5 things to know today

Senate blocks Obama’s pick for civil rights post Russia, West try to hammer out Ukraine diplomacy Former IRS official refuses to testify at hearing Facebook to delete posts for illegal gun sales New SAT: The essay portion is to become optional

1. Senate blocks Obama’s pick for civil rights post

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bipartisan Senate opposition blocked swift confirmation Wednesday for President Barack Obama’s choice to head the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the emotional residue of the long-ago murder of a Philadelphia policeman and the legal representation his killer received.

The vote against advancing Debo Adegbile toward confirmation was 47-52, short of the majority needed under new procedures Democrats put in place earlier this year to overcome Republican stalling tactics. In this case, all 44 voting Republicans and eight Democrats lined up to block confirmation, leaving the nomination is grave jeopardy.

Obama swiftly condemned the vote. In a statement, he called it a “travesty based on wildly unfair character attacks against a good and qualified public servant.”

Administration officials declined to say if they would seek a second vote in the hopes they could change the minds of a few Democrats, although Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is positioned to call for one.

The vote was a victory for Republicans and the National Fraternal Order of Police, who said Adegbile’s connection with the legal case of Mumia Abu-Jamal disqualified him from holding high public office.

Shortly before the vote, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., read from a letter written by Maureen Faulkner, the widow of the policeman Abu-Jamal was convicted of killing. “Today, as my husband lies 33 years in his grave, his killer has become a wealthy celebrity,” she wrote.

“Old wounds have once again been ripped open, and additional insult is brought upon our law enforcement community in this country by President Obama’s nomination of Debo Adegbile.”
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2. Russia, West try to hammer out Ukraine diplomacy

PARIS (AP) — Facing off in Europe’s capitals, Russia and the West began trying to build the elements of a diplomatic solution to Europe’s gravest crisis since the Cold War — even as the West appeared increasingly resigned to an entrenched Russian presence in Crimea. NATO hit back by putting Russia on suspension, and the European Union extended $15 billion in aid to Ukraine, matching the amount the country’s fugitive president accepted from Moscow to turn his back on an EU trade accord.

As peace efforts progressed in Paris and Brussels, volatility reigned on the ground in Ukraine: A special U.N. envoy visiting Crimea came under threat by armed men who forced him to leave the region. Meanwhile, hundreds of demonstrators, many chanting “Russia! Russia!” stormed a government building in eastern Ukraine — renewing fears that turmoil could spill out of Crimea and engulf other Russian-dominated parts of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s prime minister told The Associated Press in his first interview since taking office that he still feared Russian President Vladimir Putin might attempt more land grabs: “Mr. President,” Arseniy Yatsenyuk said, “stop this mess.”

Yatsenyuk vowed to keep Crimea as part of Ukraine, but expressed openness to granting it more autonomy. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andriy Deshchytsia, told The Associated Press that pro-Russian citizens in Crimea must be willing to replace armed forces with international observers if they want a vote on more self-rule.

But most of the bargaining chips Wednesday belonged to Russia, whose troops are fanned out across Crimea and control most of its strategic facilities.

A growing chorus of prominent American voices expressed resignation that Crimea was lost to Russia: “I’m not optimistic they’re going to leave,” said Michael McFaul, who served as Obama’s ambassador to Russia until last week.
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3. Former IRS official refuses to testify at hearing

WASHINGTON (AP) — The former Internal Revenue Service official at the heart of the agency’s tea party scandal once again refused to answer questions at a congressional hearing Wednesday that quickly devolved into political bickering between Democrats and Republicans.

Lois Lerner headed the IRS division that improperly targeted tea party and other conservative groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status during the 2010 and 2012 elections. She was the first IRS official to publicly disclose the targeting, issuing an apology on behalf of the agency at a law conference in May 2013.

But when she was called to testify before the House Oversight Committee a few days later, she invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself. Committee Chairman Darrell Issa called Lerner for another hearing Wednesday.

Lerner appeared with her lawyer, but she invoked the Fifth Amendment at least nine times when questioned by Issa.

Issa, a California Republican, quickly adjourned the hearing despite attempts by Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the committee, to make a statement. At one point, Issa said, “Shut it down,” and Cummings’ microphone was turned off.

Afterward, Cummings, of Maryland, said he wanted to point out that despite Republican claims of a political conspiracy, the committee’s investigation so far has not shown any political motivation by IRS agents. The investigation also hasn’t shown any links to the White House, Cummings said.

Last year, the IRS’s inspector general released a yearlong audit that found agents had improperly targeted conservative political groups for additional and sometimes burdensome scrutiny when those groups applied for tax-exempt status.

The IRS watchdog blamed ineffective management by senior IRS officials for allowing it to continue for nearly two years during the 2010 and 2012 elections.
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4. Facebook to delete posts for illegal gun sales

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Under pressure from gun control advocates, Facebook agreed Wednesday to delete posts from users selling illegal guns or offering weapons for sale without background checks.

A similar policy will be applied to Instagram, the company’s photo-sharing network, Facebook said. The measures will be put into effect over the next few weeks and will apply worldwide at Facebook, which claims 1.3 billion active users.

“We will remove reported posts that explicitly indicate a specific attempt to evade or help others evade the law,” the company said in a statement.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has been asking Facebook to adopt such restrictions, as have Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the group backed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Moms Demand Action. Moms Demand Action collected more than 230,000 signatures on petitions calling on Facebook to act.

“Responsible social media sites know that it is in no one’s interest for their sites to become the 21st-century black market in dangerous and illegal goods that place our families and communities at risk,” Schneiderman said.

“I congratulate Facebook and Instagram for taking these simple, common-sense steps to protect the safety and security of their users, and encourage other social media sites to follow their lead.”

Tom King, president of the New York affiliate of the National Rifle Association, acknowledged that Facebook is allowed to set its own rules but said he regards the new restrictions as “a kind of limit on our First Amendment rights.”

Although his group, the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, doesn’t sell guns, he wondered whether it could be blocked if somebody reported the organization’s Facebook page.

“This is something that could greatly get out of control very quickly,” King said.
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5. New SAT: The essay portion is to become optional

WASHINGTON (AP) — Essay optional. No penalties for wrong answers. The SAT college entrance exam is undergoing sweeping revisions.

Changes in the annual test that millions of students take will also do away with some vocabulary words such as “prevaricator” and “sagacious” in favor of words more commonly used in school and on the job.

College Board officials said Wednesday the update — the first since 2005 — is needed to make the exam better representative of what students study in high school and the skills they need to succeed in college and afterward. The test should offer “worthy challenges, not artificial obstacles,” said College Board President David Coleman at an announcement event in Austin, Texas.

The new exam will be rolled out in 2016, so this year’s ninth graders will be the first to take it, in their junior year. The new SAT will continue to test reading, writing and math skills, with an emphasis on analysis. Scoring will return to a 1,600-point scale last used in 2004, with a separate score for the optional essay.

For the first time, students will have the option of taking the test on computers.

One of the biggest changes is that the extra penalty for wrong answers, which discouraged guessing, will be eliminated. And some vocabulary words will be replaced with words such as “synthesis” and “empirical” that are used more widely in classrooms and in work settings.

Coleman said many students who are terrified they will be tested on lots of SAT words currently have one recourse: drilling with flashcards. He said educators know that flashcards are not the best way to build real word knowledge that lasts, but “when the SAT rolls around they become the royal road. Students stop reading and start flipping.”
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