Fujimori: New clashes after Peru ex-president is pardoned

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Media caption‘No to the pardon!’ shouted protesters in the capital Lima

Police in Peru have fired tear gas and clashed with thousands of protesters angry at the authorities’ decision to pardon ex-President Alberto Fujimori.

“No to the pardon!” chanted crowds in the capital Lima, during a second day of unrest that began on Christmas Eve.

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski pardoned Fujimori on health grounds.

Mr Kuczynski acknowledged the anger at his decision but said he could not “allow Alberto Fujimori to die in prison”.

Fujimori, who is serving 25 years for human rights abuses and corruption, was last week moved from jail to hospital.

The former president has low blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat.

Image copyright
Reuters

Image caption

Protesters tried to march to the hospital where Fujimori was being treated – but were stopped by police

Mr Kuczynski denies pardoning Fujimori as part of a deal with his party last week to avoid his own impeachment, for allegedly receiving illegal payments from the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

Two members of President Kuczynski’s party in the Peruvian Congress, Vicente Zeballos and Alberto de Belaunde, have resigned in protest at the pardon.

Image copyright
Reuters

Image caption

Police fought running battles with protesters in Lima

Meanwhile, supporters of the man who led Peru from 1990 to 2000 celebrated outside the city hospital where he was being treated.

He is admired by some Peruvians for combating Maoist rebels – but his critics considered him a corrupt dictator.

On Monday, his son Kenji tweeted a video of himself breaking the news of the pardon to his father in his hospital bed and wishing him a Merry Christmas.

Skip Twitter post by @KenjiFujimoriH

End of Twitter post by @KenjiFujimoriH

On what grounds was he pardoned?

A statement from President Kuczynski’s office said he had decided to grant a “humanitarian pardon to Mr Alberto Fujimori and seven other people in similar condition”, without naming the others.

Doctors, the statement added, had “determined that Mr Fujimori suffers from a progressive, degenerative and incurable illness and that prison conditions represent a grave risk to his life”.

In a following statement, Mr Kuczynski said: “I am convinced that those of us who consider ourselves democrats cannot allow Alberto Fujimori to die in prison. Justice is not vengeance. All pardons are by nature controversial. There is an important number of Peruvians who are opposed [to the pardon].

“My decision is especially complex and difficult, but it is my decision. I can not only be the president of those that voted for me, I need to be it for all Peruvians.”

Was a deal done?

The conservative Popular Force (FP) party, led by the former president’s daughter Keiko Fujimori, controls Congress and on Thursday tried to impeach President Kuczynski over a corruption scandal.

However, her brother Kenji split the FP vote, allowing the president to stay in power and prompting the accusation that Fujimori’s release had been promised in exchange.

“To save his own skin he [President Kuczynski] cut a deal with Fujimori’s supporters,” said leftist politician Veronika Mendoza, labelling the president’s decision as treason.

What was Fujimori convicted of?

In 2007, he was sentenced to six years in jail for bribery and abuse of power, but two years later was sentenced to another 25 years in prison for human rights abuses committed during his time in office.

He was convicted of authorising killings carried out by death squads.

Protests erupted soon after news of the pardon came to light on Sunday, with many demonstrators waving pictures of victims of the counter-insurgency campaign.

“We believe the pardon was carried out in an illegal manner,” one unnamed protester told Reuters. “The medical report that supposedly sanctioned this was a fraud. The reality is that this sadly was a political agreement between the Fujimorists and the current government.”

Jose Miguel Vivanco, executive director of Human Rights Watch in the Americas, tweeted: “I regret Fujimori’s humanitarian pardon.

“Instead of reaffirming that in a state of law there is no special treatment for anyone, the idea that his liberation was a vulgar political negotiation in exchange for Pedro Pablo Kuczynski maintaining power will remain forever.”

Skip Twitter post by @JMVivancoHRW

End of Twitter post by @JMVivancoHRW

CHP officer killed in Christmas Eve freeway crash in Hayward

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  • The California Highway Patrol officer killed in the crash on 880 was identified as Andrew Camilleri, 33. He leaves behind a wife and three children. Photo: CHP

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The California Highway Patrol officer killed in the crash on 880 was identified as Andrew Camilleri, 33. He leaves behind a wife and three children.

