Congress to probe Fort Hood deaths
AUSTIN, Texas -- Congress will investigate sexual assaults, disappearances, deaths and the leadership's response at Fort Hood after 28 soldiers stationed at the U.S. Army post in Texas died this year, two subcommittee leaders announced Tuesday.
The 28 deaths include five homicides, as well as accidents, suicides, deaths related to illness, cases still under investigation and one combat-related death, according to data from Fort Hood officials.
Democratic Reps. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts and Jackie Speier of California sent a letter to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy requesting documents and information on the deaths. Lynch chairs the Committee on Oversight and Reform's Subcommittee on National Security and Speier leads the Committee on Armed Services' Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
According to the letter, the subcommittees will jointly investigate if recent deaths "may be symptomatic of underlying leadership, discipline, and morale deficiencies throughout the chain-of-command."
The letter said that according to Army data there were an average of 129 felonies committed annually at Fort Hood between 2014 and 2019, including cases of homicide, sexual assault, kidnapping, robbery and aggravated assault.
Israel, UAE to sign deal at White House
WASHINGTON -- Israel and the United Arab Emirates will sign their historic deal normalizing relations at a White House ceremony on Sept. 15, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
The officials, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said senior delegations from both countries will likely be led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother of the UAE crown prince.
The ceremony will come just a month after the agreement to establish full diplomatic relations was announced on Aug. 13. The historic deal delivered a key foreign policy victory to President Donald Trump as he seeks reelection, and reflected a changing Middle East in which shared concerns about archenemy Iran have largely overtaken traditional Arab support for the Palestinians.
That announcement has been followed by the first direct commercial flight between the countries, the establishment of telephone links and commitments to cooperate in other areas. The UAE has also ended the country's boycott of Israel, which allows trade and commerce between the oil-rich Emirates and Israel.
While the Palestinians have rejected the deal, the UAE has presented the agreement as taking Israel's planned annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank off the table.
U.S. asks to defend Trump in Carroll suit
The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to take over the defense of President Donald Trump in a defamation suit brought by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who claims Trump raped her two decades ago.
In a court filing Tuesday, the Justice Department said Trump was acting "within the scope" of his job as president when he said Carroll lied about the incident, prompting her lawsuit. The U.S. also wants to move the case to Manhattan federal court from a New York state court, where a judge last month denied his request to delay the suit.
The move could further delay a suit that was to soon have entered the evidence-gathering phase.
Carroll is seeking to take the president's deposition and force him to provide a DNA sample in connection with a dress she claims she was wearing at the time of the alleged attack.
Trump has been represented in the case by his longtime lawyer Marc Kasowitz.
The Justice Department motion said the case falls under the Federal Tort Claims Act "Because President Trump was acting within the scope of his office or employment at the time of the incident out of which the plaintiff's claim arose." The Federal Tort Claims Act provides for suits against the government.
7 people killed at California pot farm
LOS ANGELES -- Seven people were shot to death at the site of an apparent illegal marijuana grow in the Inland Empire over Labor Day weekend, authorities said.
Riverside County sheriff's deputies responded at 12:33 a.m. Monday to a reported assault with a deadly weapon in the 45000 block of California 371 in Aguanga, an unincorporated community north of San Diego.
At the residence, deputies found seven people with gunshot wounds, according to the sheriff's office. Six died from their injuries at the scene, and one woman died after being taken to a hospital, authorities said.
Names and descriptions of the victims were not immediately available Tuesday.
Officials said that the residence was apparently housing an illicit marijuana operation. Several hundred plants and more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana were found at the scene, according to the sheriff's office.
Authorities have not yet publicly identified any suspects, and the investigation is ongoing.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports