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Students across the United States marked the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting by walking out of their classrooms. This protest against gun violence comes on the heels of a previous national school walkout and the March for Our Lives rallies. From Washington, VOA’s Jill Craig has more.
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Kremlin officials, from President Vladimir Putin down, wasted no time in condemning the U.S.-led punitive airstrikes on Syria a week ago, warning of dire consequences. But Russian state-run media has focused more efforts on disputing the alleged Syrian government chemical attack, which prompted the Western airstrikes in the first place, than on the U.S.-led retaliation itself.

The distinction might seem minor, but analysts say it reflects a Kremlin decision to try to reduce tension with the U.S. and prevent further escalation. Moscow is still holding out hopes for a summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, they say.

Amid rapidly deteriorating relations between Western countries and Russia, with disputes raging over a range of issues, including Kremlin meddling in the domestic politics of the U.S. and European states and aggressive Russian online disinformation campaigns, Kremlin officials also seemingly are avoiding directly criticizing Trump, in marked contrast to their open disdain for British Prime Minister Theresa May and Britain’s foreign minister, Boris Johnson.

On Friday, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told the RIA Novosti news agency he had faith that Putin and Trump won’t allow any armed confrontation to occur between the U.S. and Russia over Syria.

“Speaking about risks of a military confrontation, I am 100 percent sure that [the] militaries won’t allow this, and of course neither will President Putin or President Trump,” he said.

Lavrov confirmed that Trump had invited Putin to visit Washington during a phone call last month and added that the U.S. president had said he “would be happy to make a reciprocal visit [to Moscow].”The Kremlin is now expecting Trump to issue a formal invitation, say Russian officials. The White House previously announced that Trump had raised the possibility of a summit meeting.

Lavrov said prior to the Western airstrikes, which were carried out in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on a rebel-held Damascus suburb that left a reported 70 dead and hundreds injured, Russian and U.S. military leaders discussed behind the scenes what would prompt Russian retaliation and how to avoid it.

The Kremlin’s “red lines” were mainly “geographical” and focused on ensuring no Russian servicemen or personnel would be killed or injured.

Lavrov said, “Anyway … these red lines’ were not crossed” during the Western airstrikes, which targeted three facilities in Syria, where Russia is backing President Assad’s forces in the civil war.

On Thursday, the Bloomberg news service reported the Kremlin had instructed officials to curb anti-U.S. rhetoric. And on Monday Russian lawmakers delayed moving draft legislation aimed at U.S. companies in retaliation for a fresh round of economic sanctions Washington imposed last month on Russia, which the U.S. Treasury Department said was payback for Russia’s “malign activity” in general.

The temporary withdrawal by Russian lawmakers of a draft law that would have impacted a broad range of trade with the U.S. came after Trump officials reassured Russia’s embassy in Washington on Sunday, April 15, that the White House wouldn’t be announcing more sanctions on Russia in the near future — despite an announcement to the contrary by the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, Nikki Haley.

Trump has made no secret of his wish to improve relations with Russia. After congratulating Putin on his re-election in March, Trump tweeted that “getting along with Russia [and others] is a good thing, not a bad thing.”

On the campaign trail, Trump regularly expressed the same sentiment, arguing it would be in the U.S. interest for him to shape a strong personal relationship with Putin. Trump has met Putin twice as president, at the Group of 20 summit in Germany last summer and briefly in Vietnam at the Asia-Pacific economic summit in November.

Problematic summit

But a Trump-Putin summit could prove highly problematic for Trump in terms of domestic U.S. politics. It would likely sharpen divisions in the U.S. over relations with Russia as well as stoke partisan rancor over a special-counsel investigation into allegations that Trump’s campaign colluded in Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Trump won bipartisan praise last month on Capitol Hill, which is more skeptical of Russia than the U.S. president, for ordering the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats, part of a coordinated Western move to punish the Kremlin for a March 4 nerve agent attack in England on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

But the U.S. leader also faced criticism last month for congratulating Putin on his re-election in a phone call in which he failed to raise the issue of the Skripal poisoning.

Trump’s foes fault him for shying away from criticizing Putin personally, arguing it gives credence to claims made by a former British spy, which are part of the special counsel probe, that the Kremlin holds compromising information on the U.S. president.

Domestic U.S. politics aside, any summit between the two leaders would be high risk and might be weighted with too many expectations that can’t be fulfilled.

