🇬🇧 **UK PM candidate Johnson says he backs Hong Kong people 'every inch of the way'**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/KKGHR>

Boris Johnson, who could be Britain’s prime minister by the end of the month, said he backed the people of Hong Kong every inch of the way and cautioned China that “one country, two systems” should not be cast aside.

Britain has repeatedly pressed China to honor its commitment to protect freedoms in Hong Kong after police fired tear gas to disperse protesters rallying in the former British colony against a now-suspended extradition bill.

Hong Kong has been rocked by the largest protests in China since crowds demonstrated against the bloody suppression of pro-democracy activists in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June 1989.

“The people of Hong Kong are perfectly within their rights to be very skeptical, very anxious about proposals for extradition to the mainland that could be politically motivated, that could be arbitrary and could
infringe their human rights,” Johnson told Reuters in an interview during a visit to a police training center in southern England.

“So yes I do support them and I will happily speak up for them and back them every inch of the way,” the former foreign secretary said. “And I would stress to our friends in Beijing that the ‘one country,
two systems’ approach has worked, is working and should not be cast aside.”

Late on Monday, hundreds of protesters in Hong Kong besieged, and broke into, the legislature after a demonstration marking the anniversary of its 1997 return to Chinese rule.

The turbulence in Hong Kong was triggered by an extradition bill critics say will undermine Hong Kong’s independent judiciary and give Beijing powers to prosecute activists in mainland courts, which
are controlled by the Communist Party.
----------------

🇨🇳 **China to Britain: Keep your 'colonial' hands off Hong Kong**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/5rFE0>

China told Britain to keep its hands off Hong Kong on Wednesday while London called for Beijing to honor the agreements made when the city was handed over in 1997, escalating a diplomatic spat over the former British colony.

Beijing denounced British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt as “shameless” and said it had made a diplomatic complaint to London after he warned of consequences if China neglected its commitments to guarantee basic freedoms.

“In the minds of some people, they regard Hong Kong as still under British rule. They forget ... that Hong Kong has now returned to the embrace of the Motherland,” China’s ambassador to London, Liu Xiaoming, said.

“I tell them: hands off Hong Kong and show respect. This colonial mindset is still haunting the minds of some officials or politicians,” Liu told reporters.

The growing war of words between China and Britain follows mass protests in Hong Kong against a now suspended bill that would allow extradition to mainland China.

Hundreds of protesters in the former British colony besieged and broke into the legislature on Monday after a demonstration marking the anniversary of return to Chinese rule.

China called the violence an “undisguised challenge” to the “one country, two systems” model under which Hong Kong has been ruled for 22 years.

On Tuesday, Hunt warned of consequences if China did not abide by the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984 on the terms of the return of Hong Kong, which allows freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China, including the right to protest.
----------------

🇪🇸 **Three people gored on first day of Spanish bull-running festival**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/cd3uQ>

Three people were gored and a further two people suffered head trauma during the first day of Spain’s best-known bull-running festival in the northern town of Pamplona on Sunday, the Red Cross said.

One man was loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher shortly after the dash through the medieval town center’s narrow streets to the bullring, which lasted two minutes and 41 seconds.

Thousands of runners, dressed head to toe in white, with bright-red neckerchiefs, gather every year for the traditional morning run, after which the animals are kept in the bullring until the afternoon’s fights.

A total 53 people were treated by the Red Cross. Runners often get injured at traditional bull-runs in Spain, but no one has died at Pamplona’s San Fermin festival since Spaniard Daniel Jimeno was gored in the neck by a Jandilla bull in 2009.

This year, the bulls were from cattle breeder Puerto de San Lorenzo, whose bulls have been responsible for one goring in the past. One person was gored on the opening day of the festival last year.

Locals and tourists alike will join in the 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) run every morning until next Sunday.

The festival regularly stokes debate about the treatment of animals. On Friday, protesters lay half-naked on the street with fake spears coming out of their backs to protest against what they see as cruelty.
----------------

🇮🇷 **Iran makes new nuclear threats that would reverse steps in pact**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/nHkCt>

Iran threatened on Monday to restart deactivated centrifuges and ramp up enrichment of uranium to 20 percent purity as its next potential big moves away from a 2015 nuclear agreement that Washington abandoned last year.

The threats, made by Tehran’s nuclear agency spokesman, would go far beyond the small steps Iran has taken in the past week to nudge stocks of fissile material just beyond limits in the pact.

That could raise serious questions about whether the agreement, intended to block Iran from making a nuclear weapon, is still viable.

The two threats would reverse major achievements of the agreement, although Iran omitted important details about how far it might go to returning to the status quo before the pact, when Western experts
believed it could build a bomb within months.

In a separate standoff, Iran’s foreign minister accused Britain of “piracy” for seizing an Iranian oil tanker last week. Britain says the ship was bound for Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, confirmed that Tehran had enriched uranium beyond the deal’s limit of 3.67% purity, passing 4.5%, according to news agency ISNA.

U.N. nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, confirmed it had verified Iran’s enrichment was beyond 3.67%.

Iran has said it will take another, third step away from the deal within 60 days. Kamalvandi said options included enriching uranium to 20% purity or beyond, and restarting IR-2 M centrifuges dismantled under the deal.
----------------

🇿🇦 **South African teens fly from Cape to Cairo in homemade plane**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/43UdC>

An aircraft built by South African teenagers has successfully landed in Egypt six weeks after it set off from Cape Town.

The four-seater Sling 4 plane was assembled by a group of 20 students from vastly different backgrounds.

The crew landed in Namibia, Malawi, Ethiopia, Zanzibar, Tanzania and Uganda during the 12,000km (7,455 mile) trip.

Pilot Megan Werner, 17, founder of U-Dream Global project, said she was thrilled by the accomplishment.

"I'm so honoured to have made a difference around the continent at the places we've stopped.

"The purpose of the initiative is to show Africa that anything is possible if you set your mind to it," she added.

