Groups sue US EPA over Lake Erie’s toxic algae

Groups sue US EPA over Lake Erie’s toxic algae

TOLEDO

Several environmental groups in Ohio and Michigan are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying the agency isn’t doing enough to protect Lake Erie from toxic algae.

The federal lawsuit filed Tuesday says the EPA needs to step in and take action under the Clean Water Act.

Algae blooms in the shallowest of the Great Lakes have fouled drinking water in recent years and are a threat to wildlife and water quality.

The groups suing the EPA want the agency to make a decision on whether the western part of the lake in Ohio and Michigan should be declared an impaired watershed.

GOP drops wall demands as talks continue on spending

WASHINGTON

Congressional negotiators Tuesday inched toward a potential agreement on a catchall spending bill that would deny President Donald Trump’s request for immediate funding to construct a wall along the Mexico border. The emerging measure would increase the defense budget and eliminate the threat of a government shutdown on Trump’s 100th day in office Saturday.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said Republican negotiators were following the lead of Trump, who signaled that he would not insist on $1 billion worth of wall funding now as an addition to the $1 trillion-plus spending bill. Trump told a gathering of conservative media reporters that he might be willing to wait until September for the funding.

A remaining stumbling block is a recent threat by Trump to scuttle a portion of former President Barack Obama’s health law that helps low-income people afford insurance policies, but the decision by Trump and his GOP allies to back down on the wall steered the talks on the spending measure in a positive direction.

Chinese court sentences woman accused of spying

HOUSTON

An American woman detained during a business trip to China and charged with spying was sentenced Tuesday to 3 Ω years in prison, raising the possibility that she may be allowed to return home soon.

Phan Phan-Gillis has faced an uncertain fate since March 2015, when she disappeared from her group traveling in southern China. She was later accused of espionage, which carries a possible death sentence. A United Nations panel has said her detention violated international norms, and the U.S. has long pressed China to resolve the case fairly.

Under Chinese law, Phan-Gillis could be eligible now for parole and deportation, said John Kamm, founder of the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation.

Ex-ambassadors urge Congress not to cut UN funding

UNITED NATIONS

Nine former American ambassadors to the United Nations are urging the U.S. Congress to maintain Washington’s leadership at the world body by fully funding its operations.

The letter to congressional leaders released Tuesday was a response to the Trump administration’s signal that it wants to cut back on U.S. funding for the U.N. and other international organizations.

It follows Monday’s White House lunch hosted by President Donald Trump for members of the U.N. Security Council who also raised the issue of U.S. funding.

Associated Press