Apr 18 Excavator blamed for island-wide blackout in Puerto Rico By Dánica Coto, Associated Press An island-wide blackout hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday as the U.S. territory struggles to repair an increasingly unstable power grid nearly seven months after Hurricane Maria. Officials said an excavator accidentally downed a transmission line. Continue reading
Apr 18 Erdogan catches Turkey off guard by calling early elections By Suzan Fraser, Associated Press Erdogan announced that parliamentary and presidential elections, originally scheduled for November 2019 will now be held June 24, meaning that a new political system that will increase the powers of the president will take effect a year early. Continue reading
Apr 18 Miguel Diaz-Canel, 57, chosen as next president of Cuba By Michael Weissenstein and Andrea Rodriguez, Associated Press The virtually certain unanimous approval of the National Assembly will install someone from outside the Castro family in the country's highest government office for the first time in nearly six decades. Continue reading
Apr 18 Senate panel divided over Mike Pompeo for secretary of state By Lisa Mascaro, Associated Press President Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, is facing so much opposition from Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the panel could be forced to take the unusual step of sending the nomination… Continue reading
Apr 18 Watchdog agency chief rejects Russian claim of 2nd nerve agent in Skripal poisoning By Mike Corder, Associated Press The head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said the second nerve agent had "nothing to do with the samples collected by the OPCW team in Salisbury."… Continue reading
Apr 18 Mike Pompeo traveled to North Korea over Easter, White House officials confirm By Associated Press White House officials have cleared up some confusion over when CIA Director Mike Pompeo traveled to North Korea for a meeting with Kim Jong Un. Continue reading
Apr 18 Trump says ‘a good relationship was formed’ with North Korea By Matthew Lee and Zeke Miller, Associated Press President Donald Trump on Wednesday confirmed that his CIA chief Mike Pompeo secretly met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea and said "a good relationship was formed" heading into the adversaries' anticipated summit. Continue reading
Apr 17 Trump formally nominates Gina Haspel to be next CIA director By Deb Riechmann, Associated Press The Senate intelligence committee is expected to have a confirmation hearing for Haspel in coming weeks, followed by a vote in the full Senate. Continue reading
Apr 17 McConnell shuts down bipartisan effort to protect special counsel Mueller By Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the bill is unnecessary because President Donald Trump will not fire Mueller. "We'll not be having this on the floor of the Senate," he said on Fox News. Continue reading
Apr 17 Republican Rep. Charlie Dent says he’ll resign from Congress in May By Marc Levy, Associated Press Charlie Dent's announcement sets up the potential for a special election as early as mid-summer to serve the remaining months in his term while candidates campaign for a full two-year term in the November election. Continue reading