North America

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A man charged with killing a rookie California police officer made his first brief court appearance Monday wearing a four-inch gauze pad covering what officials said was a self-inflicted head injury.

Adel Sambrano Ramos was appointed a public defender during a five-minute court hearing, and spoke only to acknowledge his name.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A pathologist testified Monday at a Navy SEAL’s murder trial that a wounded Islamic State militant in Iraq could have died from a stabbing described by other witnesses.

Dr. Frank Sheridan said he couldn’t determine a cause of death because of a lack of evidence. There was no body, no photos of a knife wound and only photos and video shot by other SEALs — not investigators.

NEW YORK (AP) — The shadow of Helsinki lingers. Uncertainties about Russia’s past and future election interference continue. And tensions are high over hot spots from Iran to Venezuela.

When President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet this week on the sidelines of an international summit in Japan, it will mark a new chapter in a much scrutinized relationship that crackles with questions and contradictions. Even as Trump places a premium on establishing close personal ties with Putin, his government has increased sanctions and other pressures on Moscow.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran’s U.N. ambassador warned Monday that the situation in the Persian Gulf is “very dangerous” and called talks with the U.S. impossible in the face of escalating sanctions and intimidation, while the U.S. envoy said the Trump administration’s aim is to get Tehran back to negotiations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris nodded knowingly when a black woman at a weekend candidate forum recounted watching her mother face racial discrimination during her childhood.

“You and I have a similar experience growing up,” said Harris, the California senator and former prosecutor who would be the first black woman elected president. “I don’t talk about it often. But I remember walking into a department store and people looking at my mother assuming she couldn’t afford to buy what she was looking at.”

HAVANA (AP) — Some marble grave covers are broken and tombstones lie on the ground, covered in moss. At some graves, vegetation pokes through the cement cracks.

But slowly, the oldest Jewish cemetery in Cuba is beginning to be rehabilitated, along with the memory of many of the island’s early Jewish forebears

WASHINGTON (AP) — With barely one day on the job, Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper is heading to Europe to try to persuade reluctant and increasingly wary NATO allies to work with the Trump administration on Iran sanctions and security in the Middle East, amid worries that the U.S. and the Islamic Republic may be on a path to war.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The sprawling Democratic presidential field is incredibly diverse, but a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs finds Democrats give a collective shrug to gender, race and age as factors they’re considering when supporting a candidate.

Instead, Democratic registered voters are yearning for experience in elected office. A whopping 73% cited that as a quality that would make them more excited about supporting a presidential candidate.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is threatening to veto a $4.5 billion House bill aimed at improving the treatment of migrant families detained after crossing the U.S. southern border, saying the measure would hamstring the administration’s border security efforts and raising fresh questions about the legislation’s fate.

24 June 2019; MEMO: According to documents released by the White House, the economic aspect of Donald Trump’s peace plan between Palestine and Israel includes granting $9 billion to Egypt, half of which is in the form of soft loans.

The documents revealed that $50 billion will be dedicated to the economic part of the deal of the century, which will be invested in the revival of the Palestinian territories, as well as Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt.