Church Stoked Tithing With Unemployment Scam, Ex-Members Say

This undated photo provided in 2017 by a former member of the Word of Faith Fellowship shows founder Jane Whaley with children at the church in Spindale, N.C. Former members of the evangelical church say Whaley coerced congregants into filing false unemployment claims after the faltering economy threatened weekly tithes from church-affiliated companies.



SPINDALE, N.C. (AP, SEPTEMBER 25, 2017) — When Randy Fields' construction company faced potential ruin because of the cratering economy, he pleaded with his pastor at Word of Faith Fellowship church to reduce the amount of money he was required to tithe every week.

To his shock, Fields said church founder Jane Whaley proposed a divine plan that would allow him to continue tithing at least 10 percent of his income to the secretive evangelical church while helping his company survive: He would file fraudulent unemployment claims on behalf of his employees. She called it, he said, "God's plan."

Fields and 10 other former congregants told The Associated Press that they and dozens of employees who were church members filed bogus claims at Word of Faith Fellowship leaders' direction, and said they had been interviewed at length about the false claims by investigators with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The unemployment allegations were uncovered as part of the AP's ongoing investigation into Word of Faith, which has about 750 congregants in rural North Carolina and a total of nearly 2,000 members in its branches in Brazil and Ghana and its affiliations in Sweden, Scotland and other countries.

Some of the ex-members said they turned critical documents related to the unemployment claims over to authorities, even though they knew they could be charged with defrauding the government. The former members estimated the fraudulent claims — some filed by the business owners' wives and other family members — would have drawn payments totaling in the hundreds of thousands of dollars over a six-year period.

The Department of Homeland Security referred questions to the U.S. attorney's office in Charlotte, which cited an "ongoing investigation into allegations against Word of Faith Fellowship" and would not elaborate. The State Bureau of Investigation said the agency would not comment "due to the overall investigation" involving the church.

Whaley and church attorney Josh Farmer did not respond to numerous requests for comment. In February, the AP cited more than three dozen former Word of Faith Fellowship members who said congregants were regularly punched and choked in an effort to beat out devils. The AP also revealed how, over the course of two decades, followers were ordered by church leaders to lie to authorities investigating reports of abuse.

Last month, the AP outlined how Word of Faith created a pipeline of young laborers from its two Brazilian congregations who say they were brought to the U.S. and forced to work at businesses owned by church leaders for little or no pay.

The AP's stories have triggered investigations in both the United States and Brazil. Over the years, church leaders have owned and operated more than two dozen businesses. The interviews with former followers, along with documents reviewed by the AP, indicate at least six companies owned by leaders were involved with filing fraudulent unemployment claims between 2008 and 2013. Most of those businesses' employees are congregants, the AP found.

The AP reviewed individual checking account records that showed unemployment benefits deposited by the state, along with income tax records summarizing how much money some of the former followers interviewed received annually in such payments.

Fields, who spent 24 years in the church before leaving in 2015, said his employees kept working without pay while collecting unemployment benefits. "Basically, their unemployment checks would become their paychecks," he said.

It is illegal for employers or employees to knowingly file fraudulent unemployment claims. Since Dec. 1, 2012, violators in North Carolina can face felony fraud charges if the illegal benefits totaled more than $400. Before Dec. 1, 2012, filing false claims was only a misdemeanor.

If investigators believe employers or employees were involved in a conspiracy, however, they could be charged with serious state and federal felony charges. Fields said he knew the plan was illegal but went along with it because of intense pressure from Whaley, who founded the church with her husband in 1979.

"I'm not proud of what I did, but I have to make this right," he said. The price of the refusal, Fields said, could be beatings administered by fellow church members and public shaming by Whaley. The church also might mandate that he be cut off from any contact with his family, he said.

"You knew it was wrong, but you knew you couldn't say a word," said Rick Cooper, who acknowledged falsely filing for unemployment from April 2011 to April 2012. In North Carolina, companies pay a quarterly unemployment tax based on the number of their workers, with the money going into a fund used to pay out claims, according to Larry Parker, spokesman for the Division of Employment Security, which oversees the program.

When a worker files for unemployment, the agency checks with the employer to learn the reason. If an employer says a worker was let go because of the poor economy, payments usually are approved quickly, Parker said.

During the recession, which started in 2007 and was driven by the housing meltdown, laid-off workers could receive state and federal extensions increasing unemployment to 99 weeks with a maximum weekly check of $535. But in 2013, North Carolina legislators tied benefits to the state's unemployment rate. Currently, laid-off workers can receive up to 26 weeks of unemployment, with a maximum payment of $350 a week, Parker said.

And, he emphasized, a worker must have been laid off to collect unemployment. "If a company is trying to make workers work while they collect unemployment, that's a potential fraud situation," Parker said.

The former congregants said that not only were they coerced into continuing to work while collecting unemployment, the money fell short of what they needed to pay their bills. "The unemployment checks never equaled what you were making," said Cooper, who worked for Diverse Corporate Tech Inc., a manufacturing company owned by church leader Kent Covington.

"I was making about $700 a week, but I only collected $235 a week in unemployment," Cooper said. "So I'm working the same hours — many times, much longer hours — for less. It was devastating for my family."

Church members were expected to keep tithing regardless of their financial situations and Whaley kept close tabs on "who was giving what," Cooper said. Some of those interviewed by the AP said they learned about the practice at meetings with company officials, but that Whaley herself also promoted it.

"Jane was heavily involved. She was always asking questions about it," said Rachael Bryant, who calculated that she had received unemployment benefits of about $200 a week for 18 months while still working for a Word of Faith minister.

