Court Overturns Some Blagojevich Senate Seat Convictions

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, center, walks with attorneys as he arrives at the Federal Correctional Institution Englewood in Littleton, Colo., to begin serving his 14-year sentence for corruption. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned some of the corruption convictions of the imprisoned former Governor in a ruling released Tuesday, July 21, 2015, saying prosecutors did not prove Blagojevich broke the law as he appeared to try to auction off an appointment to President Barack Obama's old Senate seat. (AP)

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal appeals court Tuesday overturned some of the most sensational convictions that sent former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich off to a lengthy stint in prison, ruling that the Democrat did not break the law when he sought to secure a Cabinet position in President Barack Obama's administration in exchange for appointing an Obama adviser to the president's former U.S. Senate seat.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago also ordered the resentencing of Blagojevich, offering the 58-year-old a ray of hope that he could end up serving less than his original 14-year term. The three appellate judges dismissed five of 18 corruption counts against Blagojevich, while affirming 13 counts. In a blow to the defense, the panelists also suggested the original sentence wasn't necessarily extreme, even when factoring in the newly tossed convictions.

Speaking outside the Blagojevich family home in Chicago, his wife, Patti, told reporters her husband had expressed disappointment the court didn't hand him a clear legal victory. "He's disappointed, of course," she said, the couple's 18-year-old daughter at her side. She added more optimistically, "Possibly this is a step in the right direction of getting Rod home to his family."

Several onlookers stood nearby, including a small child holding up a sign that read, "Free Blagojevich." The court's unanimous ruling addressed a key question: Where is the line between legal and illegal political wheeling and dealing? The panel's answer: When it came to Blagojevich's attempt to land a Cabinet seat, he did not cross the line. His attempts to trade the Senate seat for campaign cash, however, were illegal, the court concluded.

Blagojevich floated the idea of a Cabinet job in exchange for appointing Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to Obama's vacant Senate seat. After Blagojevich's arrest, the seat went to Roland Burris, who served less than two years before a successor was elected.

In its ruling, the appeals court pointed to allegations that President Dwight Eisenhower named Earl Warren to the U.S. Supreme Court after Warren offered Eisenhower key political support during the 1952 campaign. The judges said that under the logic used to charge Blagojevich, Eisenhower and Warren might have been convicted.

"If the prosecutor is right, and a swap of political favors involving a job for one of the politicians is a felony, then ... both the President of the United States and the Chief Justice of the United States should have gone to prison," the ruling says.

Still, the ruling was by no means a resounding win for Blagojevich. The appellate judges upheld allegations that he sought to sell the Senate seat, saying the evidence against him was strong. Blagojevich had argued he didn't break the law because he never stated explicitly that he was willing to trade an appointment for campaign cash. The panel balked at the notion that crimes are crimes only if they are overtly stated.

"Few politicians say, on or off the record, 'I will exchange official act X for payment Y,'" the opinion says. "Similarly persons who conspire to rob banks or distribute drugs do not propose or sign contracts in the statutory language."

Defense attorney Leonard Goodman sharply criticized the court for not quashing more counts. He said he would urge his client to challenge the panel's finding, by possibly by asking the full appeals court to rehear the case.

"My advice to him is that we fight on," he said. "It is not justice in my view." As for prosecutors, they could choose to retry Blagojevich on the dropped counts, though prosecutors often decline to retry a case if most counts are upheld. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on the ruling.

The two-term governor proclaimed his innocence for years — on television and on the stand at his decisive retrial in 2011, where a sometimes-tearful Blagojevich said he was a flawed man but no criminal.

Eleven of the counts jurors convicted him on dealt with allegations that he tried to swap an appointment to the Senate seat for campaign cash or a job. Other pay-to-play schemes he was convicted of included the attempted shakedown of the Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago for a campaign contribution.

After his December 2008 arrest, Blagojevich became the butt of jokes on late-night TV, including for his well-coiffed hair and his foul-mouthed rants on FBI wiretaps. The most notorious excerpt was one where he crows about the Senate seat: "I've got this thing and it's f------ golden. And I'm just not giving it up for f------ nothing."

Blagojevich began serving his sentence at a prison near Denver on March 15, 2012, and has served more than three years so far. Before the appeal, his estimated release date was 2024; he would be 67.

This story has been corrected to reflect that appeals court said that sentence was not too high.

Associated Press writers Tammy Webber, Don Babwin, Sophia Tareen, Herbert McCann and Sara Burnett contributed to this report.

Follow Michael Tarm on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mtarm.

Chad Ex-Dictator Rejects Trial; Judge Commands Attendance

People stand in line before entering the court building, rear, where the trial of former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre is taking place in Dakar, Senegal, Monday, July 20, 2015, The trial of former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre, accused of overseeing the deaths of thousands, had a chaotic beginning Monday as security forces ushered the ex-leader into and then out of the Senegal courtroom amid protests by his supporters. (AP)

DAKAR, SENEGAL (AP) — Former Chad dictator Hissene Habre on Monday denied the legitimacy of the special court set up to try him in Senegal for the deaths of thousands during his rule, but the head of the tribunal said he would be compelled to participate.