In an interview with VOA last month, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman warned against thinking in terms of a reset with Russia, saying a sudden breakthrough is unrealistic.

“The resets and the redos of years gone by, both Republicans and Democrats, always end in disaster,” he said. “They heighten expectations to the point of our inability to achieve any of those expectations. Hopes are dashed. Relationships crumble. We’ve seen that over and over again.”

But he added it was important to maintain a dialogue and to look for “natural openings to build trust in small ways.”

He acknowledged the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is complicating U.S.-Russia diplomacy.

“I would be disingenuous if I said it didn’t impact the environment in which all of this plays out. And certainly the impact it has on members of Congress and the American people, who are a big part of fashioning the nature of our bilateral relationship.”

Rewarding aggressive behavior

Some analysts and former officials worry that holding a summit in the near future with relations between the two powers at their worst point since the Cold War would be widely seen as a reward for aggressive Russian behavior.

On Thursday, Prime Minister May accused Russia of trying “to undermine the international system,” pointing to an aggressive Russian internet disinformation campaign “intended to undermine the actual institutions and processes of the rules-based system.”

She said in the weeks after a suspected chemical attack in Syria and the poisoning of a Russian dissident in England, there had been a 4,000 percent increase in activity by Kremlin-linked social media trolls and automated accounts propagating what she called lies.
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Kremlin officials, from President Vladimir Putin down, wasted no time in condemning the U.S.-led punitive airstrikes on Syria a week ago, warning of dire consequences. But Russian state-run media has focused more efforts on disputing the alleged Syrian government chemical attack, which prompted the Western airstrikes in the first place, than on the U.S.-led retaliation itself.

The distinction might seem minor, but analysts say it reflects a Kremlin decision to try to reduce tension with the U.S. and prevent further escalation. Moscow is still holding out hopes for a summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, they say.

Amid rapidly deteriorating relations between Western countries and Russia, with disputes raging over a range of issues, including Kremlin meddling in the domestic politics of the U.S. and European states and aggressive Russian online disinformation campaigns, Kremlin officials also seemingly are avoiding directly criticizing Trump, in marked contrast to their open disdain for British Prime Minister Theresa May and Britain’s foreign minister, Boris Johnson.

On Friday, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told the RIA Novosti news agency he had faith that Putin and Trump won’t allow any armed confrontation to occur between the U.S. and Russia over Syria.

“Speaking about risks of a military confrontation, I am 100 percent sure that [the] militaries won’t allow this, and of course neither will President Putin or President Trump,” he said.

Lavrov confirmed that Trump had invited Putin to visit Washington during a phone call last month and added that the U.S. president had said he “would be happy to make a reciprocal visit [to Moscow].”The Kremlin is now expecting Trump to issue a formal invitation, say Russian officials. The White House previously announced that Trump had raised the possibility of a summit meeting.

Lavrov said prior to the Western airstrikes, which were carried out in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on a rebel-held Damascus suburb that left a reported 70 dead and hundreds injured, Russian and U.S. military leaders discussed behind the scenes what would prompt Russian retaliation and how to avoid it.

The Kremlin’s “red lines” were mainly “geographical” and focused on ensuring no Russian servicemen or personnel would be killed or injured.

Lavrov said, “Anyway … these red lines’ were not crossed” during the Western airstrikes, which targeted three facilities in Syria, where Russia is backing President Assad’s forces in the civil war.

On Thursday, the Bloomberg news service reported the Kremlin had instructed officials to curb anti-U.S. rhetoric. And on Monday Russian lawmakers delayed moving draft legislation aimed at U.S. companies in retaliation for a fresh round of economic sanctions Washington imposed last month on Russia, which the U.S. Treasury Department said was payback for Russia’s “malign activity” in general.

The temporary withdrawal by Russian lawmakers of a draft law that would have impacted a broad range of trade with the U.S. came after Trump officials reassured Russia’s embassy in Washington on Sunday, April 15, that the White House wouldn’t be announcing more sanctions on Russia in the near future — despite an announcement to the contrary by the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, Nikki Haley.

Trump has made no secret of his wish to improve relations with Russia. After congratulating Putin on his re-election in March, Trump tweeted that “getting along with Russia [and others] is a good thing, not a bad thing.”

