- NewsThe Telegraph
Alaskan teenager convinced by online fraudster to murder mentally ill girl for $9 million
The pair spoke online about a plan to rape and murder someone in Alaska, sending Schilmiller videos and photos of the act in exchange for the money. Brehmer then recruited a group of friends, and they chose their victim – Cynthia Hoffman, 19, described as one of Brehmer's best friends, who her father said had a learning disability and the mental age of a 12 year-old. Police said the teenagers agreed to help carry out the murder and in exchange, “all of them would receive a significant sum of money for their part in the planning and/or execution of the murder.
WorldAFPPutin says use of US force against Iran would be 'disaster'
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said any use of force by the US against Iran would lead to disaster as tensions escalate between Washington and Tehran. "The US says it does not rule out the use of force... This would be a disaster for the region," Putin said during an annual televised phone-in with screened questions posed by Russian viewers. Moscow has backed Tehran in its stand off with the United States since Washington pulled out of an international 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran last year.
- WorldReuters
Has "the sacrificial lamb" arrived?: UN cites new recordings in Khashoggi murder
Moments before Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered last October, two of his suspected murderers laying in wait at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate fretted about the task at hand, according to a U.N. report published on Wednesday. Will it "be possible to put the trunk in a bag?" asked Maher Mutreb, a Saudi intelligence officer who worked for a senior advisor to Saudi crown prince, according to a report from the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions. Mutreb and 10 others are now standing trial in closed hearings in Saudi Arabia for their role in the crime.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump kicks off new campaign with airing of old grievances
President Trump stuck to old themes and complaints in his highly touted campaign kickoff speech in Orlando on Tuesday night. The president railed against the “fake news,” “socialism,” investigations into his administration, the Democrats running to replace him, former President Barack Obama and the Clinton family in a speech that lasted well over an hour. Trump framed his re-litigation of the conflicts from the 2016 election and the first half of his presidential term as a defense of his supporters.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Interested in TSA PreCheck? It might soon be cheaper and easier to sign up
The Transportation Security Administration is weighing a variety of options, including a new fee structure and mobile enrollment, to attract more travelers to its PreCheck program. "We want to get people into the program and so we'd like to make it easier,'' TSA Acting Deputy Administrator Patricia Cogswell said in an interview with USA TODAY in Chicago this week. "And that means not only make it easier for them to sign up, but also if they just want to try it out, they don't have to feel like, 'Oh, I spent five years worth of my money.
- NewsThe National Interest
The Stealth Sniper: The F-22 Raptor Has a New Job
Robert Beckhusen Technology, Americas And that means bad news for America's enemies. The flying branch only bought 187 operational Raptors — out of an original goal of 381. The F-22 also won't fly into the 2060s without upgrades.
- NewsAssociated Press
The Latest: Alex Jones sanctioned in Sandy Hook lawsuit
A Connecticut judge has imposed sanctions on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for an outburst on his web show against a lawyer for relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook School shooting. Judge Barbara Bellis on Tuesday ordered the Infowars host to pay some of the relatives' legal fees and prohibited him from filing motions to dismiss their defamation lawsuit against him. The families of several of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 shooting are suing Jones, Infowars and others for promoting a theory that the massacre was a hoax.
- WorldBloomberg
Echoing Beijing, Duterte’s Government Now Calls Boat Collision an ‘Accident’
The Philippine government has fallen in with Beijing's explanation that a Chinese vessel didn't intentionally hit a Filipino boat in the South China Sea on June 9. Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Wednesday described the incident as "just an accident," adding the Chinese vessel may have left after hitting and sinking a Philippine boat with 22 fishermen out of fear of being “besieged” by other boats near Reed Bank. Maybe the other side didn't mean to brush against our boat,” Lorenzana said at a televised briefing in Manila on Wednesday.
- CelebrityArchitectural Digest
You Can Visit These 5 Vanderbilt-Family Homes
Gloria Vanderbilt passed away on Monday at the age of 95, leaving a void in the worlds of fashion, art, and interior design. Before Vanderbilt shared her eclectic home decor style with the world, the railroad fortune heiress's ancestors pioneered the Gilded Age of design, building numerous mansions across the country. Starting with her great-great-grandfather Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt and continuing with subsequent generations of Vanderbilts, the family erected stunning homes, which hosted dignitaries and celebrities alike.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Former Interpol chief pleads guilty in Chinese bribery case amid crackdown by authorities
Meng Hongwei, the former president of Interpol, confessed to accepting more than $2 million (£1.6 million) in bribes and expressed regret for his crime, a Chinese court said Thursday. The No. 1 Intermediate Court in the northeastern port city of Tianjin said Mr Meng read a statement containing the confession at a hearing. Admitting guilt and expressing regret can result in slightly lighter punishment, although China has been quick to hand out life sentences as it cracks down on corruption and political disloyalty under a campaign run directly by the president and head of the ruling Communist Party, Xi Jinping.
WorldAFPNew Zealand opens gun buyback after mosque killings
New Zealand opened a gun buyback scheme Thursday aimed at ridding the country of semi-automatic weapons similar to those used in the Christchurch mosque attacks that killed 51 Muslim worshippers. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed in the hours after the March 15 killings that New Zealand's gun laws would be tightened and her government has expedited the change in just three months. "The buyback and amnesty has one objective -- to remove the most dangerous weapons from circulation following the loss of life at Al Noor and Linwood mosques," Police Minister Stuart Nash said.
