Jen Lilley - The Dark Truth About the American Foster Care System | SRS #314

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vqfcUHqq0w

Tim Tebow - Fighting For Our Children | SRS #199

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeVFs0dVcCc

The Noticer

@NoticerNews

A controversial new law that allows men to be listed as mothers on birth certificates has passed parliament in South Australia, despite warnings it defies biological reality.

https://x.com/NoticerNews/status/2067804786846785926

Jesse Watters

@JesseBWatters

🚨 JUST IN: TRUMP'S IRAN DEAL IS IN "IMMEDIATE EFFECT"… AND TEHRAN JUST INVITED US TO "INSPECT" ITS NUKE STOCKPILES 🚨

The White House is DECLARING Iran's NUKE PROGRAM… DEAD! 💀

The Strait of HORMUZ? OPENED! 12.5 MILLION Barrels just SAILED THROUGH ⛴️⚓

JD Vance just sent a STARTLING WARNING to ISRAEL 😨

https://x.com/JesseBWatters/status/2067767354046730298

Ebola latest updates: Confirmed DRC cases climb past 670 as the outbreak spreads into more health zones

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has continued to spread, with the country's Ministry of Health now reporting 676 confirmed cases and 136 confirmed deaths from the Bundibugyo strain — a jump of more than 70 confirmed cases in a matter of days.

The outbreak now spans 29 health zones across three eastern provinces, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said in its latest update. Ituri remains the epicenter with 629 confirmed cases. North Kivu has reported 44 cases, and South Kivu has reported three.

Uganda has reported a total of 19 confirmed cases and two deaths, with most cases linked to travel from DRC. The next World Health Organization update on the global response is expected in the coming days.

The U.S. has urged Europe to step up its Ebola precautions and implement greater "travel restrictions" ahead of the World Cup, which kicked off Thursday. The tournament takes place over almost six weeks, with games being held in Canada and Mexico — although the vast majority will take place in the U.S., with the State Department expecting up to 10 million international visitors to the U.S. alone.

"The department's highest priority and focus remain protecting the health of the American people and preventing this Ebola outbreak from reaching our shores," the State Department said in a statement.

The Trump administration has already announced temporary travel bans on people who do not have U.S. passports and have been in affected countries in the three weeks before travel. U.S. quarantine procedures for American citizens involve the planned opening of a controversial Ebola isolation facility in Kenya. Proposals to establish a 50-bed quarantine facility for U.S. citizens affected by the outbreak in DRC have provoked a public backlash in Kenya, although the country's president, William Ruto, has publicly defended the plan.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/live/ebola-latest-updates-confirmed-drc-cases-climb-past-670-as-the-outbreak-spreads-into-more-health-zones-112950251.html

Jason Cohen 🇺🇸

@JasonJournoDC

💥NEW: Joe Rogan calls UFC White House Event “GREATEST NIGHT OF FIGHTS OF ALL TIME”👊🇺🇸

“That was the WILDEST experience that I’ve EVER had in my 20-whatever years of calling combat sports. There’s NOTHING even close! Nothing even close.”

https://x.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2067314589784527351

New wave of anti-LGBTQ laws sweeps Africa

A string of west African countries have outlawed same-sex relations in recent months, further eroding LGBTQ rights on a continent where they were already under attack.

Of Africa's 54 countries, only about 20 do not currently criminalise same-sex relations.

Here is a look at the wave of anti-LGBTQ sentiment sweeping the continent and some of the forces driving it, from politicians playing to their homophobic base to the geopolitics of rejecting supposedly "Western values".

• What are the laws? -

Uganda set the tone in 2023, adopting one of the world's harshest anti-LGBTQ laws, including the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality".

Various countries have recently followed suit.

In September 2025, Burkina Faso criminalised same-sex relations with prison terms of up to five years.

In February, neighbouring Niger did the same, adopting a new penal code with harsh sentences including jail terms of up to 20 years for same-sex marriage.