The California Highway Patrol officer killed in the crash on 880 was identified as Andrew Camilleri, 33. He leaves behind a wife and three children.

Photo: CHP






A California Highway Patrol officer, just hours from getting off duty and going home to open Christmas presents with his wife and three young children, was killed when an impaired driver swerved off the road and slammed into his patrol vehicle, which was parked near an on-ramp to Interstate 880 in Hayward, the CHP said Monday.

Andrew Camilleri Sr., 33, of Tracy, a CHP officer for a year and a half, was killed in the crash at 11:20 p.m. on Christmas Eve, CHP officials said. His partner, Officer Jonathan Velasquez, was treated at a hospital for lacerations and released Monday, said Sgt. Rob Nacke, a CHP spokesman.


“Today is not a holiday for the Highway Patrol. Today is about a tragic loss of one of our own, one by the name of Andrew Camilleri, who we will consider a hero now and forever,” CHP Assistant Chief Ernest Sanchez said at a news conference Monday in Hayward.

Sanchez said the driver who hit the officers, a 22-year-old Hayward man, was hospitalized with serious injuries. He is suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, specifically marijuana. The driver’s name has not been released.

“I come to you with a broken heart, but also anger,” Sanchez said. “This person chose to drive while under the influence of alcohol and also drugs, and this needs to stop.”


1 CHP officer was killed and another injured in a crash on 880 in Hayward


Media: FoxM9NJ



The two officers were assigned to a “maximum enforcement” Christmas Eve patrol for drunken drivers and speeders and were parked on the shoulder of southbound I-880 near the Winton Avenue on-ramp when a red Cadillac moving at a high rate of speed drifted off the roadway and struck their vehicle from behind, Sanchez said.

Sanchez said both officers were sitting in the patrol vehicle with their seat belts on. Velasquez was in the driver’s seat, while Camilleri was in the front passenger seat.

“The impact was so severe that it turned a utility vehicle into a very small compact vehicle,” Sanchez said. “So it kind of gives you an idea of the speeds that were involved.”

He said he had to notify Camilleri’s wife, Rosanna, of her husband’s death. The couple have a 12-year-old daughter and two sons, ages 2 and 6.

“The children were expecting their father to come home and help open Christmas presents,” Sanchez said.

He said the driver responsible for the fatality will face serious felony charges when he is released from the hospital.

“This individual was coming home from a party and obviously had too much to drink and maybe too much to smoke,” Sanchez said. “We have enough evidence and enough statements that have been made today to allow us to charge this individual.”

Camilleri joined the Highway Patrol in August 2016 and graduated from the CHP Academy on March 3, the patrol said. He was assigned to the Hayward area office.

He grew up in the Tracy area and graduated in 2002 from West High School in Tracy, according to an article published in April in the Tracy Press. While in high school he participated in the CHP Tracy office’s Explorer Program for students interested in law enforcement careers.

He worked for 13 years for Clark Pest Control in the Tracy area before finally realizing his dream of becoming a member of the CHP.

“Andrew was drawn to this profession due to his courage, his integrity and his desire to serve,” said Capt. Tim Pearson, commander of the CHP Hayward area office. “Andrew was a great man who loved his job, who loved his family.”

Gov. Jerry Brown and his wife, Anne Gust Brown, released a statement Monday lamenting the loss of Camilleri. The governor said flags at the state Capitol would be flown at half-staff in the officer’s honor.

“Anne and I are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of Officer Camilleri, who died yesterday while working to keep our communities safe,” Brown said. “We join his family, friends and the entire California Highway Patrol in mourning his death and in honoring his sacrifice.”

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko

How to help CHP Officer Andrew Camilleri’s family

For those wishing to help Officer Camilleri’s family, the CHP says the California Association of Highway Patrolmen Credit Union will establish a benevolence fund that will direct all donations to the officer’s immediate family members. The account is scheduled to be opened Tuesday afternoon, and the fundraising site will be available at www.facebook.com/chpgoldengate.