"I remember after I was on unemployment for a few months and Jane said, 'You're still on unemployment, right?' And I said 'yes.' And she said, 'Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus!'" Bryant said. Workers receiving unemployment benefits must check in every week and demonstrate they are actively seeking work by providing the names of businesses where they filed job applications, and the former Word of Faith members told the AP that church leaders had a plan for that.

"Every week we'd go to the unemployment office and put down that we looked for work at other companies operated by Word of Faith Fellowship leaders," Rick Cooper said. "Those companies would vouch for the Word of Faith members at the unemployment offices. It was a conspiracy. What's amazing to me is that this went on for years and no red flags ever went off."

Cooper said Whaley told him Covington's business needed the money because "the devil had been attacking the company's finances" and the minister might lose his house. Rick Cooper's son Jeffrey, an attorney and accountant who also has broken with the church, worked for Covington's company, too. Jeffrey Cooper said he was so uneasy about the practice that he called the Division of Employment Security to ask what he labeled a "hypothetical question."

"I said, 'Can an employee file for unemployment while they were still working for a company?'" he told the AP. He said the state official replied that he hoped it was only a hypothetical question because the practice was illegal and anyone involved with it could face serious charges.

Cooper said he relayed the information to Covington, who exploded. "He started screaming at me at the top of his lungs that I was wicked," Cooper said. As a result, Cooper said he was publicly rebuked by Whaley and completely segregated from his wife for six months. Other church members interviewed by the AP corroborated his story.

Rick and Jeffrey Cooper that they and nearly three dozen employees at Diverse Corporate Tech and Covington's other company, Integrity Marble and Granite, filed false unemployment claims over the course of several years.

Covington did not return several phone messages from the AP. Benjamin Cooper, Jeffrey's brother, told the AP that Whaley touted the success of the unemployment tactic from the pulpit in 2009. "There was a church service and Jane got up and started saying that Kent had heard from God of a means to save God's companies' money," Benjamin Cooper said. "She needed to have a meeting after church with all the business owners. I knew what she was referring to. That's why I remember it. We were already on unemployment at that point."

Rachael Bryant said she was pressured into filing false unemployment claims in 2008 after her boss, a medical professional who was a leader in the church, was audited by Medicare and told he owed money because of coding errors.

Bryant said one of her boss' sons told her the company wouldn't be able to pay her for a while, but that Whaley refused to let her look for another job. Eventually, she said, Whaley said they had a plan to help both the doctor and his employees.

"She said, 'Rachael, God found a way where you can make some money. Kent's done it with some of his businesses. So we're going to put you on unemployment,'" Bryant said. Some of her boss' family members also filed for unemployment while continuing to work at the business, she said.

"I remember that I went to Jane after being on it for like three or four months and I remember asking her if I could apply for a job opening in another doctor's office. Well, she started screaming at me, 'You're wicked! There's nothing but the money devil in you!'" said Bryant, who had been making about $500 a week before being reduced to only unemployment checks.

Bryant said she was too scared to leave. Looking back, Fields — whose oldest daughter and grandchild remain in the church — said he struggles with his decision to knuckle under pressure and participate in the plan. And he regrets it.

"The businesses helped support the church," he said. "We would make large donations. Without the businesses, they would have been in trouble." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "At the time, it just seemed like the right thing to do. But I was wrong," he said. "We were all wrong."

Mohr reported from Jackson, Mississippi. AP researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed to this report.

Iraqi Kurds Vote In Referendum On independence From Baghdad

Iraq's Kurds are set to vote in a referendum

IRBIL, IRAQ (AP, SEPTEMBER 25, 2017) — Iraqi Kurds were casting ballots on Monday in Iraq's Kurdish region and disputed territories on whether to support independence from Baghdad in a historic but non-binding vote that has raised regional tensions and fears of instability.

More than 3 million people are expected to vote across the three provinces that make up the Kurdish autonomous region, as well as residents in disputed territories — areas claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurds, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk — according to the Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission, the body overseeing the vote.

Lines began forming early in the day at polling stations across Irbil, the Kurdish regional capital. Tahsin Karim was one of the first people to vote in his Irbil neighborhood. "Today we came here to vote in the referendum for the independence of Kurdistan," he said. "We hope that we can achieve independence."

The Kurdish region's president, Masoud Barzani, also voted early on Monday morning at a polling station packed with journalists and cameras. At a press conference in Irbil on the eve of the referendum, Barzani said he believed the vote would be peaceful, though he acknowledged that the path to independence would be "risky."

"We are ready to pay any price for our independence," he said. The referendum is being carried out despite mounting opposition from Baghdad and the international community. The United States, a key ally of Iraq's Kurds, has warned the vote will likely destabilize the region amid the fight with the Islamic State group. The Iraqi central government has also come out strongly against the referendum, demanding on Sunday that all airports and borders crossings in the Kurdish region be handed back to federal government control.

In a televised address from Baghdad on Sunday night, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that "the referendum is unconstitutional. It threatens Iraq, peaceful coexistence among Iraqis and is a danger to the region."

"We will take measures to safeguard the nation's unity and protect all Iraqis," he added. In a strongly worded statement, Turkey said on Monday that it doesn't recognize the referendum and declared its results would be "null and void."

Turkey's Foreign Ministry called on the international community and especially regional countries not to recognize the vote either and urged Iraq Kurdish leaders to abandon "utopic goals," accusing them of endangering peace and stability for Iraq and the whole region.

