Top Stories Today – June 21, 2019
Top Stories Today – June 21, 2019
Global carriers to avoid strait of Hormuz
Major airlines from around the world on Friday began rerouting their flights to avoid areas around the Strait of Hormuz following Iran’s shooting down of a US military surveillance drone there, as America warned commercial airliners could be mistakenly attacked.
The Federal Aviation Administration warned of a “potential for miscalculation or misidentification” in the region after an Iranian surface-to-air missile on Thursday brought down a US Navy RQ-4A Global Hawk, an unmanned aircraft with a wingspan larger than a Boeing 737 jetliner and costing over $100 million. The US said it made plans for limited strikes on Iran in response, but then called them off. Australia’s Qantas, British Airways, Dutch carrier KLM, Emirates, Germany’s Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines said soon afterward that they will avoid the region as well. The Associated Press
Trump approved military retaliation against Iran
National security officials in Washington are declining comment on media reports that US President Donald Trump approved military strikes against in Iran Thursday but then pulled back from launching them for unknown reasons. Trump initially authorized attacks on a handful of Iranian targets, such as radar and missile batteries, as first reported by The New York Times.
The Washington Post and other media subsequently also reported that administration officials said the president approved the counterstrikes. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the Iranian government told the news agency that it had received a message from President Trump via Oman overnight, warning of an imminent attack on Iran. Reuters said that Tehran’s immediate response to Trump’s message was a stark warning over “regional and international” consequences if US undertakes any military action. The Voice of America
India: Relationship with US positive
Ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to New Delhi next week, the Indian foreign ministry said that the “overall direction of the relationship with the US remains very positive.” Pompeo’s visit from June 25th, aimed at strengthening their strategic partnership, will be first high-level engagement between the two countries since Prime Minister Narendra Modi won reelection. But the visit comes in the wake of rising trade tensions between the two countries after Washington ended preferential treatment for India this month and New Delhi slapped higher tariffs on 28 American goods.
Playing down reports of growing friction on the economic front, foreign ministry spokesman, Raveesh Kumar, said on Thursday that despite all the talk about trade issues, overall trade between the two countries has grown to $ 150 billion. “We look upon this visit as an opportunity to discuss all the issues which will be on the table.” The Voice of America
Senate blocks Trump’s arm sales to Mid-east
The Senate voted to block the sale of billions of dollars of munitions to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, in a sharp and bipartisan rebuke of the Trump administration’s attempt to circumvent Congress to allow the exports by declaring an emergency over Iran.
In three back-to-back votes, Republicans joined Democrats to register their growing anger with the administration’s use of emergency power to cut lawmakers out of national security decisions, as well as the White House’s unflagging support for the Saudis despite congressional pressure to punish Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after the killing in October of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A United Nations report released Wednesday made the most authoritative case to date that responsibility for the killing and its cover-up lies at the highest levels of the Saudi royal court. The New York Times
Kids taking care of kids in US migrant facility
A 2-year-old boy locked in detention wants to be held all the time. A few girls, ages 10 to 15, say they’ve been doing their best to feed and soothe the clingy toddler who was handed to them by a guard days ago. Lawyers warn that kids are taking care of kids, and there’s inadequate food, water and sanitation for the 250 infants, children and teens at the Border Patrol station.
The bleak portrait emerged Thursday after a legal team interviewed 60 children at the facility near El Paso that has become the latest place where attorneys say young migrants are describing neglect and mistreatment at the hands of the US government. Data obtained by The Associated Press showed that on Wednesday there were three infants in the station, all with their teen mothers, along with a 1-year-old, two 2-year-olds and a 3-year-old. There are dozens more younger than 12. Fifteen have the flu, and 10 more are quarantined. The Voice of America
EU extends sanctions on Russia
The European Union has extended economic sanctions against Russia over the turmoil in eastern Ukraine and demands Russian cooperation with the probe into the shootdown of a Malaysian passenger jet. “Russia sanctions are unanimously extended for another six months because of a lack of Minsk Agreements implementation,” an EU spokesman said Thursday. He was referring to the 2014 deal that was intended to stop the fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces.
Separate sanctions banning the EU from doing businesses in Russian-annexed Crimea were renewed for another year. The EU also says it is considering a measure to refuse to recognize Russian passports issued in eastern Ukraine. EU leaders are also demanding Russia “cooperate fully” with the Dutch-led investigation into the 2014 shootdown of a Malaysian passenger jet over eastern Ukraine that killed 298. Prosecutors Wednesday charged three Russians — Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Oleg Pulatov — and a Ukrainian, Leonid Karchenko, with murder. The Voice of America
US markets surged yesterday
US markets notched solid gains Thursday on signs of impending rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 setting a new all-time high and putting the index on track for its best June since 1955. The S&P 500 beat its own record shortly after the markets opened, then climbed further to close at 2,954.18. The Dow Jones industrial average also surged, climbing nearly 250 points and coming within 1 percent of its own record.
US markets held steady and remained in positive territory this week after Trump announced he would be meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the upcoming G-20 summit in Japan, giving investors hope for a truce in the US-China trade war. Economists and business leaders have been pressing for de-escalation over worries that a protracted fight might weaken the economy, both domestically and globally. The Washington Post
US defeats Sweden in Women’s World Cup
The US Women’s team sailed past Sweden on Thursday, winning 2-0 and finishing the group stage of the Women’s World Cup at the top of the pack. With a goal from Lindsey Horan and an own goal from Sweden’s Jonna Andersson, the US held strong and is in first place within its group, which also includes Chile and Thailand, who the US previously defeated.
The US set a new scoring record, with 18 goals scored and zero conceded in the first three games of the Women’s World Cup. The team will go on to play Spain in the round of 16 knockout phase of the tournament; Spain finished second in its group, behind Germany. CBS Sports via The Week