Russia is demanding that the U.S. release a Russian citizen who was convicted of kidnapping for moving her children from the U.S. to Russia amid a divorce.

Bogdana Alexandrovna Osipova, who is referred to by her married name of Mobley in court documents, was convicted in Kansas last month of one count of international parental kidnapping and two counts of attempting to extort money. Ospivoa, 38, faces up to 20 years in prison on each extortion count and up to three years on the kidnapping count at her May 20 sentencing hearing.

The Russian Embassy said in a tweet Friday that U.S. authorities should “stop their lawless behaviour and release the Russian citizen Bogdana Osipova, thus returning the mother to her children.” Her attorney, Craig Divine, didn’t immediately return a phone message. A Russian court has found that the children should remain in Russia.

U.S. prosecutors said Osipova, who has dual Russian and U.S. citizenship, left Wichita, Kansas, in April 2014 with one child from her first marriage and another child from a second marriage to Brian Mobley, an Air Force recruiter. She gave birth to a third child soon after returning to Russia. She was arrested in September 2017 after returning to the U.S. without her children to change child support arrangements. 

 

Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov previously rejected a plea from Kansas Republican Rep. Ron Estes that the younger children — ages 6 and 4 — be reunited with their father. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a briefing that the children are living with relatives in Kaliningrad, the Wichita Eagle reported. Osipova’s oldest child is 16, and her first husband isn’t seeking custody of him. 

Antonov told Estes that Osipova has been a victim of “discrimination and psychological pressure” in the U.S. criminal case.

“We’ve attempted to work with Russian authorities to find a diplomatic solution to this situation on behalf of a constituent, but clearly Russia is not interested in adhering to court rulings or acting in good faith,” Estes said Friday in a tweet. “I once again call on Russia to reunite this father with his children and will work with the State Department in solving this case.”

The U.S. State Department didn’t immediately return an email from The Associated Press seeking comment Monday.

Weeks before Osipova left for Russia, Mobley filed for divorce and was granted joint custody. The Russian court system granted the couple a divorce in July 2014. That December, a Kansas judge also granted the couple a divorce and ordered her to return the two youngest children. The Kansas judge awarded sole custody to her ex-husband because Osipova had left the U.S. without court approval or Mobley’s knowledge.

According to the U.S. criminal complaint, Mobley hasn’t been able to see his children. His ex-wife in January 2015 showed up to a meeting in Poland without the children. She allowed him to talk to the children on the phone and on Skype until November 2016, when she said he needed to send money to communicate with them, the complaint said. 

 

Zakharova said the Russian court sees the situation differently.

“Her claim to her ex-husband for alimony, which was supported by a Russian court, was qualified there as extortion,” Zakharova said in the ministry’s translation of a briefing.

 
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President Donald Trump says he will present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to legendary golfer Tiger Woods, who just captured his fifth Masters championship.It was his 15th major professional victory after an 11-year drought from winning the sport’s biggest tournaments.

Trump tweeted that he spoke to Woods to “congratulate him on the great victory.”

Woods shot a 2 under par 70 on a drizzly day at the Augusta National Golf Club in the southern U.S. state of Georgia to finish 13 under par for the tournament, a shot better than three other American golfers, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele.

Woods, with a big smile on his face, thrust both arms into the air as he holed his final putt on the 18th green for a bogey. He hugged his mother, Kultida Woods, his two children, daughter Sam and son Charlie, and other well-wishers as he headed to the clubhouse to sign his scorecard.

At 43, Woods is the oldest Masters champion since Jack Nicklaus, who won the 1986 Masters at 46. The 79-year-old Nicklaus holds the record for most major golf championships with 18, with Woods now trailing the mark by three.

With Woods’ dearth of recent major championships, the Nicklaus mark appeared increasingly distant for the aging Woods. The last 11 years have marked a period of personal turmoil for Woods as he underwent several surgeries to repair back injuries that inhibited his performance or stopped him from playing at all. He also was divorced from his wife, Elin Nordegren, after a string of his highly publicized extramarital affairs.
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The U.S. terrorism label for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard formally took effect on Monday, amid a battle between the Trump administration and some in Congress over waivers on oil and nuclear sanctions that are due to expire or be extended early next month.

The Guard’s formal designation as a “foreign terrorist organization” — the first-ever for an entire division of another government — kicked in with a notice published in the Federal Register.

 

The move adds a layer of sanctions to the elite military unit and makes it a crime for anyone in or subject to U.S. jurisdiction to provide it with material support. Depending on how broadly “material support” is interpreted, the designation may complicate U.S. diplomatic and military cooperation with certain third-country officials, notably in Iraq and Lebanon, who deal with the Guard.

 

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the step with great fanfare last week, opening a one-week consultation period with Congress during which members could have raised objections.

