- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump defense on Russian bounty story falls flat, even with Republicans
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany continued to defend President Trump on Tuesday in the wake of reporting by the New York Times and confirmation by other news outlets that intelligence officials had concluded in 2019 that Russia's government offered bounties to Taliban fighters for killing American troops in Afghanistan. One day after telling reporters that Trump had not been briefed on the alleged Russian bounties — contradicting reports that the intelligence was included in at least one President's Daily Brief in 2019 — McEnany was asked why the president does not read those documents.
- WorldAssociated Press
Fire damages building at Iran nuclear enrichment site
A fire broke out early Thursday at a building above Iran's underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, though officials said it did not affect its centrifuge operation or cause any release of radiation. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran sought to downplay the fire, calling it an “incident” that only affected an under-construction “industrial shed,” spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said. Kamalvandi did not identify what damaged the building, though Natanz governor Ramazanali Ferdowsi said a “fire” struck the site, according to a report by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.
- ScienceUSA TODAY
Study finds asteroid impact, not volcanoes, made the Earth uninhabitable for dinosaurs: 'Only plausible explanation'
A new study confirms that an asteroid impact 66 million years ago – not volcanic eruptions – killed off most of the dinosaurs on Earth. "Our study confirms, for the first time quantitatively, that the only plausible explanation for the extinction is the impact winter that eradicated dinosaur habitats worldwide," said study lead author Alessandro Chiarenza of Imperial College London, in a statement. The asteroid strike would have released particles and gases high into the atmosphere, blocking out the sun for years and causing permanent winters, the study said.
- WorldReuters
Italian police seize record amount of amphetamines shipped from Syria
Italian police said on Wednesday they had seized about 14 tonnes of amphetamine pills worth around 1 billion euros ($1 billion) arriving from Syria, in what they described as the world's single largest operation of its kind. Used in the 1960s to treat narcolepsy and depression, Captagon is one of several brand names for fenethylline hydrochloride, a drug compound belonging to a family of amphetamines that can inhibit fear and ward off tiredness. Captagon is popular in the Middle East, and widespread in war-torn areas such as Syria, where conflict has fuelled demand and created opportunities for producers.
- U.S.INSIDER
Photos show how protesters in New York City are occupying City Hall, demanding the police budget be cut before the July 1 deadline
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Hundreds of protesters have set up camp inside City Hall Park in Manhattan to demand at least $1 billion be cut from the New York Police Department and shifted toward community resources before the city's July 1 budget deadline. On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to cut the city's police budget by canceling the hire of more than 1,000 new police officers and shifting school safety officers from police control to the Department of Education. But protesters say this falls short of their demands, and clashes between protesters and the police began to break out on Tuesday morning.
U.S.CBS New York - WCBSWoman Choked, Robbed In Manhattan
The 64-year-old victim was attacked in Kips Bay on Sunday and suffered cuts. CBS2's Natalie Duddridge reports
- PoliticsNBC News
McConnell warns Democrats about changing Senate rules to kill the filibuster
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has a message for Democrats: Don't end the legislative filibuster if you win control, or you'll regret it. McConnell called on "responsible Democratic senators" not to be "stampeded by the hard left" and preserve "the one institution that guaranteed that America stayed in the middle of the road." McConnell's remarks come as Democrats debate among themselves whether to preserve the super-majority requirement to pass legislation if they win control of the White House and Congress this fall and their agenda is obstructed.
- U.S.Miami Herald
Homeowner shoots woman trying to steal his Nazi flag, Oklahoma cops say
An Oklahoma man is behind bars after shooting a woman who allegedly tried to steal one of two Nazi flags flying outside his Garfield County home over the weekend, authorities said. Garfield County sheriff's deputies arrested Alexander John Feaster, 44, on charges of shooting with intent to kill and assault and battery with a deadly weapon in the incident, according to KFOR. Sheriff Jody Helm said deputies responded to reports of a shooting around 3 a.m. Sunday and arrived to find an injured woman laying in a ditch, the news station reported.
