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High-ranking military officials from the U.S., France and Germany have taken part in Memorial Day ceremonies at an American cemetery in northern France to mark the centennial of the battle of Belleau Wood, a turning point in World War I and a key moment in Marine Corps history.

The ceremony at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in the village of Belleau on Sunday included speeches by military officials, including Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, prayers, wreath laying, reading of poems and the national anthems of the three countries.

A crowd of more than 5,000 attended the event celebrating the fierce and deadly monthlong battle considered as the first major engagement of U.S. troops in the war, especially Marines whose bravery helped the Allied Forces win in Belleau.

 
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A flood of lawsuits over LGBT rights is making its way through courts and will continue, no matter the outcome in the Supreme Court’s highly anticipated decision in the case of a Colorado baker who would not create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.

Courts are engaged in two broad types of cases on this issue, weighing whether sex discrimination laws apply to LGBT people and also whether businesses can assert religious objections to avoid complying with anti-discrimination measures in serving customers, hiring and firing employees, providing health care and placing children with foster or adoptive parents.

The outcome of baker Jack Phillips’ fight at the Supreme Court could indicate how willing the justices are to carve out exceptions to anti-discrimination laws; that’s something the court has refused to do in the areas of race and sex.

The result was hard to predict based on arguments in December. But however the justices rule, it won’t be their last word on the topic.

Boost from Trump

Religious conservatives have gotten a big boost from the Trump administration, which has taken a more restrictive view of LGBT rights and intervened on their side in several cases, including Phillips’.

“There is a constellation of hugely significant cases that are likely to be heard by the court in the near future and those are going to significantly shape the legal landscape going forward,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Several legal disputes are pending over wedding services, similar to the Phillips case. Video producers, graphic artists and florists are among business owners who say they oppose same-sex marriage on religious grounds and don’t want to participate in same-sex weddings. They live in the 21 states that have anti-discrimination laws that specifically include gay and lesbian people.

In California and Texas, courts are dealing with lawsuits over the refusal of hospitals, citing religious beliefs, to perform hysterectomies on people transitioning from female to male. In Michigan, the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the state’s practice of allowing faith-based child placement agencies to reject same-sex couples.

Stark differences

Advocates of both sides see the essence of these cases in starkly different terms.

“What the religious right is asking for is a new rule specific to same-sex couples that would not only affect same-sex couples but also carve a hole in nondiscrimination laws that could affect all communities,” said Camilla Taylor, director of constitutional litigation at Lambda Legal, which supports civil rights for LGBT people.

Jim Campbell of the Christian public interest law firm Alliance Defending Freedom said the cases will determine whether “people like Jack Phillips who believe marriage is the union of a man and a woman, that they too have a legitimate place in public life. Or does he have to hide or ignore those beliefs when he’s participating in the public square?” ADF represents Phillips at the Supreme Court.

Civil rights complaints

The other category of cases concerns protections for LGBT people under civil rights law. One case expected to reach the court this summer involves a Michigan funeral home that fired an employee who disclosed that she was transitioning from male to female and dressed as a woman.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the firing constituted sex discrimination under federal civil rights law. That court is one of several that have applied anti-sex discrimination provisions to transgender people, but the Supreme Court has yet to take up a case.

The funeral home argues in part that Congress was not thinking about transgender people when it included sex discrimination in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. A trial judge had ruled for the funeral home, saying it was entitled to a religious exemption from the civil rights law.

“Congress has not weighed in to say sex includes gender identity. We should certainly make sure that’s a conscious choice of Congress and not just the overexpansion of the law by courts,” Campbell said. ADF also represents the funeral home.

In just the past week, two federal courts ruled in favor of transgender students who want to use school facilities that correspond to their sexual identity. Those cases turn on whether the prohibition on sex discrimination in education applies to transgender people. Appeals in both cases are possible.

In the past 13 months, federal appeals courts in Chicago and New York also have ruled that gay and lesbian employees are entitled to protection from discrimination under Title VII. Those courts overruled earlier decisions. Title VII does not specifically mention sexual orientation, but the courts said it was covered under the ban on sex bias.

Trump changes course

The Obama administration had supported treating LGBT discrimination claims as sex discrimination, but the Trump administration has changed course. In the New York case, for instance, the Trump administration filed a legal brief arguing that Title VII was not intended to provide protections to gay workers. It also withdrew Obama-era guidance to educators to treat claims of transgender students as sex discrimination.

There is no appeal pending or expected on the sexual orientation issue, and there is no guarantee that the court will take up the funeral home’s appeal over transgender discrimination.