 

Lawmakers were broadly supportive, but congressional Iran hawks are now expressing concern that the administration may extend waivers on oil and nuclear sanctions. Those sanctions, which are unrelated to the Guard designation, were imposed last November following Trump’s withdrawal of the U.S. from the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal that May.

 

They target major elements of Iran’s economy, notably its energy sector, by hitting foreign companies and governments with so-called “secondary sanctions” if they continue to do business with targeted Iranian entities. A main goal has been to dry up revenue from Iran’s oil exports, which the U.S. says is the main driver of the country’s funding of destabilizing activities throughout the Middle East and beyond.

 

In order not to shock oil markets with the sudden loss of Iranian crude, the administration granted several waivers that allowed some nations and Taiwan to continue their imports as long as they moved to reduce them to zero. Those waivers are due to expire in early May, and Iran hawks in Congress and elsewhere are urging the administration not to renew any of them. They say extending even some of the eight waivers would run counter to Trump and Pompeo’s stated goal of keeping “maximum pressure” on Iran.

 

U.S. officials have been coy when asked about the waivers, leading to concern among hawks that some or all of them may be extended.

 

The administration’s point man for Iran, Brian Hook, has said that three of the waivers won’t need to be extended as those countries have eliminated all Iranian oil imports. But he has remained silent on the other five. Pompeo has similarly refused to comment on the possibility of extensions.

 

In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, Pompeo was pressed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, about whether the oil sanctions waivers, as well as waivers related to technical cooperation at Iranian nuclear facilities, would be extended. He suggested that some at the State Department were pushing for extensions.

 

“Let me urge you and urge the department unequivocally not to grant the nuclear waivers and not to grant the oil waivers,” Cruz said, “I think maximum pressure should mean maximum pressure.”

 

Pompeo demurred, but during a trip to South America over the weekend he bristled when asked if the Iran hawks had reason to be concerned.

 

It's ludicrous,'' he told reporters accompanying him.It’s ludicrous. Look, people want to tell stories, people want to sell newspapers. I’ve got it. Congressmen will grandstand, I’ve got that too. The State Department’s going to get it right. We understand our mission.”

 

Cruz was not impressed.

 

“The Senate Foreign Relations Committee needs to understand why some in the State Department think it’s a good idea to keep enriching the Ayatollah with oil billions and to let Iran keep spinning centrifuges in a bunker that they dug into the side of a mountain so they could build nuclear weapons,” he said in a statement released by his office.

 

 
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President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is set to report that it raised more than $30 million in the first quarter of 2019, edging out his top two Democratic rivals combined, according to figures it provided to The Associated Press.

The haul brings the campaign’s cash on hand to $40.8 million, an unprecedented war chest for an incumbent president this early in a campaign.

The Trump campaign said nearly 99% of its donations were of $200 or less, with an average donation of $34.26.

Trump’s fundraising ability was matched by the Republican National Committee, which brought in $45.8 million in the first quarter — its best non-election year total. Combined, the pro-Trump effort is reporting $82 million in the bank, with $40.8 million belonging to the campaign alone.

Trump formally launched his reelection effort just hours after taking office in 2017, earlier than any incumbent has in prior years. By contrast, former President Barack Obama launched his 2012 effort in April 2011 and had under $2 million on hand at this point in the campaign.

Obama went on to raise more than $720 million for his reelection. Trump’s reelection effort has set a $1 billion target for 2020.

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement that Trump “is in a vastly stronger position at this point than any previous incumbent president running for re-election, and only continues to build momentum.”

Trump’s fundraising with the RNC is divided between two entities: Trump Victory, the joint account used for high-dollar gifts, and the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, the low-dollar digital fundraising operation known internally as “T-Magic.” The campaign is set to launch a traditional “bundling” program — which it lacked in 2016 — in the coming weeks. Bundlers are mid-tier donors who bring in contributions from their associates.

Together, the Trump entities have raised a combined $165.5 million since 2017.

Trump is benefiting from the advantages of incumbency, like universal name recognition and his unrivaled position atop the Republican Party.

Among Democrats, dollars are divided across a candidate field of well more than a dozen, while the Democratic National Committee remains in debt and has suffered from being dramatically outraised by the RNC in recent months.

Bernie Sanders topped the Democratic field in the first quarter, raising slightly more than $18 million, followed by Kamala Harris with $12 million and Beto O’Rourke with $9.4 million. Trump is reporting a haul of $30.3 million.

Republicans have trailed Democrats in online fundraising ever since the medium was invented roughly two decades ago. But Trump has closed the gap, driving small-dollar donors who make recurring donations to the GOP like the party has never seen before. According to RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Trump’s campaign has already had eight seven-figure fundraising days this year, and has taken in money from more than 1 million new online donors since Trump’s inauguration — including 100,000 this year.

