Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, says she looks forward to testifying before the January 6 House Select Committee and setting the record straight about her efforts to help overturn the 2020 presidential election.

“I can’t wait to clear up misconceptions. I look forward to talking to them,” Thomas told the Daily Caller.

She declined to elaborate about what misconceptions she believed the committee held.

The longtime conservative activist has come under growing scrutiny over texts sent to then-President Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and other Trump supporters after he lost the election to Joe Biden.

“Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!!” Thomas wrote in Nov. 10, 2020, according to the Washington Post.

“You are the leader, with him, who is standing for America’s constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife Ginni Thomas said she “can’t wait” to testify before the January 6 House Select Committee.
AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File
Thomas reportedly texted President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows urging him to help Trump “stand firm.”
Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Thomas also corresponded with John Eastman, an attorney who was deeply involved in Trump’s campaign to reverse the results of the election and stay in power despite losing both the popular and Electoral College votes.

“We think it’s time that we, at some point, invite her to come talk to the committee,” Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) told Axios. “We have discovered in those Eastman [emails] some information that refers to Ginni Thomas.”

Her involvement in the bogus effort has prompted Democrats to demand that Clarence Thomas recuse himself from any cases involving Trump’s efforts to challenge the election.

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2022/06/18/ginni-thomas-cant-wait-to-testify-before-jan-6-committee/

KYIV, June 18 (Reuters) – With a blessing for its European Union ambitions and a pledge of unwavering support from Britain, Ukraine vowed on Saturday to prevail against Moscow as its troops battled the Russian assault near a pivotal eastern city and communities were pounded by more heavy shelling.

EU leaders are expected at a summit next week to grant Ukraine candidate status following Friday’s recommendation from the bloc’s executive, putting Kyiv on course to realise an aspiration seen as out of reach before the invasion, even if actual membership could take years. read more

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Friday and offered training for Ukrainian forces, on Saturday stressed the need to keep supporting the country and avoid “Ukraine fatigue” after nearly four months of war.

On the battlefields, the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk, a prime target in Moscow’s offensive to seize full control of the eastern Luhansk region, was under heavy artillery and rocket fire as the Russian forces attacked areas outside the city, the Ukrainian military said on Saturday.

The attack on towns just south of Sievierodonetsk was repulsed by Ukrainian forces, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said on messaging app Telegram.

Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskiy, whose defiance has inspired Ukrainians and won him global respect, said on Saturday he had visited soldiers on the southern front line in the Mykolaiv region, offering a fresh message of hope on his return.

“Our brave men and women. Each one of them is working flat out,” he said on his official Telegram account. “We will definitely hold out! We will definitely win!”

A video posted on his account showed Zelenskiy in his trademark khaki t-shirt handing out medals and posing for selfies with the servicemen. Zelenskiy did not say when the trip took place. read more

Ukrainian authorities reported overnight shelling of multiple locations in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Kharkiv and further west in Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk. Early on Saturday, Russian rockets rained on a suburb of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, hitting a municipal building and starting a fire in a block of flats, but causing no casualties, a regional governor said.

Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield accounts.

Moscow denies targeting civilians in what it terms a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect Russian speakers there from dangerous nationalists. Kyiv and its allies dismiss this as a baseless pretext for war.

STRATEGIC RESILIENCE

“The Russians are grinding forward inch by inch and it is vital for us to show what we know to be true which is that Ukraine can win and will win,” Johnson told reporters on his return to Britain from Kyiv. read more
“When Ukraine fatigue is setting in, it is very important to show that we are with them for the long haul and we are giving them the strategic resilience that they need,” he said.

One of President Vladimir Putin’s goals when he ordered thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 was to halt the eastward expansion of the NATO military alliance and keep its southern neighbour outside of the West’s sphere of influence.

But the war, which has killed thousands of people, turned cities into rubble and sent millions fleeing, has had the opposite effect.

It convinced Finland and Sweden to seek to join NATO and helped pave the way for Ukraine’s EU membership bid.

“Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday, while announcing its decision to recommend Ukraine and its neighbour Moldova as candidates for EU membership.

“We want them to live with us the European dream,” she said, wearing a yellow blazer over a blue blouse, Ukrainian colours.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/wrapup1-war-east-rages-ukraine-gets-chance-live-european-dream-2022-06-18/

Joe Biden fell off a bicycle near his Delaware beach home Saturday morning, moments after greeting reporters with a wave and a cheery “Good morning!”

The president was near the end of a bike ride with the first lady, Dr Jill Biden, near Rehoboth Beach where the couple are celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary.

The 79-year-old president, flanked by Secret Service agents, was travelling at some speed toward a turn, before he braked to speak to speak to a crowd wishing him “Happy Father’s Day” and tipped over.

Dr Jill Biden had already made the turn and missed her husband’s fall. Biden’s unexpected dismount came after he stopped and was unable to release his bike shoes from the toe cages on the pedals.

Asked if he was OK, Biden responded: “I’m good.” Asked what caused the fall, Biden said the “toe cages” on his bike got caught.

He briefly engaged engaged with reporters. Asked if he is satisfied with progress on gun legislation, Biden said: “In Delaware, I am. Did you see what they did in Delaware? Passed an assaults weapons ban. They did what I did years ago. But I am happy with the progress.”

Biden, wearing bright blue shoes, grey T-shirt, navy shorts and a white helmet, got back on his bike. “Alright guys, see you,” he said. 

Source Article from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/18/joe-biden-falls-off-bike-video

Law enforcement personnel stand outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting on May 24 in Uvalde, Texas. When the gunman arrived at the school, he hopped its fence and easily entered through an unlocked back door, police said.