WorldAFPEx-Canada PM Mulroney calls for revised relations with China
Canada must have an "urgent rethink" of its relationship with China, former prime minister Brian Mulroney said Wednesday as tensions build over the possible extradition to the United States of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Conservative Mulroney backed his Liberal successor Justin Trudeau's rejection of any exchange of Meng, who was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018, for two Canadians who were detained in China in apparent retaliation. Mulroney said Canada's hope that China would emerge as a constructive partner in international relations had been proven wrong, referring in particular to Beijing's militarization of the South China Sea.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Top Trump aide says president is 'eager to return to the campaign trail' amid reports a planned rally was scrapped
Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh held a press conference call with reporters on Tuesday where he said the president is “eager to return to the campaign trail and to keep campaigning and keep connecting with Americans.” The phone call came just as CNN reported that the Trump campaign had canceled plans to hold a rally in Alabama next weekend due to concerns about rising numbers of coronavirus infections. When asked about the CNN report later Tuesday afternoon, Murtaugh said, “We don't comment about rally planning.”
- WorldThe Telegraph
Weibo deletes Indian Prime Minister's social media account
Sina Weibo, China's answer to Twitter, said it had deleted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's account at the request of the Indian embassy, as tensions between the two countries continue to simmer over a border skirmish. Since posting on Sina Weibo the first time in 2015 during a visit to China, Mr Modi has been an infrequent user of the Chinese social media platform. He had more than 200,000 followers and 100 posts before the account was shut.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Martin Gugino, the Buffalo protester pushed to the ground and injured by police, released after nearly a month in hospital
The 75-year-old man who fell to the ground after being pushed by Buffalo police officers in June was released Tuesday from a local hospital. Martin Gugino sustained a brain injury and a fractured skull related to the June 4 incident that prompted a national outcry, leading to the arrest of two officers on charges of assault and intentionally pushing him. His lawyer, Kelly Zarcone, said Gugino was released from Erie County Medical Center and is "recovering at an undisclosed location in order to ensure his privacy."
- WorldThe National Interest
Military Mystery: What Happened to Russia's New T-14 Tank in Syria?
Here's What You Need To Remember: If the T-14 Armata was indeed taken out by insurgents – whether they simply "got lucky" or not – might not bode well for the advanced tank, especially given its costs. Last month multiple media reports suggested that the Russian military's new T-14 Armata tank had been "battle-tested" in Syria. Russia Beyond cited Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, who had reportedly said in a mid-April TV interview on Rossiya-1, "Yes, that's correct.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
The 20 Best Deals from REI’s Fourth of July Sale
Save up to 50 percent on camping equipment, hiking gear, and clothing. From Popular Mechanics
- WorldBusiness Insider
More than 400 US Army paratroopers flew almost 5,000 miles to practice a long-range Pacific island invasion
US Army airborne troops flew nearly 5,000 miles to execute a mock invasion of Guam. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Richard Ebensberger Over 400 paratroopers flew from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, where the soldiers jumped and practiced seizing an airfield, which would clear the way for follow-on forces in a real combat situation. US Army Alaska called it the exercise, which appears to be part of the Department of Defense's ongoing efforts to master modern expeditionary warfare tactics for possible combat in the Pacific theater, the "largest airborne operation here in recent memory."
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Russian Bounties for Killing Americans Go Back Five Years, Ex-Taliban Claims
Mullah Manan Niazi, who was the spokesman for Taliban leader Mullah Omar in those days, brought up the incident when The Daily Beast asked him about reports that the Russians have offered—and perhaps paid—bounties to Taliban who kill American soldiers. The Russians paying U.S. dollars—it's not odd for the Taliban,” he said, his voice fraught with irony over the encrypted phone call as he recalled the Airstan incident. As for the current situation, “The Taliban have been paid by Russian intelligence for attacks on U.S. forces—and on ISIS forces—in Afghanistan from 2014 up to the present.