Another Sling 4 plane, flown by professional pilots, accompanied the teen flyers, whose goal was to give motivational talks for other teenagers along the way.

The teenagers built the aircraft in three weeks from a kit manufactured in South Africa by the Airplane Factory. Construction included assembling thousands of small parts.

Megan's father, Des Werner, who is a commercial pilot, said it would normally take 3,000 man hours to assemble a Sling 4.
----------------

🇳🇱 **Alleged Islamic State fighter on trial in Netherlands for war crimes**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/t5Mug>

A Dutch-born alleged Islamic State militant went on trial in the Netherlands on Monday for war crimes committed in Iraq and Syria, after posing with a crucified body and sharing images of dead victims online.

It is the first trial in the Netherlands dealing with war crimes committed by an alleged Islamic State militant.

There is no international tribunal to prosecute the widespread atrocities committed during Syria’s civil war, which began in 2011, but several European countries have put citizens who joined militant
groups in the Middle East on trial.

According to the European police agency Europol, some 5,000 Europeans went to fight in Syria and Iraq, of whom some 1,500 have returned. Roughly 300 Dutch men and women joined the war in Iraq and Syria, prosecutors said.

Oussama Achraf Akhlafa, 24, is charged with joining IS militants in Mosul in Iraq, and Raqqa in Syria, between 2014 and 2016.

He is being tried under so-called universal jurisdiction, which enables war crimes to be prosecuted regardless of where they were committed.

Akhlafa is charged with violating the personal dignity of war victims, which is protected under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, as well as membership of a terrorist organization.
Prosecutors demanded a prison sentence of seven years, eight months.

Prosecutors said Akhlafa had posed next to the crucified body of a man on a wooden cross and distributed pictures of an IS militant holding the head of a dead Kurdish fighter,
and of a dead woman with the foot of someone standing on her body.
----------------

🇨🇭 **Climate protesters arrested outside Swiss banks**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/PGWEt>

Environmental activists, seeking to pressure Swiss banks into halting the financing of fossil fuels, blocked entrances to Credit Suisse in Zurich and UBS in Basel on Monday before police intervened
and arrested some protesters.

The action, initiated by groups calling for civil disobedience to draw attention to activities that accelerate climate change, halted streetcars and drew onlookers on Zurich’s Parade Square
as well as its Bahnhofstrasse luxury shopping mile.

Police observed the protesters, who were given the opportunity to leave of their own accord, for more than an hour before moving in, using saws and bolt cutters to remove activists who had
chained themselves together or to structures.

“Switzerland does not have coal mines or oil wells, but these activities are financed from here,” Frida Kohlmann, a spokeswoman for Collective Climate Justice, a group that helped organize
the protest, told Reuters before the arrests.

“Banks have a good image here, and under this squeaky clean image, they are financing dirty business all over the world.”

Heatwaves and wildfires, as well the United Nations urging action to halt rising temperatures, have spurred activists across Europe and elsewhere this year to risk arrest by joining protests
to persuade governments and companies to do more to curb fossil fuel use.

Zurich police said on Twitter they had arrested around two dozen protesters before midday, with more due to be removed from bank entrances.
----------------

🇺🇸 **Jeffrey Epstein: Financier charged with sex trafficking minors**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/SwcCc>

Wealthy US financier and friend of the powerful, Jeffrey Epstein, has appeared in a New York court charged with running "a vast network" of underage girls for sex.

Appearing in dark blue jail clothing on Monday, Epstein pleaded not guilty.

The indictment alleges he enticed minors to visit his Manhattan and Florida mansions between 2002 and 2005.

According to the charges, the girls, some as young as 14, were given hundreds of dollars for sex acts.

He faces one count of sex trafficking and one of sex trafficking conspiracy.

**Who is Jeffrey Epstein?**
The 66-year-old hedge fund manager was arrested on Saturday at Teterboro Airport after arriving from France on his private jet.

Epstein will remain in jail until his bail hearing on 11 July.

**What does the charge sheet say?**
The indictment alleges Epstein knew his victims were under 18. Often they would be invited to carry out a massage nude before being subjected to sexual abuse, it says.

The accused "also paid certain of his victims to recruit additional girls to be similarly abused", the document alleges.

He conspired with others "including employees and associates" who helped schedule encounters at his Manhattan mansion and Palm Beach residence, it is alleged.

Epstein has maintained that he believed the girls were at least 18 and that the encounters were consensual.

At a news conference, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, said a police raid on Epstein's Manhattan property resulted in the seizure of what appeared to be photos of naked girls.

He said that Epstein presented a flight risk and he would recommend the defendant remain in custody pending trial. Mr Berman appealed to anyone who may have been a victim or have information to come forward.
----------------

🇺🇸 **Acosta Resigns as Labor Secretary over Epstein Plea Deal**
*New York Times* - <https://archive.fo/l3hkz>

President Trump said Friday morning that R. Alexander Acosta, his embattled secretary of labor, will resign following controversy over a lenient plea deal he made with Jeffrey Epstein when he was a prosecutor in Florida.

Mr. Trump made the announcement as he left the White House for travel to Milwaukee and Cleveland.

Mr. Trump said Mr. Acosta called him this morning and that it was Mr. Acosta’s decision to resign.
--------------

I like how it's always "mr" trump. It's not fucking mr. Its fucking president trump

🇺🇸 **Armed man shot, killed after throwing incendiary devices at Washington ICE detention center**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.fo/k8EGc>

Police in Washington state say an armed man was shot and killed early Saturday after trying to attack a local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.

The Seattle Times reported that the unidentified man appeared outside of the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma with a rifle and threw incendiary devices at both the facility and nearby propane tanks, at one point setting a vehicle on fire.

Officers responded to the incident around 4 a.m. and called out to the man before shots were fired. It was not clear how many shots were fired or whether the man fired at police.