Changes on the court

The trend in the lower courts has been in favor of extending civil rights protections to LGBT employees and students. Their prospects at the Supreme Court may be harder to discern, not least because it’s unclear whether the court’s composition will change soon.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, 81, has been the subject of retirement speculation, though he has not indicated he is planning to retire. When Justice Stephen Breyer turns 80 in August, he will join Kennedy and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, as octogenarians on the bench.

If President Donald Trump were to replace any of those justices, the court probably would be much less receptive to LGBT rights. Even the landmark gay marriage ruling in 2015 that Kennedy wrote was a 5-4 decision.

“We’re very concerned about the composition of the federal bench. Under the Trump administration, we’ve seen a number of federal nominees who have been ideologues, who have taken positions about the very right to exist of LGBT people that is simply inconsistent with fitness to serve as a federal judge,” Taylor of Lambda Legal said.

The ADF’s Campbell said even with the current justices, he holds out some hope that the court would not extend anti-discrimination protections. 

“Justice Kennedy has undoubtedly been the person who has decided the major LGBT cases, but to my knowledge he hasn’t weighed in some of these other issues,” he said.
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Twenty-six-year-old Joshua Holt had been a prisoner in Venezuela since the summer of 2016, but on Saturday he told U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House that he was “overwhelmed with gratitude” for those who had worked for his release. 

Trump said Holt had been “incredibly brave.”

Holt and his Venezuelan wife, Thamara Candelo, arrived in the U.S. Saturday accompanied by Senator Bob Corker, who helped negotiate their release.

Holt, a former Mormon missionary, had traveled to Venezuela in June 2016 to marry Candelo. Police arrested the couple after finding an assault rifle and grenades during a raid on a housing complex where the couple lived. The couple has denied the charge of concealing weapons. 

Senator Orrin Hatch, who represents Holt’s home state of Utah posted on Twitter:

Hatch also thanked Corker, the U.S. Senate foreign relations committee chairman, who met with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Friday in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, to secure the couple’s release.

The White House press secretary’s office released a statement late Saturday, saying Holt’s release “does not change United States policy.” It said, “The Maduro regime must call free, fair, and transparent elections, consistent with its constitution. The election process that occurred on May 20 was illegitimate.” The statement called for “new elections and the democratic process,” the release of all political prisoners and the acceptance of “desperately needed international humanitarian aid for Venezuela’s dying citizens.”

“Very glad that Josh Holt is now back home with his family — where he has always belonged,” U.S. Vice President Mike Pence wrote in a tweet. “Sanctions continue until democracy returns to Venezuela.”

Maduro won a second six-year term in office May 20 in an election that the U.S. and other countries have described as a “sham” after several rivals were prohibited from running. 

After his victory, Maduro expelled the two most senior U.S. diplomats for allegedly conspiring to sabotage the election by pushing opposition parties to boycott the election.

Despite the expulsion of the American diplomats, the Venezuelan government has been seeking ways to avoid the threat of harsh U.S. oil sanctions that could further cripple the country’s ailing economy. 

A spokesman for Maduro described the release of the couple as a “gesture” aimed at improving diplomatic relations with the United States.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Saturday, “U.S. policy toward Venezuela remains unchanged. The United States stands steadfast in support of the Venezuelan people and their efforts to return to democracy.”
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President Donald Trump said U.S. citizen Josh Holt was released from a Venezuelan jail Saturday after being detained for two years without a trial. 

“Should be landing in D.C. this evening and be in the White House, with his family, at about 7:00 P.M.,” the president wrote on Twitter. “The great people of Utah will be very happy!”

Senator Orrin Hatch, who represents Holt’s home state of Utah, posted on Twitter he helped secure the release of Holt and his wife, Thamy.

“Over the last two years I’ve worked with two Presidential administrations, countless diplomatic contacts, ambassadors from all over the world, a network of contacts in Venezuela, and President Maduro himself, and I could not be more honored to be able to reunite Josh with his sweet, long-suffering family …”

Hatch also thanked U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, who met in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas Friday with President Nicolas Maduro in an attempt to secure the release of Holt. Holt has been in a Caracas jail without a trial for two years on what he has said are false weapons charges.

The 26-year-old Holt traveled to Venezuela in June 2016 to marry a woman he met online. Police arrested Holt after finding an assault rifle and grenades during a raid on a housing complex where the couple lived. Holt has denied the charges.

After Corker’s meeting with Maduro, there was speculation on social media platforms in Venezuela that the couple would be released as a goodwill gesture to improve U.S.-Venezuelan relations. 

Maduro won a second six-year term in office Sunday in an election that the U.S. and other countries have described as a “sham” after several rivals were prohibited from running. 

