First lady ignores criticism and shuns headscarf

First lady ignores criticism and shuns headscarf

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia

Ignoring President Donald Trump’s past admonition, U.S. first lady Melania Trump did not cover her head Saturday when they arrived in Saudi Arabia on the opening leg of his first international tour since taking office.

Two years ago, then-citizen Trump criticized then-first lady Michelle Obama’s decision to go bare-headed on a January 2015 visit with her husband.

“Many people are saying it was wonderful that Mrs. Obama refused to wear a scarf in Saudi Arabia, but they were insulted. We have enuf enemies,” Trump tweeted at the time, including a short-hand spelling for “enough.”

Head coverings aren’t required for foreigners, and most Western women go without.

Iran’s president trounces hard-liner to secure 2nd term

TEHRAN, Iran

Iran’s moderate President Hassan Rouhani trounced a hard-line challenger to secure re-election Saturday, saying his country seeks peace and friendship as it pursues a “path of coexistence and interaction with the world.”

Friday’s election was widely seen as a referendum on the 68-year-old cleric’s push for greater freedom at home and outreach to the wider world, which culminated in the completion of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal that hard-liners initially opposed.

The nuclear deal won Iran relief from international sanctions in exchange for limits on its contested nuclear program. But Iran continues to suffer from high unemployment and a dearth of foreign investment, putting pressure on Rouhani to show he can do more to turn the sluggish economy around.

Brazil’s leader mounts defense to save his presidency

RIO DE JANEIRO

Fighting to save his job amid a mushrooming corruption scandal, Brazilian President Michel Temer told the nation Saturday that an incriminating audio recording of him had been doctored.

“That clandestine recording was manipulated and doctored with (bad) intentions,” Temer said at a news conference in capital of Brasilia.

Temer said he had filed a petition with the Supreme Federal Tribunal, the country’s highest court, to suspend the corruption investigation into him until experts can analyze the audio that appears to show him endorse the payment of bribes to ex-House Speaker Eduardo Cunha for his silence.

It’s unlikely the court would do that, as it authorized the opening of the investigation into Temer.

Sailor killed at Pearl Harbor finally buried in Michigan

PORT HURON, Mich.

The remains of a Michigan sailor killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor have been buried with military honors in the family’s cemetery plot in Port Huron.

MLive.com reports that more than 300 people attended Saturday’s funeral services for Fred M. Jones after his casket was escorted from a Detroit-area airport.

Karrer-Simpson Funeral Home said in a statement earlier this month that the Navy recently identified Jones’ remains. The 30-year-old was aboard the USS Oklahoma during the attack on Dec. 7, 1941.

Helen Kellie Cosner said Saturday that the turnout for her grandfather’s services was “overwhelming.”

Associated Press