
Special counsel John Durham defends his investigation and former Attorney General Bill Barr
Special counsel John Durham defended himself Wednesday amid sharp criticism from Democrats, and also rejected former President Donald Trump's attacks on former Attorney General Bill Barr, who appointed Durham to conduct his investigation into the FBI's Russia probe.
1970-01-01 08:00

Blinken encourages Turkish counterpart to support Sweden's NATO bid
ANKARA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken encouraged Ankara to support Sweden in its bid to join NATO in
1970-01-01 08:00

Ukrainian Telecom Giant to Rebuild With Chinese Kit for Now
Ukraine’s biggest telecom operator pledged to boost spending by a third to rebuild systems destroyed by Russian forces,
1970-01-01 08:00

Fierce backlash in Beijing to Biden likening Xi to a dictator comes as he hopes for a thaw
When President Joe Biden referred to his Chinese counterpart as a dictator late Tuesday in California, the response from Beijing was swift and angry.
1970-01-01 08:00

Garland pushes back on accusations of DOJ bias following Hunter Biden plea agreement
Attorney General Merrick Garland pushed back Wednesday against GOP accusations that the Justice Department's plea agreement with Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son, reflects a double standard of preferential treatment for Democrats.
1970-01-01 08:00

McCarthy warns House GOP now is not time to force vote impeaching Biden: 'What majority do we want to be?'
Speaker Kevin McCarthy urged House Republicans to vote against the resolution brought forward by GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado forcing a vote to impeach President Joe Biden this week, arguing now is not the right time, multiple sources in the closed door meeting told CNN.
1970-01-01 08:00

Ukraine Recap: Zelenskiy’s Allies Seek Funds for Reconstruction
The US said it will provide an additional $1.3 billion toward the cost of reversing the devastation inflicted
1970-01-01 08:00

Trump stumbles when Fox host tells him his plan to execute drug offenders would include people he pardoned
Donald Trump issued pardons and commuted dozens of sentences for people incarcerated for drug crimes while he was in the White House. His administration also hailed the passage of the First Step Act during his presidency as a rare bipartisan achievement towards criminal justice reform. But during his presidency, and throughout his 2024 campaign for the Republican nomination for president, with a string of violent, provocative statements from inside the White House and to crowds at campaign rallies, he has called for executing people convicted for drug crimes. In an interview with Fox News host Bret Baier that aired on 20 June, the host noted that Mr Trump’s demands to kill drug offenders would have applied to people like Alice Marie Johnson, a high-profile formerly incarcerated person who was pardoned by Mr Trump during an Oval Office event in 2020. “She’d be killed under your plan,” Mr Baier said. “Huh?” Mr Trump said after a pause. “No, no, no. Oh, under that? Uh, it would depend on the severity,” he said. “She can’t do it, OK? By the way, if that was there? She wouldn’t be killed, it would start as of now. So you wouldn’t go to the past.” He also stated that Ms Johnson would not have committed any crime, if she knew that a potential sentence, if convicted, was her death. In 2020, one day after she praised his administration during the Republican National Convention, Mr Trump granted a full pardon to Ms Johnson, who had served 22 years of a life sentence on charges related to cocaine distribution and money laundering. He had already commuted her sentence in 2018, but he issued a surprise pardon – effectively deleting her conviction and restoring her rights as a citizen – the day after she delivered a supportive speech at the RNC. “We’re going to give a full pardon. We’re going to do it right now. That means you have been fully pardoned. That’s the ultimate thing that can happen. That means you can do whatever you want in life and just keep doing the great job you’re doing,” he told her during an Oval Office event. Kim Kardashian had also personally lobbied him to take up her case at the White House. “Some say you do the crime, you do the time. However, that time should be fair and just,” Ms Johnson said during her RNC speech in 2020. “We all make mistakes. None of us wants to be defined forever based on our worst decision.” Republican officials and right-wing pundits have relied on “tough-on-crime” messaging – after 2020 uprisings against police violence, a steady stream of sensational crime coverage across media networks, and the villainizing of so-called “progressive prosecutors” in Democratic-led cities. GOP candidates competing with Mr Trump for the 2024 nomination are now turning to the former president’s attempts at criminal justice reform, zeroing in on Mr Trump’s support for the First Step Act. The law shortened some federal prison sentences, gave judges alternatives to mandatory minimum penalties, and retroactively applied 2010’s Fair Sentencing Act to eliminate racial disparities in prison sentences for cocaine possession. Ron DeSantis called the First Step Act a “jailbreak bill.” Mr Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence said “we need to take a step back” from the law. Meanwhile, after praising China’s policy of capital punishment for drug traffickers while he was in the White House, Mr Trump has directly called on members of Congress to approve the death penalty for the same crimes in the US in his 2024 campaign. “Under Democrat [sic] control the streets of our great cities are drenched in the blood of innocent victims,” Mr Trump said at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania weeks before formally declaring his candidacy last year. “We would solve that problem so fast” he added. “I’m calling on Republicans and Democrats immediately to institute – to get to Washington and institute the death penalty for drug dealers. You will no longer have a problem.” Mr Trump’s push to execute drug dealers would appear to violate the US Constitution as affirmed by the US Supreme Court, which has held on multiple occasions that death sentences for non-lethal offences are considered cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8th Amendment. Read More Trump news – live: Judge sets Mar-a-Lago classified papers trial date as Hunter Biden reaches plea deal Trump calls Fox News ‘hostile’ as he declines to commit to first GOP debate on network Donald Trump helped release drug prisoners. Now he wants to execute them
1970-01-01 08:00

Alito disputes new ProPublica report that says justice failed to disclose trip with billionaire who later had business before Supreme Court
Justice Samuel Alito did not disclose a luxury 2008 trip he took in which a hedge fund billionaire flew him on a private jet, even though the businessman would later repeatedly ask the Supreme Court to intervene on his behalf, ProPublica reported.
1970-01-01 08:00

German far-right to nominate chancellor candidate as support soars
By Sarah Marsh BERLIN The far-right Alternative for Germany said on Wednesday it intended to nominate a chancellor
1970-01-01 08:00

New York State Legislature passes bill to protect doctors who prescribe abortion pills for out-of-state patients
The New York state legislature has passed a bill that would legally protect doctors who prescribe and send abortion pills to patients in states where abortion services are outlawed or restricted.
1970-01-01 08:00

Swiss President Alain Berset to step down at end of the year
ZURICH Swiss President Alain Berset is to step down at the end of the year and leave the
1970-01-01 08:00