McCain attacks use of Russian rockets
WASHINGTON – The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee assailed Pentagon officials on Wednesday for relying on Russian rocket engines to launch American military satellites into space, arguing that the practice enriches friends of President Vladimir Putin and puts U.S. national security in jeopardy.
“Today Russia holds many of our most precious national security satellites at risk before they ever get off the ground,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said at a hearing to examine military space launch capabilities.
Yet McCain said the Pentagon has actively sought to undermine the committee’s direction to limit that risk and end the use of the Russian RD-180 engines by the end of this decade.
Overhaul proposed for Ferguson police
ST. LOUIS – The Justice Department has reached a tentative agreement with Ferguson on systemic changes following the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in 2014, city officials announced Wednesday.
The recommended overhaul follows seven months of negotiations and likely averts a civil rights lawsuit that federal officials have the option to bring against departments that resist changing their policing practices.
City officials posted the proposed 131-page deal between the federal government and the Ferguson Police Department on the city’s website and scheduled three public sessions over the next two weeks for input from residents. A City Council vote is scheduled for Feb. 9.
Under the agreement, within 180 days, all patrol officers, supervisors and jail workers will be required to wear body cameras and microphones.
France pushing for new Iran sanctions
VIENNA – France has asked the European Union to consider new sanctions against Iran over recent missile tests, in a request made shortly after the EU ended sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program, officials have told The Associated Press.
Two officials from European Union nations said the French proposal is under EU review but most other EU members view it as counterproductive to efforts to revive political and economic ties with Iran after the protracted chill over the nuclear dispute. The officials, who were briefed by people who attended the meeting, spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
Minister not told of plan to cover statues
ROME – Italy’s culture minister has criticized as “incomprehensible” the decision to cover up naked statues at a Rome museum where Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was visiting, adding a new twist to the controversy that has dominated Rouhani’s deal-making visit to Italy.
Culture Minister Dario Franceschini told reporters Wednesday that neither he nor Premier Matteo Renzi were informed about the decision, which was apparently taken by lower-ranking officials in a bid to avoid offending the visiting leader. The cover-up involved the placement of wooden panels to shield nude statues at Rome’s Capitoline Museums, where Rouhani and Renzi held a news conference Monday.
Associated Press