On the campaign trail, Trump regularly expressed the same sentiment, arguing it would be in the U.S. interest for him to shape a strong personal relationship with Putin. Trump has met Putin twice as president, at the Group of 20 summit in Germany last summer and briefly in Vietnam at the Asia-Pacific economic summit in November.

Problematic summit

But a Trump-Putin summit could prove highly problematic for Trump in terms of domestic U.S. politics. It would likely sharpen divisions in the U.S. over relations with Russia as well as stoke partisan rancor over a special-counsel investigation into allegations that Trump’s campaign colluded in Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Trump won bipartisan praise last month on Capitol Hill, which is more skeptical of Russia than the U.S. president, for ordering the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats, part of a coordinated Western move to punish the Kremlin for a March 4 nerve agent attack in England on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

But the U.S. leader also faced criticism last month for congratulating Putin on his re-election in a phone call in which he failed to raise the issue of the Skripal poisoning.

Trump’s foes fault him for shying away from criticizing Putin personally, arguing it gives credence to claims made by a former British spy, which are part of the special counsel probe, that the Kremlin holds compromising information on the U.S. president.

Domestic U.S. politics aside, any summit between the two leaders would be high risk and might be weighted with too many expectations that can’t be fulfilled.

In an interview with VOA last month, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman warned against thinking in terms of a reset with Russia, saying a sudden breakthrough is unrealistic.

“The resets and the redos of years gone by, both Republicans and Democrats, always end in disaster,” he said. “They heighten expectations to the point of our inability to achieve any of those expectations. Hopes are dashed. Relationships crumble. We’ve seen that over and over again.”

But he added it was important to maintain a dialogue and to look for “natural openings to build trust in small ways.”

He acknowledged the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is complicating U.S.-Russia diplomacy.

“I would be disingenuous if I said it didn’t impact the environment in which all of this plays out. And certainly the impact it has on members of Congress and the American people, who are a big part of fashioning the nature of our bilateral relationship.”

Rewarding aggressive behavior

Some analysts and former officials worry that holding a summit in the near future with relations between the two powers at their worst point since the Cold War would be widely seen as a reward for aggressive Russian behavior.

On Thursday, Prime Minister May accused Russia of trying “to undermine the international system,” pointing to an aggressive Russian internet disinformation campaign “intended to undermine the actual institutions and processes of the rules-based system.”

She said in the weeks after a suspected chemical attack in Syria and the poisoning of a Russian dissident in England, there had been a 4,000 percent increase in activity by Kremlin-linked social media trolls and automated accounts propagating what she called lies.
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Editor’s note: With four people working on (im)migration stories every day, we still struggle to keep up with all the relevant news. So, we wanted a way to keep you updated with the top immigration stories every week — the ones that will affect you, our international readers, viewers and listeners — most. We want you to know what’s happening, why, and how it could impact your life, family or business.

Questions? Want to know more about an immigration issue? Email the team. (immigrationunit@bbg.onmicrosoft.com)

National Guard heads to US-Mexico border

At the start of the week, Homeland Security officials said some 900 National Guard troops are headed to the U.S.-Mexico border to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection staff and to curb illegal activity in the region, such as drug smuggling and undocumented border-crossers.  

What to expect from this? Other presidents have ordered troops to the border, so Trump isn’t setting a precedent on that front. Officials say there may eventually be up to 4,000 troops stationed in the four border states. VOA’s Ramon Taylor is on the southern border this week and will have plenty to report in the coming days. In the meantime, check out his Instagram for updates, including this snap of a Mexican police officer reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Del amor y otros demonios” (“Of Love and Other Demons”).

​Seeking sanctuary

Around the U.S., dozens of undocumented immigrants with deportation orders are holed up in churches, where they feel more protected from the long arm of immigration officials. In some cases, their children visit them to keep the feeling of being a family going.

What’s next? Trump and his administration have tried to target cities that decline to take action against undocumented immigrants, but as recently as Thursday, they’ve been stymied by the legal system: An appeals court said the federal government can’t block public safety funds to these so-called sanctuary cities. Expect the legal battles to continue.