In March, Senegal adopted a law doubling sentences for same-sex relations, to five to 10 years.

And in May, Ghana's parliament passed a bill imposing prison terms of up to three years for same-sex relations, or up to five years for "promoting" them.

• Why? -

"Politicians in this country know that their society is very highly homophobic, so they want something that is going to put them in their good books," Ugandan rights activist Agather Atuhaire told AFP.

"LGBT+ people are scapegoats" who get used by politicians to "deflect attention from thorny subjects", said French-Senegalese expert Marame Kane.

Senegal's new law came two years into the term of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and ex-prime minister Ousmane Sonko, a moment when they were called upon "to deliver at least some results" in the debt-saddled country, where discontent is rising, said writer and sociologist El Hadj Souleymane Gassama.

In a region where homophobia runs deep, "they fell back on the one subject that draws broad unanimity, regardless of political divisions," he said.

Religion also plays a role, in countries with large Muslim or Christian majorities where conservative values hold sway.

And funding from US conservative movements may have helped "precipitate" Senegal's law, added Kane.

• Why now? -

The issue is also geopolitical.

"LGBT+ people are a symbol of Western dominance in Africa", where they are often brandished as an example of supposedly foreign values being imposed on local culture, said Ivorian anthropologist Stephane Ballet Djedje.

He linked the laws to mounting anti-Western sentiment – seen, for example, in France's strained ties with its former west African colonies, particularly the military juntas that have seized power in recent years in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

More broadly, he cited a recent rise of conservatism worldwide that seeks to "restore the traditional order".

International reaction to the new laws has largely been muted – although in Ghana, President John Dramani Mahama faces pressure to "reconcile the very powerful domestic forces" behind the bill and international institutions such as the World Bank, said international relations expert Ishmael Hlovor.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/wave-anti-lgbtq-laws-sweeps-055454546.html

DC Guard shooting suspect stares down death penalty in first court appearance

The Afghan national accused of carrying out a deadly ambush-style shooting targeting National Guard members near the White House pleaded not guilty Tuesday to all charges in a 17-count federal superseding indictment.

Just hours earlier, the Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed the indictment against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 30, who previously worked for the CIA in Afghanistan. Lakanwal is accused of killing West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and severely wounding Guardsman Andrew Wolfe in last November's attack.

Prosecutors said the charges, which include first-degree murder, make the case eligible for the death penalty.

"Sarah Beckstrom was 20 years old, serving her country in the nation's capital, when Rahmanullah Lakanwal allegedly drove across the country and executed her in cold blood steps from the White House," U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said. "That is not just a crime, it is a major offense against the United States. We will pursue every penalty the law permits as we seek justice for Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe."

During Tuesday's arraignment, the suspect was seen wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and skullcap and remained in a wheelchair, as he appears to recover from injuries prosecutors say he sustained during the incident.

DOJ prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta that they will begin the death penalty review process shortly.

The final decision on whether to pursue capital punishment will be made by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Lakanwal remains charged with first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Mehta set the next status hearing for Sept. 16.

According to court documents, Lakanwal allegedly drove his Toyota Prius from his home in Bellingham, Washington, to the District of Columbia while in possession of a stolen firearm.

Prosecutors said he opened fire on West Virginia National Guard members, striking Beckstrom and Wolfe in the head. Two nearby National Guard members then subdued Lakanwal at the scene, officials said.

Investigators reportedly recovered a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver that had been reported stolen in Seattle in 2023.

Officials said Beckstrom died from her injuries on Thanksgiving, while Wolfe continues to recover from his injuries.

https://www.aol.com/news/inmates-found-guilty-killing-child-134836508.html

DC Guard shooting suspect stares down death penalty in first court appearance

The Afghan national accused of carrying out a deadly ambush-style shooting targeting National Guard members near the White House pleaded not guilty Tuesday to all charges in a 17-count federal superseding indictment.