HMS St Albans: UK frigate shadows Russian warship in North Sea

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HMS St Albans (foreground) escorts the Russian vessel through the North Sea. Photo: 25 December 2017Image copyright
PA

Image caption

HMS St Albans (foreground) escorts Admiral Gorshkov

A British frigate shadowed a Russian warship through the North Sea near UK waters on Christmas Day, the Royal Navy has revealed.

HMS St Albans monitored the Admiral Gorshkov’s “activity in areas of national interest”, it said.

The Admiral Gorshkov, a new guided-missile frigate, is still undergoing trials, Russian media report.

The Royal Navy reports a recent “upsurge in Russian units transiting UK waters”.

Britain also recently warned of a new threat posed by Russia to internet cables under the sea.

How was the Russian ship tracked?

HMS St Albans was sent on Saturday to “keep watch on the new Russian warship Admiral Gorshkov as it passed close to UK territorial waters”, the Royal Navy said.

Image copyright
PA

Image caption

The UK Ministry of Defence released photos of HMS St Albans crew during the tracking operation

The British frigate remained at sea on Monday, monitoring the Russian vessel, and was due to return to Portsmouth on Tuesday.

“I will not hesitate in defending our waters or tolerate any form of aggression,” Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said.

“Britain will never be intimidated when it comes to protecting our country, our people, and our national interests.”

In other recent activity involving the two navies:

  • HMS Tyne, a patrol ship, was also called to shadow a Russian intelligence-gathering ship as it sailed through the North Sea and the English Channel on Sunday while a navy helicopter was scrambled to track two other Russian vessels

Why was the Russian ship in the North Sea?

The Admiral Gorshkov, the first of a new class of multi-role blue-water frigates, has still to complete missile tests before entering service with the Russian navy next year, Russian media report.

It has reportedly been sailing regularly between the White Sea off Russia’s northern coast and the Baltic.

Reports on the latest interception do not make clear in what direction the Russian ship was heading.

Russian warships have used the international waters of the North Sea in recent times to sail to and from the Mediterranean for deployment off Syria.

Why is the UK worried about undersea cables?

Relations between Britain and Russia have remained tense since Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, the chief of the UK’s defence staff, said earlier this month that Britain and Nato needed to prioritise protecting the lines of communication.

Media captionEarlier this month, Sir Stuart Peach outlined the need to protect lines of communication under the seabed

He said it would “immediately and potentially catastrophically” hit the economy if they were cut or disrupted.

The cables criss-cross the seabed, connecting up countries and continents.

Storm brings white Christmas to Midwest and Northeast

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Dreaming of a white — and windy — Christmas?

A winter storm that brought several inches of snow to parts of the Midwest blanketed some areas in the Northeast on Monday, snarling holiday travel.

As much as a foot of snow could fall on New England, with some areas in the region at risk of freezing rain, according to the National Weather Service. Snow inundated the Boston metro area at a rate of one inch an hour on Monday morning, according to the Weather Channel.

The storm was also pummeling Maine on Monday afternoon with heavy snow after making its way through much of the Northeast, according to the Weather Channel. More than a foot of snow has fallen so far in parts of the state.

A winter storm warning remained in effect for parts of Maine until 7 p.m. ET Monday evening, with additional snow accumulation expected, according to the National Weather Service.

“Plan on difficult travel conditions, including during the evening commute,” the weather service said.



Less snow fell in southern New England, with most areas reporting 4 inches or less, according to NBC Boston.

More than 2,700 flights were delayed and nearly 150 others canceled across the U.S. as of 4:30 p.m. ET Monday, according to FlightAware, the flight data website. Several flights out of Logan International Airport in Boston were postponed or nixed, leaving some flyers stuck on the runway.

Midwesterners spent the morning digging out. Around 3 inches of snow fell in Chicago, where the hometown Bears beat the Cleveland Browns at a Soldier Field filled with shivering fans and freshly fallen powder on Sunday.