Dario Lopez-Mills/AP


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Dario Lopez-Mills/AP

Law enforcement personnel stand outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting on May 24 in Uvalde, Texas. When the gunman arrived at the school, he hopped its fence and easily entered through an unlocked back door, police said.

Dario Lopez-Mills/AP

Uvalde city officials are using a legal loophole and several other broad exemptions in Texas to prevent the release of police records related to last month’s mass shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead, according to a letter obtained by NPR in response to public information requests filed by member station Texas Public Radio.

Since the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School, law enforcement officials have provided little and conflicting information, amid mounting public pressure for transparency. The Texas Department of Public Safety, which is leading the state investigation, previously said that some accounts of the events were preliminary and may change as more witnesses are interviewed.

The City of Uvalde has hired a private law firm to make its case, which cited the “dead suspect loophole,” to deny the release of information because the gunman died in police custody. The legal exception bars the public disclosure of information pertaining to crimes in which no one has been convicted. The Texas Attorney General’s Office has ruled that the exception applies when a suspect is dead.

The maneuver has been used repeatedly by Texas law enforcement agencies to claim they’re not required to turn over the requested information because a criminal case is still pending, even though the suspect is dead.

The loophole was established in the 1990s to protect people who were wrongfully accused or whose cases were dismissed, said Kelley Shannon, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.

“It is meant to protect the innocent,” Shannon said, but in some cases “it is being used and misused in a way that was never intended.”

In the obtained letter, dated June 16, the city of Uvalde’s lawyer asks Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to rule on which public records the city is required to release, a common practice in the state.

“The City has not voluntarily released any information to a member of the public,” Cynthia Trevino, a lawyer for the firm Denton Navarro Rocha Bernal & Zech, wrote to Paxton.

Among the 148 public records requests Trevino said the city has received, reporters are pressing for the disclosure of body camera footage, 911 calls, criminal records, emails and text messages and other information.

The city and its police department are arguing against the release of the requested records, citing the following reasons: the city is being sued, some individuals’ criminal history records could include “highly embarrassing information”; some of the information could reveal police “methods, techniques, and strategies for preventing and predicting crime,” could cause “emotional/mental distress,” “is not of legitimate concern to the public,” could subject city employees or officers to “a substantial threat of physical harm,” and violates individuals’ common-law right to privacy. City officials have also refused to release more details, reasoning that it would interfere with the ongoing investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Uvalde County’s district attorney and the FBI.

It’s unclear from the lawyer’s letter which legal protections are being applied to argue the release of which specific records.

There is a slew of questions that, if answered, could help prevent another shooting or may provide some closure to victims’ families. Among them: Why did it take police over an hour to confront the gunman in the classroom where he was killing children?

Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2022/06/18/1106017340/uvalde-legal-loophole-mass-shooting-records

The rookie and his training officer knocked on the door of an El Monte motel room, where they’d been called to investigate a report of domestic violence.

Once they got the victim out of the room, Officer Joseph Santana went in, followed by his training officer, Cpl. Michael Paredes. Justin Flores, the man inside, backed himself into the bathroom, law enforcement sources told The Times.

Within about 12 seconds, one source said, Flores ambushed the officers with gunfire. Paredes went down first. Coroner’s officials said both officers died of a gunshot wound to the head.

The killings brought grief and heartache to the suburb east of downtown L.A., where both officers grew up and chose to stay as first responders. “They’re El Monte homegrown,” Mayor Jessica Ancona said this week. “They’re our boys.”

The horrific details about the moments that led up to the killings and the wild shootout that followed emerged Friday as friends and family of the officers gathered to mourn. The sources who described the scene asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The incident began around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday when Paredes and Santana, along with an unidentified sergeant, responded to the Siesta Inn, a single-story stucco motel in El Monte.

After Paredes and Santana went down, the law enforcement sources said, Flores ran out of bullets and took a gun off one of the fallen officers. He left the room firing at the sergeant.

Flores ran out into a parking lot, where other responding officers engaged him in a shootout. Flores — who was 6 feet 2 and about 300 pounds — fell to the ground but continued to fire at the officers. He then shot himself as the officers moved in, the sources said.

Flores died at the scene. Coroner’s officials have not determined which shots killed him.

Paredes and Santana were taken to L.A. County-USC Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

A year after L.A. County Deputy Doug Johnson took graphic photos of Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash scene that were then passed around, he was caught up in another scandal.

A news conference Friday afternoon outside the El Monte Police Department began with a moment of silence for the fallen officers.

Ron Danison, president of the El Monte police union, called the two officers his brothers. “Cpl. Paredes and Officer Santana did not show up for work today. I expected to see them walking into the doors of the station with their smiles,” Danison said. “That didn’t happen today; instead I’m standing here trying to make sense of the unthinkable.”

Paredes started as a cadet with the department and in July 2000 was sworn in as a full-time officer. He is survived by his wife, daughter and son. Ancona, the mayor, said that he “went through our El Monte schools” and was “excited to be on the force.”

Santana, a graduate of El Monte High, served for three years as a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy before transferring to the El Monte Police Department less than a year ago. Before joining law enforcement, he was a city maintenance worker in El Monte for six years. He’s survived by his wife, daughter and twin boys.

His mother, Olga Garcia, remembered her son as a “great father, a great husband, a good American citizen and a wonderful son.”

“As a mother, my life has been destroyed. Joseph was murdered by a criminal that should have been in jail,” she said. She went on to criticize Dist. Atty. George Gascón for policies she said prioritize criminals over cops.

The Times this week reported that Flores could have faced significantly more time in prison when he was last charged with a crime. Documents reviewed by The Times showed that one of Gascón’s most heavily criticized policies probably resulted in a lower sentence.

