Order to put U.S. brand on foreign aid
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump has signed an order requiring that all U.S. foreign assistance be "rebranded" to ensure that recipients know that American taxpayers have paid for it.
On Thursday, Trump directed the 22 federal agencies that distribute U.S. aid abroad to use a common logo on their packaging. Currently, agencies -- from the U.S. Agency for International Development to the Department of Agriculture -- use different logos on items that range from sacks of grain to medical supplies, tents and water purification kits.
That has created confusion in some countries, according to U.S. officials who say that aid from other nations, like China, is readily identifiable with standardized logos.
"To foster goodwill between the recipients of United States foreign assistance and the American people, and to encourage the governments of nations that are receiving foreign assistance to support the United States, it is essential that recipients of United States foreign assistance be aware of the manifold efforts of American taxpayers to aid them and improve their lives," the White House said.
The executive order gives the president 30 days to choose a logo and then provides for a 120-day period for that choice to be implemented.
Wisconsin Guard confirms pilot's death
STEUBEN, Mich. -- A Wisconsin fighter pilot died when a plane crashed in a national forest in Michigan's Upper Peninsula during a training mission, military officials said Thursday.
The Wisconsin Air National Guard's 115th Fighter Wing announced the death, but said the pilot's identity will not be released until 24 hours after family members are notified.
The cause of Tuesday night's crash wasn't immediately known and is being investigated, officials said.
The plane was assigned to the Wisconsin Air National Guard's 115th Fighter Wing at Truax Field in Madison. It went down in Hiawatha National Forest, about 250 miles northeast of the base. The crash site is in Delta County, which is on the shores of Lake Michigan.
The 115th Fighter Wing participated in a coordinated search effort with emergency responders, the U.S. Coast Guard and other government agencies.
Report clears travels of Pompeo's wife
WASHINGTON -- An investigation into the travel of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's wife has concluded that the trips she made with her husband on official business did not violate federal ethics rules.
Susan Pompeo had attracted criticism for using government resources while accompanying her husband on diplomatic trips.
However, in a report released Thursday, the department's acting inspector general, Matthew Klimow, found no evidence of misuse of taxpayer funds but said it had found documentation and approvals for only two of the eight trips Susan Pompeo took with her husband. It said those deficiencies should be corrected. In addition, the inspector general angrily rebutted accusations by Secretary Pompeo's aides that the investigation was a "waste of time."
The investigation was begun under the leadership of inspector general Steve Linick, whom Pompeo fired last spring. At the time, Linick had opened several investigations touching on Pompeo, and his dismissal was roundly criticized by ethics watchdogs and congressional Democrats.
The inspector general's report was released just hours after the State Department took aim at the watchdog, Democratic members of Congress and media outlets for raising questions about Susan Pompeo's travel and suggesting it may have been inappropriate.
City to allow white-supremacist church
MURDOCK, Minn. -- The City Council in a small Minnesota farming community has voted to grant a permit that allows a controversial Nordic heritage church that has been identified as a white-supremacist group to gather at an abandoned sanctuary.
The vote Wednesday night took place after the council in the Swift County community of Murdock was advised by the city attorney that rejecting the Asatru Folk Assembly's request could violate its religious rights. The assembly wants to turn the former Lutheran church into a Midwest regional gathering hall.
Council members, meeting online because of the coronavirus pandemic, kept video cameras turned off and refused to identify who voted for or against the permit. It was passed on a voice vote without a roll call, the Star Tribune reported. One member of the five-person council could be heard voting no.
City Attorney Don Wilcox told council members that they faced possible legal action if they voted against the assembly based on its beliefs.
"Just because you don't like it doesn't mean they can't do it," Wilcox said.
Assembly board member Allen Turnage has said the church, which has about 500 members nationwide, and 20 or so in and around Minnesota, would not admit a Black person "because they're not of northern European descent."