Contractor says suspect in killing of Utah student asked him to build a secret room

A contractor says the man suspected of killing a University of Utah student who vanished nearly two weeks ago had asked him to build a secret soundproof room in his home.

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Pope responds 'with immense sadness' to death of father and daughter who drowned at US-Mexico border

Pope Francis says he is “profoundly saddened” by the deaths of Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his 23-month-old daughter, Angie Valeria, who drowned in the Rio Grande River while trying to reach America.“With immense sadness, the Holy Father has seen the images of the father and his baby daughter who drowned in the Rio Grande River while trying to cross the border between Mexico and the United States,” the Vatican’s interim spokesman, Alessandro Gisotti, said in a statement on Wednesday."The pope is profoundly saddened by their death, and is praying for them and for all migrants who have lost their lives while seeking to flee war and misery,” he added.The photograph of the bodies of the 25-year-old father and his young daughter face down in the Rio Grande has been published around the world, inciting horror and shame over America’s current immigration policy.The pair, along with Tania Vanessa Ávalos, wife of Mr Ramírez and mother to Valeria, were attempting to cross the river at the border crossing between Matamoros, Mexico, and Brownsville, Texas. They’d fled poverty in El Salvator with a humanitarian visa in Mexico two months earlier, and had been awaiting asylum in the US.The pope’s official statement came after off-the-cuff comments during his weekly audience in St Peter’s Square, during which the pontiff complimented the people of Mexico for being “so welcoming to migrants. God bless you.” A group of Mexicans attending reportedly cheered and waved a Mexican flag in response.It's not the first time Pope Francis has shown his support for Mexico's immigration policy, or his criticism for America's. In 2016, Pope Francis criticised then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, suggesting that anyone who wanted to build a wall along the border was “not a Christian."(Outside of Catholicism, the president's immigration policy was warmly received at an evangelical Christian conference in DC yesterday.)On Twitter, the pope appeared to offer a third statement on Thursday morning, writing from his official account, “Blessed are those who believe and who have the courage to foster encounter and communion.”

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As second Democratic debate wraps, Trump camp focuses on Biden

President Trump’s campaign team and allies clearly had their sights set on former Vice President Joe Biden during the second Democratic primary debate on Thursday night.

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Everest queues: 'This person had crampons on the wrong feet'

Tim Mosedale has climbed Everest six times and believes that whilst the queues look bad they're often not the reason people die whilst climbing.

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There are calls for models wearing fake pregnancy bumps in ad campaigns to be banned

There are calls for fashion firms to stop using fake bump models, after reality star Arabella Chi was used as ASOS's maternity model despite never having been pregnant.

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Week in pictures: 22-28 June 2019

A selection of the best news photographs from around the world, taken over the past week.

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Transgender skater fighting to compete

Maria Joaquina is 11-years-old and a prize-winning roller-skater. She is transgender and fighting to compete among girls.

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Who's in the running for Juncker's post and other EU top jobs?

EU leaders will head back to Brussels on Sunday night for a special meeting to try and agree on who should be the next president of the European Commission.

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Trump arrives at G20 complaining about allies Germany, India and his host, Japan

Trump criticized India for imposing tariffs on U.S. products, and again complained that Japan and Germany were not contributing enough to mutual defense treaties.

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Democrat debate recap: Are the candidates' values in line with American voters?

2020 presidential hopefuls call out climate change, China and President Trump as the biggest threats facing the U.S.

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Witness could face perjury charge in Navy SEAL court-martial

A witness who dropped stunning testimony at the war crimes trial of a decorated Navy SEAL by telling the court he had killed an Islamic State captive in Iraq in 2017 — not his accused platoon chief — could now face charges of perjury, according to the Navy. The Navy's legal adviser to the commander overseeing the court-martial of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher notified the witness's lawyer, Brian Ferguson, in an email late Tuesday that the testimony Corey Scott gave last week could be used against him if he lied on the stand or gave a false statement. Cmdr. Tam Lawrence, Naval Special Warfare spokesperson, said Scott was granted immunity in exchange for the promise of truthful testimony.

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China Says Its Demands for a Trade Deal With the U.S. Haven't Changed

(Bloomberg) -- There’s no change to China’s conditions for making a trade deal with the U.S. as the two nations’ leaders prepare to meet this weekend, a government spokesman said.“China’s core concerns must be addressed properly,” Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said at a regular briefing in Beijing Thursday, when asked about the three demands laid out by Vice Premier Liu He in May.In order to reach an agreement the U.S. must remove all extra tariffs, set targets for Chinese purchases of goods in line with real demand and ensure that the text of the deal is “balanced” to ensure the “dignity” of both nations, according to Liu.“We hope the U.S. side could drop its wrong practices, and we can solve the problems through equal dialogue and cooperation,” Gao said.The trade teams are in contact to prepare for the meeting, and the respective negotiators had a good phone call earlier in the week, Gao said, without clarifying whether the trade teams will meet in Osaka before the leaders’ encounter.Separately, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang also briefed reporters in Beijing on Thursday.“The U.S.’s threat to add tariffs cannot scare us,” Geng said. “The Chinese people refuse to be misled and will not be intimidated. So I would like to offer a piece of advice to the U.S. -- starting a trade war and adding tariffs harms itself and others.”To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Miao Han in Beijing at mhan22@bloomberg.net;April Ma in Beijing at ama112@bloomberg.net;James Mayger in Beijing at jmayger@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey Black at jblack25@bloomberg.net, Sharon ChenFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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AOC says three Democratic candidates stood out during 'breakaway' night of debates

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said there were three presidential candidates who stood out during the first Democratic debate \- but that she isn't ready to endorse one just yet. Appearing on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Wednesday, the youngest-ever congresswoman said: “I really do think this was a breakaway night. “I think Elizabeth Warren really distinguished herself. I think Julian Castro really distinguished himself. I think Cory Booker did a great job in talking about criminal justice.” Ms Ocasio-Cortez also expressed her approval of the spotlight candidates put on the transgender community and the immigrant community, calling it an “extraordinary moment”. The congresswoman was also impressed and slightly amused by the decision of some of the candidates to respond to questions in Spanish, telling Colbert she “loved” that there was a lot of Spanglish in the building, but thought it was “humorous at times” as she felt the candidates used the language as a diversion tactic to avoid answering questions. “But it was good. I thought it was a good gesture to the fact that we are a diverse country,” she added. However, the New York congresswoman was less impressed with some of the lesser-known candidates, such as Tim Ryan and John Delaney. When asked about the underdogs of the debate, and whether she could “pick them out in a line up if you had to,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez paused before responding: “You know, sometimes you’re an underdog until you’re not. So, you know, there’s always a chance.”But despite praising three of the candidates, the 29-year-old said she has not endorsed anyone yet. In response to Colbert’s question of whether she was prepared to do so following the first debate, the congresswoman laughed while saying: “No, absolutely not.”

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