A Florida 86-year-old pleaded for his job. Now, he’ll enter a plea on a murder charge

A senior citizen nightmare, losing a long held job when you still need the money, descended a couple of circles when a Belle Glade octogenarian shot the man firing him Friday. PBSO said Cabrera asked his supervisor “to continue to work for another year due to financial reasons.” When the supervisor denied Cabrera's request, PBSO said, “Cabrera became upset, pulled the gun out of his pocket and shot the victim several times, killing him.”

Prosecutors want Capitol riot defendants to pay for damages

The U.S. attorney's office in Washington has determined that the Jan. 6 riot caused nearly $1.5 million in damages to the Capitol, and in their plea agreements, some defendants are being asked to foot part of the bill for repairs. On Wednesday, one of the defendants, 38-year-old Paul Hodgkins of Tampa, Florida, pleaded guilty to one felony count of storming the Capitol to obstruct the certification of the 2020 presidential election. In a plea agreement letter sent to Hodgkins and his attorney last month, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Sedky wrote that Hodgkins acknowledged $1,495,326.55 worth of damage had been caused to the Capitol during the riot, and he agreed to pay $2,000 in restitution to the Treasury Department.

Hungarians protest against planned Chinese university campus

Thousands of Hungarians, some of them holding banners declaring "Treason", protested on Saturday against a Chinese university's plans to open a campus in Budapest. Liberal opponents of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban accuse him of cosying up to China, and fear the campus could undercut the quality of higher education and help Beijing increase its influence in Hungary and the European Union. "I do not agree with our country's strengthening feudal relationship with China," Patrik, a 22-year-old student who declined to give his full name, said at the protest in the Hungarian capital.

It’s Time to Reconsider the Ashtray

Democratizing the smoking accessory for all Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

Return of Marxist Shining Path guerillas stalks Peru's polarising election

Peruvians vote on Sunday for a new president after a polarising hard-Left versus hard-Right campaign dominated by the bloody reemergence of remnants of the Shining Path Marxist terrorists. Pedro Castillo, a radical teachers union leader, faces off against Keiko Fujimori, daughter of the disgraced 1990s strongman Alberto Fujimori, in an election that has left many in the pandemic-ravaged Andean nation in despair. The most recent polls had the pair in a statistical dead heat.

• 
  Peru election: Country on edge ahead of unpredictable run-off

  BBC
• 
  Charges, communism, COVID-19 and a controversial name in Peruvian politics define an election

  LA Times

As Trump visits, NCGOP prepares for 2022 by forming a committee on election integrity

The Election Integrity Committee will launch at the close of this weekend's NCGOP convention in Greenville, where Trump is scheduled to make just his second public appearance since leaving office. The committee will engage with county election boards and the State Board of Elections, make “statutory and administrative rule recommendations,” and recruit poll observers and “election integrity volunteers,” according to the party. NCGOP Chairman Michael Whatley said in a release election integrity is “an issue we must address head-on to move forward as a party and as a country.”

China's COVID-19 vaccines don't appear to be effective at preventing outbreaks in the real world

The World Health Organization recently granted emergency use approval to China's Sinopharm and Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines, but the countries that have put the Chinese-made vaccines in the arms of their residents are reporting mixed results, at best. "In the Seychelles, Chile, and Uruguay, all of whom have used Sinopharm or ... Sinovac in their mass vaccination efforts, cases have surged even as doses were given out," The Washington Post reports.

Venezuela to purchase and manufacture Russia's EpiVacCorona vaccine

Venezuela has reached a deal to purchase doses of Russia's EpiVacCorona vaccine, as well as manufacture the inoculation locally, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said late on Friday. The South American country has to date received three million doses of vaccines against the novel coronavirus, namely the Sputnik V and Sinopharm shots from political allies Russia and China. Venezuela launched a mass inoculation campaign earlier this week, though the government has not provided details on how many people have received shots in the crisis-stricken OPEC nation, which is lagging behind other South American countries in vaccinating its population.