The ministry reiterated that Turkey would take all measures to thwart threats to its national security. On Saturday, Turkey's parliament met in an extraordinary session to extend a mandate allowing Turkey's military to send troops over its southern border if developments in Iraq and Syria are perceived as national security threats.

Initial results from the poll are expected on Tuesday, with the official results to be announced later in the week. At his press conference, Barzani also said that while the referendum will be the first step in a long process to negotiate independence, the region's "partnership" with the Iraqi central government in Baghdad is over.

He detailed the abuses Iraq's Kurds have faced by Iraqi forces, including killings at the hands of former leader Saddam Hussein's army that left more than 50,000 Kurds dead. Iraqi Kurds have long dreamed of independence — something the Kurdish people were denied when colonial powers drew the map of the Middle East after World War I. The Kurds form a sizable minority in Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq. In Iraq, they have long been at odds with the Baghdad government over the sharing of oil revenues and the fate of disputed territories like Kirkuk.

The Kurds have been a close American ally for decades, and the first U.S. airstrikes in the campaign against IS were launched to protect Irbil. Kurdish forces later regrouped and played a major role in driving the extremists from much of northern Iraq, including Mosul, the country's second largest city.

But the U.S. has long been opposed to Kurdish moves toward independence, fearing it could lead to the breakup of Iraq and bring even more instability to an already volatile Middle East. In Baghdad, residents strongly criticized then referendum, saying it would raise sectarian tensions and create an "Israel in Iraq." An Arabic newspaper headline said "Kurdistan into the unknown," a reference to the name Kurds use for their region.

"This is a division of Iraq," said journalist Raad Mohammad while another Baghdad resident, Ali al-Rubayah, described the referendum as a "black day in the history of the Kurds." Lawyer Tariq al-Zubaydi said the referendum was inappropriate amid the "ongoing threat of terrorism and Islamic State" militants. "The country is going through a difficult period, this requires a coming together of our efforts, he said. "A unified country is better for all."

Voting was also underway on Monday morning in Kirkuk. The oil-rich city has large Kurdish, Arab, Turkmen and Christian communities and has seen some low-level clashes in the days leading up to Monday's vote.

"I feel so great and happy, I feel we'll be free," said Suad Pirot, a Kirkuk Kurdish resident, after voting. "Nobody will rule us, we will be independent."

Associated Press writers Ali Abdul-Hassan in Irbil, Iraq, Bram Janssen in Kirkuk, Iraq, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.

Sukuk Is Jihad Money To Fight Christians – CAN Elders Blast Sultan, Muslim Leaders

BY WALE ODUNSI

DAILY POST NIGERIA

SEPTEMBER 24, 2017

NIGERIA (DAILY POST) -- The National Christian Elders’ Forum (NCEF) has reacted angrily to comments by Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) led by Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, that CAN hates Islam.

In a statement made available to DAILY POST on Sunday, CAN said the aim of Sukuk was to fund jihad against Christians in Nigeria.

CAN elders said “we cannot close our eyes to egregious infractions on the Constitution and the advent of religious extremism and insurgency in the country, of which the Christian community seems to be the prime target, while Islamic religious extremists are the antagonists.”

The statement reads further: “Proponents of Sharia-Compliant Finance (SCF) often convey the impression that SCF is an “ethical” financial system whose roots and practice are to be found in the Quran, hadiths and traditions of early Islam.

“In fact, it was invented out of whole cloth in the mid-20th Century by Muslim Brotherhood figures like Sayyid Qutb and Sayyid AbulA’la Al-Mawdudi. Its purpose was to provide yet another method to penetrate and undermine non-Sharia societies by stealthily insinuating Sharia into their free markets.

“In the words of Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader, Yousef al-Qaradawi, Sharia Compliant Finance, of which Sukkuk is a vital component, is a means to wage “jihad with money”.

“National Christian Elders Forum insists that Sukkuk is stealth Jihad contrary to Sections 1 and 10 of the Nigerian Constitution. Therefore, other nations may adopt it, but the Nigerian Constitution forbids such infraction in Nigeria.

“This is crucial in a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society like Nigeria when it is realized that the tenets of Sharia is opposed to the Constitution as “any system of man-made law is considered illicit under Islamic law, for whose adherents Allah already has provided the only law permitted, sharia”. Sharia and Democracy can never co-exist in harmony.

“The sharia cannot be amended to conform to changing human values and standards. Rather, it is the absolute norm to which all human values and conduct must conform.” (Muslim Brotherhood ‘spiritual leader’ Yousef al-Qaradawi).

“It is this tenet of Islam that makes it very difficult for constitutional development to prevail in Nigeria. The promotion of Sharia, in any of its forms, in a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society, shall produce nothing but contention and acrimony as Nigeria is currently witnessing.

“The allegation that CAN is Islamophobic is untenable and purely mischievous. If leaders of Islam in Nigeria have demonstrated inability to call Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen to order, after the atrocities both terrorist organizations have committed largely against Christians, Churches, businesses and communities, it would be unfair and unjust for the same leaders of Islam to turn around and accuse Christians of Islamophobia.

“It is akin to slapping a man and yet complain that the man screamed. Do leaders of Islam expect Christians to keep mute while violent Jihad (Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen) and stealth Jihad also known as stealth jihad with money (Sukkuk) are all used to negate Section 38 (1) of the Constitution and destroy the secularity of the Nigerian State?

“NCEF also observed the unfortunate attempt of the NSCIA to equate Christian religion with Capitalism. There are structures and institutions developed by Capitalist states which have formed the bedrock of modern Capitalist societies. Interestingly, most of the Capitalist states are secular.