Habre's lawyers said he was forced to attend the first day of his trial for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture — an unprecedented case of one African country trying the former leader of another — but he was quickly ushered back out after he and a few supporters in the court caused chaos.

"This is not a trial, this is a masquerade!" the white robed Habre shouted as he was taken away. "There is no trial. There are no lawyers. This is a false trial. Down with colonialism." The Extraordinary African Chambers, a special tribunal, was created to try him in Senegal for the alleged crimes during his 1982-1990 rule.

Habre later issued a statement saying he had been illegally detained and would "not respond to the court." Tribunal head Gberdao Gustave Kam read the statement, adjourned proceedings until Tuesday and said Habre would be made to attend.

Lawyers for Habre have threatened to boycott the trial and one of them, Cire Cledor Ly, removed his legal robes in protest and took a seat in the court audience. "They talk of international justice in Africa?" said Cledor Ly. "This is theater."

Habre was first indicted by a Senegalese judge in 2000, according to Human Rights Watch, but twists and turns, arrests and releases over more than a decade brought the case to Belgium, and then finally back to Senegal, where Habre fled after being overthrown in 1990.

Under a new president, Senegal's national assembly adopted a law to create the special tribunal. It is the first trial in Africa of a universal jurisdiction case, in which a country's national courts can prosecute serious crimes committed abroad, by a foreigner and against foreign victims, said Human Rights Watch. It is also the first time the courts of one country are prosecuting the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes.

"This is a first in Africa, and we must extend congratulations for this," said Mbaye Gueye, a neutral legal representative who addressed the court and called for a fair trial. Many have argued that the International Criminal Court unfairly targets African leaders, so a fair trial with a credible verdict could support the argument that Africans can try their own.

Habre's government was responsible for an estimated 40,000 deaths, according to a report published in May 1992 by a 10-member truth commission formed by Chad's current President Idriss Deby. The commission singled out Habre's political police force for using torture.

Jacqueline Moudeina, the lead counsel for the civil parties, made a plea in the name of more than 4,000 victims and urged the court to give them justice on Monday. "The world watches you, it watches us. This process touches humanity ... a humanity that was not afforded to these victims," she said in her opening statement.

Survivors of the abuse have been the main advocates for justice, working toward this trial for about 15 years. About 100 are expected to testify during hearings that are likely to last three months. Clement Abaifouta, president of the main victims' association and a detainee who was forced to bury fellow prisoners, said his memories continue to haunt him.

"I hope for the condemnation of Habre because he now cannot escape," he said prior to the trial.

Associated Press writer Babacar Dione contributed to this report from Dakar.

5 Decades Later, US-Cuba Diplomatic Ties Restored

Members of the media cover workers from Eastern Shores Flagpoles raising a flagpole at the Cuban Interest Section in Washington in preparation for re-opening of embassies in Havana and Washington. Cuba's blue, red and white-starred flag is set to fly Monday, July 20 outside the country's diplomatic mission in the United States for the first time since the countries severed ties in 1961. (AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Cuba restored full diplomatic relations Monday after more than five decades of frosty relations rooted in the Cold War.

The new era began with little fanfare when an agreement between the two nations to resume normal ties on July 20 came into force just after midnight Sunday and the diplomatic missions of each country were upgraded from interests sections to embassies. When clocks struck 12:00 in Washington and Havana, they tolled a knell for policy approaches spawned and hardened over the five decades since President John F. Kennedy first tangled with youthful revolutionary Fidel Castro over Soviet expansion in the Americas.

Without ceremony in the pre-dawn hours, maintenance hung the Cuban flag in the lobby of the State Department alongside those of other nations with which the U.S. has diplomatic relations. The historic shift will be publicly memorialized later Monday when Cuban officials formally inaugurate their embassy in Washington and Cuba's blue, red and white-starred flag will fly for the first time since the countries severed ties in 1961. Secretary of State John Kerry will then meet his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodriguez, and address reporters at a joint news conference.

The U.S. Interests Section in Havana plans to announce its upgrade to embassy status in a written statement on Monday, but the Stars and Stripes will not fly at the mission until Kerry visits in August for a ceremonial flag-raising.

Shortly after midnight, the Cuban Interests Section in Washington switched its Twitter account to say "embassy," one of a series of similar changes being made to the two country's social media accounts.

In Havana, the U.S. Interests Section uploaded a new profile picture to its Facebook account that says US EMBASSY CUBA. And, Conrad Tribble, the deputy chief of mission for the United States in Havana, tweeted: "Just made first phone call to State Dept. Ops Center from United States Embassy Havana ever. It didn't exist in Jan 1961."

