10 things you need to know today: July 15, 2019

1. Trump tells minority congresswomen to 'go back' where 'they came' from

President Trump said via Twitter on Sunday that four Democratic minority congresswomen who have been critical of him should "go back" to "the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came." Trump was widely believed to be referring to progressive lawmakers Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), even though all but Omar (who arrived as a refugee from Somalia at age 12) were born in the U.S. Democrats expressed outrage, calling Trump's remarks xenophobic and racist. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has clashed with the four lawmakers, defended them, saying Trump's comments showed that his Make America Great Again slogan "has always been about making America white again."

The New York Times

2. Djokovic beats Federer to win 2nd straight Wimbledon title

Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer (7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 4-6, 13-12) to win his second straight Wimbledon men's singles title, and his fifth overall. The tennis match lasted just under five hours, and ended in the first ever Wimbledon Gentleman's Final tiebreak. Djokovic, ranked no. 1 in the world, has now won 16 major championships, gaining on Federer, who is the all-time leader with 20. "This has always been the tournament for me," Djokovic, 32, said on the court after receiving his trophy. "I used to make the trophies out of different materials in my room just imagining that I would be standing here." Federer, who was trying for his ninth Wimbledon title, said he hoped his marathon battle against a younger opponent would "give some people a chance to believe that at 37 it's not over yet."

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Yahoo Sports

3. ICE starts limited immigration raids

The Trump administration over the weekend launched a small-scale flurry of raids targeting undocumented immigrants, marking an unexpectedly slow start toward mass deportation round-ups President Trump has vowed to conduct as part of his border crackdown. Trump revealed the plan last month, postponed it, then said Friday it would proceed in about 10 cities. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said there were three Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in his city on Saturday, with no arrests, and none on Sunday. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote an open letter to Trump published Sunday in The Washington Post saying she had ordered her city's police not to cooperate with ICE. She wrote that the raids and other Trump policies have "caused alarm and long-term harm" without making us "safer or stronger as a nation."

Reuters The Washington Post

4. Puerto Rico governor resists calls to resign over messaging scandal

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello on Sunday resisted protesters' calls for his resignation following the publication of private chat messages exchanged between Rossello and some members of his Cabinet in which they mocked political rivals and allies alike. Two senior members of Rosello's government stepped down after the scandal erupted. Rossello asked for forgiveness but said he would stay put. "We do not give up on the work under way," he said in a statement in Spanish. Rossello has less than 18 months remaining in his term, and had been considered likely to seek re-election before Puerto Rico's Center for Investigative Journalism published 889 pages of Telegram messages, which included swipes at critics of his handling of the Hurricane Maria recovery.

The New York Times

5. China's economic growth slows to lowest level in decades

China's economy continued to slow down in the second quarter, with growth dropping to its lowest level in 27 years as Beijing remained locked in a trade war with the U.S., Chinese officials announced Monday. The economy grew 6.2 percent between April and June compared to a year earlier, matching estimates. In June, retail sales went up by 9.8 percent and factory output rose 6.3 percent, while investment gained 5.8 percent during the first half of the year. Following President Trump's decision to impose more tariffs on Chinese goods, exports to the U.S. fell 7.8 percent in June compared to a year ago. Representatives from the U.S. and China are still trying to craft a trade deal between the two countries.

Bloomberg

6. India aborts moon-rover mission shortly before launch

India on Monday aborted the launch of a spacecraft designed to explore the far side of the moon. The Chandrayaan-2 mission was called off less than an hour before liftoff due to a "technical snag" in the 14-story rocket launcher, Indian Space Research Organization spokesman B.R. Guruprasad said. Chandrayaan, which means "moon craft" in Sanskrit, is supposed to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole and deploy a rover to explore water deposits confirmed by a previous Indian space mission. If India does manage the soft landing, it will be just the fourth country to do so, after the U.S., Russia, and China.

The Associated Press

7. New Orleans mayor says city 'spared' by Tropical Storm Barry

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell (D) on Sunday declared that the city had emerged from slow-moving Tropical Storm Barry's heavy rains without suffering the potentially deadly flooding many had feared. "We absolutely made it through the storm. Beyond lucky, we were spared," Cantrell said in a briefing about the storm. "As those [rain] bands moved closer to New Orleans, it just seemed to go around us." Barry briefly became the first hurricane of the 2019 season, before hitting southern Louisiana as a tropical storm. New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and other cities were drenched but escaped a full-blown disaster. Many government officials continued to urge caution, warning that dangerous flooding was still possible as rivers rise even though the storm has moved inland and weakened.

Nola.com The Washington Post

8. Pompeo grants Iran's top diplomat a visa but restricts movements

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late Sunday night that he had granted Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif a visa to visit New York for a United Nations meeting, but that his movements would be limited to traveling between U.N. headquarters, Iran's U.N. Mission office (which is six blocks away), and the nearby Iranian U.N. ambassador's residence. "U.S. diplomats don't roam around Tehran, so we don't see any reason for Iranian diplomats to roam freely around New York City, either," Pompeo said. The U.S. is required to promptly issue visas to foreign diplomats heading to U.N. events in New York, but "nothing more than that," Pompeo said. The Trump administration has considered sanctioning Zarif, which would complicate efforts to resume negotiations on curbing Iran's nuclear program.

The Washington Post

9. American extends Boeing 737 Max flight cancelations

American Airlines has extended the cancelations of its Boeing 737 Max jets through Nov. 3, two months longer than planned. American said the move would result in scrapping about 115 flights per day. United said Friday it was extending its cancelations to November, a month longer than it had previously expected. Airlines around the world grounded their Boeing 737 Max aircraft in mid-March following two deadly crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. A total of 346 people were killed. Boeing came up with a software fix for an anti-stall system on the planes that was believed to have contributed to the crashes by persistently pointing the jets' noses down, apparently due to faulty data. American, which reports earnings in 10 days, has said the grounding cost it $185 million in second-quarter pre-tax income.

CNBC The Associated Press

10. Congo confirms 1st Ebola case in major city of Goma

The Congolese Health Ministry confirmed on Sunday that the Ebola virus has spread to the city of Goma, home to more than one million people. The patient is a pastor who tested positive after being screened at a health center. He arrived in Goma via bus from Butembo, about 125 miles away, and had been meeting with people who have Ebola. Officials said the bus driver and 18 passengers will receive vaccinations on Monday. "Due to the speed with which the patient has been identified and isolated, as well as the identification of all passengers from Butembo, the risk of spreading to the rest of the city of Goma remains low," the health ministry said in a statement. Since the Ebola outbreak began in the eastern part of the country last August, more than 1,600 people have died.

BBC News