Just hours earlier, the Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed the indictment against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 30, who previously worked for the CIA in Afghanistan. Lakanwal is accused of killing West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and severely wounding Guardsman Andrew Wolfe in last November's attack.

Prosecutors said the charges, which include first-degree murder, make the case eligible for the death penalty.

"Sarah Beckstrom was 20 years old, serving her country in the nation's capital, when Rahmanullah Lakanwal allegedly drove across the country and executed her in cold blood steps from the White House," U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said. "That is not just a crime, it is a major offense against the United States. We will pursue every penalty the law permits as we seek justice for Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe."

During Tuesday's arraignment, the suspect was seen wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and skullcap and remained in a wheelchair, as he appears to recover from injuries prosecutors say he sustained during the incident.

DOJ prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta that they will begin the death penalty review process shortly.

The final decision on whether to pursue capital punishment will be made by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Lakanwal remains charged with first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Mehta set the next status hearing for Sept. 16.

According to court documents, Lakanwal allegedly drove his Toyota Prius from his home in Bellingham, Washington, to the District of Columbia while in possession of a stolen firearm.

Prosecutors said he opened fire on West Virginia National Guard members, striking Beckstrom and Wolfe in the head. Two nearby National Guard members then subdued Lakanwal at the scene, officials said.

Investigators reportedly recovered a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver that had been reported stolen in Seattle in 2023.

Officials said Beckstrom died from her injuries on Thanksgiving, while Wolfe continues to recover from his injuries.

https://www.aol.com/news/inmates-found-guilty-killing-child-134836508.html

Afghan National Accused in Ambush Killing of National Guard Member Near White House Is Indicted on Additional Federal Charges

WASHINGTON – Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 30, an Afghan national accused in the November ambush shooting of National Guardsmen near the White House, was charged today in a 17-count Superseding Indictment filed in U.S. District Court, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was killed in the shooting. Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was seriously injured. Two additional Guardsmen were wounded in the attack.

“Sarah Beckstrom was 20 years old, serving her country in the nation's capital, when Rahmanullah Lakanwal allegedly drove across the country and executed her in cold blood steps from the White House,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “That is not just a crime, it is a major offense against the United States. We will pursue every penalty the law permits as we seek justice for Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe.”

The new charges involving the murder of Beckstrom are eligible for the imposition of the death penalty. The grand jury also returned several special findings that will trigger review by the Department of Justice’s Capital Case Committee to determine whether the Department will seek the death penalty.

Lakanwal was arraigned on the Superseding Indictment today before U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta.

Lakanwal remains charged with first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of the D.C. Code.

According to court documents, Lakanwal allegedly drove his Toyota Prius from his home in Bellingham, Washington, to the District of Columbia, while in possession of a stolen firearm.

On November 26, at about 2:13 p.m., Lakanwal opened fire without provocation at 17th and I Streets, NW, near the Farragut West Metro Station, shooting Beckstrom and Wolfe in their heads. Two officers in the National Guard who were nearby subdued the suspect.

At the scene, investigators recovered a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver that had been reported stolen in Seattle in 2023. 

Beckstrom, who was serving in the West Virginia National Guard, succumbed to her injuries on Thanksgiving, November 27. Guardsman Andrew Wolfe, 25, of Martinsburg, W. Va., continues to recover from his injuries.

Joining the U.S. Attorney in the announcement were FBI Assistant Director in Charge Darren B. Cox and Interim Chief Jeffery W. Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department. The matter is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

The charges in an Indictment are merely allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

26cr4

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/afghan-national-accused-ambush-killing-national-guard-member-near-white-house-indicted

Russian satirist Semyon Skrepetsky mocked Putin and Kadyrov in his caricatures. He was shot dead in Poland three days after an anti-Putin protest in Berlin

A Russian artist known for his caricatures of politicians has been shot dead in Poland. Semyon Skrepetsky was attacked on June 15 in a parking lot in Biała Podlaska, a city several dozen kilometers from the Belarusian border, according to Polish media including wPolsce24. The attacker shot him multiple times at close range before fleeing. Police confirmed they had identified the victim but declined to release his name, saying only that he was a 44-year-old Russian citizen.