L.A. police shot a man Friday who they say was pointing a gun at construction workers in the Fairfax district before opening fire on police.

In 2020, Flores was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and methamphetamine.

He had been convicted of burglary in 2011. Burglaries are “strike” offenses, which make suspects charged with later crimes eligible for harsher sentences. Flores’ earlier conviction means he had one strike against him when he was charged in 2020.

But the prosecutor assigned to the case case, Deputy Dist. Atty. Larry Holcomb, wrote in a disposition report that he had to revoke the strike allegation after Gascón took office and barred prosecutors from filing strikes. Gascón’s policy was later deemed illegal by an L.A. County Superior Court judge.

Flores pleaded no contest to being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to two years’ probation and 20 days in jail; he could have faced up to three years in prison for the gun charge. At the time of this week’s shooting, he was still on probation.

A day before the shooting, Flores’ probation officer filed a request in court for a revocation hearing, listing the reason as “desertion.” Two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said his girlfriend reported he had assaulted her last week, triggering a probation violation, but Flores was not taken into custody. A hearing was set for June 27.

Asked why Flores wasn’t arrested on the violation, Karla Tovar, a spokeswoman for the county Probation Department, said the agency was “currently investigating the matter further.”

Times staff writer James Queally contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-18/gunman-killed-el-monte-police-officers-seconds-after-they-entered-room

A TV crew filming for the CBS Late Show with Stephen Colbert was arrested Thursday night by the U.S. Capitol Police, the Associated Press reports.

Driving the news: After receiving a call for a disturbance around 8:30 p.m., police found seven people in the Longworth House Office Building. They were arrested and charged with unlawful entry.

  • The crew had reportedly been escorted out of a hearing held by the congressional select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot because they did not have the proper media credentials, Deadline reports.

Details: “Responding officers observed seven individuals, unescorted and without Congressional ID, in a sixth-floor hallway,” Capitol police said in a statement, per AP. “The building was closed to visitors, and these individuals were determined to be a part of a group that had been directed by the USCP to leave the building earlier in the day.”

  • The incident is the subject of “an active criminal investigation, and may result in additional criminal charges,” the police statement said, AP reported.

The other side: In a statement, CBS confirmed its crew was at the Capitol on Wednesday and Thursday to record a comedy segment with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, a puppet voiced by Robert Smigel.

  • Their interviews at the Capitol were authorized and pre-arranged through Congressional aides of the members interviewed,” CBS said in the statement, per AP.
  • “After leaving the members’ offices on their last interview of the day, the production team stayed to film stand-ups and other final comedy elements in the halls when they were detained by Capitol Police.”

Source Article from https://www.axios.com/2022/06/18/colbert-tv-crew-arrested-us-capitol-triumph

Updated 8:05 AM ET, Sat June 18, 2022

Washington (CNN)About 43 million people are waiting to find out if President Joe Biden will wipe away all or part of their federal student loan debt.

    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/18/politics/borrowers-student-loan-debt-biden/index.html

    Gianforte’s absence prompted critics to compare him to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who left the country for Cancún, Mexico, when Texas suffered through the deadly winter freeze of 2021. Unlike Cruz, though, Gianforte left before the emergency began.

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/18/yellowstone-flooding-gianforte-italy-montana/

    Several members of a production crew with for “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” were detained Thursday night in a congressional office building near the U.S. Capitol, CBS said Friday. The group was filming a comedy segment when they were taken into custody, the company said. 

    U.S. Capitol Police told CBS News that officers responded to a “call for a disturbance” at 8:30 p.m. at the Longworth House Office Building, where they detained seven people who were “unescorted and without Congressional ID” in a sixth-floor hallway.

    After determining the group were not Congressional employees — and had been asked to leave the building earlier in the day — they were charged with unlawful entry. Police said a criminal investigation is ongoing and could lead to more charges.  

    Capitol Police did not release any names and would not say if the suspects were with “The Late Show,” which, like CBS News, is a part of Paramount Global. But CBS said Friday that the suspects were part of a production team which was recording a “Triumph the Insult Comic Dog” comedy segment on Capitol Hill on Wednesday and Thursday.

    The production team had conducted interviews earlier in the day that “were authorized and pre-arranged through congressional aides of the members interviewed,” CBS said in a statement. After leaving members’ offices, the team stayed to film “stand-ups and other comedy elements” before they were detained, the company said. 

    Photos posted Thursday showed comedian Robert Smigel, who voices the character of Triumph, in the halls outside the Jan. 6 House select committee hearings.

    Actor and comedian Robert Smigel performs as “Triumph the Insult Comic Dog” in the hallways outside the House select committee hearings investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. June 16, 2022 in Washington, D.C. 

    Getty Images


    The incident came several hours after the committee had wrapped up its third day of public hearings. The hearings are taking place in the Cannon House Office Building, another congressional building located directly across the street from the Longworth building.

    Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stephen-colbert-show-detained-production-crew-triumph-insult-dog-capitol-police-congressional-offices/

    Seven people believed to be part of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show were arrested Thursday night in the Longworth House Office Building by U.S. Capitol Police.

    The arrested were escorted out of the Jan. 6 committee hearing earlier in the day for lack of proper press credentials, reports indicate. The same group was found in the Capitol complex later on Thursday after it was closed to the public.

    Reports indicate they took videos and pictures around the offices of two Republican members of Congress, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO).

    Among the arrested was Robert Smigel, who is known for being the voice of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Associated Press reported. The others are reportedly show producers.

    The seven arrested were charged with unlawful entry, according to Capitol Police. The authorities said that at 8:30 PM they “a call for a disturbance” in the Longworth building.

