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Top Stories Today – June 24, 2019


   

 

Top Stories Today – June 24, 2019

Kim Jong Un praises letter from Trump

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has received a personal letter from US President Donald Trump and is contemplating its contents, North Korean state media reported Sunday. The official Korean Central News Agency posted a picture of a pensive Kim holding a letter, apparently with White House letterhead. The report quoted Kim as praising its “excellent content.”

“Appreciating the political judging faculty and extraordinary courage of President Trump, Kim Jong Un said that he would seriously contemplate the interesting content,” KCNA reported. The report did not say anything else about the content of the letter. The Voice of America

 

 

US to introduce new Iran Sanctions

The United States is set to introduce new sanctions against Iran on Monday, seeking to put additional pressure on the country’s economy in order to extract changes in behavior from its government. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the new measures “significant,” but declined to give specific details to reporters ahead of the official announcement.

He spoke just before embarking on a trip to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to continue the Trump administration’s effort to build a coalition of allies to counter Iran.  Pompeo met Monday with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Voice of America

 



 

 

Blow for Erdogan in re-run Istanbul poll

Turkey’s ruling AK Party has lost control of Istanbul after a re-run of the city’s mayoral election, delivering a stinging blow to President Erdogan. With nearly all ballots counted, main opposition party candidate Ekrem Imamoglu had a lead of 775,000 votes, a huge increase on the margin of 13,000 he achieved in the earlier election. That victory in March was annulled after the AKP alleged irregularities. The result ends 25 years of AKP rule in Istanbul.

The AKP’s candidate, former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, conceded to his opponent. On Twitter, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote: “I congratulate Ekrem Imamoglu who has won the election based on preliminary results.” Erdogan had previously said that “whoever wins Istanbul, wins Turkey”. He has ruled the country since 2003 both as prime minister and now president, becoming the most powerful leader since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic. BBC

 

 

France braces for 40c heatwave

France is braced for a heatwave with temperatures forecast to exceed 40C this week – potentially breaking the record for June. Temperatures are expected to reach 35 degrees or more on Monday, and climb even further until the peak on Thursday and Friday. France, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium could all see national records for June broken in the coming days – but France is particularly aware of the dangers posed by the hot weather.

Comparisons are being drawn to the heat wave France experienced in August 2003 – in which almost 15,000 people died. In the space of a single month, the top three temperatures ever recorded were all set, topping out at 44.1C on 12 August. BBC

 

 

Bernie Sanders to propose plan to eliminate student debt

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will propose on Monday eliminating all $1.6 trillion of student debt held in the United States, a significant escalation of the policy fight in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary two days before the candidates’ first debate in Miami.

Sanders is proposing the federal government pay to wipe clean the student debt held by 45 million Americans — including all private and graduate school debt — as part of a package that also would make public universities, community colleges and trade schools tuition-free. Sanders is proposing to pay for these plans with a tax on Wall Street his campaign says will raise more than $2 trillion over 10 years, though some tax experts give lower revenue estimates. The Washington Post

 

 

Joe Sestak announces run for 2020 WH race

Retired Navy admiral and former Pennsylvania congressman Joe Sestak announced his candidacy Sunday on his website. He introduced himself to voters by telling them “I wore the cloth of the nation for over 31 years in peace and war, from the Vietnam and Cold War eras to Afghanistan and Iran and the emergence of China.” He said he postponed announcing his candidacy to care for a daughter ill with brain cancer.

Sestak was also part of former US President Bill Clinton’s national security team, holds a doctorate in government from Harvard, and unsuccessfully ran for the US Senate twice. He embraces many positions popular with liberals, including abortion rights, gun control, and backs the nuclear deal with Iran. Sestak is the 24th Democrat to officially announce a challenge to President Donald Trump in 2020, with Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren leading the polls so far. The Voice of America

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