Trump tries to right his campaign, talking of tax cuts
DETROIT (AP) — Promising to “jumpstart America” to a new era of prosperity, Donald Trump announced a revamped economic plan Monday aimed at revitalizing a stagnant U.S. economy by cutting taxes for workers and businesses. He assailed Hillary Clinton as a candidate who would merely extend a Democratic period of old ideas and weakness.
Trying to move past recent stumbles, Trump proposed a simplified three-bracket income tax system that hewed closely to what House Republicans have recommended, the latest indication the GOP presidential nominee is working to put infighting with his party’s leaders behind him. In a shift from the plan he proposed during the primary season, he increased the tax rate that the highest-earning Americans would pay.
With few exceptions, Trump provided more of a philosophical basis for an economic plan than a series of specifics.
He did spell out proposed tax brackets and called for greater child care deductions for families.
As he called for urgent change away from Democratic policies, he envisioned a nation refocused on manufacturing at home and wary of trade deals abroad — a country bearing little resemblance to the globally focused economy of recent years.
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What to watch at the Rio Games on Tuesday
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Day 4 of the Rio Games features medal action in gymnastics, swimming, fencing, judo and more. Here are some things to watch (all times local):
GYMNASTICS
It’s show time for the U.S women’s team, which made a statement in Sunday’s qualifiers by posting a top score that outpaced second-place China by a staggering 10 points.
China, Russia, Great Britain, Brazil, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands will look to knock off the Americans, which are led by Martha Karolyi . How difficult will it be? Consider this: The margin between the U.S. and the Chinese in qualifiers was greater than the margin between China and 12th-place Belgium.
The Japanese men topped Russia in the team finals to take gold on Monday.
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10 Things to Know for Tuesday
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Tuesday:
1. HOW TRUMP VOWS TO REVIVE US ECONOMY
Trying to move past recent campaign stumbles, the GOP nominee rolls out plans to cut taxes for workers and businesses, and help create more American jobs.
2. DELTA AIR LINES RECOVERING FROM OUTAGE
Some 650 flights were canceled and another 2,400 delayed after a power outage knocked out the airline’s computer systems.
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Trump critics urge RNC to replace Trump in special meeting
WASHINGTON (AP) — Desperate conservatives have circulated a petition calling for the Republican National Committee to host a special meeting where Donald Trump could be replaced as the party’s presidential nominee.
Organizers — some of the same Republicans who tried to prevent Trump from winning the GOP nomination — acknowledge the effort is a long shot at best. But fearing an Election Day disaster, they have appealed to RNC members across the nation in recent days to intervene.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Regina Thomson, executive director of a political action committee known as the GOP Accountability Project, wrote in an e-mail distributed to RNC members over the weekend and obtained by The Associated Press.
“Donald J. Trump is a disaster,” Thomson wrote, attaching a copy of the petition in the message. “His post-convention behavior has been deplorable.”
Trump has worried many leading Republicans in recent weeks with a string of controversies and fights, notably with the Muslim American parents of an Army captain killed in Iraq and prominent Republicans up for re-election. Trump reversed course and ended up endorsing House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire.
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Police: Kansas boy suffered fatal neck injury on waterslide
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas waterslide billed as the world’s tallest remained off-limits Monday as authorities pressed to figure out how a state lawmaker’s 10-year-old son died of a neck injury while riding it.
Details remained murky about what happened Sunday to Caleb Thomas Schwab on the 168-foot-tall “Verruckt” — German for “insane” — that since its debut two years ago has been the top draw at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas.
Kansas City, Kansas, police issued a statement late Monday afternoon saying that Caleb suffered a fatal neck injury around 2:30 p.m. while he was riding the slide with two women, neither of whom was related to him. They suffered minor facial injuries and were treated at an area hospital, police said.
Emergency responders arrived to find the boy dead in a pool at the end of the ride, according to the statement, which offered no further details.
In a statement Monday afternoon, Schlitterbahn said it was “deeply and intensely saddened for the Schwab family and all who were impacted by the tragic accident.” The park was tentatively scheduled to reopen Wednesday, but “Verruckt is closed,” according to the statement.
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UN hears details of suffering in Syrian city of Aleppo
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Experts painted a graphic portrait of barrel bombings, attacks on medical facilities, chemical weapons use and the ongoing suffering inside the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo, shaming the international community for its inaction at an informal Security Council meeting Monday organized by the United States.
Dr. Zaher Shaloul, a Syrian-American doctor from Chicago, said medical facilities in eastern Aleppo are routinely targeted, creating a situation where people are dying from treatable conditions for lack of medical care and basic supplies.