- WorldINSIDER
An Italian teenager is one miracle away from becoming the first millennial saint
Reuters Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 when he was 15, will be beatified in October, after Pope Francis attributed a miracle to him in February. If a second miracle is attributed to him, he would be the first millennial saint. Acutis was a devout young Catholic who taught himself how to program, and used the internet as a tool to spread the message of the Catholic church.
- U.S.Miami Herald
Feud ends in gunfire as pastor kills two in front of his daughter, Las Vegas cops say
Neighbors say a long-running dispute between two Las Vegas homeowners began as a complaint over nude hot-tubbing activities, the Las Vegas Sun reported. Police say the neighborhood feud ended Thursday when Andrew Cote, 36, killed his 71-year-old neighbor and her friend with a shotgun, KVVU reported. Cote's young daughter was present when Cote shot neighbor Mildred Olivo and her friend Timothy Hanson over a brick divider between their back yards, KLAS reported.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Amid surge in coronavirus cases and mounting criticism, GOP leaders do about-face on masks
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage large swaths of the U.S., leading Republicans and even some right-wing television personalities have now come out in favor of wearing masks to prevent the spread of the virus. “We must have no stigma — none — about wearing masks when we leave our homes and come near other people,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Monday. McConnell explained that wearing a face mask is less an act of self-preservation than one of altruism, since the primary function of a face mask, respirator or cloth covering is to keep the wearer from spreading his or her own viral particles to others.
PoliticsAFPPompeo faces opposition in UN push on Iran arms embargo
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday urged the UN Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Iran, warning that the Middle East's stability was at risk, but he faced wide skepticism over US threats to trigger sanctions. The United States is warning it could employ a disputed legal move to restore wide UN sanctions on Iran if the Security Council does not prolong a ban on conventional arms sales that expires in October. Veto-wielding Russia and China, which stand to gain major arms contracts from Iran, oppose an extension of the embargo which was established for five years under a 2015 resolution that blessed a denuclearization accord with Iran negotiated under former US president ...
- WorldReuters
Beijing asks some U.S. media to submit information about their China operations
China's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the Chinese government has asked some U.S. media outlets present in the country to submit information about their China operations. Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian named the Associated Press, National Public Radio, CBS and United Press International news agency as companies asked to submit the requested information in writing within seven days. The AP has requested more information about the Chinese government's requirements and "will review them carefully," a spokeswoman for the outlet said.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Vice President Mike Pence discloses donors who helped pay nearly $500K in legal bills from Mueller investigation
Vice President Mike Pence received nearly $500,000 from a dozen contributors to pay his legal bills from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, according to his annual financial disclosure report that was released Tuesday. The biggest backers were Indiana Pacers owner Herb Simon and the California couple Michael Hayde and Laura Khouri who develop and manage apartment complexes. Other contributors include Pence's political adviser Marty Obst; national GOP fundraiser Ronald Weiser of Michigan; Florida real estate investor Leo Wells; Indiana businessmen Lawrence “Sonny” Beck, Paul Thrift and Tony Moravec; and Georgia businessman Brian McPheely, head of the country's fifth largest corrugated packaging company.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
See How One Modern Family Restored Its Ancestral Family Estate in England
Burton Agnes Hall in Yorkshire, built in 1603, was lovingly refurbished by its “warm new owners” Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- WorldBBC
Australia seeks long-range missiles in Indo-Pacific defence shift
Australia says it will significantly increase military spending and focus on the Indo-Pacific region amid rising tensions between the US and China. PM Scott Morrison pledged A$270bn (£150bn; $186bn) to Australia's arms budget over 10 years - a 40% boost. Mr Morrison named several areas of tension including the border between India and China, and conflict over the South China Sea and East China Sea.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Immigration judges in lawsuit say US government muzzles them
Immigration judges said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday against the U.S. Department of Justice that they are being muzzled by the Trump administration, marking the latest confrontation between the judges and the federal government. The judges under previous administrations were allowed to speak in their personal capacities on issues relating to immigration if they they made it clear that they were not speaking on behalf of the Justice Department or the court system, said Judge A. Ashley Tabaddor, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, which represents about 460 federal immigration judges.
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