“It is therefore rather unfortunate that such capitalist institutions would now be labeled “Christian” and used as justification to introduce Sharia, which is based purely on Quran, Hadith and Islamic jurisprudence, into the Nigerian State.

“Without belaboring these issues, we wish to draw the attention of the NSCIA to the recent press release of the NCEF. To date, leaders of Islam are yet to respond to salient issues raised in the statement. We believe that this ought to be done first, before CAN is alleged to promote Christianization or is Islamophobic.”

Oklahoma-Born Catholic Priest Beatified

Faithful walk in a pilgrimage from St. James the Greater Catholic Church to attend the beatification ceremony for the Rev. Stanley Rother at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017. (Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman via AP)



OKARCHE, OKLAHOMA.(AP, SEPTEMBER 23, 2017) — The Latest on a beatification mass starts for 1st US martyr (all times local): 11:40 a.m. The Roman Catholic Church's first U.S.-born martyr has been beatified, bringing the Oklahoma native a step closer to possible sainthood.

A letter from Pope Francis declaring the Rev. Stanley Rother (ROW-THUR) as blessed was read at a Mass in Oklahoma City, completing the beatification process. Rother was born in Okarche, Oklahoma, and died in 1981. He was one of several Catholic priests who were killed during the civil war in Guatemala.

Francis declared Rother a martyr in December. This is only the second beatification held in the United States. 10:10 a.m. The Catholic Mass is underway to beatify an Oklahoma-born priest killed during Guatemala's civil war.

The Rev. Stanley Rother (ROW-THUR) was born in Okarche, Oklahoma, and died in 1981. He was one of several Roman Catholic priests who were killed in the war. Choirs sang hymns in English and Spanish as thousands crowded into an Oklahoma convention center Saturday for the ceremony. The church asked parishioners not to save seats as lines wrapped around the outside of the building. Some people were turned away.

Pope Francis declared Rother a martyr in December. Beatification is a step toward potential sainthood. This is only the second beatification held in the United States. 12:11 a.m. An American priest killed during Guatemala's civil war is set to be beatified in his home state of Oklahoma, and he's on the path to possible sainthood.

Thousands of people are expected to attend a beatification mass Saturday for the Rev. Stanley Rother (ROW-THUR) in Oklahoma City. Pope Francis declared Rother the first U.S.-born martyr in December. Rother was born in Okarche, Oklahoma. He died in 1981, one of several Roman Catholic priests slain during the war.

Francis, the first Latin American pope, has said priests killed during region's right-wing dictatorships died out of hatred for their faith. Regular candidates for beatification need a Vatican-certified miracle attributed to their intercession, but the church has made an exception for martyrs. A miracle is still necessary to be declared a saint.

A Look At UN Promises To Combat Sexual Abuses Since 2005

Bora, 22, poses for a portrait in the Congo Ituri province capital Bunia. Bora said she was just 11 when she became pregnant by her rapist, a U.N. peacekeeper. Two years later, she was a 13-year-old mother when another peacekeeper took advantage of her. She once again became pregnant. Image: Jerome Delay/AP

BUNIA, CONGO (AP, SEPTEMBER 23, 2017) — The United Nations released a report in early 2017 outlining a series of proposals to combat the problem of sexual abuse and exploitation within its peacekeeping missions. However, similar proposals to help victims had been put forward more than a decade ago.

Here is a closer look at those proposals:

REFORMS RECOMMENDED IN 2005:

The U.N. should set up a voluntary trust fund to provide assistance to victims with "simplified procedures so that payment can be made quickly."

On-site court martials should be set up in order to show there is no impunity for perpetrators.
Victims should receive feedback about what has become of their complaints as it will reassure people the allegations are being taken seriously.

A data-tracking system should be developed so that senior managers are aware of the number of allegations and the follow-up investigations.

DNA testing should be used where available so that men "bear some financial responsibility for their actions."

Troop-contributing countries should report back on cases within 120 days, and then provide updates on progress every 120 days until resolved. Countries should be "obligated" to inform the U.N. of case outcomes.

FEBRUARY 2017 REPORT

Vowing again to end impunity, the 2017 U.N. report proposes the following steps to combat sexual abuse and exploitation:

Elevate the voices of victims and "put their rights and dignity at the forefront of our efforts."
A special U.N. victims' rights advocate should be appointed. This person will ensure that "every victim receives appropriate personal care, follow-up attention and information on the progress of his or her case." Advocates also would be added in the most affected missions in Congo, Central African Republic, Haiti and South Sudan.

Seek to establish greater transparency on reporting and investigations. Establish a centralized repository of cases. Make changes to the way the U.N. presents allegations so it is clearer how many people have been affected. Start using a standardized incident report form.

Work with troop-contributing countries to act more swiftly on credible allegations. Also proposes asking these countries to pay for travel so victims can attend trials. Consider "ex-gratia" payments in exceptional circumstances when member states fail. Ask the countries to agree to collect DNA from all deployed personnel and suspend payments to alleged perpetrators "in the face of credible allegations."

Powerless Puerto Rico's Storm Crisis Deepens With Dam Threat

Dead horses lie on the side of the road after the passing of Hurricane Maria, in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, Friday, September 22, 2017. Because of the heavy rains brought by Maria, thousands of people were evacuated from Toa Baja after the municipal government opened the gates of the Rio La Plata Dam.



SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO (AP, SEPTEMBER 23, 2017) — Puerto Rican officials could not communicate with more than half the towns in the U.S. territory as they rushed to evacuate tens of thousands of people downstream of a failing dam and the massive scale of the disaster wrought by Hurricane Maria started to become clear.

Authorities launched an evacuation of the 70,000 people living downstream from the Guajataca Dam in northwest Puerto Rico, sending buses to move people away Friday and posting frantic warnings on Twitter that went unseen by many in the blacked-out coastal area.

"This is an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION," the National Weather Service wrote. "All the areas around the Guajataca River must evacuate NOW. Your lives are in DANGER." The 345-yard (316-meter) dam, which was built around 1928, holds back a man-made lake covering about 2 square miles (5 square kilometers). More than 15 inches (nearly 40 centimeters) of rain fell on the surrounding mountains after the Category 4 Maria left the island Wednesday afternoon, swelling the reservoir behind the nearly 90-year-old dam.

An engineer inspecting the dam reported a "contained breach" that officials quickly realized was a crack that could be the first sign of total failure of the dam, U.S. National Weather Service meteorologist Anthony Reynes said.

"There's no clue as to how long or how this can evolve. That is why the authorities are moving so fast because they also have the challenges of all the debris. It is a really, really dire situation," Reynes said.

Government spokesman Carlos Bermudez said that officials could not reach 40 of the 78 municipalities on the island more than two days after the hurricane crossed the island, toppling power lines and cellphone towers and sending floodwaters cascading through city streets.

Officials said 1,360 of the island's 1,600 cellphone towers had been downed, and 85 percent of above-ground and underground phone and internet cables were knocked out. With roads blocked and phones dead, officials said, the situation may be worse than they know.

"We haven't seen the extent of the damage," Gov. Ricardo Rossello told reporters in the capital. Rossello couldn't say when power might be restored. Maj. Gen. Derek P. Rydholm, deputy to the chief of the Air Force Reserve, said at the Pentagon that it was impossible to say when communication and power would be restored. He said mobile communications systems are being flown in.

But Rydholm acknowledged "it's going to take a while" before people in Puerto Rico will be able to communicate with their families outside the island. Until Friday, he said, "there was no real understanding at all of the gravity of the situation."

The island's electric grid was in sorry shape long before Maria struck. The territory's $73 billion debt crisis has left agencies like the state power company broke. It abandoned most basic maintenance in recent years, leaving the island subject to regular blackouts.

"Some transmission structures collapsed," Rossello said, adding that there was no severe damage to electric plants. He said he was distributing 250 satellite phones from FEMA to mayors across the island to re-establish contact.

The death toll from Maria stood at six, but was likely to rise. At least 27 lives in all have been lost around the Caribbean, including at least 15 on hard-hit Dominica. Haiti reported three deaths; Guadeloupe, two; and the Dominican Republic, one.

Across Puerto Rico, more than 15,000 people are in shelters, including some 2,000 rescued from the north coastal town of Toa Baja. Some of the island's 3.4 million people planned to head to the U.S. to temporarily escape the devastation. At least in the short term, though, the soggy misery will continue: Additional rain — up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) — is expected through Saturday.

In San Juan, Neida Febus wandered around her neighborhood with bowls of cooked rice, ground meat and avocado, offering food to the hungry. The damage was so extensive, the 64-year-old retiree said, that she didn't think the power would be turned back on until Christmas.

"This storm crushed us from one end of the island to the other," she said. Secretary of State Luis Marin said he expects gasoline supplies to be at 80 percent of capacity because the port in the southeastern town of Yabucoa that receives fuel shipments received minor damage.

Hour-long lines formed at the few gas stations that reopened on Friday and anxious residents feared power could be out for weeks — or even months — and wondered how they would cope. "I'm from here. I believe we have to step up to the task. If everyone leaves, what are we going to do? With all the pros and the cons, I will stay here," Israel Molina, 68, who lost roofing from his San Juan mini-market to the storm, said, and then paused. "I might have a different response tomorrow."

Federal Government Notifies 21 States Of Election Hacking

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's names printed on a ballot on a voting machine to be used in the upcoming election, in Philadelphia. The federal government on Friday, Sept. 22, 2017, told election officials in 21 states that hackers targeted their systems before last year's presidential election. The notification came roughly a year after U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials first said states were targeted by hacking efforts possibly connected to Russia.

The federal government on Friday told election officials in 21 states that hackers targeted their systems before last year's presidential election. The notification came roughly a year after U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials first said states were targeted by hacking efforts possibly connected to Russia. The states that told The Associated Press they had been targeted included some key political battlegrounds, such as Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

The AP contacted every state election office to determine which ones had been informed that their election systems had been targeted. The others confirming were Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

Being targeted does not mean that sensitive voter data was manipulated or results were changed. A hacker targeting a system without getting inside is similar to a burglar circling a house checking for unlocked doors and windows.

Even so, the widespread nature of the attempts and the yearlong lag time in notification from Homeland Security raised concerns among some election officials and lawmakers. For many states, the Friday calls were the first official confirmation of whether their states were on the list — even though state election officials across the country have been calling for months for the federal government to share information about any hacks, as have members of Congress.

"It is completely unacceptable that it has taken DHS over a year to inform our office of Russian scanning of our systems, despite our repeated requests for information," California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat, said in a statement. "The practice of withholding critical information from elections officials is a detriment to the security of our elections and our democracy."

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, of Virginia, the top Democrat on a committee that's investigating Russian meddling in last year's election, has been pushing the department for months to reveal the identities of the targeted states. He said states need such information in real time so they can strengthen their cyber defenses.

