Nation, world briefs 10/12/2015

Panama condo site fires Donald Trump

PANAMA CITY -- The directors of the Trump Ocean Club met July 28 on urgent business. They needed to fire Donald Trump. The building's residents and condo owners had invested in the namesake, a 70-story waterfront tower along Panama Bay, on the strength of Trump's reputation. But during the four years Trump Panama Condominium Management LLC had managed the property, a team installed by the Trump family was accused of running up more than $2 million in unauthorized debts, paying its executives undisclosed bonuses and withholding basic financial information from owners, according to an Associated Press examination. The Trumps had done this through fine-print chicanery, the board said. A clause in many residents' purchase agreements prevented them from voting against the Trump company's wishes. That allowed the Trumps to install their top employee as chairman and the residents' representative on the board, although the Trumps' stake in the building's residential area was merely a storage closet on the 15th floor. The Trump Organization sent its response days later. "Your letter is a complete sham," wrote the Trumps' top lawyer, Alan Garten. He accused the board of ingratitude and criminal trespassing. After refusing to accept being fired, Garten declared Trump's company was quitting -- and demanded a $5 million termination fee.

Merkel: No new tax for migrant care

BERLIN -- Germany will not have to raise taxes to help pay for the hundreds of thousands of refugees and other migrants who have been flooding into the country, Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an interview released Sunday, and the government should have new regulations in place by November to help deal with the influx. Germany expects at least 800,000 newcomers this year, if not more, but Merkel told Bild newspaper in a preview of an interview to be printed in today's edition there "definitely" would be no tax increases to help care for them. "We can be pleased that we have been well managed for years and that our economic situation is currently good," she said. Merkel, who has seen her popularity dip slightly amid concerns over the increase in asylum seekers, also sought to allay fears the numbers could overwhelm the country's health-care system. Nobody should "worry that a refugee will take away from their own quality of care."

Off-duty Memphis cop shot to death

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- An off-duty police officer died Sunday after being shot several times, the fourth Memphis police officer to be shot fatally in slightly more than four years, authorities said. Memphis Police director Toney Armstrong said 31-year-old Terence Olridge was taken Sunday to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, where he later died. Armstrong said officers got a call about 1 p.m. about a shooting at a home in the Memphis suburb of Cordova. He said a male suspect is in custody but didn't say whether the person has been charged. Armstrong said the investigation is ongoing, and "details are sketchy." In August, Memphis police officer Sean Bolton was shot dead in the line of duty.

-- From wire reports