    “Responding officers observed seven individuals, unescorted and without Congressional ID, in a sixth-floor hallway,” the Capitol Police said. “The building was closed to visitors, and these individuals were determined to be a part of a group that had been directed by the USCP to leave the building earlier in the day.” They said additional criminal charges may be filed.

    Another person familiar with the matter provided the AP with a list of nine people who had been stopped by Capitol Police. They included several producers, along with Robert Smigel, the voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

    In a statement Friday night, CBS confirmed that Triumph the Insult Comic Dog was “on-site at the Capitol with a production team” June 15 and 16, recording interview.

    The interviews “were authorized and pre-arranged through Congressional aides of the members interviewed,” CBS said. “After leaving the members’ offices on their last interview of the day, the production team stayed to film stand-ups and other final comedy elements in the halls when they were detained by Capitol Police.”

    Deadline has reached out ot the US Capitol police for further details.

    Here is CBS’ full statement:

    On Wednesday, June 15 and Thursday, June 16, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog was on-site at the Capitol with a production team to record interviews for a comedy segment on behalf of The Late Show.

    Their interviews at the Capitol were authorized and pre-arranged through Congressional aides of the members interviewed.

    After leaving the members’ offices on their last interview of the day, the production team stayed to film stand-ups and other final comedy elements in the halls when they were detained by Capitol Police.

    Here is the full statement from the Capitol Police:

    On June 16, 2022, at approximately 8:30 p.m., U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) received a call for a disturbance in the Longworth House Office Building.  Responding officers observed seven individuals, unescorted and without Congressional ID, in a sixth-floor hallway.  The building was closed to visitors, and these individuals were determined to be a part of a group that had been directed by the USCP to leave the building earlier in the day.  They were charged with Unlawful Entry.  This is an active criminal investigation, and may result in additional criminal charges after consultation with the U.S. Attorney.

    Source Article from https://deadline.com/2022/06/late-night-with-stephen-colbert-staffers-detained-by-capitol-police-1235048143/

    This is CNBC’s live blog tracking Friday’s developments on the war in Ukraine. See below for the latest updates.

    The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, has proposed that Ukraine become a membership candidate to join the bloc — the first step on a long road to EU membership.

    Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday that Ukraine should be welcomed by Europe.

    It comes shortly after some of the most powerful EU leaders traveled to Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv in a show of solidarity with the war-ravaged country.

    Serhiy Haidai, the head of Luhansk’s regional administration region, says the number of Russian bombings in Ukraine is “rising daily.”

    Russian forces are continuing to launch ground assaults on the strategically important Donbas city of Severodonetsk in an attempt to establish control.

    Russian superyacht arrives in Hawaii after U.S. seizure order

    A superyacht seized in Fiji last month at the request of U.S. authorities, who say the $300 million Amadea is owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, has arrived in Hawaii, Refinitiv Eikon vessel tracking data showed.

    The U.S. Justice Department’s KleptoCapture task force has focused on seizing yachts and other luxury assets of Russian oligarchs in a bid to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.

    — Reuters

    Germany’s Scholz says it’s necessary to keep talking to Putin

    German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that it’s “absolutely necessary” for some leaders to talk directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin amid efforts to end the war in Ukraine, and he and France’s president will continue to do so.

    Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have held several telephone conversations with Putin, separately and together, since Russia’s invasion began on Feb. 24. Those contacts have drawn some criticism — including from Poland’s president, who said recently that they achieve nothing and serve only to legitimize the Russian leader.

    “It is absolutely necessary to speak to Putin, and I will continue to do so — as the French president will also,” Scholz told German news agency dpa in an English-language video interview a day after he, Macron and the leaders of Italy and Romania held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

    “There are some countries needed, and some leaders needed, that speak to him — and it is necessary that they are clear,” Scholz told dpa.

    — Associated Press

    Putin says Russian economy will overcome ‘reckless’ sanctions

    President Vladimir Putin said at Russia’s showpiece investment conference Friday that the country’s economy will overcome sanctions that he called “reckless and insane.”

    Putin began his address to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum with a lengthy denunciation of countries that he contends want to weaken Russia, including the United States.

    He said the U.S. “declared victory in the Cold War and later came to think of themselves as God’s own messengers on planet Earth.”

    Russia came under a wide array of sanctions after sending troops into Ukraine in February. Hundreds of foreign companies also suspended operations in Russia or pulled out of the country entirely.

    — Associated Press

    The U.S. has committed $5.6 billion in security assistance for Ukraine’s fight

    From heavy artillery to tactical drones to armored vehicles, the U.S. has committed $5.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded in late February.

    The latest assistance package of $1 billion, which is the 12th installment of aid, comes as Russian forces ramp up their fight in eastern and southern Ukraine.

    Read more about the weapons the U.S. has committed to Ukraine’s fight thus far.

     — Amanda Macias

    ‘We don’t know where they are,’ Biden says of missing Americans in Ukraine

    President Joe Biden said “we don’t know” where the three Americans reported missing in Ukraine are.

    “Americans should not be going to Ukraine now,” he told reporters at the White House.

    The State Department on Thursday said it was aware of reports that three U.S. citizens have gone missing in Ukraine, but said it could not verify if they were in Russian custody.

    State Department spokesman Ned Price said he could not “speak to the specifics” of the third American reported missing in Ukraine. He added that “our understanding was that this individual has traveled to Ukraine to take up arms.”

    Price’s comments follow various media reports that Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27, two former American service members, were captured by Russian forces in Kharkiv last week. Those reports and details have not been confirmed by CNBC or NBC News.

    Price told reporters that so far the Biden administration has not seen any evidence that Russian forces have detained Americans.