From desperation in East Africa to desperation in Yemen

Yemen has been locked in civil unrest — that escalated into a regional conflict — for years. Yet desperate asylum-seekers from the Horn of Africa still find their way to the country. But with a power vacuum and ongoing bombing from Saudi Arabia, “it is very chaotic and very difficult to really know who is really in control,” a U.N. refugee agency spokesman told VOA. And there is no recourse for the migrants, who describe abuse and deplorable conditions. Meanwhile, the U.S. — in the midst of massive, Trump-led cuts to its refugee program — has accepted about 200 refugees from both Ethiopia and Somalia, and none from Yemen since the fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2017.

To compare how much has changed: By this time last year, roughly 600 Ethiopian refugees and 5,000 Somalis had come to the United States, but only 18 Yemenis, so that low number hasn’t changed much.

Supreme Court backs ruling on some immigrant criminal offenders

The U.S. Supreme Court made deporting some legal immigrants with criminal records a bit more difficult this week, with a 5-4 ruling that addressed inconsistencies in what is considered a “crime of violence,” and consequently grounds for expulsion from the country.

On deck for next week

On April 25, at 10 a.m. EST, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit over the Trump administration’s order limiting travel from largely Muslim-majority countries (Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Somalia and Yemen). The court will assess whether the travel ban, which is currently in effect, violates immigration law and the Constitution. VOA will be inside and outside the high court Wednesday for the proceedings.
…

Editor’s note: With four people working on (im)migration stories every day, we still struggle to keep up with all the relevant news. So, we wanted a way to keep you updated with the top immigration stories every week — the ones that will affect you, our international readers, viewers and listeners — most. We want you to know what’s happening, why, and how it could impact your life, family or business.

Questions? Want to know more about an immigration issue? Email the team. (immigrationunit@bbg.onmicrosoft.com)

National Guard heads to US-Mexico border

At the start of the week, Homeland Security officials said some 900 National Guard troops are headed to the U.S.-Mexico border to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection staff and to curb illegal activity in the region, such as drug smuggling and undocumented border-crossers.  

What to expect from this? Other presidents have ordered troops to the border, so Trump isn’t setting a precedent on that front. Officials say there may eventually be up to 4,000 troops stationed in the four border states. VOA’s Ramon Taylor is on the southern border this week and will have plenty to report in the coming days. In the meantime, check out his Instagram for updates, including this snap of a Mexican police officer reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Del amor y otros demonios” (“Of Love and Other Demons”).

​Seeking sanctuary

Around the U.S., dozens of undocumented immigrants with deportation orders are holed up in churches, where they feel more protected from the long arm of immigration officials. In some cases, their children visit them to keep the feeling of being a family going.

What’s next? Trump and his administration have tried to target cities that decline to take action against undocumented immigrants, but as recently as Thursday, they’ve been stymied by the legal system: An appeals court said the federal government can’t block public safety funds to these so-called sanctuary cities. Expect the legal battles to continue.

From desperation in East Africa to desperation in Yemen

Yemen has been locked in civil unrest — that escalated into a regional conflict — for years. Yet desperate asylum-seekers from the Horn of Africa still find their way to the country. But with a power vacuum and ongoing bombing from Saudi Arabia, “it is very chaotic and very difficult to really know who is really in control,” a U.N. refugee agency spokesman told VOA. And there is no recourse for the migrants, who describe abuse and deplorable conditions. Meanwhile, the U.S. — in the midst of massive, Trump-led cuts to its refugee program — has accepted about 200 refugees from both Ethiopia and Somalia, and none from Yemen since the fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2017.

To compare how much has changed: By this time last year, roughly 600 Ethiopian refugees and 5,000 Somalis had come to the United States, but only 18 Yemenis, so that low number hasn’t changed much.

Supreme Court backs ruling on some immigrant criminal offenders

The U.S. Supreme Court made deporting some legal immigrants with criminal records a bit more difficult this week, with a 5-4 ruling that addressed inconsistencies in what is considered a “crime of violence,” and consequently grounds for expulsion from the country.

On deck for next week

On April 25, at 10 a.m. EST, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit over the Trump administration’s order limiting travel from largely Muslim-majority countries (Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Somalia and Yemen). The court will assess whether the travel ban, which is currently in effect, violates immigration law and the Constitution. VOA will be inside and outside the high court Wednesday for the proceedings.
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A spray of flowers covered the closed silver casket of former first lady Barbara Bush in the sanctuary of a Houston church as hundreds of mourners began arriving Friday to pay their final respects.

People waited in line hours early for security screening before boarding shuttle buses to attend a public viewing at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, where Bush and her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, regularly attended services.