• 
  U.S. sends 1 million J&J COVID-19 vaccine doses to S.Korea -State Dept

  Reuters
• 
  Argentina Formally Starts Producing Russia’s Sputnik Vaccine

  Bloomberg

Mother eulogizes Southern California boy killed in road rage

The mother of a Southern California boy killed in a road rage shooting remembered him Saturday as 6-year-old with a vocabulary beyond his years who exuded warmth and tenderness. The boy was fatally shot in the abdomen on May 21 while seated in the back seat of a car driven by Cloonan, on State Route 55 in the city of Orange. A reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect has grown to at least $500,000, Southern California News Group reported.

In war-ravaged Gaza, it's no business, as usual

In the Karni Industrial Zone on Gaza's eastern edge, the Maatouq factory churned out big plastic tubs of ice cream that made their way to the company's five stores sprinkled throughout the city. Just behind the plant, the Harir factory made its own contribution to compulsive snacking by cranking out salted potato chips, which could be washed down with one of the hundreds of thousands of bottles of Coca-Cola manufactured and stored nearby. Those businesses are now mostly scorched husks of singed metal and melted plastic, casualties of the latest bout of violence last month that pitted Israel against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules over this Mediterranean wedge of territory be...

Mark Meadows reportedly asked acting AG to investigate 'fantastical' election conspiracy theory involving Italy

Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows sent five emails to then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen in late December 2020 and early January 2021 asking him to examine election fraud conspiracy theories, including a "fantastical" one that claimed people in Italy used military technology and satellites to remotely switch votes for former President Donald Trump to votes for President Biden, The New York Times reports after reviewing newly uncovered emails provided to Congress. "Italygate" has been floating around some corners of the internet for a while, but the communications between Rosen and Meadows haven't been previously reported, and the Times writes that the messages show how Meadows "veered into the realm of the outlandish" as he, Trump, and their allies tried "to find some way to undermine" November's results.

Ocasio-Cortez endorses progressive Maya Wiley for New York City mayor

(Reuters) -Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Saturday endorsed Maya Wiley for New York City mayor, boosting Wiley's chances to establish herself as the leading progressive in the crowded race. Speaking at an event outside City Hall in Manhattan, progressive firebrand Ocasio-Cortez called on voters to "come together as a movement" to avoid the city's being run "for billionaires and special interests." More than a dozen Democratic candidates are vying to succeed Mayor Bill de Blasio at the helm of the most populous U.S. city.

• 
  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Endorses Maya Wiley For New York City Mayor

  HuffPost
• 
  Maya Wiley receives endorsement for NYC mayor from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

  WABC – NY

What cops say happened during a Maserati chase on I-95 in Miami-Dade and Broward

A Saturday morning police chase that spanned southern Broward and North Miami-Dade counties ended with one crash, three people arrested and four people — those three and a Miami-Dade police officer — being taken to a hospital, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. All four had injuries that FHP described as “non-life threatening.” Troopers arrested Devona Keon, 32, and James Dasher, 30, on charges of grand theft, driving without a license and fleeing and eluding.

PM-designate asks Lebanon's government to pay dues to Special Tribunal

CAIRO (Reuters) -Prime Minister-Designate Saad al-Hariri asked the Lebanese government on Saturday to pay its dues to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and for the international community to shoulder its responsibility. The tribunal was set up to prosecute those behind the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father, Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. It is 51% funded by voluntary contributions and 49% by the government, and could close after July if the funding shortage is not resolved.

Live updates: Early results show Parker ahead of Peoples in race for Fort Worth mayor

Mattie Parker took an early lead over Deborah Peoples in the race for Fort Worth mayor. Early voting results in Tarrant County showed Parker with 53% of the vote compared to Peoples who had 47%. In Parker County, where 160 people voted earlier, Parker led with 79% of the vote, and in Denton where 510 voters cast early ballots, Parker had 81% of the vote.

Anger as judge compares AR-15s to Swiss Army knives while striking down California assault weapon ban

A federal judge has struck down California's ban on assault weapons, ruling it unconstitutional and offering a strange, almost reverent defense of the AR-15 in his ruling. Judge Roger T Benitez, who has favoured gun rights organisations in previous rulings, described the rifle - which has been the go-to gun for many of the nation's deadliest mass shooters - as the pinnacle of home self-defense. "Like the Swiss Army Knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment," he wrote in his decision on Friday.

