Israel defense chief quits, cites lack of trust in Netanyahu

Israel defense chief quits, cites lack of trust in Netanyahu

JERUSALEM

Israel’s defense minister announced his resignation Friday, saying the governing party had been taken over by “extremist and dangerous elements” and that he no longer trusts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The departure of Moshe Yaalon – one of the last moderate voices in the Likud Party – deepens the rift in the Cabinet between the security establishment and the hard-line politicians.

Netanyahu reportedly intends to appoint former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to the post of defense minister. The 57-year-old Lieberman is one of Israel’s most polarizing politicians.

Congress warming to idea of medical marijuana for vets

DENVER

Congress is showing an increased willingness to let VA doctors talk to veterans about medical marijuana in states where it’s legal, although final approval is far from certain.

The House approved a measure this week that would let Veterans Affairs Department doctors help their patients sign up for state medical marijuana programs, something the VA now prohibits.

“I’m certainly open to it,” Rep. Mike Coffman, a Republican and former Marine from pot-friendly Colorado, said Friday.

A Senate committee approved a similar measure last month, but the full Senate hasn’t voted.

Guantanamo prisoner cleared for release by board

MIAMI

An Afghan who once faced war-crimes charges at Guantanamo has now been cleared for release from the U.S. base in Cuba, the government announced Friday.

The Periodic Review Board, an organization made up of various government agencies that conducts parole-style hearings for prisoners at Guantanamo, determined it was no longer necessary to detain the man known by the single name of Obaidullah. A statement announcing the decision was posted on a Pentagon website.

Counting change results in spike in US Zika cases

NEW YORK

The number of pregnant women in the United States infected with the Zika virus is suddenly tripling, due to a change in how the government is reporting cases.

Previously, officials had reported how many pregnant women had both Zika symptoms and positive blood tests. In a change announced Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s count will include all women who tested positive, regardless of symptoms.

There are now 157 pregnant women infected with Zika in the 50 states, up from the 48 reported last week under the old definition.

Agency sent reports of suspicious deaths to abandoned email

MINEOLA, N.Y.

There may be a reason a prosecutor’s office says it never received nine reports of suspicious deaths of developmentally disabled people in state care over the past three years: A state oversight agency acknowledged Friday it sent them to an assistant prosecutor’s personal email, an account that apparently had been abandoned.

The handling of the nine cases has prompted the agency, the Justice Center, to update its email list and institute a policy of only sending such reports directly to each county’s top prosecutor, plus a designee, followed with a phone call to confirm.

Associated Press