After his victory, Maduro expelled the two most senior U.S. diplomats for allegedly conspiring to sabotage the election by pushing opposition parties to boycott the election.

Despite the expulsion of the American diplomats, the Venezuelan government has been seeking ways to avoid the threat of harsh U.S. oil sanctions that could further cripple the country’s ailing economy. 

 
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Dry pine needles and dead wood snapped under fire prevention officer Matt Engbring’s boots as he hiked a half-mile into the woods in search of a makeshift campsite that had served as one man’s home until this week when the area was closed because of the escalating threat of massive wildfires.

Engbring walked past small ravines where wind quickly could carry embers and by the charred remains of a campfire, finally reaching the spot where John Dobson had been living among ponderosa pines in Arizona’s Coconino National Forest.

He spotted Dobson earlier as he was leaving the forest with his bicycle and issued a warning that he’ll likely repeat over the busy Memorial Day weekend as tourists flock to Arizona’s cooler mountainous areas to hike, bike, camp and fish.

“The area is closed now, and I can’t allow you to go back in,” he said.

​Conditions ripe for wildfire

Many parts of the West are dealing with drought, but nowhere else has more state and federal land been closed to recreation than in Arizona where conditions are ripe for large-scale wildfires. Portions of the Apache-Sitgreaves, Coconino, Kaibab and Tonto national forests are closed because the dry vegetation quickly can go up in flames, firefighters would have a hard time stopping it, and homes and water resources are at risk.

In neighboring New Mexico, fire restrictions are in place, but no forests have closed. Forest officials in the western part of that state have suspended woodcutting permits, including ceremonial wood gathering by Native American tribes. They’ve also warned the public to look out for hungry bears.

Forests in southern Colorado and southern Utah are open, but officials are limiting campfires to developed areas.

“A lot of our rural, small communities depend on recreation and access to public land, so it’s on the table but really an option of last resort,” said Holly Krake, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service region that includes Colorado.

Hot, dry, breezy forecast

Weather over the next six weeks is expected to be in line with the typical onset of fire season: increasingly hot, breezy and dry. Then the monsoonal system that carries heavy rain should kick in.

“The bottom line is it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” said Rich Naden, fire weather meteorologist with the Southwest Coordination Center. “But this time of year is always like that. It’s almost like clockwork.”

Rare closures

Widespread forest closures in Arizona are rare. The 1.8 million-acre Coconino National Forest shut down completely because of fire danger in 2006 for nine days. A 2002 shutdown lasted nine weeks, encompassing the Memorial Day and July 4 holidays. Other national forests had closures in 2002 as well.

The current closures are affecting a small percentage of national forests in Arizona, and the general guidance for tourists is to check ahead of time to see what’s open and whether campfires are allowed.

In Flagstaff, Los Angeles residents Pauline and John Barba had hoped to barbecue this week while staying at a commercial campground, but charcoal grills were wrapped in yellow caution tape.

Nearby, a bright yellow sign on the barbed wire fence warned that no one is allowed in the forest.

“We love the outdoors and the pine trees and everything,” she said. “It’s just a shame people are destructive and not careful.”

Economic hit

Beyond inconveniencing campers and hikers, the drought’s effects and forest closures are being felt by ranchers who can’t graze cattle in the forest and researchers who can’t conduct studies. Forest thinning projects also are delayed.

At a ski resort outside of Flagstaff, 50 people are out of work, and hundreds of tickets for pre-booked activities have been canceled. The Arizona Snowbowl, which operates under a special permit in a closed forest area, had hoped to run its scenic chair lift and debut family activities this weekend.

Those who left camping trailers in now-closed areas of the Coconino National Forest to stake out a spot for the busy holiday weekend will have to call forest officials to unlock the gate to let them out. Others have tried avoiding officials patrolling the forest or sneaking in when no one is looking.

The biggest fear is that a campfire sparks a wildfire. The Coconino National Forest recorded 700 abandoned campfires last year, and 121 built illegally during fire restrictions, setting a record. Target shooting, drones, cigarettes and sparks from vehicle exhausts also are concerns.
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Residents of an Idaho town have been told not to drink its well water amid concerns that a fired municipal worker who killed himself in his home may have contaminated it, officials said Friday.

Tom Young, 62, was found dead Thursday by emergency workers who were sent to a hospital after entering his residence in Dietrich.

Lincoln County Sheriff Rene Rodriguez said Friday that Young’s death has been ruled a suicide and the cause is asphyxiation by nitrogen gas released into the home from a tank.

The gas is also blamed for sickening seven emergency workers, including Rodriguez, who was among those transported to hospitals. One other person was taken to a hospital. All were later released.