• 
  California's 32-yr assault weapons ban overturned

  Reuters Videos
• 
  Judge overturns California’s 32-year ban on assault weapons

  Associated Press

California police arrested two parents who went to a casino hours after their disabled kid starved to death

Two parents were arrested Friday in California after allegedly neglecting their three adopted kids. One of the kids - 15-year-old Karreon Franks - was disabled and died from starvation, the Oregonian reported. Two parents from Vancouver, Washington, were arrested Friday in California on suspicion of second-degree murder and homicide by abuse in the death of their adopted disabled son Karreon Franks.

Trump on idea to run for House seat in 2022 in a bid to become Speaker and launch an impeachment inquiry against Biden: 'It's very interesting'

A radio host suggested to Trump that he should run for a House seat in 2022 and become Speaker. Trump responded that it was a "very interesting" idea and might be better than running for Senate. Trump could, theoretically, become House Speaker - but experts say it is very unlikely.

Passengers on flight to Nashville wrestle with man who tried to get into cockpit screaming 'Stop this plane'

A video captured the moment a man on a flight to Nashville was taken down by attendants and passengers after trying to break into the cockpit shouting: “Stop the plane”. The Delta Airlines flight from Los Angeles made an emergency landing in New Mexico on Friday following the incident involving the unnamed man, as reported by CNN. Several passengers took videos showing the man on the floor of the plane being held down by a number of people as his hands were bound.

• 
  Passenger attempts to break into plane cockpit: Authorities

  ABC News Videos
• 
  Videos shows a man who allegedly tried to hijack a Delta flight being restrained and zip-tied by passengers and flight attendants

  Business Insider

Muslim woman says she was denied an exit row seat aboard a Southwest Airlines flight because of her hijab

A Muslim woman filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation against Southwest Airlines. Fatima Altakrouri said the airline denied her an exit row seat because of her hijab. Altakrouri told USA Today she heard flight attendants saying, "if we sat her there, she'd bring down the plane in an emergency."

Massachusetts GOP chair refused calls from within his party to condemn a colleague who said she was 'sickened' a gay candidate adopted children

The chair of the Massachusetts GOP refused to ask a party leader to resign after she said she was "sickened" by a gay candidate. Nearly every Republican in the state House of Representatives called on him to denounce her. The chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party on Friday refused to condemn or ask for the resignation of a GOP leader who said she was "sickened" by an openly gay congressional candidate adopting children with his husband.

A homeless woman in Oregon died while more than $800,000 of inheritance funds remained in a state bank, report says

A homeless woman, Cathy Boone, died while hundreds of thousands of unclaimed money was held in the state bank. Boone's mother died in 2016, and her mother's estate tried to contact her multiple times but failed, KGW reported. A homeless woman in Oregan died while nearly $900,000 of inherited funds was being held by the state, according to KGW.

Beauty Myth author Naomi Wolf suspended from Twitter after sharing vaccine disinformation

The controversial American author and anti-vaxxerNaomi Wolf has been suspended from Twitter after spreading misinformation. The 58-year-old writer with more than 140,000 followers was suspended by the social media giant on 4 June following months of questionable posts including that vaccines let you “travel back in time”. Some Twitter users marked the move by posting some of their favourite tweets from her, including when she called Belfast in the 1970s during the Troubles “peaceful” and her horror at a stuffed teddy bear promoting a Covid-19 vaccine.

Coca-Cola vending machines have been removed from a North Carolina county's offices over its CEO's stance on a Georgia voting law. It follows conservatives' previous calls to boycott the company.

A North Carolina county banned Coca-Cola vending machines in the wake of the Georgia voting law. Surry County officials voted to remove them after Coca-Cola's negative comments, NBC News reported. The Georgia law "is unacceptable, it is a step backward," Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey told CNBC.

• 
  County bans Coca-Cola machines after company criticizes Georgia voting law

  TODAY
• 
  NC county bans Coca-Cola machines over Georgia voting law

  CBS News