U.S. and world news for Oct. 21

Trump begins demolishing part of the White House

The East Wing of the White House is being demolished on orders of Donald Trump. The Washington Post was first to show what is happening as a result of it shooting photos from a nearby building of heavy-duty equipment at work tearing down the historic structure. Trump said in a social media post that the work is necessary to build his 90,000-square-feet $250 million ballroom. Trump previous had promised that the new ballroom would be separate from the existing White House and the existing White House would not be touched. The National Capital Planning Commission, General Services Administration and National Park Service each have certain responsibilities for maintaining the integrity and historical and architectural value of the White House. Trump gave no indication receiving their approvals to begin demolishing the East Wing.

Comey’s attorneys ask that charges be thrown out

Attorneys for Former FBI Director James Comey launched two efforts Monday to have the federal charges he faces for allegedly lying during congressional testimony thrown out: one that claims his case is the result of a personal vendetta by Donald Trump, and one that says the case is illegitimate. The motions begin Comey’s official defense in the case brought by Trump’s Justice Department in late September. He has pleaded not guilty to the two charges he faces for lying and obstruction. Comey’s attorneys argue that his case was “singled out” for prosecution because he has publicly criticized Trump, and Trump has made no secret of his hatred for Comey. “Objective evidence establishes that President Trump directed the prosecution of Comey in retaliation for Comey’s public criticisms and to punish Comey because of personal spite,” Comey’s attorneys said in court documents.

Colombian ambassador recalled

Colombia has recalled its ambassador to the United States “for consultations,” the Colombian Embassy in Washington has announced. The move comes after Donald Trump accused Colombia’s President Petro of being “an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs.” Trump also threatened to cease “large scale payments and subsidies” to Colombia. This is the second time the Colombian ambassador to Washington has been recalled this year. In July, the Colombian ambassador was called home after Petro alleged that the U.S. supported a plot to remove him from power. Petro accused Trump of murder for ordering attacks on boats in international waters that left 30 people dead, some of whom were Colombian.

Tylenol manufacturer defends its product

Kenvue, the American company that makes Tylenol, says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should not make proposed changes to the product’s safety label. President Trump and his Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kenendy Jr. without evidence have claimed that Tylenol causes autism. Kenvue says that acetaminophen, the generic name for the painkiller is “one of the most studied medicines in history” and that “adoption of the proposed labeling revisions would be arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law.” Tylenol’s current label instructs people who are pregnant or breastfeeding to “ask a health professional before use.” The FDA sent a letter to physicians saying that the choice to take Tylenol “still belongs with parents.” The letter also noted that a causal relationship between Tylenol and autism has not been established and that studies about a link are “contradictory.”

Government shutdown is in 21st day

The ramifications of the government shutdown are being felt across the federal workforce, with Senate staffers now informed they will go without pay for the duration of the funding lapse. As the stalemate enters its 21st day, both parties face mounting pressure to resolve the gridlock, with hundreds of thousands of government workers still furloughed. These workers are not currently receiving paychecks, but are expecting to get back pay after the shutdown ends — though Trump has refused to commit to providing it to all of them. Meanwhile, the TSA says staffing shortages at some U.S. airports are causing more delays for passengers. An increased number of air traffic controllers have called out sick to protest the shutdown or have taken part-time jobs to earn money, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said.

Amazon says its computing systems are now OK

Amazon says its systems are back online after Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing platform that powers much of the internet, went down for several hours on Monday. Many major websites and apps — including Snapchat, Facebook and Fortnite — were impacted. Banks and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase also reported issues, as did several U.S. airlines. The root cause of the outage remains unknown, but there is “no sign” that this was a cyberattack, a cybersecurity expert told CNN. Past outages on this scale have been caused by a wide variety of errors, including faulty updates, the accidental injection of bad code, or a change to third-party software that doesn’t play nicely with a service.