     — Amanda Macias

    Approximately 15,000 Russian millionaires are attempting to leave Russia, UK intel says

    Approximately 15,000 Russian millionaires are attempting to leave the country as the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine intensifies in the Donbas region, according to British intelligence assessments.

    “Motivations highly likely include both personal opposition to the invasion and an intent to escape the financial impact of the sanctions imposed on Russia,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense shared in an intelligence update via Twitter.

    “Should this exodus continue, it will likely exacerbate the war’s long-term damage to Russia’s economy,” the tweet continued.

     — Amanda Macias

    U.K.’s Johnson arrives in Kyiv to meet with Zelenskyy

    United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson traveled to Kyiv, following a visit from the leaders of France, Italy and Germany.

    During the visit, Johnson offered to establish a training program for Ukrainian forces as they fight against Russian aggression. The new military program could train up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days, a No. 10 Downing Street release said

    “The UK-led program would train and drill the Armed Forces of Ukraine using battle-proven British Army expertise, allowing them to accelerate their deployment, rebuild their forces, and scale-up their resistance as they continue to defend their nation’s sovereignty against Russian invaders,” the release added.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Johnson’s visit on the social messaging app Telegram.

    “Many days of this war have proved that Great Britain’s support for Ukraine is firm and resolute. Glad to see our country’s great friend Boris Johnson in Kyiv again,” Zelenskyy wrote.

    Johnson, who recently survived a no confidence vote, made the visit after he canceled an appearance at a conference for his Conservative party.

    — Amanda Macias

    UN says at least 4,509 killed in Ukraine since start of war

    The United Nations has confirmed 4,509 civilian deaths and 5,585 injuries in Ukraine since Russia invaded its ex-Soviet neighbor on Feb. 24.

    The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said the death toll in Ukraine is likely higher, because the armed conflict can delay fatality reports.

    The international organization said most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as missiles and airstrikes.

    — Amanda Macias

    Russia says Ukraine’s EU candidacy ‘requires increased attention’

    Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said the EU’s decision to provide candidacy status to Ukraine requires the increased attention of Russia.

    “The possible entry of Ukraine into the EU requires increased attention of the Russian Federation in connection with the discovery of defense affiliation,” Peskov said in a statement, according to state news agency Interfax.

    — Sam Meredith

    Zelenskyy says historic decision to grant Ukraine EU candidacy status will help to defeat Russia

    Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed the EU’s recommendation to provide candidacy status to Ukraine a landmark move that will help Kyiv to defeat Russia’s onslaught.

    “It’s the 1st step on the EU membership path that’ll certainly bring our Victory closer. Grateful to [von der Leyen] & each EC member for a historic decision,” Zelenskyy said via Twitter.

    Zelenskyy said he expects EU government leaders to approve the proposal in Brussels next week.

    — Sam Meredith

    European Commission recommends that Ukraine becomes an EU membership candidate

    The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, has proposed that Ukraine be given candidate status for EU membership.

    The recommendation comes on the proviso that Ukraine carries out a number of important reforms.

    European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine should be welcome as a candidate country — referring to a legal term that means a nation has officially started an accession path to full membership.

    Wearing a yellow blazer over a blue shirt to represent Ukraine’s colors, von der Leyen said at a press conference that the commission had one clear message for Kyiv. “And that is, yes, Ukraine deserves [the] European perspective. Yes, Ukraine should be welcomed as a candidate country.”

    Read the full story here.

    — Sam Meredith

    EU to discuss fast-tracked opinion on Ukraine’s bid for candidacy

    The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, will meet on Friday to offer its fast-tracked opinion on whether to grant Ukraine candidacy status.

    The discussion comes just 24 hours after some of the bloc’s most powerful leaders visited Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv in a show of solidarity with the war-ravaged country.

    The opinion given on Friday is widely expected to serve as the basis for talks at next week’s EU summit in Brussels, Belgium. Candidacy status is not the same as EU membership — a process that could take several years to complete.

    Standing alongside Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that France, Germany, Italy and Romania were all in favor of “immediate” candidacy status for Ukraine.

    — Sam Meredith

    Number of bombings by Russian forces in Ukraine rising daily, Luhansk regional governor says

    Serhiy Haidai, the head of Luhansk’s regional administration region who has become a well-known voice amid severe fighting in the Donbas region, has said the number of shellings by Russian forces is “rising daily.”

    “The Russians continue to destroy the region’s infrastructure,” Haidai said via Telegram, according to a translation.

    “Thus, the shelling of the buildings of the Severodonetsk Plant of Chemical Non-Standardized Equipment was recorded, and the building of the Azot plant was damaged. In general, there are almost no [surviving] administrative buildings on the territory of the chemical plant giant,” he added.

    Haidai said that over the last 24 hours, Russian forces had used artillery and multiple rocket launchers in the districts of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Ustynivka, Loskutivka, Metolkino, Borivsky, Mykolaivka and Novozvanivka, among others.

    — Sam Meredith

    State Department aware of third missing American in Ukraine, can’t confirm capture reports

    The State Department is aware of reports that a total of three U.S. citizens have gone missing in Ukraine but could not verify if they were in Russian custody.

    “There are reports of one additional American whose whereabouts are unknown. I can’t speak to the specifics of that case. Unfortunately, we don’t know the full details,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said during a daily press briefing.

    “Similarly, our understanding was that this individual has traveled to Ukraine to take up arms,” Price added.

    Price’s comments come on the heels of various media reports that Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27, two former American service members, were captured by Russian forces in Kharkiv last week. Those reports and details have not been confirmed by CNBC or NBC News.

    Price told reporters that so far the Biden administration has not seen any evidence that Russian forces have detained Americans.

    “At this moment, we have seen the open press reports, the same reports that you all have seen, but we don’t have independent confirmation of their whereabouts,” Price said.

