AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

By The Associated Press

Florence strengthens to Category 4, takes aim at Carolinas

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Florence exploded into a potentially catastrophic Category 4 hurricane Monday as it closed in on North and South Carolina, carrying winds up to 140 mph (220 kph) and water that could wreak havoc over a wide stretch of the eastern United States later this week.

Communities along a stretch of coastline that’s vulnerable to rising sea levels due to climate change prepared to evacuate the storm, which forecasters expect to be close to Category 5 strength by Tuesday. The South Carolina governor ordered the state’s entire coastline to be evacuated starting at noon Tuesday and predicted that 1 million people would flee. And Virginia’s governor ordered a mandatory evacuation for some residents of low-lying coastal areas.

The storm’s first effects were already apparent on barrier islands as dangerous rip currents hit beaches and seawater flowed over a state highway.

For many people, the challenge could be finding a safe refuge: If Florence slows to a crawl just off the coast, it could bring torrential rains to the Appalachian mountains and as far away as West Virginia, causing flash floods, mudslides and other dangerous conditions.

The storm’s potential path also includes half a dozen nuclear power plants, pits holding coal-ash and other industrial waste, and numerous hog farms that store animal waste in massive open-air lagoons.

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US marks 9-11 anniversary; Trump to mark it at Pa. memorial

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans are commemorating the Sept. 11 terror attacks with sombre tributes, volunteer projects and a new monument to victims.

Thousands of victims’ relatives, survivors, rescuers and others are expected at Tuesday’s ceremony at the World Trade Center.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump plan to join an observance at the 9-11 memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. A new tower honouring victims was dedicated there Saturday.

Vice-President Mike Pence is attending a ceremony at the Pentagon.

Nearly 3,000 people died when hijacked planes slammed into the trade centre, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001.

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Trump administration orders closure of Palestinian office

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration ordered the closure of the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington on Monday and threatened sanctions against the International Criminal Court if it pursues investigations against the U.S., Israel, or other allies. The moves are likely to harden Palestinian resistance to the U.S. role as a peace broker.

The administration cited the refusal of Palestinian leaders to enter into peace talks with Israel as the reason for closing the Palestinian Liberation Organization office, although the U.S. has yet to present its plan to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians accused the administration of dismantling decades of U.S. engagement with them.

Shortly after the State Department announcement, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, launched a broadside against The Hague-based International Criminal Court. Bolton declared that the ICC “is already dead” to the U.S. He also threatened the court and its staff with sanctions if it proceeds with investigations into alleged war crimes by American troops in Afghanistan.

The closure of the PLO office — the latest in a series of moves targeting the Palestinians — was centred on the fact that no “direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel” are underway despite previous warnings, the State Department said. It said the decision was also in line with U.S. law, a reflection of congressional concerns and consistent with U.S. policy to oppose and punish Palestinian attempts to bring Israel before the ICC.

The administration had told the Palestinians last year that closure was a distinct possibility unless they agreed to sit to down with the Israelis. It has yet to release its own much-vaunted but largely unknown peace plan although it said it still intends to do so.

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CBS sets aside $120 million for Moonves, but will he see it?

NEW YORK (AP) — CBS revealed Monday that it set aside $120 million in severance for ousted chief executive Leslie Moonves. But whether he sees a penny of it is one of the tough and potentially incendiary decisions the network faces after his resignation over sexual misconduct accusations.

Despite Moonves’ announced exit Sunday, outside lawyers hired by CBS continue to investigate allegations against him and Jeff Fager, the top executive at “60 Minutes.” In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, CBS said it will release the severance money if the investigation finds there was no cause for him to be fired.

Any payment to Moonves is likely to anger the #MeToo movement that has brought down other powerful men in Hollywood and the media, including Hollywood studio boss Harvey Weinstein, NBC’s Matt Lauer and CBS’ Charlie Rose.

Meanwhile, Moonves’ wife, Julie Chen, did not appear Monday on the season-opening episode of her daytime show, “The Talk,” and co-host Sharon Osbourne said on the air that “everyone here at CBS is nervous about their jobs.” CBS’ stock price slid.

As head of television’s most popular network, Moonves was among the most powerful and richest executives in the TV industry, making a total of nearly $140 million over the last two years.

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Case against officer who killed neighbour to go to grand jury

DALLAS (AP) — The case against a white Dallas police officer who shot and killed a black neighbour will be presented to a grand jury, which could decide on more serious charges than manslaughter, the district attorney said Monday as an affidavit provided a fuller description of the officer’s account.

Lawyers for the victim’s family questioned why it took three days for officer Amber Guyger to be charged and why she was so quick to use deadly force in her encounter with 26-year-old Botham Jean, who lived in the apartment directly above hers. She told authorities she mistook the neighbour’s unit for her own.

An arrest affidavit prepared by a Texas Ranger was released Monday, providing a narrative of what happened. It appeared to be based almost entirely on the officer’s account.

Guyger told investigators that she had just ended a 15-hour shift Thursday when she returned in uniform to the South Side Flats apartment complex. She parked on the fourth floor, instead of the third, where she lived, according to the affidavit, possibly suggesting that she was confused or disoriented.

When she put her key in the apartment door, which was unlocked and slightly ajar, it opened, the affidavit said. Inside, the lights were off, and she saw a figure in the darkness that cast a large silhouette across the room, according to the officer’s account.

