— President Donald Trump suggested he might seek to impose tariffs on Mexico after hailing his administration’s last-minute deal as a “successful agreement.” Alongside key administration officials, the president disputed a New York Times report claiming Friday’s deal had been negotiated months ago. The report acknowledged Mexico’s pledge to deploy up to 6,000 national guard troops to its southern border with Guatemala was “larger than their previous pledge.” U.S. officials have been working to expand the migrant program and said Friday’s agreement was a push in the right direction. Trump wrote a series of tweets explaining the matter and called the report another false report. According to Fox News, the agreement between the U.S. and Mexico headed off a 5% tax on all Mexican goods that Trump threatened to impose Monday. The tariffs were set to raise 15% on Aug. 1, to 20% Sept. 1, and to 25% Oct. 1. Trump has said the threat to impose tariffs is not completely removed. Mexican officials have insisted they would remain active in negotiations with the Trump administration.
— Severe weather in Dallas caused a crane to fall on a downtown apartment building, killing one person. The National Weather Service reported the Dallas/Fort Worth area and surrounding cities were under a severe thunderstorm watch Sunday with high winds and large hail in certain areas. CBS Dallas/Fort Worth reported one death after a crane collapsed on the building while six other people were taken to the hospital for injuries. A fire rescue spokesman told the Associated Press late Sunday that first-responders had searched accessible apartments and found no one inside. AP said building management has decided to evacuate the building and move residents to hotels. According to CBS News, video of the crane collapse was captured by Dallas residents on Twitter. A photo was also shared on Twitter by the DFW Scanner. The collapse of the crane comes as strong weather and storms it the Dallas metropolitan area. According to the National Weather Service, the region spanning Texas Hill County and Dallas Fort Worth were experiencing severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds, large hail and possible tornadoes.
— Imports from China have reportedly dropped to the lowest point in almost three years. Exports surprisingly rose for May as the trade war between the United States and China continues. Many imports fell 8.5%. According to Reuters, that is sharper than the 3.8% analysts had forecast. President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on a range of Chinese goods as well as threatened more if a trade deal is not reached between the U.S. and China. According to The Hill, some analysts told Reuters they suspect the rise in exports is due to Chinese exporters wanting to rush shipments to the U.S. ahead of the threatened tariffs.
— Beijing has backed Hong Kong’s government over the controversial plan to allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland. On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing would “continue to firmly support” Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam. Lam vowed to push ahead with the new law despite massive protest against it. An editorial in the Chinese-language edition of the Global Times said, “It is very noteworthy that some international forces have significantly strengthened their interaction with the Hong Kong opposition in recent months.” Lam defended the proposed amendments. They would allow for case-by-case extraditions to jurisdictions, including mainland China, beyond the 20 states Hong Kong already has treaties. According to Aljazeera, critics fear the changes could make Hong Kong residents vulnerable to politically motivated charges in China’s notoriously opaque court system. Lam, who was elected chief executive in 2017, denied taking orders from the Chinese government. She told reporters, “I have not received any instruction or mandates from Beijing to do this bill. We were doing it — and we are still doing it — out of our clear conscience and commitment to Hong Kong.” On Sunday, more than 1 million people came to the financial hub’s streets to demonstrate against the bill and call for it to be scrapped.
— An Indian court on Monday convicted six men over the kidnapping, rape and murder of a young Muslim girl last year. The men, who included police officers, were given sentences ranging from five years to life in prison for their crimes. A seventh man was acquitted for lack of evidence. The crime is noteworthy for the role of religion in heightened tensions. According to investigators, the man behind the entire crime, Sanji Ram, had targeted the 8-year-old girl in an effort to strike fear in her Mulsim nomadic tribe, the Bakarwal. This was an effort to drive them from the Himalayan region where they live as shepherds. According to the New York Times, the girl was kidnapped from a meadow and locked in a remote Hindu temple in the district of Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir. Several men, all of them Hindu, drugged, starved and raped her before she eventually was strangled and hit in the head with a rock. Her body was left in a forest. In April 2018, the Indian Express published graphic details of the case from a police report. The crime quickly became a religious flashpoint in India, with some Hindu nationalists rallying to the side of the men. They said the men had been set up and were innocent. A special court in Punjab handed down the verdict that was based on testimony from more than 100 witnesses.
— Russia’s three main newspapers put out nearly identical front pages Monday to support a detained journalist. Kommersant, Vedomosti and RBK published a joint editorial under the headline “I am/We are Ivan Golunov.” Golunov was beaten and kept in custody for 12 hours without a lawyer after being stopped by police in Moscow on Thursday. The journalist was transferred to house arrest Saturday following a public outpouring of support. Golunov still faces drug dealing charges that could land him as much as 20 years in prison. He was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying, “I did not commit a crime. I am ready to cooperate with the investigation. I have nothing to do with the drugs.” Pavel Chikov, head of the lawyer association that represents Golunov, published the results of the tests he had taken to prove his innocence. Chikov said the tests indicated it was unlikely Golunov regularly handles drugs like the police claim he does. According to CBS News, in an apparent attempt to portray Golunov has a professional drug dealer, police on Friday released several photos reportedly from his home of what appeared to be a drug lab. The statement was retracted, and the photos were said to have been taken somewhere else. Golunov rose to prominence with his investigations into corruption at the Moscow City Hall. He told the courts Saturday that he had received threats related to his investigation into Moscow’s funeral business.
Compiled by Jenna Holley, TMN