Police spokesman Loretta Cool said the officers weren't wearing body cameras, but the area is covered by surveillance cameras from the detention center. The four officers involved were placed on administrative leave in accordance with the department's policy. None of them were injured.

ICE said in a statement that no employees "were harmed nor involved in this tragic incident."

The shooting took place hours after a rally in front of the detention center to protest planned mass deportation raids around the country. The Tacoma facility, which is run by the Department of Homeland Security, holds migrants pending deportation proceedings. The detention center has also held immigration-seeking parents separated from their children under President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" policy, an effort meant to deter illegal immigration.
--------------

🇺🇸 **Judge: Neo-Nazi blogger owes Whitefish woman $14M**
*Missoulian* - <https://archive.fo/31Dgj>

A federal judge on Monday decided more than $14 million should be awarded to a Whitefish woman who suffered a "troll storm" unleashed by a neo-Nazi website publisher in late 2016.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah Lynch issued his decision on Monday, finding Andrew Anglin owes Tanya Gersh $10 million in punitive damages along with $4,042,438 in compensatory damages.

The ruling comes after a daylong hearing Thursday in which Gersh, her husband, and her therapist testified to the emotional damage caused after Anglin called on his followers on the Daily Stormer to "storm" Gersh's family.

Anglin accused Gersh of trying to force the mother of white nationalist Richard Spencer to sell her building in Whitefish and posted personal information on Gersh, her husband, and their son online. A barrage of threats and anti-Semitic messages followed.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, representing Gersh, filed a lawsuit in federal court against Anglin in early 2017. In a statement released by the SPLC on Monday, Gersh said justice has been served.

"This lawsuit has always been about stopping others from enduring the terror I continue to live through at the hands of a neo-Nazi and his followers," Gersh said.

"I hope that the strength that I’ve shown — through the support of my family, community, and everyone who has sent positive messages my way — that with love and support, you can conquer the most horrible and hateful messages with positivity and that you can win.”

Anglin was not present at the July 11 hearing, nor was any attorney there to represent him. He forfeited his defense in April after repeatedly refusing a judge's order to appear in the United States for a deposition, and his attorneys subsequently asked to withdraw from the case.
--------------

🇺🇸 **Roger Stone avoids jail, banned from major social media after judge rules Trump friend breached gag order in Mueller case**
*CNBC* - <https://archive.fo/HtWhw>

A federal judge on Tuesday banned Republican operative Roger Stone from posting anything at all on major social media platforms after ruling that the longtime confidant of President Donald Trump violated an already strict gag order in his criminal case.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson walked through a litany of Stone's recent posts from his Instagram account that appeared to breach his order not to speak publicly about his case.

Jackson barred Stone from posting on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter — but she decided not to revoke Stone's bail bond or hold him in contempt for violating her order.

"It seems he is determined to make himself the subject of the story," Jackson said of Stone, according to Buzzfeed News.

Stone's lawyer argued that his client's posts did not have an impact on the case, even if he was communicating about it publicly, Buzzfeed reported.

Federal prosecutors didn't call on Jackson to revoke Stone's $250,000 criminal release bond — which would have landed Stone in jail pending trial. Instead, they asked for him to be cut off from his social media presence, Politico reported.

Former special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutors have charged Stone with witness tampering, obstruction of justice and lying to Congress. He has pleaded not guilty.
--------------

🇺🇸 **Feds End Campaign Finance Investigation into Trump ‘Hush Money’ to Stormy Daniels**
*Breitbart* - <http://archive.is/4cAGA>

Federal prosecutors have ended their investigation into payments from then-candidate Donald Trump to porn star Stormy Daniels, which Trump’s critics had hoped would lead to his arrest or impeachment.

CNN and other outlets had previously asserted — as news — that Trump had “literally” broken campaign finance laws. Michael Avenatti, Daniels’s attorney at the time, told NPR in August: “Donald Trump is either going to resign. He’s going to be removed from office by impeachment, or I’m going to beat him in 2020.” Last August, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to a variety of offenses, including campaign contribution violations. He told a federal court in New York that he had arranged payments to Daniels (whose real name is Stephanie Clifford) and former Playboy model Karen McDougal at Trump’s direction.

Cohen began a three-year sentence in federal prison in May. Avenatti is facing federal charges in both Los Angeles and New York.
---------------

🇺🇸 **Nolte: Poll Shows Media Attack on Trump over ‘Squad’ Tweets Backfired**
*Breitbart* - <http://archive.is/4nUkH>

Fewer voters believe President Trump is racist and more believe he’s attacked as a racist only for political purposes, according to a poll taken after the fake news media launched a jihad to destroy the president over tweets aimed at the extremist Democrats known as “The Squad.”

In a Rasmussen poll of 1,000 likely voters taken on Monday and Tuesday, a full day after Trump blasted the Squad — which is made up of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) — all the important numbers have moved Trump’s way. To begin with, Trump’s overall job approval rating moved a net eight points in his direction since Monday — from 46 percent to 50 percent approval; and from 52 percent to 48 percent disapproval.

Try as the fake news media will, the American people no longer trust or believe them (nor should they). And as these polls show, the president has come out on top once again, even after the media came together to group tackle him. But once again they did so using lies and criticisms that do not hold up to the facts.
---------------

🇮🇷 **Iran says it has arrested CIA spies; UK to unveil response to ship crisis**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/vulLf>

Iran said on Monday it had captured 17 spies working for the CIA and sentenced some of them to death, an announcement President Donald Trump dismissed as “totally false” amid an escalating international crisis over
tankers in the Gulf.

The Iranian announcement came hours before Britain was due to unveil its response to Iran’s seizure of a British oil tanker, a move that has escalated a three-month confrontation that nearly drew the United States
and Iran into a shooting war.

“The Report of Iran capturing CIA spies is totally false. Zero truth. Just more lies and propaganda (like their shot-down drone) put out by a Religious Regime that is Badly Failing and has no idea what to do. Their
Economy is dead, and will get much worse. Iran is a total mess!” tweeted Trump.