Many women wore blue, Barbara Bush’s favorite color, and pearls, her go-to neckwear jewelry.

Lucy Orlando was one of the more than 100 people in line 90 minutes before bus service began, traveling from Weston, Florida, to pay her respects. Originally from Haiti, the 74-year-old Orlando said has admired Barbara Bush for many years, including her work in promoting literacy.

“She was a very sweet lady and she loves people,” said Orlando, who was carrying a gray suitcase containing framed photos of the couple and members of their family, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura.

Varney Johnson, a 49-year-old social worker originally from Liberia, said he also came to honor the former first lady’s work in supporting literacy efforts, saying: “This woman dedicated her life to educating children.”

Jessica Queener, who works in special education and wears a cochlear implant to help with hearing loss, said Barbara Bush’s work in education and helping people with disabilities “really resonates with me on a personal level but also professionally.” Queener was in Houston from Washington, D.C., with her husband for work, and they decided to attend events honoring the former first lady, whom Queener also credits for being a positive influence on her husband when he signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

A hearse containing the former first lady’s casket arrived before daybreak at the Houston church, which is the nation’s largest Episcopal church. Her body was to be in repose from noon until midnight. Among the officials allowed in earlier were the Senate’s majority whip, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

An invitation-only funeral is set for Saturday. She will be buried later in the day behind her husband’s presidential library at Texas A&M University in a gated plot surrounded by trees and near a creek where the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Robin, is buried. She died of leukemia in 1953.
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A spray of flowers covered the closed silver casket of former first lady Barbara Bush in the sanctuary of a Houston church as hundreds of mourners began arriving Friday to pay their final respects.

People waited in line hours early for security screening before boarding shuttle buses to attend a public viewing at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, where Bush and her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, regularly attended services.

Many women wore blue, Barbara Bush’s favorite color, and pearls, her go-to neckwear jewelry.

Lucy Orlando was one of the more than 100 people in line 90 minutes before bus service began, traveling from Weston, Florida, to pay her respects. Originally from Haiti, the 74-year-old Orlando said has admired Barbara Bush for many years, including her work in promoting literacy.

“She was a very sweet lady and she loves people,” said Orlando, who was carrying a gray suitcase containing framed photos of the couple and members of their family, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura.

Varney Johnson, a 49-year-old social worker originally from Liberia, said he also came to honor the former first lady’s work in supporting literacy efforts, saying: “This woman dedicated her life to educating children.”

Jessica Queener, who works in special education and wears a cochlear implant to help with hearing loss, said Barbara Bush’s work in education and helping people with disabilities “really resonates with me on a personal level but also professionally.” Queener was in Houston from Washington, D.C., with her husband for work, and they decided to attend events honoring the former first lady, whom Queener also credits for being a positive influence on her husband when he signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

A hearse containing the former first lady’s casket arrived before daybreak at the Houston church, which is the nation’s largest Episcopal church. Her body was to be in repose from noon until midnight. Among the officials allowed in earlier were the Senate’s majority whip, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

An invitation-only funeral is set for Saturday. She will be buried later in the day behind her husband’s presidential library at Texas A&M University in a gated plot surrounded by trees and near a creek where the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Robin, is buried. She died of leukemia in 1953.
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After months of resisting, the Justice Department has provided Congress with copies of several memos written by former FBI Director James Comey.

The move comes as House Republicans have escalated criticism of the department, threatening to subpoena the documents and questioning officials. In a letter sent to three Republican House committee chairmen Thursday evening, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote that the department is sending a classified version of the memos and an unclassified version. The department released Boyd’s letter publicly but did not release the memos.

Justice officials had allowed some lawmakers to view the memos but had never provided copies to Congress. Boyd wrote that the department had also provided the memos to several Senate committees.

Conversations detailed in hearings

Comey is on a publicity tour to promote his new book, A Higher Loyalty. He revealed last year that he had written the memos after conversations with President Donald Trump, who later fired him.

In a Senate hearing in June, he told Congress, “I knew there might come a day when I would need a record of what had happened, not just to defend myself, but to defend the FBI and our integrity as an institution and the independence of our investigative function.”

Details from some memos were made public in media accounts in the days after he was fired. At the Senate hearing, Comey detailed his conversations with Trump.