And yet, though normalization has taken center stage in the U.S.-Cuba relationship, there remains a deep ideological gulf between the nations and many issues still to resolve. Among them: thorny disputes such as over mutual claims for economic reparations, Havana's insistence on the end of the 53-year-old trade embargo and U.S. calls for Cuba to improve on human rights and democracy. Some U.S. lawmakers, including several prominent Republican presidential candidates, have vowed not to repeal the embargo and pledged to roll back Obama's moves on Cuba.

Still, Monday's events cap a remarkable change of course in U.S. policy toward the communist island under President Barack Obama, who has sought rapprochement with Cuba since he first took office and has progressively loosened restrictions on travel and remittances to the island.

Obama's efforts at engagement were frustrated for years by Cuba's imprisonment of U.S. Agency for International Development contractor Alan Gross on espionage charges. But months of secret negotiations led in December to Gross's release, along with a number of political prisoners in Cuba and the remaining members of a Cuban spy ring jailed in the United States. On Dec. 17, Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced they would resume full diplomatic relations.

Declaring the longstanding policy a failure that had not achieved any of its intended results, Obama declared that the U.S. could not keep doing the same thing and expect a change. Thus, he said work would begin apace on normalization.

That process dragged on until the U.S. removed Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism in late May and then bogged down over issues of U.S. diplomats' access to ordinary Cubans. On July 1, however, the issues were resolved and the U.S. and Cuba exchanged diplomatic notes agreeing that the date for the restoration of full relations would be July 20.

"It's a historic moment," said longtime Cuban diplomat and analyst Carlos Alzugaray. "The significance of opening the embassies is that trust and respect that you can see, both sides treating the other with trust and respect," he said. "That doesn't mean there aren't going to be conflicts — there are bound to be conflicts — but the way that you treat the conflict has completely changed."

Cuba's ceremony at the stately 16th Street mansion in Washington that has been operating as an interests section under the auspices of the Swiss embassy will be attended by some 500 guests, including a 30-member delegation of diplomatic, cultural and other leaders from the Caribbean nation, headed by Foreign Minister Rodriguez.

The U.S. will be represented at the event by Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson, who led U.S. negotiators in six months of talks leading to the July 1 announcement, and Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana who will now become charge d'affaires.

Although the Interests Section in Havana won't see the pomp and circumstance of a flag-raising on Monday, workers there have already drilled holes on the exterior to hang signage flown in from the U.S., and arranged to print new business cards and letterhead that say "Embassy" instead of "Interests Section." What for years was a lonely flagpole outside the glassy six-story edifice on Havana's seafront Malecon boulevard recently got a rehab, complete with a paved walkway.

Every day for the last week, employees have been hanging hand-lettered signs on the fence counting down, in Spanish, to Monday: "In 6 days we will become an embassy!" and so on. Both interests sections have technically operated as part of Switzerland's embassies in Washington and Havana. The Swiss also were caretakers for the former American Embassy and ambassador's residence from 1961 to 1977, when the U.S. had no diplomatic presence in the country.

Orsi reported from Havana.

Nuclear Deal Has Companies Eyeing Iranian Opportunities Anew

A Renault dealership in northern Tehran, Iran. While it will likely be months before sanctions on Iran ease, business and political leaders are wasting no time in trying to tap into a large and what they hope will be a lucrative Iranian market. Ads for European cars and luxury goods are starting to reappear in Tehran. American firms, though, have to be much more cautious. Deal or no deal, U.S. sanctions not related to the nuclear program will still be in place and bar most American companies from doing business with Iran. (AP)

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (AP) — The nuclear deal is done. Now it's time to talk business.

While it will likely be months before sanctions on Iran ease, business and political leaders are wasting no time in trying to tap into a large and what they hope will be a lucrative Iranian market. Germany is dispatching a large trade delegation to Tehran on Sunday. Spain has a similar trip planned, and France's top diplomat is eyeing a visit too. Ads for European cars and luxury goods are starting to reappear in Tehran. Airlines in Dubai are fast adding new Iran routes to meet growing demand.

American firms, though, have to be much more cautious. Deal or no deal, U.S. sanctions not related to the nuclear program will still be in place and bar most American companies from doing business with Iran.

That means they stand to lose out to European and Asian companies — some that still have business contacts in the country before sanctions were tightened in recent years. "It's easier to say who is at a disadvantage. And that will be U.S. firms," said Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Mideast analyst at risk advisory company Verisk Maplecroft.

On paper, Iran holds plenty of promise. Two and a half times the size of Texas, it is home to some 80 million people, sits atop the world's fourth-largest oil reserves and the second-biggest stores of natural gas, and has well-established manufacturing and agricultural industries contributing to a $400 billion economy.

London-based Capital Economics estimates the economy could surge ahead by 6-8 percent annually over the next several years as sanctions ease. "Everything is in place for economic growth," said Dominic Bokor-Ingram, portfolio adviser at British asset management firm Charlemagne Capital. His company earlier this year announced a plan to launch Iranian investment funds in partnership with an Iranian company.