Two Belarusian nationals have been detained in connection with the murder investigation. Unofficial reports suggest several people may have been involved in the killing. One was detained outside the Belarusian consulate general in Biała Podlaska after attempting and failing to climb the fence onto the consulate grounds. The Belarusian opposition Telegram channel DzikMedia, citing its sources, identified the man as a Belarusian taxi driver who had transported the people believed to have carried out the killing from Warsaw. He reportedly had no knowledge of their plans. The radio station RMF FM reported on the morning of June 16 that two Belarusian citizens had been detained. Police said the direct perpetrator of the killing had not yet been found. Polish media reported that Skrepetsky’s wife and four children were placed under police protection after the murder.

Skrepetsky was a satirist who mocked the Russian and Belarusian authorities as well as the Russian opposition. Semyon Skrepetsky was a pseudonym; his real name is believed to have been Robert Kuzovkov, though he never confirmed this publicly. He was known for his caricatures of Russian politicians including Vladimir Putin and Ramzan Kadyrov. Skrepetsky left Russia for Poland in 2021 fearing political persecution. He was also critical of the Russian opposition and the Ukrainian authorities.

In Ukraine, Skrepetsky was listed in the “Myrotvorets” database. His entry states, among other things, that his Telegram channel regularly published “posts whose entire purpose was to foster a negative attitude toward Ukraine and Ukrainians.”

Days before his death, Skrepetsky had staged a protest outside Russia’s embassy in Berlin and had been receiving threats. On June 12, he brought a painting depicting Putin in Stalin’s arms to the Russian diplomatic mission. He was dressed in a jacket adorned with medals and had a Russian flag sticking out of a hole cut in the back of his trousers. Hours before his death, Skrepetsky posted to his Telegram channel negative comments he had received following the protest. They included threats.

Polish media are calling Skrepetsky’s murder a “political execution.” RMF FM noted that the attacker shot Skrepetsky several times at close range and then fired once more after he had already fallen to the ground. wPolsce24 published a roundup of commentary from Polish journalists writing about “Putin’s hired killers” and foreign intelligence services hunting down “the wrong kind of Russians.” Polish law enforcement has not officially put forward any theory of the murder.

https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/06/16/a-political-execution-russian-satirist-semyon-skrepetsky-mocked-putin-and-kadyrov-in-his-caricatures-he-was-shot-dead-in-poland-three-days-after-an-anti-putin-protest-in-berlin

Eric Daugherty

@EricLDaugh

🚨 AWESOME! Dana White says President Trump believes DIVINE INTERVENTION played a role in literally splitting up the storm that would've disrupted the White House UFC Freedom 250

"The storm comes and SPLITS at the White House, and goes AROUND the White House and the ellipse. You know the president believes that to his core, it was divine intervention!"

🔥🔥🇺🇸

@TMZ_Sports

https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2067223748806050229

Unearthed video shows leftist Senate hopeful James Talarico celebrating anti-fossil fuel group's arrival in Texas

Senate candidate James Talarico lavished praise on a left-wing activism group that worked to eliminate Texas' oil and gas industry, in an unearthed video obtained by Fox News Digital.

Talarico participated in a June 2024 organizing call celebrating the expansion of Third Act, a climate advocacy and protest group for individuals over 60, into the Lone Star State. At the time, the organization was ramping up efforts to isolate the fossil-fuel industry by pressuring major banks to cut financial ties with the sector and targeting the buildout of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals on the Texas Gulf Coast.