Iranian state television published images it said showed CIA officers who had been in touch with the suspected spies. The Ministry of Intelligence said the 17 spies had been arrested in the 12 months to March 2019.
Some had been sentenced to death, according to another report.

Such announcements are not unusual in Iran and are often made for domestic consumption. But the timing suggested a hardening of the Iranian position as the Gulf crisis escalates.

In London, Prime Minister Theresa May led a meeting of her government’s COBR emergency committee to respond to Friday’s capture of the Stena Impero tanker by Iranian commandoes who abseiled onto its deck from
helicopters in the Strait of Hormuz.

British ministers were expected to unveil their plans in a speech to parliament later on Monday. Regional experts say London has few good options to exert leverage over Iran at a time when Washington has already
imposed the maximum possible economic sanctions, banning Iran’s global oil exports.
----------------

🇬🇧🇮🇷 **Britain calls ship seizure 'hostile act' as Iran releases video of capture**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/g7WbQ>

Britain on Saturday denounced Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf as a “hostile act” and rejected Tehran’s explanation that it seized the vessel because it had been involved in an accident.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards posted a video online showing speedboats pulling alongside the Stena Impero tanker, its name clearly visible. Troops wearing ski masks and carrying machine guns rappelled to its deck from a helicopter, the same tactics used by British Royal Marines to seize an Iranian tanker off the coast of Gibraltar two weeks ago.

Friday’s action in the global oil trade’s most important waterway has been viewed in the West as a major escalation after three months of confrontation that has already taken Iran and the United States to the brink of war.

It follows threats from Tehran to retaliate for Britain’s July 4 seizure of the Iranian tanker Grace 1, accused of violating sanctions on Syria.

British Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt called the incident a “hostile act”. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he had expressed “extreme disappointment” by phone to his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif. Britain also summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires in London.

A spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Brigadier-General Ramezan Sharif, said Tehran had seized the ship in the Strait of Hormuz despite the “resistance and interference” of a British warship which had been escorting it. No British warship was visible in the video posted by the Guards.
--------------

🇺🇸🇮🇷 **US doesn’t want war with Iran & UK should take care of its own ships – Pompeo**
*RT* - <https://archive.fo/9uOzx>

Amid rising tensions, Mike Pompeo has insisted the US doesn’t want war with Iran and the UK is responsible for taking care of its own ships. The secretary of state also dismissed Tehran’s claims it had arrested CIA-linked spies.

Pompeo was speaking to Fox and Friends on Monday morning when he was asked what the US role was in getting back the British oil tanker Stena Impero, seized by Iran last week.

“The responsibility in the first instance falls to the United Kingdom to take care of their ships,” Pompeo said, adding, “This isn’t because of US sanctions, this is because of the theocracy of the leadership in Iran, the revolutionary zeal to conduct terror around the world, for now four decades, continues.”

“We don’t want war with Iran, we want them to behave like a normal nation,” he added. “I think they understand that.”

Iran has said that all 23 crew members on the Stena Impero are “safe and in good health,” and that it seized the tanker in response to the UK’s seizure of one of its own tankers on July 4.

In his interview, Pompeo also dismissed Iran’s announcement that it had captured 17 CIA-linked spies. “The Iranian regime has a long history of lying,” he said.
--------------

🇺🇸 **Trump has not built a single mile of new border fence after 30 months in office**
*Washington Examiner* - <https://archive.fo/rcVUi>

The Trump administration has not installed a single mile of new wall in a previously fenceless part of the U.S.-Mexico border in the 30 months since President Trump assumed office, despite his campaign promise to construct a “big beautiful wall.”

In a statement last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency overseeing border barrier construction, confirmed that all the fencing completed since Trump took office is "in place of dilapidated designs" because the existing fence was in need of replacement.

The agency said that it had built 51 miles of steel bollard fence with funding that was set aside during fiscal 2017 and 2018. But while the funding was meant both to replace outdated walls and to place barriers where there previously had been none, the government has only completed the replacement projects. The projects to secure areas with no fence are still in the works.

The 50 miles of completed replacement barrier is a 10-mile gain since early April. In Trump’s two and a half years in office, his administration has installed an average 1.7 miles of barrier per month, and none of it in areas that did not previously have some sort of barrier. A total 205 miles of new and replacement barrier has been funded in the two and a half years since Trump took office.

A senior administration official told the Washington Examiner that Border Patrol and the Army Corps of Engineers moved faster on replacement projects than the new ones because the approval process for environmental and zoning permits was far less extensive than areas of the border with no barrier.

A second senior official defended the progress the administration's progress and blamed Democrats in Congress for blocking funding for additional projects the White House has tried to move on.
--------------

🇺🇸 **More Than 2,000 Migrants Were Targeted in Raids. 35 Were Arrested.**
*MSN/New York Times* - <https://archive.fo/k92hm>

More than 2,000 migrants who were in the United States illegally were targeted in widely publicized raids that unfolded across the country last week. But figures the government provided to The New York Times on Monday show that just 35 people were detained in the operation.

President Trump had touted the raids — called Operation Border Resolve — as a show of force amid an influx of Central American parents and children across the southern border. After postponing the raids in June, Mr. Trump said ahead of time that they would take place last week.

Two current Department of Homeland Security officials and one former department official also confirmed to The Times that an enforcement operation would take place around mid-July.

But the publicity may have prompted many of those who had been targeted — 2,105 people in more than a dozen cities who had received final deportation orders but had not reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers — to temporarily leave their homes, or to move altogether to evade arrest.

Advance notice of the large-scale operation also gave immigrant advocates time to counsel families about their rights, which include not opening the door or answering questions. On social media, community groups shared detailed information about sightings of ICE agents.

In an interview Monday, Matthew Albence, the acting director of ICE, which is responsible for arresting, detaining and deporting unauthorized immigrants who are already in the United States, acknowledged that the number of apprehensions was low.