"Iran has infrastructure, it has the institutions, it has the education," he added. "It has a lot of highly educated people who will go back to Iran if sanctions are lifted." Tapping the market won't be easy.

The elite Revolutionary Guard is deeply involved in the economy and corruption is such a problem that President Hassan Rouhani lamented late last year that once-secret bribes are now being handed out openly. Iran ranks only 130 out of 189 economies on the World Bank's ease-of-doing-business list.

Assuming the deal goes ahead as planned it will still take at least several months until nuclear-related sanctions are lifted. And those sanctions can quickly be slapped back on if Iran fails to live up to its end of the bargain.

That means many multinationals are unlikely to commit to big investments in the immediate future, though the staggered sanctions relief also gives companies time to gear up their operations, analysts say.

The oil industry is one area where Iran could use outside investment. Fitch Ratings expects it will take years for Iran to get back to the roughly 2.5 million barrels a day it was exporting before 2012, because investment in the sector has been limited under sanctions.

Chevron Corp. spokesman Kurt Glaubitz said the company is reviewing the nuclear deal to understand its implications, but for now it remains "in strict compliance" with U.S. and international laws. Exxon Mobil Corp. declined to comment.

Another area ripe for deal-making is Iran's creaking aviation industry. Sanctions have made it impossible for Iran to buy new Western-made planes and difficult to acquire spare parts for the planes it does operate.

An earlier interim nuclear agreement gave Boeing Co. and engine-maker General Electric Co. the green light to provide some spare parts for U.S.-made planes in service in Iran since the 1970s. Boeing says it has only sold one spare part along with some service bulletins and other materials since that deal came into force last year.

The latest agreement allows for licenses on the sale of commercial aircraft, and Transportation Minister Abbas Akhoundi has said his country is prepared to spend about $20 billion to purchase some 400 aircraft over the coming decade.

Boeing's Mideast communications head, Fakher Daghestani, said the company is reviewing the deal "but until the U.S. government gives us further direction, it would be premature to comment." GE, which also has U.S. licenses to sell some medical equipment in Iran, said it looks forward "to reviewing the details of the agreement and will watch the regulatory landscape that may unfold."

While the Americans voice caution, Europeans are wasting little time wooing Iran. Although planned some time ago, Germany's three-day trip led by Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel comes less than a week after the nuclear accord was reached.

Spanish Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria said he will be joined on a September trip by Spain's foreign and development ministers, and he expects good prospects for Spanish companies in industry, energy, telecommunications, tourism and infrastructure.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday he would be paying a visit to Iran as France looks to explore business opportunities, though he made a point of saying commercial interests were not what drove the deal. A large French business delegation, anticipating a resolution to the nuclear issue, traveled to Tehran last year, rankling U.S. officials.

Switzerland dispatched a business delegation to Iran at the end of April, soon after Iran and world powers reached a framework deal that paved the way for this week's agreement. "There is pent-up enthusiasm to do something" said Martin Johnston, director-general of the British Iranian Chamber of Commerce, a network of politicians and business leaders that hope to promote trade. He said he expected businesses would go to Tehran to examine the opportunities for the time being.

"They are waiting for the structures to be in place to be able to trade, not only the legal arrangements but the suitable banking arrangements," he said. Airlines across the Persian Gulf from Iran are ramping up operations as interest grows.

Discount carrier FlyDubai launched a major expansion to Iranian destinations from its base in the Mideast's busiest airport of Dubai, announcing five new Iranian destinations on top of two it already serves.

Dubai's Emirates, the region's biggest carrier, this month announced flights to Iran's second-largest city of Mashhad. It already flies to Tehran. In some ways, loosening sanctions will mark a return to the way things used to be.

French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen has an early advantage in Iran thanks to its strong market position in the country — a legacy of its former partnership with domestic automaker Iran Khodro, which assembled Peugeot-branded vehicles from kits.

Other European automakers have good brand recognition in Iran too, as many only officially cut their ties to Iran under pressure earlier this decade. Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, said this week that the Iranian market "will be an opportunity for all of us" if it opens up. Fiat only stopped selling cars in Iran in 2012, following similar moves by Peugeot, South Korean automaker Hyundai and German sports carmaker Porsche.

Ford Motor Co. is taking a more cautious tone, saying it complies with U.S. sanctions and will monitor changes that come out of the agreement. In the meantime, its Chinese partner, Changan, has signed a partnership with Iran's Saipa Automotive Group to jointly develop new vehicles.

Other Asian companies have been making inroads too, meaning increased competition for new and returning Western companies. In May, Brilliance Auto Group became the latest of several Chinese automakers to begin production in Iran, opening an assembly plant west of Tehran with a local partner, Pars Khodro, to make sedans and hatchbacks.

