The nation in brief

Indians mourn Thanksgiving in Plymouth

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Members of American Indian tribes from around New England gathered Thursday in the town where the Pilgrims settled for a solemn National Day of Mourning observance.

At the noon gathering in downtown Plymouth, participants recalled the disease, racism and oppression that European settlers brought to the continent.

It’s the 48th year that the United American Indians of New England organized the event on Thanksgiving Day.

Moonanum James, a co-leader of the group, said ahead of the meeting that native people have no reason to celebrate the arrival of the Pilgrims in 1620.

“Today we say ‘no thanks, no giving,’” he said.

Along with prayers and public speeches, participants condemned environmental degradation and government restrictions on immigration. They also held a “stomp dance” to symbolically stomp out opioid addiction, which has ravaged many native communities.

Groped by Franken, say 2 more women

MINNEAPOLIS — Two women told The Huffington Post that Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., touched their buttocks during events for his first campaign for Senate.

The women spoke to the online news site on the condition of anonymity. The women said the events occurred in Minneapolis in 2007 and 2008.

Franken said in a statement, “It’s difficult to respond to anonymous accusers, and I don’t remember those campaign events.”

Last week, Franken was accused of forcibly kissing a woman while rehearsing for a 2006 United Service Organizations tour. Franken also was photographed with his hands over her breasts as she slept. A second woman came forward, alleging Franken grabbed her buttocks during a photo op at the Minnesota State Fair.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has called for an ethics investigation of Franken, which Franken says he supports.

Barton: Police probing photo, no comment

WASHINGTON — Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said he plans to go silent about the release of a nude photo of him online because police are investigating the disclosure as a possible crime against him.

The 68-year-old Barton, who joined the House in 1985, has acknowledged sharing intimate material with a lover and accused her of threatening to make it public when he ended the relationship. The unidentified woman told The Washington Post that she did not put it online and said the congressman sought to intimidate her by threatening to go to the authorities if she exposed his conduct.

The Post published details of a secretly recorded conversation between Barton and his lover from 2015 in which he threatened to “take all this crap to the Capitol Hill Police and have them launch an investigation” if she did not agree to keep “inappropriate photographs and video” that he had exchanged with her from becoming public. He said she had already shared material with other women with whom he had been involved.

In a statement after that report, Barton said the “Capitol Police reached out to me and offered to launch an investigation and I have accepted. Because of the pending investigation, we will have no further comment.” He said the woman’s comments on the tape could be evidence of a “potential crime against me.”

Capitol Police have not said whether they have begun an investigation.

Making explicit images available without the subject’s permission is a felony in the District of Columbia and a Class A misdemeanor in Texas under revenge porn laws passed several years ago. More than 30 other states have such a law; there is no corresponding federal law.

Navy ends search for 3 missing sailors

HONG KONG — The U.S. Navy ended its search today for three sailors who have been missing since a transport plane crashed near Japan this week, the Navy’s 7th

Fleet said in a statement.

Eight of the 11 passengers and crew members aboard a C2-A Greyhound propeller cargo plane were rescued after the crash Wednesday and were in good condition, the 7th Fleet said.

The crash was the fifth accident this year for the fleet, which has its headquarters in Japan and is the Navy’s

largest fleet overseas. The Navy relieved the head of the 7th Fleet of his command in August.

The Navy said three U.S. guided-missile destroyers,

two Japanese helicopter carriers and three Japanese destroyers were involved in the search. Ships and aircraft

had covered nearly 1,000 nautical miles before the search was called off at 10 a.m. today, the 7th Fleet said.

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