TODAYS TOP HEADLINES
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Saturday, December 8, 2018 3A
France prepares for weekend
protests, fearing more violence
THIBAULT CAMUS I Associated Press
A bin is burning as school children demonstrate Friday Dec.7, in Paris. Footage showing the brutal arrest of high
school students protesting outside Paris is causing a stir ahead of further anti-government protests this weekend.
Unrest began Nov. 17 in response to increase in diesel taxes
Workers carry a wooden piece to protect shop windows Friday, Dec. 7, on the Champs-
Elysees avenue in Paris.
BY SAMUEL PETREQUIN
AND SYLVIE CORBET
Associated Press
PARIS — Anticipating a
fourth straight weekend of
violent protests, France on
Friday mobilized armored
vehicles and thousands of
police, cordoned off Paris’
broad boulevards and
made plans to shut down
tourist sites like the Eiffel
Tower and Louvre.
The heavy security will
put central Paris in a vir
tual lockdown Saturday
against what the interior
minister called “radical
ized and rebellious peo
ple,” who authorities
believe will join mem
bers of the “yellow vest”
movement that has been
holding anti-government
demonstrations.
Nationwide, about
89,000 police will fan out
in the streets, an increase
from 65,000 last week
end, when more than 130
people were injured and
over 400 arrested as the
protests degenerated into
the worst street violence
to hit the French capital
in decades.
Fearing increasing vio
lence, hundreds of busi
nesses planned to close
Saturday, preferring to
lose a key holiday shop
ping day rather than have
stores smashed and looted,
like they were a week ago
when protests over rising
taxes turned into a riot.
Workers hammered ply
wood over the windows
of shops and businesses,
making the plush Champs-
Elysees neighborhood
appear to be bracing for a
hurricane.
“According to the infor
mation we have, some
radicalized and rebellious
people will try to get mobi
lized tomorrow,” Interior
Minister Christophe Cas-
taner told a news confer
ence. “Some ultra-violent
people want to take part.”
President Emmanuel
Macron met Friday night
with about 60 anti-riot
security officers who will
be deployed in Paris. He
made the unannounced
visit, without the press,
to a fort used as military
accommodation in Nogent-
sur-Marne, east of Paris,
and thanked the officers
for their work.
About 8,000 police will
be deployed across Paris,
equipped with a dozen bar
ricade-busting armored
vehicles that could be
used for the first time in a
French urban area since
riots in 2005.
“These vehicles can
be very useful to protect
buildings,” said Stanislas
Gaudon, head of the Alli
ance police union. “And
in case they set up bar
ricades, we can quickly
clear out the space and let
our units progress.”
Police removed any
materials from the streets
that could be used as
weapons, especially at
construction sites in high-
risk areas. Those included
the renowned Champs-
Elysees, which would
normally be packed with
tourists and shoppers.
“It’s with an immense
sadness that we’ll see our
city partially brought to a
halt, but your safety is our
priority,” said Mayor Anne
Hidalgo. “Take care of
Paris on Saturday because
Paris belongs to all the
French people.”
As it did last weekend,
the U.S. Embassy advised
Americans to avoid the
FRANCOIS MORI I Associated Press
demonstrations.
Prime Minister Edouard
Philippe met Friday night
with representatives of the
movement to try to open a
dialogue.
The seven “yellow vest”
invited to the meeting said
they were satisfied from
the discussion. One par
ticipant, Christophe Cha-
lancon, told reporters the
prime minister “listened
to us.”
Since the unrest began
Nov. 17 in response to a
sharp increase in diesel
taxes, four people have
been killed in protest-
related accidents. Now the
demands of the “yellow
vest” movement — named
for the fluorescent safety
gear that French motor
ists keep in their cars — is
pressing for a wider range
of benefits from the gov
ernment to help workers,
retirees and students.
Chinese exec facing US extradition appears in court
Associated Press
VANCOUVER, British Colum
bia — A Canadian prosecutor urged
a Vancouver court to deny bail to a
Chinese executive at the heart of a
case that is shaking up U.S.-China
relations and worrying global finan
cial markets.
Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial
officer of telecommunications giant
Huawei and daughter of its founder,
was detained at the request of the
U.S. during a layover at the Vancou
ver airport last Saturday — the same
day that Presidents Donald Trump
and Xi Jinping of China agreed over
dinner to a 90-day ceasefire in a
trade dispute that threatens to dis
rupt global commerce.
The U.S. alleges that Huawei used
a Hong Kong shell company to sell
equipment in Iran in violation of
U.S. sanctions. It also says that Meng
and Huawei misled American banks
about its business dealings in Iran.
The surprise arrest, already
denounced by Beijing, raises doubts
about whether the trade truce will
hold and whether the world’s two
biggest economies can resolve the
complicated issues that divide them.
“I think it will have a distinctively
negative effect on the U.S.-China
talks,” said Philip Levy, senior fel
low at the Chicago Council on Global
Affairs and an economic adviser in
President George W. Bush’s White
House. “There’s the humiliating way
this happened right before the din
ner, with Xi unaware. Very hard to
save face on this one. And we may
see (Chinese retaliation), which will
embitter relations.”
Canadian prosecutor John Gibb-
Carsley said in a court hearing Fri
day that a warrant had been issued
for Meng’s arrest in New York Aug.
22. He said Meng, arrested en route
to Mexico from Hong Kong, was
aware of the investigation and had
been avoiding the United States for
months, even though her teenage son
goes to school in Boston.