A half-foot or more was recorded in parts of western Nebraska and more than 4 inches blanketed parts of Missouri and Michigan. In northern Indiana, police said slick and icy road conditions could still make driving difficult for holiday travelers.

Image: People walk on snow covered streets in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago


Image: People walk on snow covered streets in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago

Strong winds were also set to whip through the area, with several inches of snow likely along the Great Lakes.

That means “a white Christmas for a lot of locations which originally looked a little questionable whether or not we’d have at least an inch of snow on the ground,” said Danielle Bank, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel. “We’re going to see a lot of 3- to 5-inch amounts. We know that for sure.”



The Interstate 95 corridor south of Boston was expected avoid the snow, though not the rain and wind. Gusts of 40-55 mph were likely to blow through Boston, New York City and Philadelphia, according to Frank Giannasca, a senior meteorologist for The Weather Channel.

The windchill would make it feel like 20-degree weather, he added.

Travelers in parts of southern New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Jersey could face a slippery morning with freezing rain and/or sleet making holiday journeys hazardous.

Image: A man walks a dog in St. Charles, Mo.


Image: A man walks a dog in St. Charles, Mo.

The winter weather is expected to stick around through the New Year. Forecasters say repeated surges of bitter, arctic air will keep temperatures below average across the northern United States.

North Korea calls latest UN sanctions ‘an act of war’

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(CNN)A new round of United Nations sanctions against North Korea are an “act of war,” Pyongyang said Sunday, adding that the US and other nations which supported the strict measures will pay a heavy price.

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    CNN’s Tim Lister, Nicole Gaouette, Elizabeth Joseph, Dugald McConnell, Dan Merica and Kevin Bohn contributed to this report.

This Guy Sent The Person Behind Trump’s Tax Plan A Pile Of Horse Shit For Christmas

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“What I did, I would like to compare to what Jesus did when he went into the temple and overturned the tables of the moneychangers, who were exploiting the people financially in the name of religion. I feel like that’s what the GOP has done to the American people,” he told KPCC.

Apparently Mnuchin, who has not yet responded to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment, was at home when the package arrived, and it was so suspicious that the bomb squad was called in to investigate.

Once police opened it and saw the horse poop, investigators deemed the package non-threatening, KTLA reported Saturday. KPCC noted that the Secret Service is now handling the investigation.

As for Strong, who is still waiting to potentially get arrested or fired, he told KPCC that he has seen an “intense increase in homelessness” and believes Trump’s economic policies are exacerbating the problem and someone needs to stand up and do something.

“In the long run, if we don’t do stuff like this, what are we going to have left?” he asked.

Trump: ‘People are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again’

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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump speak on the phone with children at the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017.

 (Associated Press)

When he ran for the White House in 2016, Donald Trump promised to make America great again.

Late Sunday night, on what appeared to be a busy Christmas Eve at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the president took a bow for what he views as his successful role in making Christmas merry again.

“People are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again,” the president tweeted shortly before 10 p.m. EST. “I am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!”

Sunday’s tweet seemed as if the president were claiming “mission accomplished” following some comments he made in October at the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit in Washington.

“We’re getting near that beautiful Christmas season that people don’t talk about anymore. They don’t use the word Christmas because it’s not politically correct,” the president said to cheers. “You go to department stores and they’ll say ‘Happy New Year,’ or they’ll say other things and it’ll be red, they’ll have it painted.”

“Well, guess what? We’re saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again.”

Earlier Sunday, the president and first lady Melania Trump released an official photo, showing them making calls to children across the U.S. as part of the traditional NORAD tracking of Santa’s annual trip around the globe.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump make Christmas calls to children from their home at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Dec. 24, 2017.

 (White House photo)

The president and first lady each spoke to 11 children in all. The kids ranged in age from 5 to 12.

Trump also communicated to U.S. troops who were spending the holiday overseas.

“Today and every day, we’re incredibly thankful for you and for your families,” Trump told the troops via a video hook-up at Mar-a-Lago. “Your families have been tremendous. Always underappreciated, the military families. The greatest people on Earth.”

