Drug czar nominee pulls his name from consideration

Drug czar nominee pulls his name from consideration

WASHINGTON

Rep. Tom Marino, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the nation’s drug czar, has withdrawn from consideration, following reports that he played a key role in weakening the federal government’s authority to stop companies from distributing opioids.

“He didn’t want to have even the perception of a conflict of interest with drug companies or, frankly, insurance companies,” Trump told Fox News Radio in an interview Tuesday, shortly after breaking the news on Twitter.

The announcement follows reports by The Washington Post and CBS News, which detailed the Pennsylvania lawmaker’s involvement in crafting a 2016 law, signed by President Barack Obama, that weakened the Drug Enforcement Administration’s authority to curb opioid distribution.

Passenger: Delta crew stopped her from singing anthem

SAVANNAH, Ga.

A Georgia physician said her plan to honor a fallen soldier by singing the U.S. national anthem aboard a Delta Air Lines plane carrying the soldier’s casket was stopped by a flight attendant who told her it would violate company policy.

Dr. Pamela Gaudry of Savannah said she and fellow passengers were told “to stay quietly in our seats” as an honor guard escorted the casket from the plane Saturday at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. A flight attendant told her that singing “The Star Spangled Banner” would make passengers from other countries uncomfortable, she said.

“I couldn’t put up with that,” Gaudry told The Associated Press. “I wouldn’t be offended if I was in their country.”

Gaudry said she kept quiet until she was off the plane. Then she found an unoccupied stretch of the airport terminal where she took out her cellphone and self-recorded a 6 minute, 30 second video that she posted on Facebook. By Monday afternoon, it had been viewed more than 778,000 times.

Reporter killed by bomb crusaded against corruption

ROME

Daphne Caruana Galizia, a Maltese journalist killed by a bomb that blew up her car, was fearless and formidable, colleagues and admirers recall.

She spared no vested interest, including the dominant political parties, from her investigations of corruption in her native island nation. Her reporting including examinations of leaked documents in the Panama Papers scandal.

Caruana Galizia, 53, died Monday as she drove near her home on Malta. Two weeks before, she told police she’d received threats.

Former hostage’s American wife rushed to hospital

SMITHS FALLS,

Ontario

Former hostage Joshua Boyle says his wife, Caitlan, had to be rushed to the hospital and remains there.

Boyle told The Associated Press in an email that his wife was admitted Monday. He says his first concern is the health of his wife and children. His email Tuesday did not specify why she was taken to the hospital.

Boyle, his American wife and their three children were rescued Wednesday, five years after the couple was abducted in Afghanistan on a backpacking trip. The children were born in captivity.

Joshua Boyle said after landing at Toronto’s airport Friday that the Taliban-linked Haqqani network raped his wife during the years they were held.

Associated Press