    — Amanda Macias

    Russian naval blockade of Ukrainian ports will trigger higher food prices and ‘unrest and instability,’ U.S. Agriculture secretary says

    U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s ports will lead to food shortages as well as higher food prices across the globe.

    “The failure of Russia to allow and enable the ports to be opened and available is obviously causing some significant disruption to the extent that the grain, nearly 20 million metric tons, can’t get into the market,” Vilsack told reporters at the United Nations.

    He added that potential shortages will likely trigger “unrest and instability” in countries in North Africa and the Middle East.

    Vilsack called on Russia to negotiate in good faith with international parties looking to create food corridors out of Ukraine.

    — Amanda Macias

    A third of Sudan’s population faces hunger crisis, in part due to Ukraine war, UN agency says

    A third of Sudan’ population is currently facing a food crisis due to the compounded impact of climate shocks, political turmoil and rising global food prices, the U.N. food agency said.

    A joint report by the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization said that 15 million people face acute food insecurity across all of the East African country’s 18 provinces.

    “The combined effects of conflict, climate shocks, economic and political crises, rising costs and poor harvests are pushing millions of people deeper into hunger and poverty,’ said Eddie Rowe, WFP’s representative in Sudan.

    Living conditions rapidly deteriorated across cash-strapped Sudan since an October military coup sent an already fragile economy into free-fall, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine compounding the economic pain.

    Funding levels fall short of meeting humanitarian needs in Sudan, where 40% of the population is expected to slip into food insecurity by September, the report said.

    — Associated Press

    Read CNBC’s previous live coverage here:

    Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/17/russia-ukraine-live-updates.html

    Former President Donald Trump on Friday fired back at the House select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

    “There’s no clearer example of the menacing spirit that has devoured the American left than the disgraceful performance being staged by the unselect committee,” Trump said at a conference hosted by the Faith and Freedom Coalition in Nashville, Tennessee.

    “They’re con people,” Trump continued. “They’re con artists.”

    The committee has held three of the seven public hearings scheduled for this month, laying out what it says was a “sophisticated, seven-part plan” by Trump and his supporters to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.

    Trump was well aware of the fact that he lost, the committee argued, using testimony from members of his inner circle. But he moved ahead anyway with an illegal plot to remain in power and raised millions of dollars in the process of pushing the “big lie” that he was the real winner.

    Former Attorney General Bill Barr told the committee in a taped deposition that Trump’s claims of election fraud were “bull—-.” Ivanka Trump, also previously deposed by the panel, said she agreed with Barr’s conclusion that the election was not stolen.

    Trump — who already dismissed his daughter’s testimony — on Friday accused the committee of taking the taped depositions out of context.

    “The committee refuses to play any of the tape of people saying the good things, the things that we want to hear,” he said. “It’s a one-way street. It’s a rigged deal.”

    Trump also slammed Republicans who crossed him and sit on the committee: Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.

    The latest hearing on Thursday zeroed in on the intense pressure Trump and others heaped on then-Vice President Mike Pence to single-handedly reject state electors and block the congressional certification of Biden’s win.

    The pressure campaign put Pence in danger, lawmakers and witnesses said, with the vice president forced to hide underground for more than four hours after coming within 40 feet of the mob of rioters at the Capitol.

    When Pence refused to follow Trump’s plan, a “heated” phone call ensued the morning of Jan. 6, Ivanka Trump and other witnesses told the committee. One Trump aide in the Oval Office at the time recalled Trump mockingly referring to Pence as a “wimp.”

    Trump said Friday he never called Pence a “wimp” but continued to badger his vice president for not sending election results back to state legislatures, something both Trump and Pence were advised repeatedly was illegal, according to testimony given at the Jan. 6 committee hearings.

    “Mike did not have the courage to act,” Trump said, likening him to a “robot” and “human conveyor belt” for following the advice of those who said he didn’t have the authority to reject state electors.

    Former Pence attorney Greg Jacob and former federal judge Michael Luttig explained to the committee for hours Thursday their assessments that the vice president did not have the authority to do what Trump was asking. Luttig warned that if Pence had followed through with it, it would’ve plunged the nation into a constitutional crisis.

    Trump on Friday continued to air false, baseless claims about the 2020 election, telling the crowd he didn’t believe he lost despite being defeated in both the Electoral College and the popular vote, as well as losing scores of lawsuits challenging election results.

    The ex-president also touted the number of people at his rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, calling it the largest group he’s ever spoken in front of and describing an atmosphere of “unbelievable love and patriotism.”

    Trump even went so far as to weigh whether his Jan. 6 speech drew as many people as the famous “I Have A Dream” speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963.

    The House committee has used footage from the Ellipse speech in multiple hearings to bolster its assertions that Trump was pressuring Pence to overturn the election and encouraging his supporters to go march to the Capitol.

    On Friday, Trump also teased a potential 2024 run for president, pledging that if he were elected again he would consider delivering pardons to those prosecuted for their involvement in the insurrection — which Trump described as “a simple protest” that “got out of hand.”

    “Most people should not be treated the way they’re being treated,” Trump said.

    Source Article from https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-fires-back-jan-committee-calls-hearings-disgraceful/story?id=85463648

    Vaccinations for very young children are typically administered at pediatricians’ offices, but unlike pharmacies in the federal Covid vaccine program, doctors cannot order doses on their own, Dr. Gwynn said. She added that it seemed that some Florida officials were suggesting on Thursday that doctors order vaccines directly from the federal government, before the state opened its online portal.

    “First they said providers could order directly from the federal government,” she noted. “That’s not true. We have to order through the state.”