"We have to do better in the future," he said. Homeland Security said it recognizes that state and local officials should be kept informed about cybersecurity risks to election infrastructure. "We are working with them to refine our processes for sharing this information while protecting the integrity of investigations and the confidentiality of system owners," it said in a statement.

The government did not say who was behind the hacking attempts or provide details about what had been sought. But election officials in several states said the attempts were linked to Russia. The Wisconsin Election Commission, for example, said the state's systems were targeted by "Russian government cyber actors." Alaska Elections Division Director Josie Bahnke said computers in Russia were scanning election systems looking for vulnerabilities.

A spokeswoman for Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson, the president of National Association of Secretaries of State, said Lawson requested a list of the states where there were hacking efforts. In most cases, states said they were told the systems were not breached.

Federal officials said that in most of the 21 states the targeting was preparatory activity such as scanning computer systems. The targets included voter registration systems but not vote tallying software. Officials said there were some attempts to compromise networks but most were unsuccessful.

Only Illinois reported that hackers had succeeded in breaching its voter systems. Other states said their cybersecurity efforts turned back efforts to get to crucial information. "There are constant attempts by bad actors to hack our systems," Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, said in a statement. "But we continue to deflect those attempts."

Colorado said the hacking wasn't quite a breach. "It's really reconnaissance by a bad guy to try and figure out how we would break into your computer," said Trevor Timmons, a spokesman for the Colorado secretary of state's office. "It's not an attack. I wouldn't call it a probe. It's not a breach, it's not a penetration."

Earlier this year, a leaked National Security Agency report detailed that hackers obtained information from a company that provided software to manage voter registrations in eight states. The May report said hackers sent phishing emails to 122 local election officials just before the November 2016 election in an attempt to break into their systems.

The latest disclosure to the states comes as a special counsel investigates whether there was any coordination during the 2016 presidential campaign between Russia and associates of Donald Trump. Trump, a Republican who defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, has called the Russia story a hoax. He says Russian President Vladimir Putin "vehemently denied" the conclusions of numerous American intelligence agencies.

For states that were told they were not targets, the news brought relief. "This is one time we like being at the bottom of the list," said Lisa Strimple, a spokeswoman for Nebraska's secretary of state.

Associated Press statehouse reporters around the country contributed to this report.

Follow Mulvihill and Pearson at http://www.twitter.com/geoffmulvihill and https://twitter.com/JakePearsonAP

This story has been corrected to show that a spokeswoman for the president of the National Association of Secretaries of State said a request had been made for the list of states that were targeted, not a spokeswoman for the organization.

Kim Jong Un: 'Deranged' Trump Will 'Pay Dearly' For Threat

Distributed on Sept. 4, 2017, by the North Korean government, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un holds a meeting of the ruling party's presidium. Kim is calling President Donald Trump "deranged" and says in a statement carried by the state news agency that he will "pay dearly" for his threats. The statement, carried by North's official Korean Central News Agency, responds to Trump's combative speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 19. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (AP, SEPTEMBER 22, 2017) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in an extraordinary and direct rebuke, called President Donald Trump "deranged" and said he will "pay dearly" for his threats, a possible indication of more powerful weapons tests on the horizon.

Hours later, North Korea's foreign minister reportedly said that his country may be planning to test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean to fulfill Kim's vow to take the "highest-level" action against the United States.

Kim, in his statement, said Trump is "unfit to hold the prerogative of supreme command of a country." He also described the U.S. president as "a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire." The dispatch was unusual in that it was written in the first person, albeit filtered through the North's state media, which are part of propaganda efforts meant to glorify Kim. South Korea's government said it was the first such direct address to the world by any North Korean leader.

Some analysts saw a clear sign that North Korea would ramp up its already brisk pace of weapons testing, which has included missiles meant to target U.S. forces throughout Asia and the U.S. mainland. "I will make the man holding the prerogative of the supreme command in the U.S. pay dearly for his speech calling for totally destroying the DPRK," said the statement carried by North's official Korean Central News Agency on Friday morning.

DPRK is the abbreviation of the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters on the sidelines of a United Nations gathering that his country's response "could be the most powerful detonation of an H-bomb in the Pacific," according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

Ri reportedly added that "We have no idea about what actions could be taken as it will be ordered by leader Kim Jong Un." Such a test would be considered a major provocation by Washington and its allies.

The statement by Kim Jong Un responded to Trump's combative speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday where he mocked Kim as a "Rocket Man" on a "suicide mission," and said that if "forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea."

Kim characterized Trump's speech to the world body as "unprecedented rude nonsense." He said Trump's remarks "have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last."

Kim said he is "thinking hard" about his response and that he would "tame the mentally deranged U. S. dotard with fire." Kim Dong-yub, a former South Korean military official who is now an analyst at Seoul's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said Kim Jong Un's statement indicated that North Korea will respond to Trump with its most aggressive missile test yet. That might include firing a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile over Japan to a range of around 7,000 kilometers (4,349 miles) to display a capability to reach Hawaii or Alaska.

The statement will further escalate the war of words between the adversaries as the North moves closer to perfecting a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike America. In recent months, the North has launched a pair of still-developmental ICBMs it said were capable of striking the continental United States and a pair of intermediate-range missiles that soared over Japanese territory. Earlier this month, North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date drawing stiffer U.N. sanctions.

South Korea called Kim Jong Un's rebuke a "reckless provocation" that would deepen his country's international isolation and lead to its demise. South Korea's Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told reporters Friday that North Korea must immediately stop such provocations and return to talks on nuclear disarmament.