Chinese state-owned manufacturers of subway equipment have found a way around financial sanctions, striking a deal in 2013 to trade 315 train cars in exchange for Iranian oil. South Korean companies have been building market share in Iran, too, after the two countries agreed to let Korean businesses use South Korean currency for financial transactions with their Iranian counterparts.

South Korea's finance ministry said this week that expanding economic cooperation with Iran would be an opportunity for the country, which is a buyer of Iranian crude oil and exported $4.2 billion worth of goods to Iran last year.

Many ordinary Iranians say they welcome the prospect of new foreign investment. Clothing shop owner Nasser Rahmani says he struggles to convince his customers to part with their cash, and that foreign companies "will give them more options and assure them the situation is running smoothly."

For Masoud Ismaeili, 54, who runs a glass-cutting shop, it is about finding work for his three unemployed sons. "God willing, the presence of foreign companies will make the situation better so my sons will find good opportunities," he said.

Associated Press writers Ciaran Giles in Madrid, Frank Jordans in Berlin, Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, Danica Kirka and Jill Lawless in London, Bradley Klapper in Washington, David Koenig in Dallas, Tom Krisher in Detroit, Youkyung Lee in Seoul, Scott Mayerowitz in New York and Joe McDonald in Beijing contributed to this report.

Follow Adam Schreck on Twitter at www.twitter.com/adamschreck.

Oslo University Admits Mass Killer Breivik To Study Program

Anders Behring Breivik listens to the judge in the courtroom, in Oslo, Norway. The University of Oslo says Friday July 17, 2015, convicted mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has been admitted to its political science program, adding the 36-year-old right-wing extremist would remain in his cell to study. (AP)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Convicted mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has been admitted to the University of Oslo's political science program — although he will stay in his cell to study, the university's rector said Friday.

The 36-year-old, right-wing extremist is serving a 21-year prison sentence for killing 77 people in politically motivated bomb-and-gun massacres in 2011. The sentence can be extended when it expires. "All inmates in Norwegian prisons are entitled to higher education in Norway if they meet the admission requirements," University rector Ole Petter Ottersen said Friday in an email to The Associated Press.

Yet two years ago, Breivik's application had been rejected after the university said his qualifications were insufficient. At the time, the submission stirred a debate in Norway over whether someone convicted of such a horrific crime should even be considered for higher education.

Norway has a rehabilitation-focused justice system aimed at helping inmates prepare for life after they get out, which includes giving them the right to pursue higher education. Since his 2012 conviction, Breivik has been studying in jail.

"He then didn't meet the admission requirements. Now his grades live up to what is expected," university spokeswoman Marina Tofting said Friday. Breivik will begin the university program in August. Prison regulations will prevent him from going to the Oslo campus, attending classes, accessing digital learning resources or having any contact with students or university staff, Ottersen said.

"The communication between the university and Breivik will take place via a contact person in prison," Ottersen said, adding penitentiary regulations "entail that he will follow the program by means of independent study in his prison cell."

Breivik's lawyer was not immediately available for comment on the development.

Uber Tops Taxi Use For Business Travelers, New Report Shows

Uber driver Karim Amrani sits in his car parked near the San Francisco International Airport parking area in San Francisco, Wednesday, July 15, 2015. In the three months ended in June, Uber overtook taxis as the most expensed form of ground transportation, according to expense management system provider Certify. (AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Taxis are losing business travelers to ride-hailing services like Uber, a survey shows.

In the three months ended in June, Uber overtook taxis as the most expensed form of ground transportation, according to expense management system provider Certify. Uber accounted for 55 percent of ground transportation receipts compared with taxis at 43 percent.

That's a big jump from just the beginning of the year. In the first quarter, Uber Technologies had 46 percent of receipts tracked by Certify compared with 53 percent for taxis. "Established travel providers will need to adapt quickly or face further market share erosion to the sharing economy," Certify CEO Robert Neveu said in a statement.

Certify based its finding on the 28 million trip receipts its North American clients submit each year. It does not include receipts from business travelers whose companies use other services to track expenses.

Uber connects travelers with various cars through its smartphone app. Some drivers work for car service companies; others spend a few hours driving their personal cars on the side for some extra money.

Business travelers might be quickly moving toward Uber, but employers still have reservations about safety and liability. Depending on the city, Uber drivers aren't necessarily regulated by government taxi licensing authorities. Both Uber and competitor Lyft insure their drivers during paid rides and also require the drivers to carry personal auto insurance that covers them the rest of the time.

Uber's pricing compared with traditional cabs can vary. Its UberX service, often drivers in Toyota Camrys or Honda Civics, is typically cheaper, but its high-end black cars and SUVs cost a premium. During peak hours, Uber charges a "surge" premium that can add anywhere from 20 percent on to the cost to doubling or tripling it. During really busy periods the surge can be even more.