According to Comey, one memo recounts a February request from Trump, during a private meeting in the Oval Office, that Comey end an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Ongoing investigations

Boyd wrote in the letter that the department “consulted the relevant parties” and concluded that releasing the memos would not adversely affect any ongoing investigations. Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating potential ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign as well as possible obstruction of justice by the president.

He said the decision to allow the release of the memos “does not alter the department’s traditional obligation to protect from public disclosure witness statements and other documents obtained during an ongoing investigation.”

Comey said in an interview Thursday with CNN that he’s fine with the Justice Department turning his memos over to Congress.

“I think what folks will see if they get to see the memos is I’ve been consistent since the very beginning right after my encounters with President Trump and I’m consistent in the book and tried to be transparent in the book as well,” he said.

Last week, the GOP chairmen of three House committees demanded the memos by Monday. The Justice Department asked for more time, and the lawmakers agreed.
…

After months of resisting, the Justice Department has provided Congress with copies of several memos written by former FBI Director James Comey.

The move comes as House Republicans have escalated criticism of the department, threatening to subpoena the documents and questioning officials. In a letter sent to three Republican House committee chairmen Thursday evening, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote that the department is sending a classified version of the memos and an unclassified version. The department released Boyd’s letter publicly but did not release the memos.

Justice officials had allowed some lawmakers to view the memos but had never provided copies to Congress. Boyd wrote that the department had also provided the memos to several Senate committees.

Conversations detailed in hearings

Comey is on a publicity tour to promote his new book, A Higher Loyalty. He revealed last year that he had written the memos after conversations with President Donald Trump, who later fired him.

In a Senate hearing in June, he told Congress, “I knew there might come a day when I would need a record of what had happened, not just to defend myself, but to defend the FBI and our integrity as an institution and the independence of our investigative function.”

Details from some memos were made public in media accounts in the days after he was fired. At the Senate hearing, Comey detailed his conversations with Trump.

According to Comey, one memo recounts a February request from Trump, during a private meeting in the Oval Office, that Comey end an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Ongoing investigations

Boyd wrote in the letter that the department “consulted the relevant parties” and concluded that releasing the memos would not adversely affect any ongoing investigations. Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating potential ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign as well as possible obstruction of justice by the president.

He said the decision to allow the release of the memos “does not alter the department’s traditional obligation to protect from public disclosure witness statements and other documents obtained during an ongoing investigation.”

Comey said in an interview Thursday with CNN that he’s fine with the Justice Department turning his memos over to Congress.

“I think what folks will see if they get to see the memos is I’ve been consistent since the very beginning right after my encounters with President Trump and I’m consistent in the book and tried to be transparent in the book as well,” he said.

Last week, the GOP chairmen of three House committees demanded the memos by Monday. The Justice Department asked for more time, and the lawmakers agreed.
…

Southwest Airlines Co clashed with engine-maker CFM over the timing and cost of proposed inspections after a 2016 engine accident, months before the explosion this week of a similar engine on a Southwest jet that led to the death of a passenger, public documents showed.

The proposed inspections would have cost $170 per engine for two hours of labor, for a total bill to U.S. carriers of $37,400, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in its August 2017 proposal, citing the engine manufacturer.

The documents reveal that airlines including Southwest thought the FAA had “vastly understated” the number of engines that would need to be inspected — and therefore the cost.

The documents are part of the public record on the FAA’s initial proposal for inspections and the response from airlines made in October, within the designated comment period.

Fan blade separated

The FAA and engine maker CFM International made the inspection recommendations after a Southwest flight in August 2016 made a safe emergency landing in Florida after a fan blade separated from the same type of engine. Debris ripped a foot-long hole above the left wing. Investigators found signs of metal fatigue.

On Tuesday, a broken fan blade touched off an engine explosion on Southwest Airlines flight 1380, shattering a window of the Boeing 737 jet and killing a passenger. It was the first death in U.S. airline service since 2009.

The FAA is not bound by any specified time periods in deciding whether to order inspections and must assess the urgency of each situation.

Southwest and other airlines in their responses in October objected to a call by CFM to complete all inspections within 12 months. The FAA proposed up to 18 months, backed by Southwest and most carriers. Southwest also told the FAA that only certain fan blades should be inspected, not all 24 in each engine.

“SWA does NOT support the CFM comment on reducing compliance time to 12 months,” Southwest wrote in an October submission. CFM International is a joint venture of General Electric Co and France’s Safran.