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Trump vents over leaks as Woodward pushes back on criticism

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump vented over White House leaks Monday as a new tell-all book commands attention, an anonymous writer detailing “resistance” in the administration remains at large and a former staffer reveals more private recordings of the commander in chief.

But while Trump continues to insist privately that he wants leakers punished — in particular, the author of an unsigned New York Times opinion piece — it remained unclear if his administration would mete out any discipline. Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said no lie detectors were being used to smoke out the writer of the op-ed, though she insisted the West Wing would like to see an investigation.

Sanders said it’s up to the Justice Department to make that determination. “But someone actively trying to undermine the duly elected president and the entire executive branch of government, that seems quite problematic to me and something they should take a look at,” she said.

A White House official has said Trump was just venting over the essay and wasn’t ordering federal prosecutors to take action. It also doesn’t appear that the essay revealed any classified information, which would be a crucial bar to clear before a leak investigation could be considered. The Justice Department said it will not confirm or deny investigations.

It appeared to be another instance of the president versus the administration, as Trump proceeded on one track while the agencies largely moved on another. There was fear among some Trump advisers that if the president felt that his staff or the Justice Department was not carrying out his order to find the leakers, then he could feel compelled to make changes.

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AP FACT CHECK: White House’s selective reading on economy

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump pitched a wildly off-base claim about economic growth Monday as the White House used selective statistics to build a case that the economy is doing much better than when Barack Obama was in office.

The attention on Obama comes as the ex-president steps back into the political arena on behalf of Democrats in the November elections. The White House dispatched economic adviser Kevin Hassett to rebut Obama’s point that his policies helped end the Great Recession and put the economy on a growth path that Trump is now mostly benefiting from.

Companies are much more optimistic and have increased spending on buildings and equipment, Hassett said. Americans are starting new businesses and the increase in startups is accelerating more quickly than it did under Obama, he added, and blue-collar jobs — in mining, construction and manufacturing — are growing more rapidly.

Yet some of the White House’s case is wrong, exaggerated or lacks context:

TRUMP, in a tweet: “The GDP rate (4.2 per cent) is higher than the Unemployment Rate (3.9 per cent) for the first time in over 100 years!”

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Mass rally wraps up North Korea’s 70th anniversary events

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Tens of thousands of North Korean students rallied in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square in the final major event of the country’s 70th anniversary, an elaborate celebration that has showcased the nation’s aspirations for economic growth and Korean unity.

The rally Monday night featured a sea of university and high school students carrying torches that spelled out giant slogans and words when seen from above the square. Leader Kim Jong Un did not attend.

This year’s anniversary downplayed the missiles and nuclear weapons that brought the country to the brink of conflict with the United States just one year ago.

It highlighted what has been a series of stunning recent changes for North Korea, beginning with Kim’s announcement on New Year’s Day that he would seek better relations with the South and that the North was willing to participate in the Winter Olympics held in South Korea.

He followed that up with an announcement in April that he would stop nuclear tests and long-range missile launches and claimed that, having perfected his nuclear arsenal, he was ready to pursue talks with Washington on easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. That in turn led to a flurry of summits with Beijing and Seoul and an unprecedented summit with President Donald Trump in Singapore three months ago.

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California aims to drop fossil fuels for electricity by 2045

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California has set a goal of phasing out electricity produced by fossil fuels by 2045 under legislation signed Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown, who said the policy should serve as a model for other states and nations.

Brown, who has positioned California as a global leader in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, approved the measure as he prepares to host a summit in San Francisco of climate change leaders from around the world starting Wednesday.

The new law, along with an executive order Brown signed directing California to take as much carbon dioxide out of the air as it emits, represent the latest in a string of ambitious environmental initiatives as California seeks to fill a void left by President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord and his efforts to boost the coal industry.

“We want others to do likewise, and if enough people often enough do what is needed we will curb global warming,” Brown said during an interview with The Associated Press. “But we’re definitely at the beginning of what’s going to be a long and difficult and contentious journey.”

The state is pushing to rapidly expand adoption of electric vehicles and has created a “cap and trade” program to put a price on carbon emissions, creating incentives to reduce them. It’s working toward a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent over the next 12 years.

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Minaj calls dustup with Cardi B ‘mortifying,’ ‘humiliating’

NEW YORK (AP) — Nicki Minaj said being involved in an altercation with Cardi B at a fashion week party was “so mortifying and so humiliating.”

Cardi B tried to attack Minaj at the Harper’s Bazaar Icons party in New York on Friday. Video circulated on social media showing Cardi B lunging toward Minaj and throwing her shoe at the rapper.

In an Instagram post, Cardi B — who recently had a child — didn’t call out Minaj by name but alluded to the fight and said she was sparked because her mothering skills were being disparaged.

“I wanna say that I would never discuss anyone’s child. And it’s so sad for someone to pin that on me because I’m the bad guy and they’re gonna believe them,” Minaj said Monday on her Apple Music “Queen Radio” show.

The rappers have been rivals since Cardi B began achieving huge success over the last year. Cardi B recently became the first female rapper to have two songs hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and her debut album, “Invasion of Privacy,” is one of the bestselling albums of the year. Minaj continues to find success but has been displaced as rap’s top female act.

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