In a few cities, Uber beat out taxis by a wide margin for business travelers. In its home town of San Francisco, 79 percent of rides expensed through Certify during the second quarter were for Uber. In Dallas, 60 percent were for Uber and 54 percent in Los Angeles. Certify noted that it saw rental car transactions drop at the same time.

__ Scott Mayerowitz can be reached at http://twitter.com/GlobeTrotScott

Nigeria's Seven Energy Secures $495 Mln To Boost Gas Supply

LAGOS (REUTERS) - Oil and gas firm Seven Energy has secured a $495 million loan from a consortium of Nigerian and international lenders to help fund its spending to supply gas to the domestic market, an adviser on the deal said on Wednesday.

Seven Energy, an indigenous Nigerian company, plans to buy gas fields along with the related infrastructure and pipelines so it can sell gas into the domestic market for use in power generation and industrial consumption.

Demand for gas in Africa's biggest economy is expected to rise to 3 million standard cubic feet (scuf) per day by 2017 as gas-fired power plants ramp up generation, industry officials say. Gas demand has risen to 1.2 billion scuf per day four times the 300 million of six years ago.

Nigeria privatised its electricity sector 18 months ago in a bid to end decades of blackouts which have hampered economic growth. Most of the plants sold were gas-fired and operating below capacity due to inadequate gas supply.

Accugas Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seven Energy, processes and distributes gas in Nigeria. It has already invested $1 billion in related projects in the southeast.

Seven Energy's senior secured term loan is provided by: First Bank Ecobank United Bank for Africa Union Bank, FCMB, FBN Bank UK and Union Bank UK, the financial adviser said in a statement.

Last year, the oil and gas company secured $255 million from equity investors, including Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, to help build up its gas business.

Part of the new debt will also be used to refinance existing loans and fund working capital.

Rival firm Seplat, listed in Lagos and London, is aiming to have a 20 percent share of the domestic gas market by 2018. It plans to increase gross output from about 120 million scuf per day to 400 million by 2017.

Kenya Press Freedom Rapidly Deteriorating, Right Group Says

A journalist holds a copy of a report into the state of press freedom in Kenya, at a press conference to launch the report in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, July 15, 2015. Press freedom is deteriorating in Kenya as a result of government legislation, threats and attacks, the media rights group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Wednesday. (AP)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Press freedom is deteriorating in Kenya as a result of government legislation, threats and attacks, a media rights group said Wednesday.

Kenya's constitution adopted in 2010 guarantees media freedom but since taking power in 2013 President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee coalition has introduced several bills calling for harsh fines and jail terms for journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

Journalists are being threatened, intimidated and attacked and the government is often the culprit, the report said. The U.S.-based organization has urged American officials "to ensure that Kenya's press freedom record is on the agenda during President Obama's upcoming visit," said CPJ director Joel Simon at a press conference in Nairobi on Wednesday. "Indeed President Obama has made it clear that promoting human rights and press freedom ... are key foreign policy goals of his administration."

One law, currently suspended by the courts, could de-register journalists and prevent them from working for not following vague principles such as "sticking to issues," the report says. The report said an issue that needs press scrutiny is the security threat from al-Shabab, the Islamic militants based in neighboring Somalia who've claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in Kenya including for the April massacre at Garissa University that killed at least 148 people and the 2013 extremist attack on Nairobi's Westgate Mall. Also needing press scrutiny, according to the report, is the situation for Kenya's deputy president who is under indictment from the International Criminal Court, although similar charges were dropped against the president.

"Security operations, anti-terror operations, the ICC case, state spending, land deals, and corruption are the most sensitive topics most likely to get journalists in trouble," said the CPJ report.

70 Years On, Japanese Firm To Apologize To USWWII Veterans

In this 1942 file photo provided by U.S. Marine Corps, Japanese soldiers stand guard over American war prisoners just before the start of the Bataan Death March following the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. A major Japanese corporation will offer a landmark apology on Sunday, July 19, 2015 for using U.S. prisoners of war for forced labor during World War II. A senior executive of Mitsubishi Materials Corp. will apologize to 94-year-old James Murphy and relatives of other former POWs who toiled at plants its predecessor company operated in Japan during the conflict. (U.S. Marine Corps via AP, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A major Japanese corporation will offer a landmark apology this weekend for using U.S. prisoners of war for forced labor during World War II, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center that is hosting the event.

A senior executive of Mitsubishi Materials Corp. will apologize to 94-year-old James Murphy, of Santa Maria, California, and relatives of other former POWs who toiled at plants its predecessor company operated in Japan during the conflict.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean at the center — an organization that primarily educates about the Holocaust — called it an important gesture, coming as it does ahead of the 70th anniversary in August of the end of the war that has heightened scrutiny of Japan's attitude to its past abuses.

"As far as I know, this is a piece of history," said Cooper, who is helping moderate the closed-door meeting Sunday at the center's Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. "It's the first time a major Japanese company has ever made such a gesture. We hope this will spur other companies to join in and do the same."