The president was addressing members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard stationed in Qatar, Kuwait and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and patrolling the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East.

The president complimented each branch of the armed forces, starting with the Army’s “Iron Brigade” combat team in Kuwait, which he said is performing a “vital mission” by partnering with the Iraqi, Kuwaiti, Saudi Arabian and Jordanian armies.

He said a Kuwait-based, Marine Corps air-ground task force has provided more than 4,000 flight hours of close air support in the campaign against the Islamic State group, and he thanked sailors aboard the USS Sampson for defending “high-value assets” in the Strait of Hormuz.

President Donald Trump communicates with U.S. troops via a video hook-up at his home in Palm Beach, Fla., Dec. 24, 2017.

 (Associated Press)

Trump also singled out the Air Force’s 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron in Qatar for engaging more than 700 IS and Taliban targets in five separate countries and winning two trophies in an Air Force bomb competition.

He showered the most praise on the Coast Guard, which impressed him with its rescue operations during a devastating hurricane season.

“You’ve done such an incredible job in Texas and Florida and Puerto Rico,” Trump said. “Many Republicans are very happy but, I have to tell you, the people of Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico and lots of other states are even more happy. What a job you’ve done … saved thousands and thousands of lives.”

In closing, Trump offered thanks to those who are spending time away from their families to “defend all of our families, our freedoms and our pride.”

“Every American heart is thankful to you and we’re asking God to watch over you and to watch over your families,” he said, before he asked journalists to leave the room so he could begin answering any service member questions.

“Every American heart is thankful to you and we’re asking God to watch over you and to watch over your families.”

– President Donald Trump, in a Christmas Eve call to U.S. troops stationed overseas

Trump began the day by tweeting against a top FBI official he has suggested is biased against him, as well as the news media. The president also spent several hours playing golf at his private club in West Palm Beach.

Later, Trump ate Christmas Eve dinner with his family before attending worship services with the first lady at the Episcopal church in Palm Beach where they were married in 2005.

Fox News’ Joseph Weber and the Associated Press contributed to this story.

5 flying on a day trip to Key West die in crash

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CLOSE

A Florida lawyer and four others were killed at sunrise Christmas Eve in a plane crash in dense fog.
USA TODAY

BARTOW, Fla. — A Florida lawyer and four others were killed at sunrise Christmas Eve in a plane crash in dense fog.

John Shannon, 70, of Lakeland, Fla., was piloting a twin-engine Cessna 340 that went down just after takeoff around 7:15 a.m. ET Sunday from Bartow Municipal Airport about 50 miles southwest of Orlando, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.

The plane caught fire after the crash and was fully involved by the time rescue crews arrived, Tina Mann, Polk County Fire Rescue spokeswoman, said in a statement.

“There was no chance of survival,” Judd said. “When you look at the crash, the only thing that you say is, ‘Nobody suffered.’ “

► Dec. 10: 2 dead after small plane crashes into house in San Diego
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► Nov. 9: Smaller planes like the one Roy Halladay crashed grow in popularity

Shannon was making a 45- to 60-minute flight for day trip to the Florida Keys, the sheriff said. Also killed were his two daughters, Olivia Shannon, 24, a student at Southeastern University in Lakeland, and Victoria Shannon Worthington, 26, a Baltimore teacher; his son-in-law, Peter Worthington, 27, a University of Maryland law student; and a family friend, Krista Clayton, 32, a teacher in Lakeland.

The Worthingtons had arrived Saturday in Florida for the Christmas holiday, and John Shannon had filed a flight plan to go to Key West, said Carrie Horstman, a sheriff’s office spokeswoman. No family members were able to be reached for comment.

“This is a tragedy at any time, but it is so much worse because it happened on Christmas Eve,” Judd said.

John Shannon, who graduated in 1975 from Samford University school of law in Homewood, Ala., had been a member of the Florida Bar since 1975, according to state records. The Republican ran for state representative in 2014, but lost in the primary to Colleen Burton, who still holds the office.

