson, Missouri.
Instead, the president is asking Congress for funding to buy 50,000 body cameras to record events like the shooting death of an unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown and look for ways to build trust and confidence between police and minority communities nationwide. He announced the creation of a task force to study success stories and recommend ways the government can support accountability, transparency and trust in police.
At least for now, Obama is staying away from Ferguson in the wake of the uproar over a grand jury’s decision last week not to charge Darren Wilson, the police officer who fatally shot Brown. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating possible civil rights violations that could result in federal charges, but investigators would need to satisfy a rigorous standard of proof. Justice also has launched a broad investigation into the Ferguson Police Department.
Air war may expand to Syria
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is weighing the opening of a new front in the air war against the Islamic State in Syria, part of an offensive to push back militants along the western portion of Syria’s border with Turkey and create a relatively safe zone for U.S.-backed Syrian rebel forces to move in.
Under the plan, U.S. aircraft flying from Turkey’s Incirlik air base would target positions the militants currently hold along the border north of Aleppo, eastward toward the besieged town of Kobani. Turkish special forces would move into the area to assist targeting and help Syrian opposition fighters consolidate their hold on the territory.
President Barack Obama, who has not yet approved the proposal, was briefed on its outline at a meeting with his senior national security advisers last Wednesday.
The plan was developed over the past several weeks during extensive meetings between U.S. and Turkish diplomatic and military officials.
GOP seeks to block immigration order
WASHINGTON – Conservatives circulated draft legislation Monday aimed at blocking President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration from taking effect, as Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson prepared to offer GOP critics a full-throated defense of the new policies.
Obama’s move to shield some 4 million immigrants here illegally from deportation amounts to “simple common sense,” Johnson was to tell the Republican-led House Homeland Security Committee Tuesday in the administration’s first testimony on the issue since Obama announced the changes two weeks ago.
Republicans have vowed to stop Obama’s moves from taking effect, but how they will do so remained unclear as they returned to Capitol Hill on Monday after a weeklong Thanksgiving break. GOP leadership in the House planned to discuss options in a closed-door meeting with the rank-and-file this morning.
Terrorists kill at least 7 in Nigeria attacks
BAUCHI, Nigeria – Suspected Islamic terrorists struck in two state capitals in northeastern Nigeria on Monday, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens with a double bombing at a crowded market and an attack on a police base. Around 30 terrorists were also killed in clashes with security forces, police said.
The attacks were the latest in a week of violence linked to Islamic jihadis who have killed more than 170 people in northern Nigeria.
Police spokesman Gideon Jubrin said at least five people were killed at a market in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state where two female suicide bombers also killed 70 people a week ago.
Jurors to hear Steve Jobs’ testimony
SAN FRANCISCO – After nearly a decade in legal wrangling, a billion-dollar class-action lawsuit over Apple’s iPod music players heads to trial on Tuesday in a California federal court. A key witness will be none other than the company’s legendary late founder Steve Jobs, who will be heard in a videotaped deposition.
Attorneys for consumers and electronics retailers claim Apple Inc. used software in its iTunes store that forced would-be song buyers to use iPods instead of cheaper music players made by rivals. The software is no longer used, but the plaintiffs argue that it inflated the prices of millions of iPods sold between 2006 and 2009 – to the tune of $350 million. Under federal antitrust law, the tech giant could be ordered to pay three times that amount if the jury agrees with the estimate and finds the damages resulted from anti-competitive behavior.
“The fact that this case is still going 10 years later is a sign that technology often outpaces law,” said Mark Lemley, a Stanford law professor.
AP, Washington Post
