CAMDEN — Theresa May seeks changes to Brexit deal
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May said Tuesday she plans to ask the European Union to change the Brexit divorce deal by altering an Irish border guarantee that is opposed by many British lawmakers.
EU leaders have ruled out any renegotiation, but May urged Parliament to give her a mandate by backing a call for the border measure to be replaced by unspecified “alternative arrangements.”
“Today we have the chance to show the European Union what it will take to get a deal through this House of Commons; what it will take to move beyond the confusion and division and uncertainty that hangs over us,” May told lawmakers in the House of Commons.
British legislators are voting Tuesday on competing Brexit proposals that have been submitted by both pro-Brexit and pro-EU legislators since Parliament rejected May’s divorce deal with the bloc two weeks ago, leaving Britain lurching toward a cliff-edge “no-deal” departure on March 29.
Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow selected seven proposals for debate and vote, including the border change supported by May and several measures that seek to rule out a “no-deal” Brexit.
But amid political gridlock in London and with Brexit day just two months away, the EU shows few, if any, signs of renegotiating the divorce deal it struck with May late last year.
EU approves importing soybeans for biofuels
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has approved U.S. soybean exports to be used in the production of biofuels in an effort to boost such imports following last summer’s trans-Atlantic meeting between President Donald Trump and his EU Commission counterpart Jean-Claude Juncker.
The summit meeting was able to stave off a tariffs war on industrial goods like cars but Juncker made a commitment to buy more U.S. soybeans.
Sales have doubled since, but mostly because of market forces. Tuesday’s approval that US soybeans can be used for biofuel is bound to boost sales even more.
EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas says “today’s decision is new proof that the EU is delivering ... this means that as of today it will be easier for US soybeans to enter the EU market.”
Man killed family, stole thousands from them
SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man killed his parents and brother after he was kicked out of his home and accused of stealing $210,000 from his family to send to a woman he had met on a porn website, according to a sheriff’s office.
Grant Amato, 29, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents, Chad and Margaret Ann Amato, and brother Cody.
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office deputies found the victims’ bodies Friday in their Chuluota home after a co-worker reported that Cody Amato had not shown up for work.
Grant Amato was arrested and ordered held without bail Monday.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that according to an affidavit, Cody Amato’s girlfriend told deputies Grant Amato had stolen $60,000 and guns from his brother. She said Grant Amato had recently been kicked out of a training program to become a nurse anesthetist and stole the money to talk to a Bulgarian woman he met online. She also said Cody Amato told her he was afraid Grant “would kill everyone.”
Another brother, Jason Amato, told investigators Grant had stolen $150,000 from their father.
In an interview with investigators, Grant Amato said he had argued with his parents over his relationship with the woman he met through an adult website and that his parents told him he could have no contact with her if he wanted to continue living at their home.
Amato said he began a 60-day internet- and sex-addiction treatment program in Fort Lauderdale in late December at his parents’ request, but he left after a few weeks.
“Grant Amato initially agreed to the rules his father had set, but he didn’t think they were fair because he felt that the Bulgarian female was his girlfriend and they had a relationship,” the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, in response to seeing crime-scene pictures of his parents and brother, Amato said “his family had been blaming him for months for ruining their lives ... so he might as well be blamed for this, too.”