Mat Pennington reported from the United Nations. AP writers Kim Tong-hyung and Hyung-jin Kim contributed from Seoul.

International Students Discuss American Media Influence

BY SUMMER SCMIER

THE POST, ATHENS

Warm orange sunsets pouring over mountains into valleys where miners are bowed over, sifting through bits of earth and picking out the diamonds that queens wear around their necks — these are things Maria Arnolta Koroma remembers about her home in Sierra Leone, Africa.

But when Koroma talks about her home country with others, there is a misconception on what life in Africa is like.

“Because of the media, Americans think Africa is a poor, third world country,” Koroma, a sophomore studying pre-med, said.


Some international students at Ohio University said they are shocked when American students ask questions about their home countries. The questions often reveal perceptions that are ill-informed and adopted from media or movies.

“When people ask me about Africa, they imagine it as elephants and mud huts,” Koroma said. “It’s funny because America gets so much stuff from Sierra Leone like oil and diamonds, and they don’t even know what the modern culture (there) is like.”

Koroma talked about a recent devastating mudslide in Sierra Leone and how there wasn’t nearly as much coverage like the relief programs for Hurricane Harvey. The mudslide claimed nearly 500 lives, according to CNN.

“So many people died in the mudslide,” she said. “(But) you don’t hear about any relief for them.”

Koroma said there are some differences between American and African culture, but none so extreme.

“Daily life is not so different. We go to the beach, we go to school. We have good school programs,” she said. “In American schools they need to teach more about African history. It helps kids to know there are other places besides America.”

Teacups filled with chai clinking in the morning, one refreshment among many at a beautiful wedding that will last almost a month, jubilant with feasting and dancing — these are things Sundus Zahra remembers about her home in Islamabad, Pakistan.

“I did my undergraduate thesis on “Pakistan through a Hollywood Lense: A Textual Analysis.” The American media have a big influence on Pakistani culture,” Zahra, a graduate student studying journalism, said.

Zarah said American media play a huge role in deciding the narrative and image of other countries portrayed to the world and often times, the media focus only on the bad.

“I want Americans to focus on selective news, it's even worse than fake news because when you select only the bad parts to show, you believe that place is bad,” Zarah said.

Hollywood movies would also sometimes portray major cities as underdeveloped, Zarah said.

“We used to make fun of Hollywood all the time because they don’t do basic research,” she said. “They’ll mix up Middle Eastern culture with Pakistan. Then Americans think this is what it’s really like, when in reality Pakistan is more similar to India.”

Gazing from the bow of a yacht across the turquoise Red Sea at the beach, where people play among the waves that melt onto the shore — these are things Omar Halawani remembers about his home in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

“I think a lot of Americans live in their own world,” Halawani, a senior studying aviation, said.

Halawani describes the people of Athens as friendly and said he enjoys attending school here.

However, he said he believes Americans in general could benefit from researching further into the many diverse cultures of the world. He grew up in Jeddah, a city by the ocean and “because of media, Americans often think of Saudi Arabia as some oil-rich desert.”

“But we have strong culture and beautiful cities,” Halawani said.

In the reverse, Koroma, Zarah, and Omar all mentioned their countries have experienced some sort of Americanization through the influence of the media.

Zarah said it’s natural for anybody moving to a foreign country to have generalized ideas of the place they’re migrating to, but it’s better to wait and form your own opinion than believe what the media portrays.

“It’s best to have an open mind,” Zarah said.

@summerschmier

ss858913@ohio.edu

Diplomats Meet On Iran Deal As Trump Stays Mum On Decision

From clockwise left, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, British Director General Political, Foreign & Commonwealth Office Karen Pierce, second seated, British Minister of State for the Department for International Development Alistair Burt, third seated, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, fifth seated, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, seventh seated, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, eighth seated, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, ninth seated, China's U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi, eleventh seated and others attend a European Union-hosted meeting about the Iran nuclear deal at United Nations headquarters Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017.



NEW YORK (AP, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017) — President Donald Trump has determined how he wants to approach the Iran nuclear deal — which he has called the worst agreement ever negotiated by the United States — but has not told even his top national security advisers what his decision is.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that Trump had not informed him or others in the administration about his decision and had refused to share it with British Prime Minister Theresa May when she asked him about it.

Tillerson said he had been surprised when Trump publicly announced he had reached a decision. The secretary told reporters it would now take some time to prepare to implement the decisions. He gave no hint as to the direction Trump would take, but repeated the president's long-standing position that the deal does not address troubling non-nuclear behavior despite the hopes of those who negotiated it.

Tillerson spoke to reporters after a meeting of the parties to the nuclear deal, including Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The meeting marked the highest-level U.S.-Iranian encounter since Trump became president.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who hosted the meeting, said all parties to the accord — including Tillerson — agreed it "is working and is delivering for its purpose." Tillerson did not dispute Mogherini's characterization but said that while Iran might be meeting its obligations to the letter of the deal, it is violating its spirit.

"Perhaps the technical aspects have (been met), but in the broader context the aspiration has not," Tillerson said. He later conceded that reports from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, "continue to confirm that Iran is in technical compliance with the agreement."

However, he said the Trump administration was determined to address the flaws in the deal, the most serious of which are so-called "sunset provisions" that allow Iran to resume some aspects of its nuclear program after certain periods of time. Those provisions relate to enriching uranium to levels near those needed to produce the fuel for a nuclear weapon, as well as other activities that limit Iran's atomic capabilities at various sites.