Shaloul, who last visited Aleppo in July, said he asked a nurse there what she wanted most from the United Nations and she replied that she wanted help evacuating a 10-year-old girl named Shahd who was wounded by a barrel bomb and is now dying due to a shortage of medicine.
“We don’t need condemnations, prayers or pointing fingers, we had enough of that. I ask you to meet the people of Aleppo and see them as humans. I have one request, besides saving Shahd, visit Aleppo yourself and meet with its doctors, nurses and patients. If three doctors from Chicago were able to do that, you can do it,” Shaloul told diplomats.
Shahloul then showed slides showing women and child victims, one of them a child he said was injured in a chlorine gas attack.
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Suicide attack targets lawyers at Pakistan hospital, 70 dead
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani militants struck at the heart of the country’s legal profession on Monday, killing a prominent attorney and then bombing the hospital where dozens of other lawyers had gathered to mourn. The twin attacks killed at least 70 people, most of them lawyers, authorities said.
A breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks in Quetta, the capital of restive Baluchistan province, which also wounded dozens of others.
In a statement, Ahsanullah Ahsan, spokesman for the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar militant group, said its fighters killed Bilal Kasi, the president of the Baluchistan Bar Association, then as dozens of lawyers gathered at the government-run Civil Hospital, a suicide bomber targeted the mourners.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has been behind several attacks in Pakistan in recent years, including a deadly March bombing on Easter Sunday in a park in the eastern city of Lahore that killed at least 70 people.
Witnesses described horrifying scenes of bodies scattered on the ground and the wounded screaming out for help.
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Man charged with fatal shooting after ‘hoodlums’ complaint
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A white man who apparently called police to complain about “hoodlums” near his house was charged with murder after he shot and killed a black man outside, authorities said.
The shooting happened early Sunday morning when 39-year-old Chad Cameron Copley fired a shotgun from inside his garage and hit the victim, according to a Raleigh Police Department news release. He was arrested hours later, and jail records show the suspect was being held on a murder charge.
Kouren-Rodney Bernard Thomas, 20, suffered a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at a hospital. Police spokeswoman Laura Hourigan said Thomas was black.
A male relative who answered the phone Monday at a listing for members of the victim’s family said they weren’t doing well.
“We’re broken apart torn apart, not doing well. Trying to get our lives back on track the way it was but it’s hard. We lost somebody very special to us,” said the man, who hung up before giving his name.
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Family of Muslim teen arrested for homemade clock files suit
DALLAS (AP) — The family of a Muslim boy who was arrested after bringing a homemade clock to school filed a federal lawsuit Monday against Texas school officials and others, saying the incident violated the 14-year-old boy’s civil rights, prompted death threats and forced them to leave the United States.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Ahmed Mohamed, who was arrested at his suburban Dallas high school in September and charged with having a hoax bomb. He says he brought the homemade digital clock to school to show his English teacher.
Ahmed showed off the clock, made out of a plastic pencil box and electrical wire and other hardware salvaged from his parents’ garage, on Monday during a news conference with his parents and attorneys.
Irving police later dropped the charge, but he was still suspended for three days. He never returned to the school; his family opted to have him take classes elsewhere.
The lawsuit names Irving Independent School District, the city of Irving and the school’s principal, and asks a jury to determine the damages. In November, the family asked the district and city to pay $15 million or else face a suit. District spokeswoman Lesley Weaver said in a statement Monday that attorneys for the district will review the suit and determine a course of action.
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Fast feet: Bolt says sub-19 seconds in 200 still a goal
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The “Usain Bolt Variety Hour” hit Brazil, big time, on Monday.
The closing number said it all: After talking about life, sprinting and the Olympics — and yes, Bolt insisted the Rio de Janeiro Games will be his last — the 6-foot-5 Jamaican pulled out his cell phone and started taking selfies while he shimmied off stage , surrounded by more than a dozen thong-and-headdress-wearing Samba dancers.
The evening with Bolt also included his now-immortalized “To The World” pose, a few serious questions about racing and doping, along with one reporter who said he had no question, but pronounced: “I really love you, man,” then poetry slammed the following: “I hope you win. I hope it’s your day. I hope you will go even though you get hit by a Segway.”
The now-famous Segway incident occurred after Bolt’s victory in the 200 meters last year at the world championships. While taking a victory lap, a multitasking photographer slammed into the back of Bolt’s legs with his scooter. Bolt bounced up and was no worse for wear.
In the lead up to the Rio Olympics, his legs haven’t fared as well. He pulled out of his national championships last month with a sore hamstring, which he has been trying to rehabilitate in time to put on a show in Brazil.