“For a couple of our guys it was sudden onset, and for me and a couple others it was delayed reaction,” said Rodriguez, noting he was still experiencing headaches.

Fired from city job

Young was fired May 9 from his city post following an altercation at City Hall that involved police, Dietrich Mayor Don Heiken said, declining to elaborate on the incident.

Court records say Young had been charged with felony robbery and misdemeanor counts of battery and intentional destruction of property. He pleaded not guilty and posted a $600 bond.

“When I talked to him after this altercation at City Hall, he said, ‘Well, I guess I don’t have a job,’” Heiken said. “And I said, ‘No you don’t.’ And that’s kind of how that happened.”

Heiken said there’s concern Young contaminated the well that serves the community of 300 people. However, he noted that it was unclear if Young would have had access to city property because he turned in his keys the day he was fired.

Tests clean so far

Mike Brown of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality said Friday that the first set of water tests found no contamination, the Idaho Statesman reported.

“We surveyed the system and saw nothing out of the ordinary and no evidence of tampering,” he said earlier in the day.

He said Young had a large amount of fertilizer in his home and the tests will determine if there is fertilizer or other substances in the water used by residents.

Brown said nitrogen by itself wouldn’t harm the city’s drinking water.

Results of the other tests are expected Saturday.

Young had been scheduled to appear in court on the day he was found dead.
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The U.S. government has filed an asset forfeiture complaint involving an ancient mosaic believed to have been looted from war-torn Syria and illegally imported into the United States, where authorities say it was seized from a California man.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said Friday the 1-ton (0.9 metric ton) mosaic depicting Hercules is believed to have been created in the 3rd or 4th century and is consistent with mosaics found in Syria, particularly around the city of Idlib. 

According to the complaint, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, the government wants ownership transferred to the United States “for disposition according to law.”

“It is possible the mosaic could be repatriated to Syria,” U.S. attorney spokesman Thom Mrozek said in an email. For the time being it is in the custody of the FBI. 

It measures 18 feet (5.5 meters) long, and 8 feet (2.5 meters) high. 

The complaint says federal agents seized it from the Palmdale home of Mohamad Yassin Alcharihi on March 19, 2016, as part of an investigation into art that authorities believed may have been looted from Syria. 

Alcharihi has not been charged with a crime, and Mrozek said the investigation is continuing. 

Alcharihi’s home phone number has been disconnected and he could not be reached for comment Friday.

The complaint alleges the mosaic was imported into the United States in 2015 with paperwork indicating it was part of a shipment of vases and mosaics worth only about $2,000.

Authorities say Alcharihi later told them he paid about $12,000 for it but gave Customs officials the lower figure to reduce the import duty he’d have to pay.

The government says it has obtained preliminary estimates by antiquities experts that put its value somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000.
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President Donald Trump on Friday signed three executive orders designed to make it easier to fire federal government workers and to crack down on the unions that represent them, drawing immediate criticism from a group representing federal employees.

Administration officials said the orders would give government agencies greater ability to remove employees with “poor” performance, get “better deals” in union contracts and require federal employees with union responsibilities to spend less time on union work.

“Today the president is fulfilling his promise to promote more efficient government by reforming our civil service rules,” said Andrew Bremberg, director of the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, in a conference call with reporters.

“These executive orders will make it easier for agencies to remove poor-performing employees and ensure that taxpayer dollars are more efficiently used.”

The American Federation of Government Employees said in a statement that the moves intended to “strip federal employees of their decades-old right to representation at the worksite” and would hurt veterans, law enforcement officers and others.

“This administration seems hell-bent on replacing a civil service that works for all taxpayers with a political service that serves at its whim,” the group’s president, J. David Cox, said in a statement.
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Newly released emails show senior Environmental Protection Agency officials collaborating with a conservative group that dismisses climate change to rally like-minded people for public hearings on science and global warming, counter negative news coverage and tout Administrator Scott Pruitt’s stewardship of the agency. 

The emails were obtained by the Environmental Defense Fund and the Southern Environmental Law Center through the Freedom of Information Act. 

The emails show John Kokus, EPA’s deputy associate administrator for public affairs, repeatedly reached out to the conservative Heartland Institute.

EPA spokesman Lincoln Ferguson says the Heartland Institute is one of a broad range of groups the agency engages with.

Heartland’s Tim Huelskamp says it will continue to work with Pruitt and the EPA against a “radical climate alarmism agenda.”
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President Donald Trump has awarded the military’s highest honor to an elite Navy SEAL Team 6 member for his courageous actions while attempting to rescue a teammate in 2002. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb has more on this American hero.
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