The Republican committee said it is planning on spending $30 million on maintaining and growing Trump’s email list alone, recently expanded its headquarters space to an annex in Virginia and will soon invest in developing an app.

In 2015, Trump swore off outside money, declaring in his opening speech: “I’m using my own money. I’m not using the lobbyists’. I’m not using donors’. I don’t care. I’m really rich.”

He quickly reversed course on high-dollar donations after he won the GOP nomination, bowing to the financial pressures of running a general election campaign, and he’d already raised millions online through the sale of merchandise like his signature red Make America Great Again hats.

Trump gave or loaned $66 million to his 2016 campaign, but has yet to spend any of his own cash for his reelection effort. Aides don’t expect that to change.
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Powerful storms swept across the South on Sunday after unleashing suspected tornadoes and flooding that killed at least eight people, injured dozens and flattened much of a Texas town. Three children were among the dead.

Nearly 90,000 customers were without electricity in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Georgia as of midday Sunday, according to www.poweroutage.us as the severe weather left a trail of destruction.

Two children were killed on a back road in East Texas when a pine tree fell onto the car in which they were riding in a severe thunderstorm Saturday near Pollok, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) southeast of Dallas.

The tree “flattened the car like a pancake,” said Capt. Alton Lenderman of the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office. The children, ages 8 and 3, were dead at the scene, while both parents, who were in the front seat, escaped injury, he said.

At least one person was killed and about two dozen others were injured after a suspected tornado struck the Caddo Mounds State Historic Site in East Texas during a Native American cultural event in Alto, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) southeast of Dallas. Cherokee County Judge Chris Davis said the fatality that was reported was of a woman who died of her critical injuries.

In neighboring Houston County, the sheriff’s office said one person was killed in Weches, 6 miles southwest of Caddo Mound.

There was widespread damage in Alto, a town of about 1,200, and the school district canceled classes until its buildings can be deemed safe.

A tornado flattened much of the south side of Franklin, Texas, overturning mobile homes and damaging other residences, said Robertson County Sheriff Gerald Yezak. Franklin is about 125 miles (200 kilometers) south of Dallas.

The weather service said preliminary information showed an EF-3 tornado touched down with winds of 140 mph (225.3 kph).

It destroyed 55 homes, a church, four businesses, a duplex, and part of the local housing authority building, authorities said. Two people were hospitalized for injuries that were not thought to be life-threatening, while others were treated at the scene, Yezak said. Some people had to be extricated from damaged dwellings.

Heavy rains and storms raked Mississippi into the night Saturday as the storms moved east.

Roy Ratliff, 95, died after a tree crashed onto his trailer in northeastern Mississippi, Monroe County Road Manager Sonny Clay said at a news conference, adding that a tornado had struck. Nineteen residents were taken to hospitals, including two in critical condition. A tornado was reported in the area 140 miles (225 kilometers) southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, at the time.

In Hamilton, Mississippi, 72-year-old Robert Scott said he had been sleeping in his recliner late Saturday when he was awakened and found himself in his yard after a tornado ripped most of his home off its foundation.

His 71-year-old wife, Linda, was in a different part of the house and also survived, he said. They found each other while crawling through the remnants of the house they have lived in since 1972.

“We’re living, and God has blessed us,” Scott, a retired manager for a grocery store meat department, said Sunday as neighbors helped him salvage his belongings.

National Weather Service meteorologist John Moore said a possible twister touched down in the Vicksburg, Mississippi, area. No injuries were reported, but officials reported damage to several businesses and vehicles.

The storm damaged a roof of a hotel in New Albany, Mississippi, and Mississippi State University’s 21,000 students huddled in basements and hallways as a tornado neared the campus in Starkville.

University spokesman Sid Salter said some debris, possibly carried by the tornado, was found on campus, but no injuries were reported and no buildings were damaged. Trees were toppled and minor damage was reported in residential areas east of the campus.

The large storm system also caused flash floods in Louisiana, where two deaths were reported.

Authorities said 13-year-old Sebastian Omar Martinez drowned in a drainage canal after flash flooding struck Bawcomville, near Monroe, said Deputy Glenn Springfield of the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Department. Separately, one person died when a car was submerged in floodwaters in Calhoun, also near Monroe.

As the storm moved into Alabama, a possible tornado knocked out power and damaged mobile homes in Troy, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Montgomery.

Near the Birmingham suburb of Hueytown, a county employee died after being struck by a vehicle while he was helping clear away trees about 2:15 a.m. Sunday, said Capt. David Agee of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. The man, whose name was not immediately released, died after being taken to a hospital.

The forecast of severe weather forced officials at the Masters in Augusta, Georgia, to start the final round of the tournament early on Sunday in order to finish in midafternoon before it began raining.
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