Tuesday morning news: June 25, 2019

Trump issues new sanctions on top Iranian officials » President Trump signed an executive order on Monday targeting Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei and his associates with new sanctions. 

TRUMP: The supreme leader of Iran who ultimately is responsible for the hostile conduct of the regime. 

The sanctions will block the Iranian officials from accessing money under U.S. jurisdiction. The move follows Iran’s downing of a $100 million U.S. surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz. But Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said these sanctions are just part of the ongoing pressure campaign. 

MNUCHIN: The executive order that the president signed was in the works previously. These actions are people who have either made threats or specific things. 

Mnuchin said the sanctions will lock up billions more in Iranian assets. 

The president called off a retaliatory airstrike last week and said the U.S. stands ready to talk. 

Iran lashed out on Monday, threatening to shoot down more U.S. drones. President Trump would not say how he’ll respond if it happens again. 

Trump signs order to bring transparency to healthcare costs » The president also signed an executive order Monday aimed at making it easier for Americans to understand their healthcare bills and make informed choices. WORLD Radio’s Kristen Flavin has more. 

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: At a signing ceremony at the White House, President Trump said “Hospitals will be required to publish prices that reflect what people pay for services.”

The idea is to give patients information to help them shop and compare and find the lowest prices for healthcare services. 

The order also requires that patients be told ahead of time what out-of-pocket costs in the form of deductibles and copays they will pay.

The Trump administration says arming consumers with more information will dramatically cut healthcare costs. But insurers say the idea could backfire if hospitals that now give deeper discounts try to raise their own negotiated prices to match what high-earners are getting.

Nothing will change anytime soon. The order calls for federal agencies to write the rules. That usually takes months or even years. 

Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Kristen Flavin. 

Buttigieg faces tough questions over police shooting » A tense scene inside a town hall meeting in South Bend, Indiana, this week. 

AUDIO: [Sound of town hall]

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is the mayor of that city. He faced tough questions from angry residents about a police shooting one week earlier. 

Tempers flared when some questioned whether the mayor had done enough to reform the police department in South Bend. The city is home to about 100-thousand residents. Roughly one-quarter are African American.

Buttigieg conceded his administration had failed on two key initiatives recruiting more minority officers and increasing the use of police body cameras. 

BUTTIGIEG: At the end of the day, I’m responsible.

The June 16 shooting reportedly happened after Sgt. Ryan O’Neill responded to a call about a suspicious person going through vehicles. He spotted 54-year-old Eric Logan leaning inside a car. A prosecutor said when confronted, Logan approached O’Neill with a knife raised over his head. O’Neill then shot and killed him.

Prosecutors say the officer’s body camera did not record the shooting. Buttigieg has requested an outside investigation. 

Driver of deadly crash in N.H. arrested, charged » The driver of the truck involved in a deadly crash last week in New Hampshire that killed seven motorcyclists now faces seven counts of negligent homicide. 

Police arrested 23-year-old Volodymyr Zhukovskyy at his home in West Springfield, Massachusetts. He faced a judge on Monday, agreeing to return to New Hampshire. 

AUDIO: Understanding that you have these rights, to you wish to waive your rights to interstate rendition proceedings and return to the state of New Hampshire? Yes. 

Zhukovskyy’s pickup truck, towing a flatbed trailer, collided with a group of 10 motorcycles Friday on a rural two-lane highway.

The Westfield News reports that Zhukovskyy was arrested on drunken driving charges last month and in 2013. But authorities questioned him at the scene of the crash last week and allowed him to return home to Massachusetts.

General accused of plotting coup in Ethiopia killed » In Ethiopia, security forces have killed the brigadier general accused of leading a failed coup against a regional government. WORLD Africa reporter Onize Ohikere reports. 

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: The prime minister’s office said Monday that General Asamnew Tsige died in a firefight with security forces. It happened near Bahir Dar in the northern part of the country. 

Ethiopian forces began searching for the general after soldiers loyal to him attacked a meeting of the Amhara government on Saturday. The soldiers killed the regional governor and his adviser. Another official later died of his wounds.

According to Ethiopian media reports, Asmnew Tsige had recently incited a rebellion in Amhara through social media posts.

Officials cut off access to the internet across Ethiopia following Saturday’s killings.

Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Onize Ohikere.

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) President Donald Trump holds up an executive order he just signed on improving price and quality transparency in healthcare at the White House in Washington, Monday, June 24, 2019. 

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