THE US Congress is wrestling with the dilemma of what to do with special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings about Donald Trump.
While Mueller declined to prosecute the president for obstruction of justice, he did not exonerate him, all but leaving the question to Congress.
His report provides fresh evidence of Trump’s interference in the Russia probe, challenging legislators to respond.
The risks for both parties are clear if they duck the responsibility or prolong an inquiry that, rather than coming to a close, may be just beginning.
“The responsibility now falls to Congress,” said Democrat representative Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee which has the power to launch impeachment proceedings.
Attorney general William Barr sent Congress a redacted version of the report, blacking out several types of material. Nadler said on Friday that he expects to issue a subpoena within “a couple of hours” for the full report, including the normally secret grand jury evidence.
ELSEHWERE, the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, is hosting officials from the United Nations cultural agency and is expected to set out ideas for the reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral.
He is meeting state delegates from Unesco, which oversees global heritage issues, at the Elysee Palace.
The meeting is taking place as architects and experts assess how to stabilise the World Heritage Site’s structure and protect it from the rain. Charlotte Hubert, president of France’s group of architects specialising in historic monuments, told BFM news that experts are planning to install a wide tarpaulin on the roof.
The installation will form a “pointed roof” higher than Notre Dame’s original roof, to allow renovation workers to rebuild the frame under its protection, she said.
More than £850 million has already poured in from ordinary worshippers and high-powered magnates around the world to restore Notre Dame.
MEANWHILE in Algeria, protesters have demonstrated for a ninth straight Friday against the country’s leadership amid calls for the departure of the powerful military’s chief of staff.
With police deployed across the city, several thousand protesters gathered in the morning at the main post office in Algiers – the Grande Poste – which has been a landmark during the weeks of protests that have already forced former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to stand down.
Protesters shouted slogans including “Down with the system” and “You ate the country, you bunch of thieves”. A presidential election has been set for July 4 to choose the successor to Bouteflika.
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