“I don’t know of any other population where people are telling them how to avoid arrest as a result of illegal activity,” he said. “It certainly makes it harder for us to effectuate these orders issued.”
--------------

🇺🇸 **Jeffrey Epstein Found Injured in NYC Jail Cell After Possible Suicide Attempt or Assault: Sources**
*NBC 4 New York* - <https://archive.fo/pWyyb>

Accused pedophile and wealthy Manhattan financier Jeffrey Epstein was found injured and in a fetal position inside his cell at a New York City jail, according to sources close to the investigation.

Epstein, who is being held in Metropolitan Correctional Center during his trial for conspiracy and sex trafficking, was found semi-conscious with marks on his neck, sources told News 4. Investigators are trying to piece together what happened, and have spoken to an accused killer who one source says may have attacked Epstein.

Two sources tell News 4 that Epstein may have tried to hang himself, while a third source cautioned that the injuries were not serious and questioned if Epstein might be using it as a way to get a transfer.

However, the fourth source says an assault has not been ruled out, and that another inmate has been questioned. The inmate who investigators have talked to in Lower Manhattan facility has been identified as Nicholas Tartaglione, according to a source. Tartaglione is a former Orange County police officer who was arrested in December 2016 and accused of killing four men in an alleged cocaine distribution conspiracy, then burying their bodies in his yard in Otisville, according to court records.

Sources told News 4 investigators tried to question Tartaglione about whether he had any contact with Epstein before he was found on the ground. The former cop claimed not to have seen anything and didn’t touch Epstein, sources said.

Epstein is now on suicide watch inside MCC.
---------------

🇺🇸 **Supreme Court Rules Trump Can Use Pentagon Funds for Border Wall**
*Wall Street Journal* - <https://archive.is/Fl8q5#5%>

The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of allowing the Trump administration to resume the use of military funds to expand a barrier at the southern border. In 5-4 decision, justices cleared the way for administration to use about $2.5 billion in military funds for U.S.-Mexico border-wall construction.

Trump can shift about $2.5 billion in military funds to construct an additional 100 miles of wall at the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort to seal off the U.S. from illegal immigration.

The Trump administration has sought to replace some barriers with tougher materials and to erect some new barrier where there was previously no wall but hasn’t specified where all of the funded construction is to take place.
---------------

🇭🇰 **Protesters clash in Hong Kong as cycle of violence intensifies**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/sIvR9>

Hong Kong police clashed with thousands of protesters on Sunday, as they sought to defend China’s main representative office from crowds seething over what many see as an increasing cycle of violence against them.

Protests over the past two months spearheaded by anti-government activists against a proposed bill that would allow people to be extradited from the city to stand trial in courts in mainland China have grown increasingly violent.

A march on Saturday against a violent assault the previous weekend by suspected triad gang members ended in violent turmoil as riot police waded in to disperse crowds.

On Sunday, a peaceful gathering in a park in the city’s central business district rapidly morphed into a march, as tens of thousands of black-clad protesters set off in several directions, clogging up major thoroughfares.

Thousands of people headed east, toward the shopping district of Causeway Bay, while another large contingent headed west, toward the Chinese government’s representative office, known as the Central Government Liaison Office.

There, hundreds of riot police blocked activists from advancing toward the building, which had been heavily fortified with barricades after it was surrounded and defaced a week earlier. A clear plastic shield had been
erected around a national emblem above its front doors.

As the crowds surged, hundreds of riot police with shields advanced, firing rounds of tear gas, rubber bullets and sponge grenades - a crowd control weapon - at protesters, sending clouds of acrid, burning smoke through the streets.

Some protesters were on their knees choking as ambulances raced to take away the injured.
----------------

🇮🇹 **American teens arrested in murder of Italian officer accused each other, officials say**
*NBC News* - <https://archive.fo/Zbu1h>

Two Americans arrested in connection with the death of an Italian paramilitary officer had blamed each other for committing murder, court documents sent to reporters show.

Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, 18, and Finnegan Lee Elder, 19, both from Mill Valley, California, were detained by police in Rome on Friday for alleged homicide and attempted extortion.

Police have said the pair had a violent encounter with two plainclothes members of the storied Carabinieri paramilitary corps, after having stolen a backpack from Italian national and demanded money and
a gram of cocaine in exchange for its return.

On Sunday, police released audio files of two calls with the Italian national who allegedly had his backpack stolen. He alleged he had spoken to the people who stole his bag by calling his cellphone,
which had been inside the bag, adding that the suspects demanded money for the return of his belongings.

The dispatcher agreed to send an officer to meet the victim.

Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, who had just returned to duty a few days earlier from his honeymoon, was dispatched on Friday to meet with the Americans as part of the investigation, authorities said.

A detention order says Natale-Hjorth, who can understand Italian, confirmed that Rega identified himself as a Carabiniere officer. Elder, who doesn't speak the language, denies the officer revealed who he was.
----------------

🇮🇱 **Israeli teens jump for joy as they are released and the British woman, 19, who accused them of gang raping her in Ayia Napa is ARRESTED for 'making false allegations' after 'changing her story'**
*DailyMail* - <https://archive.fo/G7HOo>

The Israeli teenagers who were accused of gang-raping a British woman hugged their relieved families this afternoon following their release after their accuser backtracked on her original story.

And in a dramatic development in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, the 19-year-old woman has been arrested for making false allegations about the men.

She had alleged that 12 Israelis had raped her in a hotel room, leading to their arrest.

Five were released on Thursday following extensive DNA testing and the remaining seven have been released today after the woman 'changed her story'.

The Briton, who has not been named, is expected to appear in court on Monday.

Police sources said she had retracted her statement after being further questioned by detectives over the weekend following the examination of further DNA results.

Doubts about her story began after one of the teens she identified as taking part in the gang rape was able to prove he was in bed with his girlfriend who had taken a selfie.