Southwest wanted 732 engines inspected

Southwest said in its submission that the FAA’s proposal would force the carrier to inspect some 732 engines in one of two categories under review — much higher than the FAA’s total estimate of 220 engines across the whole U.S. fleet.

“The affected engine count for the fleet in costs of compliance … appears to be vastly understated,” it said.

Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King said on Thursday that the comments “were to add further clarification on items included in the proposed AD (airworthiness directive).” She said the company had satisfied CFM’s recommendations, but she did not immediately answer questions about how many engines had been inspected and whether the failed engine had been inspected.

On Tuesday, the airline said it would accelerate inspections and complete them in the next 30 days.

Objections from other airlines

The FAA said on Wednesday it would finalize the airworthiness directive it had proposed in August within two weeks. It will require inspections of some CFM56-7B engines. FAA officials acknowledged that the total number of engines affected could be higher than first estimated.

The FAA, which has issued more than 100 airworthiness directives just since the beginning of this year, has said that the time it takes to finalize directives depends on the complexity of the issue and the agency’s risk assessment based on the likelihood of occurrence and the severity of the outcome.

The National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday that investigators would be on the scene into the weekend but declined any new comment on the investigation.

Investigators said one of the fan blades on Tuesday’s Southwest flight broke and fatigue cracks were found.

Fan blades weren’t tracked

Other airlines also said in written comments in October that their costs in time and money would be higher than regulators initially expected, in part because the airlines did not closely track the fan blades used in their engines.

“Fan blades have been removed, repaired, reworked, and then relocated,” American Airlines said in comments to the FAA. The airline asked for 20 months to complete all checks.

“Although the number of fan blades requiring the inspection remains the same, the number of engines involved with this inspection has significantly increased,” it said.

American Airlines said in a statement that after the FAA notice was published, it “voluntarily began inspections of CFM56-7B fan blades.” It has 304 Boeing 737 airplanes with those engines.

United Continental Holdings made a similar argument.

“The maintenance burden and cost for operators to inspect all effective fan blades is much more significant than proposed,” it said.

A former NTSB chairman, Mark Rosenker, said in an interview that the NTBS would look at why the FAA had not already mandated the inspections it proposed in August 2017.

“There did not seem to be an urgency” at the FAA to finalize the inspections, he said. The FAA declined comment.

Troubles in Europe

Safety checks in Europe have also been contentious.

European regulators last month ordered checks within just nine months of April 2, following the 2016 incident at Southwest. Investigators warn that it is too early to say whether the two problems are linked.

The statements by some airlines that they are not required to track the history of each individual fan blade within an engine are significant because that makes it harder for investigators to be certain whether the engine that exploded on Tuesday was one of those already targeted for inspection.

The blades, which sweep air backwards to help provide thrust, can be changed and repaired independently of the rest of the engine, meaning airlines that do not voluntarily keep tabs have to examine more engines than planned, adding time and cost.
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Southwest Airlines Co clashed with engine-maker CFM over the timing and cost of proposed inspections after a 2016 engine accident, months before the explosion this week of a similar engine on a Southwest jet that led to the death of a passenger, public documents showed.

The proposed inspections would have cost $170 per engine for two hours of labor, for a total bill to U.S. carriers of $37,400, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in its August 2017 proposal, citing the engine manufacturer.

The documents reveal that airlines including Southwest thought the FAA had “vastly understated” the number of engines that would need to be inspected — and therefore the cost.

The documents are part of the public record on the FAA’s initial proposal for inspections and the response from airlines made in October, within the designated comment period.

Fan blade separated

The FAA and engine maker CFM International made the inspection recommendations after a Southwest flight in August 2016 made a safe emergency landing in Florida after a fan blade separated from the same type of engine. Debris ripped a foot-long hole above the left wing. Investigators found signs of metal fatigue.

On Tuesday, a broken fan blade touched off an engine explosion on Southwest Airlines flight 1380, shattering a window of the Boeing 737 jet and killing a passenger. It was the first death in U.S. airline service since 2009.

The FAA is not bound by any specified time periods in deciding whether to order inspections and must assess the urgency of each situation.

Southwest and other airlines in their responses in October objected to a call by CFM to complete all inspections within 12 months. The FAA proposed up to 18 months, backed by Southwest and most carriers. Southwest also told the FAA that only certain fan blades should be inspected, not all 24 in each engine.