He had a private pilot’s license since Oct. 4, 2010, with an instrument rating that allows a pilot to fly solely by referring to flight instruments in clouds or low visibility, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

Around the time of the crash, a National Weather Service observer reported visibility at the Bartow airport to be less than a quarter mile because of fog.

A photographer who was trying to capture the fog at sunrise was recording video that shows the crash, Judd said.

“He said, ‘I couldn’t believe that they were taking off in this fog,’ ” the sheriff said. “There was not one sign of the aircraft that was, obviously, was soaked in a very dense, very heavy fog at the airbase.” Barstow airport is the former Barstow U.S. Air Force base that closed in 1961.

The private plane crashed just north of the airport toward the end of a runway. It left the hangar at 6:30 a.m., before the sun rose, and took off east into heavy fog, Judd said.

► Oct. 10: 2 pilots killed in Navy training jet crash in Tennessee
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“Our heart breaks,” Judd said. “You know, certainly, we wish we could rewind this and if we could, I would wrestle him to the floor to keep him from getting into this airplane this morning,” Judd said.

Last year 386 people were killed in 213 fatal general aviation accidents, an average of fewer than two per crash, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Fewer than 10% of these types of plane crashes result in four or more deaths.

General aviation excludes commercial flights and civilian air transport for hire and often involves planes with fewer than 10 seats.

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More than 9 in 10 plane-crash deaths occur in general-aviation accidents, according to the NTSB. Although the number of general-aviation deaths increased slightly from 2015 to 2016, the number of fatal accidents was down by nearly 20, so the fatal accident rate fell lower than 1 per 100,000 flight hours for the first time in 50 years.

But traffic accidents account for far more transportation deaths, 95% of total transportation deaths, the agency said. In 2016, highway deaths totaled 39,339, up more than 5% from the previous year.

In Florida, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will be investigating Sunday’s plane crash.

Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Andrew Krietz on Twitter: @akrietz

 

Guatemala Will Move Its Israel Embassy to Jerusalem, Following Trump’s Lead

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The consensus of international law is that Jerusalem’s status is unresolved, that claims of sovereignty by Israel are invalid and that the issue must be settled in negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Mr. Trump insisted that he was merely recognizing reality and not prejudging negotiations on the future borders of the city, but Palestinians saw the move as siding with Israel on the most delicate issue in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Last week, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning Mr. Trump’s decision by a vote of 128 to 9, with 35 countries abstaining and 21 countries absent.

Mr. Trump had threatened to cut off aid to countries that did not take the side of the United States, but he has not yet done so, and experts say it would be difficult to do. Many Muslim-majority countries that voted for the resolution, like Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, are strategic partners of the United States in the region.

Guatemala was one of seven countries to join the United States and Israel in voting against the resolution, along with Honduras, Togo, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia — mostly tiny countries heavily dependent on American aid.

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Guatemala was one of the first nations to recognize the state of Israel upon its establishment in 1948.

Mr. Morales’s decision was immediately seen as an effort to curry favor with Mr. Trump and, perhaps, to distract attention from his political problems at home. His brother and his son are under investigation by an anticorruption commission that has been strongly backed by the United States and the United Nations.

Mr. Morales has clashed with the commission and even tried to expel its chief in August before he was stopped by the country’s highest court.

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The commission relies on a close relationship with Guatemala’s attorney general to pursue its cases. Washington will be watching to see whether a new attorney general, to be appointed next year when the term of Attorney General Thelma Aldana expires, will prove as committed to collaborating with the commission, known by its Spanish initials as the Cicig.

Winning the favor of the Trump administration could prove helpful to Mr. Morales if the new attorney general he selects proves less cooperative with the commission.

Guatemala is also awaiting the approval of aid under an Obama administration initiative set up to stem Central American migration to the United States.

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in 1967 and is home to sites important to Jews, Muslims and Christians. Under multiple Security Council decisions, East Jerusalem and the West Bank are considered occupied territory.

Mr. Trump’s announcement set off weeks of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces that have left 12 Palestinians dead.

Correction: December 25, 2017

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article misstated Benjamin Netanyahu’s title. He is Israel’s prime minister, not president.

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