A press release from the Wiesenthal Center said the apology will be made by Hikaru Kimura, senior executive officer for Mitsubishi Materials Corp. The company did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment late Monday. Mitsubishi Materials U.S.A. Corp. said Tuesday it had no information about it.

Masato Otaka, spokesman for the Japanese Embassy in Washington, said to the extent of his knowledge, it was an initiative of Mitsubishi Materials. He said the Japanese government has no involvement. Japan's government issued a formal apology to American POWs in 2009 and again in 2010, but until now, the dwindling ranks of veterans have gained little traction in their demand that Japanese corporations that used them as slaves at mines and industrial plants under often brutal conditions do the same.

Some 12,000 American prisoners were shipped to Japan and forced to work at more than 50 sites to support imperial Japan's war effort, and about 10 percent died, according to Kinue Tokudome, director of the U.S.-Japan Dialogue on POWs, who has spearheaded the lobbying effort for companies to apologize.

Japan's government recently acknowledged that tens of thousands of South Koreans, Chinese and World War II POWs were conscripted to fill labor shortages at factories, mines and other sites as part of its successful attempt to win U.N. world heritage status for 23 historical Japanese industrial sites.

Tokudome said Mitsubishi Materials will be apologizing for its use of forced labor by some 900 American troops at four locations operated by its predecessor company, Mitsubishi Mining Co. Only two living survivors of that ordeal could be located to accept the apology, and of them, only Murphy is fit enough to make the trip to Los Angeles.

Speaking by phone from Santa Maria, California, Murphy recounted how he was shipped to Japan as a POW, two-and-a-half years following his capture in the Philippines where he was serving as a radio operator for the U.S. Army Air Corps. He had survived the notorious Bataan Death March, when thousands of Americans and Filipinos are believed to have perished as they were made to trudge 65 miles to prison camps after their defeat by Japanese forces.

Murphy spent one year at a copper mine near Hanawa with about 500 other POWs, an experience he described as "a complete horror." "It was slavery in every way: no food, no medicine, no clothing, no sanitation," Murphy said, adding that it was all the more painful knowing that Mitsubishi built fighter aircraft used against American forces.

He said he forgave his captors after the war, but has hankered for an apology for 70 years. He participated in a class action lawsuit attempting to sue the Japanese government for the year he spent in the copper mine, which failed. No money is being offered by the corporation, but Murphy said he considered the upcoming apology "a big deal."

Murphy said if other companies followed suit, it would help provide closure for surviving POWs and build a better relationship between Japan and the United States, already close allies. Another former POW, Lester Tenney, 94, who met briefly with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a high-profile visit to Washington in April, reserved comment on the planned apology until he hears it, but added, "At least it is a step in the right direction after all these years."

Tenney was forced to work for coal mine near the town of Omuta run by Mitsui Mining Company during the war. He will also attend Sunday's event. A delegation from Mitsubishi Materials will then travel Tuesday to a small museum in Wellsburg, West Virginia, which commemorates American POWs who survived the Bataan Death March. A statement from the museum says the delegation will announce a donation to support educational programming at the museum, and Edward Jackfert, a former POW, will thank Mitsubishi Materials "for being the first Japanese company to come forth and publicly apologize."

AP video journalist Kaori Hitomi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Video Released Shows Police Killing Unarmed Man In LA Suburb

Frame from Gardena Police Department dash-cam video, officers aim their guns at Ricardo Diaz-Zeferino, right, and two friends while investigating a bicycle theft in Gardena, Calif. Moments later police fatally shot Diaz-Zeferino. Hours after a federal judge ordered the release of videos sought by The Associated Press and other news organizations Tuesday, July 14, 2015, a federal appeals court has issued a stay blocking release of the video. (Gardena Police Department) 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The police dashboard cameras that captured officers shooting Ricardo Diaz-Zeferino only depict part of the tragedy of his death in a Los Angeles suburb two years ago.

Video released by a federal judge Tuesday after news media organizations argued the public had a right to see the footage showed Diaz-Zeferino disobeying orders to keep his hands up, but with his palms open by his waist.

Judge Stephen V. Wilson unsealed the video so the public could see what led the city of Gardena to pay $4.7 million to settle a lawsuit with Diaz-Zeferino's family and another man wounded in the shooting that followed a botched report of a bicycle theft early the morning of June 2, 2013.

"The fact that they spent the city's money, presumably derived from taxes, only strengthens the public's interest in seeing the videos," Wilson wrote in a 13-page decision. "Moreover, defendants cannot assert a valid compelling interest in sealing the videos to cover up any wrongdoing on their part or to shield themselves from embarrassment."

Against a backdrop of intense public scrutiny of police shootings nationwide, a lawyer for The Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg argued the videos should be unsealed under a First Amendment right to access court documents.

"The Associated Press, joining with other news organizations, believes it's important that the public has access to videos like this to better understand the actions of their police officers," spokesman Paul Colford said.