A police spokesman in Nicosia said:' A 19 year old woman has been arrested on suspicion of making false allegations '

Yaniv Habari, a lawyer for some of the now freed men, told MailOnline: 'The woman has changed her story. Those in custody will be released and allowed to leave.'

He said the accuser 'regretted what she said and now she's being interrogated, and most likely she will be referred to court tomorrow.'
----------------

🇺🇸 **'Mental health crisis': Fifth NYPD officer dies by suicide in two months**
*NBC News* - <https://archive.fo/qOQ2J>

Another New York City police officer died by suicide amid what officials have declared a "mental health crisis."

The Sergeants Benevolent Association said on social media Saturday that the late officer was a sergeant, but neither the union nor the NYPD have identified the officer.
Commissioner James O’Neill pleaded with his police force to seek help for any mental health issues that they may be facing.

"To every member of the NYPD, please know this: it is okay to feel vulnerable," O'Neill said in a statement Saturday. "It is okay if you are facing struggles. And it is okay
to seek help from others. You may not know this, and it may be hard to imagine, but you are not out there all by yourself."

On June 5, Deputy Chief Steven Silks, 62, was found dead in a police vehicle in Queens just days away from retirement. About 24 hours later, Detective Joseph Calabrese, 58, was
found dead at Brooklyn's Plum Beach.

Just a few days later, a 29-year-old officer died outside a precinct on Staten Island. Kevin Preiss, 53, a 24-year veteran of the force, was found dead at his Long Island home at the end of the month.

"This is a mental health crisis," O’Neill declared in June after the third death.

In a survey conducted by NBC New York, 78 percent of police officers across the country reported experiencing critical stress on the job, with 68 percent saying that stress triggered unresolved emotional issues.

Additionally, 16 percent of officers said that they had thoughts of suicide.

"This has to be a continuous process. This has to be done at roll calls. This has to be done in video training," O'Neill told NBC New York in June. "We need to talk about this. This can’t be a deep dark secret.
People have to understand that there is help available."
----------------

🇰🇵 **US citizen released from North Korea says he spied for US, South Korea**
*FOX News* - <http://archive.fo/Gbb3E>

"A U.S. citizen convicted of espionage in North Korea and later freed from prison there has admitted he was indeed spying for the U.S. and South Korea — detailing how he surreptitiously collected sensitive information from the Hermit Kingdom and also highlighting that not all of Pyongyang's pronouncements about captured spies are exaggeration, paranoia or propaganda.

Kim Dong Chul, a South Korea-born U.S. citizen and former Virginia resident, was released from North Korea in May 2018 after an April 2016 conviction that landed him in prison for 10 years with hard labor. He had been tried for allegedly "perpetrating state subversive plots and espionage against" North Korea.

And it turns out, that's exactly what he did.

He admitted before his sentencing to collecting and passing confidential information to South Korea, but such confessions are often stage-managed and coerced. But in an article published Thursday, a now-free Kim told NK News he also spied for the U.S. to obtain “very significant” information valuable to U.S. intelligence agencies."
----------------

🇧🇷 **Death toll in Brazil prison massacre rises to 57 with over a dozen decapitated**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/Vzd0b>

A bloody clash between two prison gangs on Monday left at least 57 inmates dead with 16 of them decapitated, authorities in the state of Para said, the latest deadly
clash as Brazil’s government struggles to control the country’s overcrowded jails.

State authorities said the riot began around 7 a.m. local time (1000 GMT) at a prison in the northern city of Altamira, and involved rival gangs.

Prisoners belonging to the Comando Classe A gang set fire to a cell containing inmates from the rival Comando Vermelho, or Red Command, gang, Para’s state government said in a statement.

Most of the dead died in the fire, they said, while two guards were taken hostage, but later released.

“It was a targeted act,” state prison director Jarbas Vasconcelos said in the statement, adding there was no prior intelligence that suggested an attack would take place.

“The aim was to show that it was a settling of accounts between the two gangs.”

Videos circulating online showed inmates at the prison celebrating as they kicked decapitated heads across the floor. Reuters was unable, however, to independently verify the footage.

Elected on a tough-on-crime message, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has benefited from a sharp drop in homicides so far this year. Nonetheless, endemic prison violence has been a
stubborn public security challenge in one of the world’s most violent countries.

In May, at least 55 inmates died during prison attacks in the northern state of Amazonas. Weeks of violence in Amazonas in 2017 resulted in 150 prison deaths as local gangs backed
by Brazil’s two largest drug factions went to war.
----------------

🇪🇹 **Ethiopia 'breaks' tree-planting record to tackle climate change**
*BBC* - <https://archive.fo/5TkDk>

Ethiopia has planted more than 350 million trees in a day, officials say, in what they believe is a world record.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is leading the project, which aims to counter the effects of deforestation and climate change in the drought-prone country.

Some public offices have been shut down to allow civil servants to take part.

The UN says Ethiopia's forest coverage declined from 35% of total land in the early 20th Century to a little above 4% in the 2000s.

Mr Abiy launched the tree-planting exercise as part of his Green Legacy Initiative, which is taking place in 1,000 sites across the country.

Officials were assigned to count the seedlings being planted by volunteers, reports BBC's Kalkidan Yibeltal in the capital, Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia's Minister of Innovation and Technology Getahun Mekuria tweeted that more than 350 million trees were planted in 12 hours

The aim is to plant a total of four billion indigenous trees.

Promotional videos have run on state media urging the public to plant and care for trees, our reporter says.

Staff from the United Nations, African Union and foreign embassies in Ethiopia have also been taking part in the exercise.
----------------

🇺🇸 **Police ID Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting suspect as Santino William Legan; victims include 2 children**
*LA Times* - <http://archive.is/lqzc1>

The man police say opened fire at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday used a rifle banned in California to kill three people, including two children, and wound 12 others. Police identified the gunman as Santino William Legan , 19, of Gilroy. A 6-year-old boy, Stephen Romero, and a 13-year-old girl, Keyla Salazar, both of San Jose, were killed, the Santa Clara County coroner’s office said. Officials at Keuka College identified the third victim as graduate Trevor Irby, 25, of Romulus, N.Y.