Gibb-Carsley alleged that Huawei
had done business in Iran through
a Hong Kong company called Sky-
com. Meng, he said, had misled U.S.
banks into thinking that Huawei and
Skycom were separate when, in fact,
“Skycom was Huawei.” Meng has
contended that Huawei sold Skycom
in 2009.
US: Cohen
needs prison
despite probe
cooperation
BY CHAD DAY, ERIC TUCKER
AND JIM MUSTIAN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Presi
dent Donald Trump’s for
mer lawyer, Michael Cohen,
deserves a substantial prison
sentence despite his coopera
tion in a hush money payment
case that implicated
the president, fed
eral prosecutors said
Friday.
Court filings by
prosecutors from both
New York and the
Trump-Russia special
counsel’s office laid
out for the first time
details of the coopera
tion of a vital witness
who once said he’d “take a bul
let” for the president but who
in recent months has become
a prime antagonist. He is to be
sentenced next week.
They filings reveal that
Cohen told prosecutors he and
Trump discussed a potential
meeting with Russian Presi
dent Vladimir Putin on the
sidelines of the U.N. General
Assembly in 2015, shortly after
Trump announced his candi
dacy for president.
In a footnote, special coun
sel Robert Mueller’s team
writes that Cohen conferred
with Trump “about contacting
the Russia government before
reaching out to gauge Russia’s
interest in such a meeting,”
though it never took place.
An additional filing was
expected later Friday in
the case of former Trump
campaign chairman Paul
Manafort, who prosecutors say
lied to them even after agree
ing to cooperate.
Prosecutors in Cohen’s case
said that even though he coop
erated in their investigation
into hush money payments
made to two women who said
they had sex with Trump, he
nonetheless deserves to spend
time in prison.
“Cohen did provide infor
mation to law enforcement,
including information that
assisted the Special Coun
sel’s Office,” they said. “But
Cohen’s description of those
efforts is overstated in some
respects and incom
plete in others.”
In meetings with
Mueller’s team, Cohen
“provided informa
tion about his own
contacts with Russian
interests during the
campaign and discus
sions with others in
the course of making
those contacts,” the court doc
uments said.
Cohen provided prosecu
tors with a “detailed account”
of his involvement, along with
the involvement of others, in
efforts during the 2016 presi
dential campaign to complete
a deal to build a Trump Tower
Moscow, the documents said.
He also provided information
about attempts by Russian
nationals to reach Trump’s
campaign, they said.
However, in the crimes to
which he pleaded guilty in
August, he was motivated “by
personal greed and repeatedly
used his power and influence
for deceptive ends.”
Prosecutors said the court’s
Probation Department esti
mated that federal sentenc
ing guidelines call for Cohen
to serve at least four years in
prison. They said that “reflects
Cohen’s extensive, deliberate
and serious criminal conduct.”
Prosecutors say Cohen
“already enjoyed a privileged
life,” and that “his desire for
even greater wealth and influ
ence precipitated an extensive
course of criminal conduct.”
Cohen
Trump’s Justice pick
likely to be queried on
Mueller comments
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Presi
dent Donald Trump on Fri
day picked former Attorney
General William Barr to once
again serve as America’s top
law enforcement official. But
while his experience and main
stream background may boost
his prospects for con
firmation, Democrats
are raising alarms
about his comments
on the Russia inves
tigation and Hillary
Clinton.
Barr has expressed
concerns about politi
cal donations made
by prosecutors on
special counsel Rob
ert Mueller’s team and has
supported calls for an inves
tigation into a uranium deal
approved while Clinton was
secretary of state, a pet issue
of Trump supporters.
It’s not clear whether Barr,
if confirmed, would take office
in time to shape the Muel
ler investigation, which has
shown signs of being in its final
stages. But even if it wraps up
before he takes office, Barr
would be in a position to influ
ence prosecutions stemming
from the probe, as well as deal
with other politically sensi
tive cases, such as responding
to referrals from the House’s
new Democratic majority.
Barr, 68, would succeed
former Attorney General Jeff
Sessions, whom Trump forced
out after constant heckling
because he had stepped aside
from overseeing the Russia
investigation. Sessions’ chief
of staff, Matthew Whitaker,
was elevated to acting attor
ney general and took
control of Mueller’s
investigation.
Barr’s confirmation
would create uncer
tainty about the future
of Rod Rosenstein, the
deputy attorney gen
eral who oversaw the
Mueller investigation
before Whitaker’s
appointment. Fre
quently, new deputies are also
appointed when there’s a new
attorney general.
Barr’s appointment could
bring more stability to the
Justice Department. Sessions’
tenure was marked by the
incessant attacks from Trump,
and Whitaker’s elevation was
also controversial. Questions
were raised about Whitaker’s
credentials, critical comments
he had made about the Muel
ler investigation before join
ing the Justice Department
and his involvement with a
company that was accused of
misleading consumers and is
under investigation by the FBI.
Barr
abersham
treat
'Assisted Care Community
Now Offers a New Assisted Living Home
Located <8> 258 Park Ave Baldwin GA
The
uite Life
Come by for a visit. Prebook one
of our new rooms that you can
make your very own.
www.habershamretreat.com
Call us @
706-499-6842
•Gift baskets
•Embroidery
•Unique gifts
•Screen printing
•Balloons for all occasions
•Full Service Pharmacy
•Free Local Delivery
•Compounding Unit Dose
Packaging
Hiverride fharmaqj
935 Green St., Gainesville, GA
770.532.6253 • callriversidepharmacy.com
Auto Insurance
Specialist
• Easy Payments
• Any Driver
• Any Age
NEW LOCATION!
2415 OLD CORNELIA HWY., GAINESVILLE
Next to Rabbittown Cafe
770-450-4500
