North America

24 June 2019; MEMO: US President Donald Trump has dismissed a UN request for further investigation into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by citing America’s multi-billion dollar trade with Riyadh.

In an interview yesterday with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump said that Khashoggi’s killing had been thoroughly investigated. His remarks suggested that any further probe into the grisly murder of the Washington Post journalist may jeopardise America’s multibillion dollar arms deal.

24 June 2019; AFP: A woman boarded an Air Canada flight earlier this month, fell asleep after takeoff and woke up alone in a dark, parked plane, apparently forgotten about by ground staff.

Tiffani Adams's story was posted by a friend on Air Canada's Facebook page, drawing incredulous reactions from readers and a request for details from the airline.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 24 (APP): United Nations Secretary-General Antonios Guterres has condemned the assassination of the chief of staff of Ethiopia’s army and killing of a regional governor in what the Ethiopian government has described as a regional coup attempt.

In a statement released on Sunday, he said he was “deeply concerned by the weekend’s deadly incidents”.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he hesitated to back a possible 2024 presidential run by Vice President Mike Pence because he was caught off-guard by the question. Given a chance at a do-over, however, Trump still did not endorse his loyal lieutenant.

“You can’t put me in that position,” Trump said June 14 when a host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends” asked him about endorsing Pence should the vice president seek to succeed Trump in 2024. Pence hasn’t explicitly said he’ll run in 2024, but is widely expected to.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Days before the first Democratic presidential debates, Sen. Bernie Sanders and House progressives are unveiling legislation cancelling all student debt, going further than a signature proposal by Sen. Elizabeth Warren as the two jockey for support from the party’s liberal base.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has a silent partner behind several of the accomplishments he likes to boast about: Barack Obama.

Despite assailing his Democratic predecessor for waging a “cruel and heartless war on American energy,” for example, Trump can brag about U.S. energy supremacy thanks to the sector’s growth in the Obama years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on tensions between the U.S. and Iran and in the Persian Gulf (all times local):

3 a.m.

Iran’s naval chief is threatening the United States, saying Tehran is capable of shooting down other American spy drones such as the one downed last week by Revolutionary Guard forces.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency carried Rear Adm. Hossein Khanzadi’s warning on Monday, made during a meeting with a group of defense officials.

NEW YORK (AP) — Fifty years after humans first visited, businesses are still trying to make a buck off the moon.

Hundreds of millions of people were riveted when Apollo 11 landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. Naturally, marketers jumped at the chance to sell products from cars and televisions, to cereal and a once-obscure powdered drink called Tang.

They are at it again in 2019, as the 50th anniversary of the giant leap for mankind approaches.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States must do a better job communicating with families of American hostages held overseas, including telling “hard truths” to loved ones about the chances for rescue and clarifying the government’s position on ransom payments to captors, according to a new report.

The report also says hostages who do make it home need more support, including for financial and mental health problems, and that Americans unlawfully detained by foreign governments should get the same level of attention from the U.S. as hostages held by terror groups.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg faced criticism Sunday from angry residents of South Bend, Indiana, at an emotional town hall meeting a week after a white police officer fatally shot a black man in the city where he is mayor.

Buttigieg (BOO’-tuh-juhj) said he would call for an outside investigation of the shooting of 54-year-old Eric Logan by Sgt. Ryan O’Neill.