The gunman was originally from Gilroy and spent some time in Nevada living with family, according to the city police chief. He also appeared to have posted to his Instagram a photo of a Smokey Bear sign warning about fire danger with a caption that instructed people to read the novel “Might Is Right.” The book, published in 1890 under the pseudonym Ragnar Redbeard, includes principles related to social Darwinism and is described as including misogynistic and racist ideas.

The popular food festival at the “Garlic Capital of the World” was about to close about 5:30 p.m. Sunday when authorities allege Legan opened fire. Chief Smithee said the gunman was able to circumvent the festival’s security by entering from a creek area and cutting through a fence.

Videos from the shooting scene showed people screaming and running across the festival grounds as shots were fired around them. Some described the chaotic situation as the scariest moments of their lives.

Legan was fatally shot by police Sunday after the mass shooting at the popular food festival in Santa Clara County.
----------------

🇺🇲 **Journalist attacked by Antifa: 'Criminal cartel' wants violent revolution, should be designated as terror organization**
*FOX News* - <http://archive.fo/BhmDT>

Journalist Andy Ngo, who was brutally attacked by Antifa members, said Monday that Republicans and President Trump are "correct" in pushing to designate the far-left group a terrorist organization.
“This will provide a framework for local authorities and, especially, federal authorities to start investigating this criminal cartel for the street thugs that they are," Ngo told "Fox & Friends."
"But in addition to the street hooliganism that we see over and over on the streets of America, this movement also has a political ideology that is agitating for a violent political revolution.”

Ngo, a conservative writer, was attacked by Antifa members during a clash with a far-right group called the “Proud Boys" last month. Ngo posted photos of himself from a hospital, with bruises, cuts, and scratches on his face and said he incurred a brain injury.

Host Brian Kilmeade asked Ngo for an update on the Portland police investigation of his assault. Ngo said there have been no arrests in the four weeks since he was beaten and robbed.
"I don’t want to be cynical about the police investigation but this has been a pattern of incidents of Antifa violence in this city that never results in arrests or charges," he responded.
He went on to say, “Portland’s government system is odd...our mayor is also our police commissioner and he’s up for re-election in a city that is mostly pro-Antifa and anti-police so you can imagine the variables that are causing what we are seeing now in Portland.”
----------------

🇺🇲**Trump: Black leaders boycotting him go against 'own people'**
*AOL News* - <http://archive.fo/jLRfd>

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that black legislators planning to boycott his appearance at a Virginia event commemorating the 400th anniversary of the rise of American democracy are going "against their own people."

Trump said African Americans "love the job" he's doing and are "happy as hell" with his recent comments criticizing a majority black district in the Baltimore area and its congressman.

Trump spoke at the White House before heading to historic Jamestown in Virginia.

Black state lawmakers plan to stay away from Trump's speech, in part over what they call Trump's disparaging comments about minority leaders.

A last-minute announcement that the president would participate in the Jamestown commemoration Tuesday marking the first representative assembly in the Western Hemisphere injected tension into an event years in the making. Some other top Democrats have also pledged a boycott in protest.
----------------

🇺🇸 **Procter & Gamble Loses $5 Billion Dollars Following ‘Woke’ Gillette Ad Campaign**
*Summit* - <https://archive.is/WzVKS>

Procter & Gamble has reported a net loss of $5.24 billion, prompting speculation as to whether a boycott of the company’s Gillette shaving products after a divisive ‘woke’ ad campaign hit the company’s bottom line.

It has now been revealed that Procter & Gamble took an $8 billion writedown on its Gillette shaving business, contributing to “a net loss of about $5.24 billion, or $2.12 per share, for the quarter ended June 30.”
---------------

🇺🇸 **Federal Judge Dismisses DNC Lawsuit Against Trump Campaign**
*Anti-War* - <https://archive.is/XfDFj#20%>

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Tuesday from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) against members of President Trump’s campaign, WikiLeaks and the Russian government. The lawsuit claimed that these parties conspired together to hack the DNC emails and sabotage the 2016 election.

The dismissal comes after Robert Mueller’s testimony before congress, the Senate Intelligence report that found no concrete evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election and Dan Coats’ resignation as Director of National Intelligence. Coats was a firm believer in the idea that Russia attacked our democracy in 2016.

Although Koeltl does believe it was the Russian government who hacked the DNC, he holds firm that federal law prohibits suits against foreign governments except in “highly specific circumstances.” Koeltl also said even if Trump’s campaign did obtain these documents from the Russian government, they would be breaking no laws if they published them.
---------------

🇺🇸 **U.S. has intel that Osama bin Laden's son and heir, Hamza, is dead, officials say**
*NBC News* - <http://archive.is/ztbIx>

WASHINGTON — The United States has obtained intelligence that the son and potential successor of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Hamza bin Laden, is dead, according to three U.S. officials. The officials would not provide details of where or when Hamza bin Laden died or if the U.S. played a role in his death. It is unclear if the U.S. has confirmed his death.

In February, the State Department announced it would pay as much as $1 million for information on Hamza bin Laden's whereabouts. The department's Counterterrorism Rewards Program described the younger bin Laden on Twitter as "an emerging al Qaeda leader" who "has threatened attacks against the United States and allies."
---------------

🇹🇷 **Turkey moves to oversee all online content, raises concerns over censorship**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/6F0Uy>

Turkey on Thursday granted its radio and television watchdog sweeping oversight over all online content, including streaming platforms like Netflix and online news outlets, in a move that raised concerns over possible censorship.

The move was initially approved by Turkey’s parliament in March last year, with support from President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party and its nationalist ally.

The regulation, published in Turkey’s Official Gazette on Thursday, mandates all online content providers to obtain broadcasting licenses from RTUK, which will then supervise the content put out by the providers.

Aside from streaming giant Netflix, other platforms like local streaming websites PuhuTV and BluTV, which in recent years have produced popular shows, will be subject to supervision and potential fines or loss of their license.

In addition to subscription services like Netflix, free online news outlets which rely on advertising for their revenues will also be subject to the same measures.

“The aim of this regulation is to establish the methods and principles to regulate the presentation and provision of radio, television and on-demand broadcast services, the handing of broadcast licenses to media service
providers, the granting of broadcasting authorities to platform administrators and the supervision of the broadcasts in question,” the regulation said.
----------------

🇺🇸 **El Paso shooting: 20 people dead, 26 injured, suspect in custody, police say**
*NBC News* - <https://archive.fo/Tc2mI>

A gunman opened fire Saturday in a Walmart and around a nearby shopping mall in El Paso, Texas, leaving 20 people dead and 26 injured, law enforcement officials said.

In delivering an updated number of deceased, Gov. Greg Abbott called it "one of the most deadly days in the history of Texas."

"Twenty innocent people from El Paso have lost their lives," he said.

Authorities appealed for urgent blood donations for the wounded.

One suspect was in custody, officials said.

Law enforcement sources say police identified the suspect as Patrick Crusius, 21, from the Dallas area. Sgt. Robert Gomez of the El Paso Police Department said no shots were fired by law enforcement.
---------------

🇺🇸 🇮🇱 **EXCLUSIVE – Defense Sources: Turkey Aiding Islamic State Resurgence After Trump Devastated Caliphate**
*Breitbart* - <http://archive.is/5M4TF#0%>

Turkey has been working to bring thousands of Islamic State fighters to the region to launch campaigns in Iraq and Kurdish regions along the Syria-Iraq border, according to informed Middle Eastern defense officials. The officials finger Turkish intelligence and military personnel as helping to facilitate a resurgence of IS to essentially work as proxies to attack Kurdish positions and pressure the West and regional actors into supporting Turkish interests in Syria. Some of the IS fighters are coming from camps inside Turkey where forces tied to Turkey have helped facilitate training, the officials said.

However, the defense officials pointed out that it is Turkey that has been supporting extremists, especially dangerous Islamic fighters under the banner of IS. The officials warned that Turkish actions are resulting in the formation of a new IS terror army that can wreak havoc in the region after U.S. and allied efforts under the Trump administration massively damaged the IS terror apparatus and essentially destroyed the previously emerging IS caliphate in the region.
---------------

🇳🇬 **West African slavery lives on, 400 years after transatlantic trade began**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/XiAyO>

Blessing was only six years old when her mother arranged for her to become an unpaid housemaid for a family in the Nigerian city of Abuja, on the promise they would put her through school.

In her home town in southwest Nigeria, her mother had trouble making enough money to feed her three children. But when Blessing arrived in Abuja, instead of going to school, the family worked her round-the-clock, beat her with an electrical wire if she forgot one of her chores and fed her rotten leftovers.

When her mother later moved to the city to be closer to her daughter, Blessing was unable to be alone with her when she came to visit.

“They would tell me that my mother was coming, that I should not tell her what was happening to me, that I should not even say anything,” she says of the family.

“If she asks me how am I doing I should say I am doing fine, they said.”

As the world marks 400 years since the first recorded African slaves arrived in North America, slavery remains a modern-day scourge. Over 40 million people are estimated to be trapped in forced labor, forced marriages or other forms of sexual exploitation, according to the United Nations.

Blessing, now 11, is one such victim. She was rescued in 2016 by the Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF), an anti-human trafficking group, after two years of isolation and abuse. She is still under the care of WOTCLEF, which gave consent for her to be interviewed for this story.

Africa has the highest prevalence of slavery, with more than seven victims for every 1,000 people, according to a 2017 report by human rights group Walk Free Foundation and the International Labour Office. The report defines slavery as “situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception, and/or abuse of power.”
----------------

🇦🇺 **Australia prime minister joins transgender policy backlash**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/l5hK8>

Cricket Australia (CA) have come under fire for a new policy aimed at making the sport inclusive for transgender and gender diverse players, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison describing it as “heavy-handed” and “mystifying” on Friday.

CA issued two policies on Thursday, one setting out the rules for “Elite” cricket, which they said was closely aligned with the 2017 International Cricket Council guidelines, and the other for “Community Cricket”.

While the “Elite” policy demands that trans women must reduce their testosterone levels over a 12-month period to compete in women’s cricket, the “Community” policy requires only a nomination of a gender identity.

There was an immediate backlash on social media with some critics lambasting the governing body for progressive posturing but the majority accusing CA of fundamentally undermining women’s sport.

Morrison waded into the debate in a radio interview with conservative pundit Alan Jones on Friday and suggested the mandatory policies were unnecessary, at grassroots level at least.

“I think it’s pretty heavy-handed to put it pretty mildly,” the prime minister told Sydney radio station 2GB.

“I think it’s a very sensitive issue. I would need to have Cricket Australia understand that this is a very heavy-handed approach they’re taking with local sport, and I think there are far more practical ways to handle these issues than these sort of heavy mandatory ways of doing it.
----------------

🇺🇸 **Jeffrey Epstein is dead. His cases could live on for years**
*CNN* - <https://archive.fo/IErsP>

The apparent suicide of financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein early Saturday could lead to more accusers and witnesses stepping forward as well as a flurry of civil suits against the multimillionaire's estate, according to legal experts.

Authorities believe Epstein, 66, hanged himself at New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center, a law enforcement official told CNN -- less than a day after a court unsealed documents detailing disturbing claims against him and associates. His attorney is calling for an investigation into his death.

"The federal criminal case will end with his death," CNN legal analyst Paul Callan said. "But on the civil side, those cases will continue. They'll now be converted into an action against the estate of Jeffrey Epstein."
---------------