- WorldReuters
Iran talking to Russia and China in case EU nuclear deal efforts fail: TASS
Iran is in talks with Russia and China on a possible settlement mechanism in case discussions with EU over a nuclear deal fail, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security council, Ali Shamkhani, said, according to Russia's TASS news agency. Tehran said in May it would reduce compliance with the nuclear pact it agreed with China, Russia and other world powers in 2015, in protest at the United States' decision to unilaterally pull out of the agreement and reimpose sanctions last year. Iran added that it would start enriching uranium at a higher level unless other European signatories to the deal protected its economy from the U.S. sanctions within 60 days.
- U.S.ABC News Videos
Navy SEAL on trial in San Diego, California
Opening statements at the trial of Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher, who is accused of fatally stabbing a wounded teenage ISIS fighter in Iraq and shooting at Iraqi civilians in 2017.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Huge great white shark surprises stunned New Jersey fishermen
NEPTUNE, N.J. – A party of sport fishermen had a rare brush with a huge great white shark Monday off the coast of New Jersey. In an encounter that was very similar to a scene from the 1975 blockbuster "Jaws," the shark came right up to the stern of the boat and grabbed a bag of ground up fish bait called chum. The once-in-a-lifetime experience was caught on video and has shark researchers buzzing.
- BusinessWoman's Day
Add These Expert-Approved Multivitamins to Your Diet ASAP
It's easy to boost your health with these supplements. From Woman's Day
- WorldAssociated Press
As Hong Kong protests quiet down, what's next?
All but a handful of protesters in Hong Kong have gone home, but the crisis that brought hundreds of thousands into the streets to oppose an extradition bill is far from over. The way forward for both Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and her opponents is uncertain because of the limits built into the city's "one country, two systems" arrangement with Beijing after Britain ceded control of the former colony in 1997. The public is wary of seeing Communist Party-ruled Beijing wield still greater influence that would imperil civil liberties such as independent courts and the freedom to speak out against the local government, privileges not enjoyed in the mainland.
- NewsYahoo News
9/11 responder who appeared with Jon Stewart on Capitol Hill is now in hospice care
A cancer-stricken 9/11 first responder who testified alongside Jon Stewart at last week's House Judiciary Committee hearing on reauthorizing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund is now in hospice care. Lou Alvarez, a 53-year-old former NYPD bomb squad detective who appeared with other first responders at the Capitol, said in a Facebook post Wednesday that doctors informed him that his condition had worsened and there is “nothing else” they can do for him. Alvarez, who has colorectal cancer, told the House subcommittee on June 11 that he agreed to testify despite having his 69th round of chemotherapy scheduled for the next day.
- WorldThe National Interest
Naval Expert: Why Russia Never Built Lots of Aircraft Carriers
Robert Farley Security, Europe Simple. The aviation capability of the Russian navy is dangling by a thread. Kuznetsov is old and in poor condition, and no carrier is even close to be laid down.
- WorldBloomberg
As U.S. Boosts Pressure, Iran Tests Trump's Appetite for a Fight
The dilemma emerged again as the administration ordered another 1,000 troops to the region on Monday in response to what Trump officials say was Iran's role in the latest strikes. The Tehran government has rejected those accusations. With the rhetoric on both the American and Iranian sides rising, the relatively small deployment announced Monday appears calibrated to show the U.S. will push back on what it sees as Iran's bad behavior without changing the balance of American power in the region.
- NewsAssociated Press
Investigators crack cold case murder of South Dakota woman
The murder of a pharmacist who was raped and strangled in her home in a South Dakota city more than half a century ago has been solved with the use of DNA technology and genealogy databases, police said. Investigators believe Eugene Carroll Field killed 60-year-old Gwen Miller in 1968 when he was a 25-year-old living in Rapid City, Detective Wayne Keefe said at a news conference Monday. It is "a little surreal" to finally identify the killer after 51 years and up to 5,000 hours of work, Keefe said.
- NewsReuters
Train derails in Nevada, spilling vegetable oil, closing major highway
A Union Pacific freight train derailed in Nevada on Wednesday, spilling vegetable oil and prompting the closure of an interstate highway. The vegetable oil spilled out of one of the 22 derailed cars after the train went off the tracks shortly before 11 a.m. local time, the Elko County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook, citing Union Pacific Railroad officials.
- ScienceBGR News
Mars has a brand new crater, and it sure is pretty
That's exactly what seems to have occurred, and a new image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals a brand new impact site that might only be a few months old. The image, which was captured by the HiRISE camera built into the orbiter, shows a bold dark patch of material surrounding a circular crater on the Martian surface. Researchers believe it might have been created as recently as February 2019.
- NewsThe Guardian
‘Stain of slavery’: Congress debates reparations to atone for America's original sin
For the first time in more than a decade, a debate has taken place between lawmakers in Congress on the original sin of the United States – the enslavement of 4 million Africans and their descendants – and the question of what can be done to atone for it through reparations. As the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates summed up the discussion: “It was 150 years ago and it is right now. The hearing convened poignantly on Juneteenth, marking the day in 1865 when Union troops landed in Galveston, Texas, finally bringing freedom to slaves across the defeated south.
- NewsUSA TODAY
New Jersey man dies vacationing in Dominican Republic, family and State Department confirm
A New Jersey man died on vacation under mysterious circumstances in the Dominican Republic, according to reports from NBC News and local news station WABC. Joseph Allen, 55, was found dead Thursday morning in his hotel room at Terra Linda in Sosua, on the Caribbean country's northern coast. Allen's family and the State Department confirmed his death to WABC-TV.
- NewsAssociated Press
The Latest: Indiana AG's office plans vigorous defense
The Latest on the allegations of groping made against Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill (all times local): 3:45 p.m. The Indiana attorney general's office says it will vigorously defend him against a federal lawsuit by four women who say he drunkenly groped them during a party last year. The lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges sexual harassment by Republican state Attorney General Curtis Hill on a state lawmaker and three legislative staffers in March 2018 at an Indianapolis bar.
