North America

WASHINGTON, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military said on Friday that Pentagon has authorized the movement of military personnel and resources to Saudi Arabia to help deter "credible threats."

The move would provide "an additional deterrent, and ensures our ability to defend our forces and interests in the region from emergent, credible threats," U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

According to the statement,the Pentagon made the decision at the invitation of Saudi Arabia.

NEW YORK (AP) — When special counsel Robert Mueller closed the books on the Russia investigation, he produced a report of more than 400 pages, and Attorney General William Barr held a news conference outlining the reasons the Justice Department didn’t charge President Donald Trump.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump can tell Rep. Ilhan Omar to “go back” to Somalia all he wants. All indications suggest she’s not going anywhere.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Wall Street Journal says Equifax will pay around $700 million to settle with the Federal Trade Commission over a 2017 data breach that exposed Social Security numbers and other private information of nearly 150 million people.

The Journal, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, said the settlement could be announced as soon as Monday. Equifax declined to comment.

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — As her campaign bus trundled along Interstate 80 toward the Michigan-Ohio border, Kirsten Gillibrand was offering wedding planning advice to one of her presidential campaign staffers who recently got engaged.

The New York senator recommended a Christmas wedding, preferably on a Caribbean island, until a senior aide intervened — reminding Gillibrand that the staffer will be “otherwise engaged at Christmas,” which is just six weeks before the Iowa caucuses.

HONOLULU (AP) — Is there life on planets outside our solar system? How did stars and galaxies form in the earliest years of the universe? How do black holes shape galaxies?

Scientists are expected to explore those and other fundamental questions about the universe when they peer deep into the night sky using a new telescope planned for the summit of Hawaii’s tallest mountain.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — In the Spanish colonial fortress that serves as his official residence, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló is under siege.

Motorcyclists, celebrities, horse enthusiasts and hundreds of thousands of ordinary Puerto Ricans have swarmed outside La Fortaleza (The Fort) in Old San Juan this week, demanding Rosselló resign over a series of leaked online chats insulting women, political opponents and even victims of Hurricane Maria.

HOUSTON (AP) — The U.S. government on Friday expanded its requirement that asylum seekers wait outside the country to a part of the Texas Rio Grande Valley across from one of Mexico’s most dangerous cities.

The Department of Homeland Security said that it would implement its Migrant Protection Protocols in Brownsville, Texas, across the border from Matamoros, Mexico. DHS says it anticipates the first asylum seekers will be sent back to Mexico starting Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday reversed his previous criticisms of a North Carolina campaign crowd that chanted “send her back” about a Somali-born congresswoman.

Trump defended the rally-goers as “patriots” while again questioning the loyalty of four Democratic lawmakers of color. His comments marked a return to a pattern that has become familiar during controversies of his own making: Ignite a firestorm, backtrack from it, but then double down on his original, inflammatory position.

UNITED NATIONS, July 19 (APP): A beautifully illustrated book featuring recipes of authentic Pakistani cuisine was launched at a glittering reception, with Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, saying that she helped to commission this for the benefit of the global community at the UN.