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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Candidates asked to honor investigation

From Wire Reports

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has taken the unusual step of intervening in a foreign election, asking both candidates in Afghanistan’s disputed presidential race to allow the process for investigating fraud claims to go forward and threatening a cutoff in U.S. aid if “extra-constitutional measures” are taken.

Obama called the leading candidate, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, on Tuesday, the day after he spoke to Ghani’s opponent, Abdullah Abdullah. The White House said Obama told both candidates that the U.S. expects fraud allegations to be thoroughly reviewed, urging the two men to seek a resolution that doesn’t undermine Afghanistan’s fragile national unity.

“He also noted that there is no justification for resorting to violent or extra-constitutional means, which would result in the end of U.S. assistance to Afghanistan,” the White House said in a statement.

The firm warning appeared to be directed mostly at Abdullah, who told thousands of supporters on Tuesday that he will declare victory, amid calls from some of his supporters for Abdullah to form a “parallel government.”

Abdullah claims massive electoral fraud is behind the preliminary results from a runoff vote that put him a million votes behind Ghani. He said Tuesday he doesn’t accept the results of the fraudulent vote.

The Afghan Independent Election Commission released preliminary election results Monday showing Ahmadzai well in the lead but said no winner could be declared because millions of ballots were being audited for fraud. Ahmadzai had about 56 percent of the vote to Abdullah’s 44 percent.

The results announced Monday marked a sharp turnaround from the first round of voting on April 5, when Abdullah garnered the most votes, with 46 percent to Ahmadzai’s 31.6 percent. But Abdullah failed to win the majority needed to avoid last month’s runoff.

Abdullah has refused to accept any second-round results until all fraudulent ballots are invalidated.

RNC picks Cleveland for 2016 convention

WASHINGTON – Cleveland won the unanimous backing of a Republican National Committee panel on Tuesday, all but guaranteeing the GOP’s 2016 presidential pick will accept the party’s nomination in perennially hard-fought Ohio.

The Republicans’ site selection committee backed Cleveland over donor-rich Dallas, and the full 168-member RNC is expected to ratify the choice next month. The move reflects the role Ohio – and its 18 electoral votes – plays in presidential campaigns.

“As goes Ohio, so goes the presidential race,” said party Chairman Reince Priebus.

The RNC did not announce a start date for the convention but Priebus said that June 28 and July 18, 2016, are the two options under consideration. An earlier-than-normal convention was a priority for Priebus, and leaders of Dallas’ bid said the calendar was the main factor running against the Texas city.

Police: Mother blames killings on addictions

A Utah woman killed six of her babies because she couldn’t raise the children while also supporting her drug and alcohol addictions, police said Tuesday.

The bodies of seven infants were discovered in a garage in Pleasant Grove, near Salt Lake City, in mid-April. Megan Huntsman was charged with six counts of first-degree murder that month.

Huntsman told police she had given birth to “at least seven babies” between 1996 and 2006, according to an affidavit. One was stillborn, and the rest were strangled or suffocated and then hidden in boxes in her garage.

She told police that during those years she was heavily addicted to methamphetamine and alcohol and had to make a choice, Pleasant Grove Police Capt. Mike Roberts told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday.

4 dead because of storms, officials say

SMITHFIELD, N.Y. – Officials in central New York said four people are dead and four homes have been destroyed in building collapses amid severe thunderstorms.

A spokesman for the Madison County emergency management office said the deaths were reported Tuesday evening in Smithfield, located between Syracuse and Utica. No details were immediately available.

Madison County Sheriff Allen Riley did not identify the victims. He told The Post-Standard he was still notifying their families.

Riley said in a television interview that dogs are being used at the Smithfield site to search for additional victims and that neighbors are being interviewed.

National Weather Service meteorologist Joanne LaBounty said investigators will determine if a tornado touched down.