“SWA does NOT support the CFM comment on reducing compliance time to 12 months,” Southwest wrote in an October submission. CFM International is a joint venture of General Electric Co and France’s Safran.

Southwest wanted 732 engines inspected

Southwest said in its submission that the FAA’s proposal would force the carrier to inspect some 732 engines in one of two categories under review — much higher than the FAA’s total estimate of 220 engines across the whole U.S. fleet.

“The affected engine count for the fleet in costs of compliance … appears to be vastly understated,” it said.

Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King said on Thursday that the comments “were to add further clarification on items included in the proposed AD (airworthiness directive).” She said the company had satisfied CFM’s recommendations, but she did not immediately answer questions about how many engines had been inspected and whether the failed engine had been inspected.

On Tuesday, the airline said it would accelerate inspections and complete them in the next 30 days.

Objections from other airlines

The FAA said on Wednesday it would finalize the airworthiness directive it had proposed in August within two weeks. It will require inspections of some CFM56-7B engines. FAA officials acknowledged that the total number of engines affected could be higher than first estimated.

The FAA, which has issued more than 100 airworthiness directives just since the beginning of this year, has said that the time it takes to finalize directives depends on the complexity of the issue and the agency’s risk assessment based on the likelihood of occurrence and the severity of the outcome.

The National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday that investigators would be on the scene into the weekend but declined any new comment on the investigation.

Investigators said one of the fan blades on Tuesday’s Southwest flight broke and fatigue cracks were found.

Fan blades weren’t tracked

Other airlines also said in written comments in October that their costs in time and money would be higher than regulators initially expected, in part because the airlines did not closely track the fan blades used in their engines.

“Fan blades have been removed, repaired, reworked, and then relocated,” American Airlines said in comments to the FAA. The airline asked for 20 months to complete all checks.

“Although the number of fan blades requiring the inspection remains the same, the number of engines involved with this inspection has significantly increased,” it said.

American Airlines said in a statement that after the FAA notice was published, it “voluntarily began inspections of CFM56-7B fan blades.” It has 304 Boeing 737 airplanes with those engines.

United Continental Holdings made a similar argument.

“The maintenance burden and cost for operators to inspect all effective fan blades is much more significant than proposed,” it said.

A former NTSB chairman, Mark Rosenker, said in an interview that the NTBS would look at why the FAA had not already mandated the inspections it proposed in August 2017.

“There did not seem to be an urgency” at the FAA to finalize the inspections, he said. The FAA declined comment.

Troubles in Europe

Safety checks in Europe have also been contentious.

European regulators last month ordered checks within just nine months of April 2, following the 2016 incident at Southwest. Investigators warn that it is too early to say whether the two problems are linked.

The statements by some airlines that they are not required to track the history of each individual fan blade within an engine are significant because that makes it harder for investigators to be certain whether the engine that exploded on Tuesday was one of those already targeted for inspection.

The blades, which sweep air backwards to help provide thrust, can be changed and repaired independently of the rest of the engine, meaning airlines that do not voluntarily keep tabs have to examine more engines than planned, adding time and cost.
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The FBI is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the return of an American journalist who disappeared in Syria in 2012.

Austin Bennett Tice was believed to have been kidnapped while covering the war in Darya, a Damascus suburb that had been under rebel control until Thursday.

No one has seen Tice since a 2012 video. He was seen blindfolded, wincing in apparent pain, and saying, “Oh, Jesus,” several times before a group of armed men in Arabic dress led him away.

It is unclear who is holding Tice and why and what their demands are. But his parents have said they believe he is still alive. 

Tice has been a freelance journalist for such news agencies as The Washington Post, CBS and the McClatchy newspapers.
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The FBI is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the return of an American journalist who disappeared in Syria in 2012.

Austin Bennett Tice was believed to have been kidnapped while covering the war in Darya, a Damascus suburb that had been under rebel control until Thursday.

No one has seen Tice since a 2012 video. He was seen blindfolded, wincing in apparent pain, and saying, “Oh, Jesus,” several times before a group of armed men in Arabic dress led him away.

It is unclear who is holding Tice and why and what their demands are. But his parents have said they believe he is still alive. 

Tice has been a freelance journalist for such news agencies as The Washington Post, CBS and the McClatchy newspapers.
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