"One can almost set the countdown clock to Iran resuming its nuclear activities," Tillerson said. He added that the world was made less safe by the Iran agreement as it stands, particularly at a time when the U.S. and its allies are being threatened directly by a nuclear-armed North Korea.

In her comments, Mogherini also alluded to North Korea, but made the opposite argument, saying "the international community cannot afford to dismantle an agreement that is working." Mogherini declined to say whether Tillerson had pledged to remain committed to the deal, but said the European Union is committed to preserving it. She suggested that U.S. complaints about Iran's troublesome non-nuclear activities should be discussed in a different forum.

The meeting in the U.N. Security Council chambers followed two days of increasingly hostile rhetoric between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, as well as Trump's surprise announcement about a decision on the nuclear deal.

"I have decided," he declared to reporters earlier Wednesday, a day after launching a scathing attack on Iran and its government in his address to the U.N. General Assembly. Trump's withering critique Tuesday included an accusation that Iran's government "masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy," while ruthlessly repressing its people and exploiting the limits of the nuclear deal.

"We cannot let a murderous regime continue these destabilizing activities while building dangerous missiles," Trump said. "And we cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program."

In response, Rouhani lashed out at "ignorant, absurd and hateful rhetoric" in Trump's U.N. speech. Addressing the General Assembly on Wednesday, Rouhani said his country won't be the first to violate the nuclear agreement, "but it will respond decisively to its violation by any party." In a dismissive jab at Trump he said, "It will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by rogue newcomers to the world of politics."

"By violating its international commitments, the new U.S. administration only destroys its own credibility and undermines international confidence in negotiating with it or accepting its word or promise," Rouhani said. That echoes criticism even some of America's allies have leveled at a time when the United States hopes to draw North Korea into a negotiation over its rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal.

Rouhani then told reporters at a news conference that the Iranian people are waiting for an apology from Trump for his "extremely offensive" rhetoric and baseless allegations. He said Trump is seeking "an excuse" to pull out of the nuclear deal and it would be a "waste of time" for him to meet the president.

Trump has sent strong signals that he could walk away from the seven-nation agreement, which would potentially lead to new U.S. sanctions on Iran and its international trading partners. The Iranians, in turn, have threatened to respond to any U.S. pullout by restarting nuclear activities that could take them closer to bomb-making capability.

It wasn't clear if Trump had made a final decision to leave or stick with the Iran deal. On several other issues over his presidency, he has teased reporters with the idea that a major verdict might be imminent, only to delay announcements for weeks or months. Trump must next certify by Oct. 15 if Iran is complying with the deal, and officials have said Trump may use that occasion to declare Iran in violation.

In any event, the U.S.-Iranian exchanges augured poorly for the diplomatic meeting, although Tillerson maintained that the atmosphere had been "very open and candid." "There was no yelling and we didn't throw shoes at one another," he said. "It was not an angry tone at all, it was a very, very matter-of-fact exchange about how we see this deal very differently."

A year ago, such a get-together would have been considered routine as nations strove to implement an agreement that curtailed Iran's nuclear activity in exchange for an end to various oil, trade and financial restrictions on the country. In the current environment, it is anything but ordinary.

Trump has said repeatedly that he is inclined not to certify Iranian compliance after having twice found the country compliant at earlier deadlines. Denying certification could lead the U.S. to reintroduce sanctions, which in turn could lead Iran to walk away from the deal or restart some nuclear activities it curtailed two years ago.

The rhetorical threats have worried the other countries who are part of the agreement: Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia. The Europeans, in particular, have expressed their disapproval of Trump's threats and talked about trying to lobby the U.S. to abide by the accord. If the U.S. tries to activate globally enforceable sanctions on Iran again, European countries could balk, another potential repercussion Trump must weigh.

The Latest: Senators Press Administration On Iran deal

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani listens at a news conference during his visit for the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday Sept. 20, 2017, in New York. President Donald Trump said he has made a decision on whether to walk away from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran but refused to say what it is, setting the stage for a particularly contentious meeting of the parties to the agreement.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the United States and Iran (all times local): 3 p.m. A group of Democratic senators is pressing the Trump administration to comply with a law that requires the administration to tell Congress of potential breaches by Iran of the landmark nuclear deal.

The senators say the executive branch must share with Congress any Iranian violations within 10 days of receiving that information. The lawmakers say they've received no such notifications so far. In fact, the lawmakers say in a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other national security officials that they've been told the opposite. They say Gen. Paul Selva, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified in July that Iran is abiding by its commitments.

The letter is being sent amid signs that President Donald Trump may walk away from the nuclear accord.

11 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he's reached a decision on whether to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal — but he won't say what it is.

Trump was asked several times on Wednesday whether he'd reached a decision. His answer: "I've decided."

And he answered, "I'll let you know," when he was asked for details.

The president made the comments during a meeting in New York with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Trump — in his U.N. speech on Tuesday — called the 2015 nuclear deal an "embarrassment" to the United States.

The president has until Oct. 15 to certify that Iran is complying with the deal. Under the agreement, Iran has halted nuclear development in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

3:45 a.m.

The United States and Iran are planning for their highest-level interaction of Donald Trump's presidency. It'll come just a day after Trump delivered a blistering attack on Iran and the landmark 2015 nuclear deal — and sent strong signals he could walk away from that accord.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are expected to attend a European Union-hosted meeting about the agreement at the United Nations later Wednesday.

The closed-door gathering is expected to be contentious, and its lead-up has been marked by Washington and Tehran trading increasingly harsh barbs.