The ruling comes amid public debates over what footage should be made public as police officers and cruisers are increasingly equipped with cameras to capture evidence that can be used against criminals or to hold officers accountable for their own behavior.

Michael Overing, a lawyer and journalism professor at the University of Southern California, said that in addition to being cited in future court arguments the ruling could help provide guidance as lawmakers grapple with those issues.

"Right now video is being suppressed," Overing said. "This is going to help open the floodgates so the public can see it ... and see if actions are justified." Gardena was joined by police chiefs and officer groups around the state in arguing that making such videos public would dissuade cities from employing the technology.

Wilson said that was a political consideration and not for him to judge. The city of Gardena argued that releasing the footage would create a "rush to judgment" about the officers' behavior, but Wilson dismissed that idea during arguments Monday. The judge said the public may see the videos and conclude the shooting was justified, which is what prosecutors decided.

Footage shows the final moments of the encounter as an officers yells, "Get your hands up." Diaz-Zeferino and two other men stand with their backs to a sidewalk and arms in the air. Diaz-Zeferino, who was drunk, then lowered his hands and slowly took about five small steps toward police. He spread his arms out with palms open as if to plead with them. Told to put them back up, he complied, then removed his ball cap and lowered his hands as shots were fired.

From one angle, his palms are open and facing upward. Footage from a second camera behind two of the officers showed Diaz-Zeferino's right hand briefly swung out of view at his waist when they fired. The officers said they feared he was reaching for a weapon.

What the videos don't show is that he wasn't armed and witnesses said Zeferino was trying to tell police they had the wrong men. The stolen bike belonged to his brother. He and the two other men were friends looking for it.

The unlocked bike was swiped outside a CVS pharmacy. Police dispatchers erroneously reported it as a robbery and made it a high-priority call, raising the specter of armed suspects. Lawyers for Diaz-Zeferino said the investigation into the shooting was tainted because officers were able to review the videos before giving statements, a courtesy not offered to a member of the public involved in a shooting.

Attorney Samuel Paz said he may ask federal prosecutors to investigate whether the shooting was a civil rights violation. "When the public sees the video and other law enforcement agencies see the video, this is very much a criminal act," Paz said.

Although the order was stayed by a federal appeals court late in the day, it came hours after the court had released what Wilson said were videos "potentially upsetting and disturbing because of the events they depict," but "not overly gory or graphic."

Diaz-Zeferino crumpled to the ground after the gunfire. Eutiquio Acevedo Mendez, who was shot once and injured, toppled to the street and lay still. Two minutes later, police handcuffed a bloody and limp Diaz-Zeferino. Nine minutes after he was shot, paramedics arrived.

Amanda Lee Myers contributed to this story.

Latino Leader Urges More Businesses To Cut Ties From Trump

Protesters gather outside the new Trump hotel in Washington, Thursday, July 9, 2015, to protest Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his portrayal of Mexican immigrants as criminals. (AP)

UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIF (AP) — The head of a Latino civil rights group called on more organizations to follow NBC's example and cut business ties with Donald Trump.

Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, said Thursday that the PGA of America's decision this week to move a golf tournament from a Trump-owned course was a step in the right direction.

The PGA and other major golf organizations should agree to keep tournaments off Trump properties in response to his comments about Mexican immigrants, Nogales said. Trump's representative didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The PGA said it relocated its Grand Slam of Golf in agreement with Trump. Nogales' comments followed a Q&A with NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt, part of a conference on Latinos in entertainment sponsored by the advocacy group.

NBC ended its partnership with Trump on the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants after the celebrity billionaire, in announcing his presidential campaign, said some Mexican immigrants to the U.S. bring drugs and crime, and some are rapists.

Nogales thanked Greenblatt, then moved on to a discussion of Hispanic-oriented shows planned by NBC. Among them: a drama in development about the settlement of California. The Miss USA pageant that was to air on NBC will be carried Sunday instead by the Reelz cable and satellite channel, which has said Trump won't profit from the telecast.

More fallout from the GOP candidate's June remarks include the Macy's department store chain decision's to stop carrying an exclusive line of Trump menswear; Univision dropping its Spanish-language telecasts of the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, and the end to a project that OraTV, a company backed by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, said it was developing with Trump.

Trump has fought back with a $500 million lawsuit against Univision that claims breach of contract and defamation and says Univision turned on him because it supports Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton for president.

Regarding Macy's, Trump said he'd decided to end his relationship with the chain because of pressure put upon them by outside sources. "Both Macy's and NBC totally caved at the first sight of potential difficulty with special interest groups who are nothing more than professional agitators," he said.

Nogales said he talked with Greenblatt a few days before the decision by NBC, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal, was announced June 29. "The Latino community has finally come to a maturation tipping point," Nogales said Thursday. "We're not going to take it anymore, and we don't have to."

Lynn Elber can be reached at lelber@ap.org and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lynnelber.