    On Thursday, Mr. DeSantis defended his administration’s refusal to preorder any vaccines for state-run medical facilities. That includes county-level public health offices, which are under state control.

    “I would say we are affirmatively against the Covid vaccine for young kids,” he said. “These are the people who have zero risk of getting anything.”

    By Friday morning, a congressional subcommittee overseeing the coronavirus response had sent Mr. DeSantis a letter urging him to reverse his position.

    Noah Weiland contributed reporting.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/17/us/florida-kids-vaccine-desantis.html

    VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. (AP) — The 70-year-old visitor had previously attended some services at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church before police say he showed up for a potluck dinner, pulled out a handgun and fatally shot three of the elderly participants, one of whom died in his wife’s arms as she whispered words of love in his ear.

    Church members were spared further violence Thursday evening when one of them rushed the gunman, struck him with a chair and held him until police arrived, a former pastor said. The suspect, Robert Findlay Smith, was charged with capital murder Friday, the Jefferson County district attorney announced.

    The baffling violence in a wealthy suburb of Birmingham stunned a community known for its family-centered lifestyle. It also deepened the unease in a nation still reeling from recent slaughter wrought by gunmen who attacked a Texas school, a New York grocery store and another church in California.

    “Why would a guy who’s been around for a while suddenly decide he would go to a supper and kill somebody?” said the Rev. Doug Carpenter, St. Stephen’s pastor for three decades before he retired in 2005. “It doesn’t make sense.”

    All three shooting victims were members attending a monthly dinner at the church, said Carpenter, who still attends Sunday services there but wasn’t present Thursday night. A Facebook post referred to the gathering as a “Boomers Potluck.”

    Carpenter said one victim’s wife and other witnesses recounted what had happened. They said a man who introduced himself only as “Mr. Smith” sat at a table by himself — as he’d done while visiting a previous church dinner.

    “People tried to speak to him and he was kind of distant and very much a loner,” Carpenter told The Associated Press by telephone.

    At Thursday’s dinner, church member Walter Bartlett Rainey invited the visitor to join his table, Carpenter said, but the man declined. He said Rainey’s wife noticed the visitor wasn’t eating.

    “Linda Rainey said he didn’t have any food and she offered to fix a plate for him, and he turned that down,” said Carpenter.

    Soon afterward, Carpenter said, the man drew his gun and opened fire — shooting Walter Rainey and two other church members. Carpenter said another member, a man in his 70s, grabbed a chair and charged the gunman.

    “He hit him with a folding chair, wrestling him to the ground, took the gun from him and hit him in the head with his own gun,” Carpenter said.

    Church members held the suspect until police arrived, police Capt. Shane Ware said. A police mugshot showed Smith with a blackened left eye and cuts to his nose and forehead.

    “The person that subdued the suspect, in my opinion, was a hero,” Ware told a news conference Friday, saying that act was “extremely critical in saving lives.”

    Rainey, 84, died at the scene. His wife of six decades wasn’t harmed.

    “We are all grateful that she was spared and that he died in her arms while she murmured words of comfort and love into his ears,” Rainey’s family said in a statement.

    Police said Sarah Yeager, 75, of Pelham, died soon afterward at a hospital, and an 84-year-old woman died Friday. Police didn’t release her name, citing the family’s request for privacy.

    Ware said Smith and the three victims were all white. He said police are investigating what motivated the suspect, who occasionally attended services at the church. Authorities executed a search warrant Friday at Smith’s home, less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) away.

    Records from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives show Smith is a licensed gun dealer whose business is listed at his home address. Court records show Smith filed a lawsuit in 2008 against Samford University, a private university in metro Birmingham, alleging campus security wrongly detained him and accused him of impersonating a police officer.

    Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry told reporters his “close-knit, resilient, loving community” was rocked by “this senseless act of violence.” It’s home to nearly 40,000 residents, most of them white, including many businesspeople, doctors and lawyers who work in Birmingham.

    The church’s pastor, the Rev. John Burruss, said in a Facebook post that he was in Greece on a pilgrimage and trying to get back.

    The Rev. Rebecca Bridges, the associate rector, led an online prayer service on the church’s Facebook page Friday morning. She prayed not only for the victims and church members who witnessed the shooting, but also “for the person who perpetrated the shooting.”

    “We pray that you will work in that person’s heart,” Bridges said. “And we pray that you will help us to forgive.”

    Bridges, currently in London, alluded to other recent mass shootings as she prayed that “our culture will change and that our laws will change in ways that will protect all of us.”

    Thursday’s shooting happened just over a month after one person was killed and five injured when a man opened fire on Taiwanese parishioners at a Southern California church. It also came nearly seven years to the day after an avowed white supremacist killed nine people during Bible study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

    A message posted by St. Stephens said it would hold Sunday services, adding: “We will gather at the Table that has taught so many that love is always breaking through in this world, no matter what we experience, whether it be doubt, anger, loss, grief, or death — but yet also joy and life.”

    ___

    AP writer Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this story.

    Source Article from https://apnews.com/1c773c7332c344e5ac30a1101cedeeef

    Updated 10:25 PM ET, Fri June 17, 2022

    Shanghai, China (CNN)When I left a Covid-ravaged Hong Kong, I was in search of a sanctuary.

      Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/17/asia/shanghai-covid-quarantine-lockdown-experience-dst-intl-hnk/index.html

      A “hero” attending a potluck dinner subdued the gunman who opened fire inside an Alabama church Thursday, killing three members, police said. Police announced the death of the third victim Friday afternoon.

      Police Capt. Shane Ware said a suspect was in custody but only identified him as a 71-year-old White male who occasionally attended services at the St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills. District Attorney Danny Carr later identified the suspect as Robert Findlay Smith and said warrants had been issued for capital murder of two or more persons. He is being held without bond.   

