10 things you need to know today: October 31, 2018

President Trump visits memorials in Pittsburgh

(Image credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

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1. Mourners gather for first funerals of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting victims
2. Trump visits site of Pittsburgh synagogue massacre
3. Mueller's office refers scheme to discredit Mueller to FBI
4. Notorious mobster 'Whitey' Bulger killed in prison
5. Trump vow to end birthright citizenship widely dismissed as unconstitutional
6. Pakistan court overturns woman's death penalty conviction for blasphemy
7. Interior Department watchdog refers Zinke inquiry to DOJ
8. Mattis, Pompeo call for Yemen ceasefire within 30 days
9. Apple unveils latest MacBook Air, Mac mini, iPad Pro
10. U.S. charges Chinese agents in scheme to hack plane engine data

published 31 October 2018

1. Mourners gather for first funerals of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting victims

Thousands of mourners gathered in Pittsburgh on Tuesday for the first funerals honoring the 11 people killed in Saturday's mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue. The Tree of Life is still closed as a crime scene, so the services for Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz and brothers Cecil and David Rosenthal were held in two other large synagogues, and a private ceremony was conducted in an undisclosed location for Daniel Stein, 71. Rabinowitz was remembered as a caring family doctor described by one friend as "bigger than life." The Rosenthals, intellectually disabled 50-something brothers who greeted people at the synagogue, were remembered by massacre survivor Rabbi Jeffrey Myers as "beautiful souls" with "not an ounce of hate in them — something we're terribly missing today."

President Trump arrived in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to honor the 11 people killed in Saturday's mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, and to call for unity. Trump and first lady Melania Trump visited the synagogue and lit candles for the victims, then visited four police officers wounded in a shootout with the killer. Trump received a mixed welcome, however. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto (D) had urged Trump to delay his visit until after the victims' funerals this week to avoid creating a distraction. Hundreds of protesters marched as Trump arrived. "The gunman who tore apart our neighborhood believed your lies about the immigrant caravan in Mexico," the protest organizers said. "He believed anti-Semitic lies that Jews were funding the caravan."

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Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office said Tuesday that Mueller last week asked the FBI to investigate reports of someone offering women money to make false claims that Mueller sexually assaulted them. Over the past few weeks, several reporters have been contacted by a woman reporting the alleged scam aiming to discredit Mueller. At roughly the same time as reporters started looking into the claims, Republican lobbyist and radio host Jack Burkman said he was investigating sexual misconduct and alcohol-related allegations against Mueller. On Tuesday he tweeted that he would hold a news conference this week to "reveal the first of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's sex assault victims."

Former crime boss and FBI informant James "Whitey" Bulger was found dead at a West Virginia prison shortly after being transferred there, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said Tuesday. The FBI is looking into how Bulger, 89, died; The Boston Globe reported that "a fellow inmate with Mafia ties is being investigated for the slaying." Bulger was a notorious Boston mob boss in the 1970s and 1980s. He spent 16 years on the run before his arrest in 2011 and conviction in 2013 in connection with the murder of 11 people. Bulger was previously serving two life sentences in Florida but was transferred due to failing health; he reportedly was expected to again be transferred to a federal prison medical facility.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Tuesday that President Trump "obviously" can't end birthright U.S. citizenship with an executive order, since it is protected explicitly under the 14th Amendment. Legal scholars on the left and the right say that the Supreme Court has made it clear for more than a century that a clause saying that anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen provided they are under the jurisdiction of U.S. laws only provides for a few exceptions, such as in the case of the children of foreign diplomats or war-time enemies of the U.S. Trump said in an interview with Axios that he has been looking into ending birthright citizenship with an executive order. Critics have called the remark the latest in a series of promises intended to rally Trump's base ahead of next week's midterm elections.

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the conviction of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who had been sentenced to hang on blasphemy charges. Bibi spent eight years on death row after being found guilty in 2010 of defiling the name of the Prophet Muhammed in an argument with Muslim colleagues who refused to drink from a bucket of water she had touched. Bibi said the dispute was just a matter of women who disliked her "taking revenge." The court said there were "glaring contradictions" in the evidence against Bibi. The case has divided Pakistani society. The Islamist movement Tehreek-e Labbaik had vowed to protest if Bibi was released, and within hours of the ruling, protests broke out in Islamabad and Lahore.

The Interior Department inspector general has referred one of its investigations of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to the Justice Department, The Washington Post reported Tuesday, citing two officials familiar with the matter. It was not immediately clear which of three inquiries the Justice Department would be examining. The investigations include a Montana land deal and the decision not to authorize two Native American tribes to operate a casino in Connecticut. A White House official told the Post that the DOJ would be looking into whether Zinke "used his office to help himself." The Montana land development deal was backed by the chairman of the oil firm Halliburton, opening the interior secretary up to possible complaints of a conflict of interest.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James Mattis want everyone involved in the Yemen civil war to agree to a ceasefire within 30 days. The war has left thousands dead and caused immense suffering, with a shortage of food, medication, and clean water plaguing many areas. During an event Tuesday at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, Mattis said the Saudi-led coalition, which supports the Yemeni government, and the Iranian-backed Houthis must meet with U.N. Special Envoy Martin Griffiths to "end this war." Pompeo agreed, releasing a statement calling for an end to missile strikes from Houthi-controlled areas and coalition air strikes in all populated spaces. The United States has provided the coalition with some training and aerial refueling of warplanes.

Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiled the newest additions to the Mac family on Tuesday, just one month after the company revealed a revamped line of iPhones and Apple Watches. Apple introduced several new pieces of hardware, including a new MacBook Air, Mac mini, and iPad Pro. It also unveiled a new series of live learning sessions called "Today at Apple." Cook began the announcement event by touting the portable MacBook Air as Apple's "most loved" computer. The new MacBook Air, which starts at $1,199 with 8 GB of RAM and an i5 processor, is the first major refresh of the super thin laptop line in three years. It can be ordered Tuesday and will be available Nov. 7.

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday unsealed charges against 10 Chinese intelligence officers and other suspects accused of trying to hack the computer systems of U.S. aviation companies in Arizona, Massachusetts, Oregon, and elsewhere. The scheme allegedly was to steal information on a turbo fan engine used in commercial jetliners. The 10 people charged sought sensitive information that Chinese firms could use to replicate the engines made by U.S. companies "without incurring substantial research and development expenses," the indictment said. At the time of the alleged hacking, a Chinese-state owned aerospace company was trying to develop a similar engine. The case comes as the Trump administration steps up its complaints against China's alleged efforts to steal information from U.S. companies, often through hacking.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.