      The suspect pulled a gun and opened fire during the dinner, a “Boomers Potluck” gathering attended by other church members, Ware said. He killed Walter Rainey, an 84-year-old man from Irondale, Alabama, and Sarah Yeager, a 75-year-old woman from Pelham, Alabama, police said in a statement earlier Friday.

      An 84-year-old woman from Hoover, Alabama, was also wounded in the shooting. She was taken to an area hospital and died on Friday. Police said in a statement Friday afternoon the woman’s family asked for her name to not be released.


      Alabama police say “hero” subdued gunman in deadly church shooting

      07:29

      A person in the room at the time of the shooting restrained the suspect and held him until police arrived, Ware said. 

      “The person that subdued the suspect in my opinion is a hero,” Ware told reporters during a Friday morning press conference. He said the person’s actions were “extremely critical in saving lives.” Ware didn’t identify the person.

      Ware said he didn’t know how many people were attending the dinner at the time of the shooting.

      The suspect acted alone and there wasn’t a threat to the community, Ware said. Investigators were still looking into the motive for the shooting and whether the suspect had any previous interactions with law enforcement.

      Church members console each other after a shooting at the St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Vestavia Hills, Ala.

      AP Photo/Butch Dill


      Emergency dispatchers got a call at around 6:20 p.m. Thursday reporting an active shooter at the church, Ware said.

      According to messages posted on the church’s Facebook page, the church’s pastor, the Rev. John Burruss, said he was in Greece on a pilgrimage with a group of members and trying to get back to Alabama.

      “More than anything, I ask your prayers for our community, especially those who are injured and the families of the deceased. These are the pillars of our community, and I cannot begin to fathom how painful this is for our entire church, and the larger community,” he wrote.

      Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry praised the police response Friday, saying officers “handled this crisis in an exemplary manner.” He said his “close-knit, resilient, loving community” of 39,000 had been rocked by “this senseless act of violence.”

      The Rev. Rebecca Bridges, the church’s associate rector, led an online prayer service on the church’s Facebook page Friday morning. She prayed not only for the victims and church members who witnessed the shooting, but also “for the person who perpetrated the shooting.”

      “We pray that you will work in that person’s heart,” Bridges said. “And we pray that you will help us to forgive.”

      Bridges, who is currently in London, alluded to other recent mass shootings as she prayed that elected officials in Washington and Alabama “will see what has happened at St. Stephen’s and Uvalde and Buffalo and in so many other places and their hearts will be changed, minds will be opened.”

      “And that our culture will change and that our laws will change in ways that will protect all of us,” she added.

      Thursday’s shooting happened just over a month after one person was killed and five injured when a man opened fire on Taiwanese parishioners at a church in Southern California. It comes nearly seven years to the day after an avowed white supremacist killed nine people during Bible study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

      Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement late Thursday lamenting what she called the shocking and tragic loss of life. Although she said she was glad to hear the suspect was in custody, she wrote: “This should never happen – in a church, in a store, in the city or anywhere.”

      Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/alabama-church-shooting-police-press-conference-watch-live-stream-today-2022-06-17/

      Former president Donald Trump denied that he tried to force vice president Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 presidential election results on January 6 last year.

      Mr Trump’s words come a day after the House select committee investigating the riot at the US Capitol held its third public hearing, where Mr Pence’s former White House Counsel Greg Jacob testified about the pressure campaign the former vice president sustained at the hands of the president and his legal team.

      Multiple video depositions, including from former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann, showed how Mr Trump knew his plan to overturn the election results were illegal.

      But Mr Trump pushed back on the allegations on his social media platform Truth Social.

      “Such LIES & MISREPRESENTATION by the Unselects, and absolutely nobody allowed to challenge what is being said”, Mr Trump posted. “As an example, I never asked V.P. Pence to ‘overturn’ the election (although Thomas Jefferson ‘took’ the Georgia votes), but that he send the votes back to the Legislatures so that they could determine if the irregularities and Fraud were as widespread and signficant as they seemed.”

      The hearing on Thursday detailed how Trump lawyer John Eastman and Mr Herschmann knew the plan was illegal. Similarly, it also revealed how an informant told the FBI that members of the Proud Boys would have killed Mr Pence if they found him.

      Mr Jacob told the panel that in a meeting at the Oval Office two days before the riot, Mr Eastman told the vice president about his plan that would have violated the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which governs how Congress counts electoral votes to certify the presidential election.

      Ahead of the riot, Mr Trump tweeted out a memorandum that floated the theory that he could overturn the results during a joint session of Congress. Committee member Representative Pete Aguilar of California also revealed that Mr Trump’s speech at the White House Ellipse before the riot did not initially mention Mr Pence but that he later included the vice president’s name and ad-libbed.

      When the riot began, Mr Trump tweeted that the vice president “didn’t have the courage” to stop the certification of the election, which in turn led to rioters chanting “Hang Mike Pence.”

      Later, Mr Trump falsely complained again that the election was stolen.

      “The Forgotten Men & Women of our Country are now being forced to endure crooked, rigged and badly tainted Elections, and Open Borders that allow millions & millions of people to ‘invade’ our Country, totally unchecked, unvetted and having no idea where they came from or who they are,” he posted on Truth Social. “In other words, our Country is going to HELL!”

      Andrew Feinberg contributed reporting.

      Source Article from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-pence-overturn-election-jan-6-b2103457.html

      Those documents revealed how the US military had killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents during the war in Afghanistan, while leaked Iraq war files showed 66,000 civilians had been killed, and prisoners tortured, by Iraqi forces.

      Source Article from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61839256