"This is the frontline in the fight to save democracy and save our planet, and so your arrival couldn't come at a better time," Talarico, who was serving in his third term as a state representative, told the group in pre-recorded remarks. "I look forward to working alongside all of you in this important work, and I just want to thank you for coming to Texas."

Later on the call, Talarico described the climate activists' efforts as the highest calling, describing it as "as the most important work in the most important time in the most important place."

Two weeks after that call, Third Act Texas called for a transition to "100% renewable resources as soon as possible."

Talarico’s comments appear to complicate his recent efforts to position himself as a defender of Texas energy workers while sharply criticizing Democrats who advocate eliminating oil and gas production.

The Democratic Senate nominee and fundraising juggernaut is seeking to flip a Senate seat held by Republicans for nearly four decades by distancing himself from his more radical stances. He will likely need support from independent and moderate voters, including some of the 470,000 people employed in the oil and gas industry, to defeat GOP Senate nominee Ken Paxton in November.

"The idea that politicians in Washington think they can just eliminate this industry, eliminate these jobs — it’s something we’re going to have to fight against," Talarico said on a podcast in January with Democratic House candidate Bobby Pulido. "Too many people in our party talk about eliminating oil and gas. And one, it’s just not practical and two, it would do so much damage to our state and do damage to our entire country, which relies on our industry here in Texas."

Third Act was heavily involved in the climate movement’s #StopLNG campaign and boasted that it "successfully pressured" the Biden administration to pause new LNG export facilities in early 2024.

The group’s Texas chapter also calls for the eventual elimination of LNG and all fossil fuel production on the Texas Gulf Coast, according to a statement on its website.

Campaign spokesman JT Ennis told Fox News Digital that Talarico "supports LNG production and backed legislation to strengthen it in the Texas legislature."

The campaign did not clarify if Talarico still supports Third Act Texas.

In 2021, Talarico authored an aggressive climate bill that would have enacted strict caps on greenhouse gas emissions, including a 90% reduction below 1990 levels by 2050. While the measure left implementation to state regulators, such drastic emissions reductions in the nation's largest oil- and gas-producing state would have likely required sweeping changes to the fossil-fuel industry.

The Senate hopeful also introduced legislation that year requiring climate change lessons in K-12 schools to "inspire the next generation of climate activists," The Washington Free Beacon reported.

By 2025, Talarico took positions on legislation indicating more support for the oil and gas industry. He backed backed legislation aimed at boosting the LNG production through interstate cooperation and supported a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that would redirect public funds to infrastructure projects in regions home to significant oil and gas production.

Talarico's praise of Third Act Texas' launch in June 2024 came as the group gained national attention for helping orchestrate sustained climate protests outside Citigroup's headquarters in New York City to pressure the bank to halt investments in new fossil-fuel projects.

The group’s founder, environmental activist Bill McKibben, led "Third Actors" in staging a mock funeral procession and "die-ins" during the summer of 2024 that blocked the entrance to the bank’s headquarters. At the end of its Summer of Heat on Wall Street campaign, the group bragged that around 200 of its members were arrested during the disruptive actions.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/watch-unearthed-video-shows-leftist-senate-hopeful-celebrating-anti-fossil-fuel-groups-arrival-texas

Obama built his library on stolen land

Andrew Kolvet

Turning Point USA

@AndrewKolvet

I officially hate everything about this monstrosity being passed off as a Presidential Center. Land acknowledgments might just be the gayest thing Democrats do.

“We honor the Anishinaabe, the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi Nations.”

https://x.com/AndrewKolvet/status/2067656097146540167

HUD honcho Scott Turner exclusively tells The Midwesterner: Trump admin rescinding Biden green energy housing mandates

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner on a Detroit visit Tuesday told The Midwesterner that his department within the Trump administration is seeking to address U.S. housing affordability issues head-on.

By cutting the administrative red tape and bureaucratic regulations accumulated over the past several decades, Turner said, the American housing market has already turned a corner. But, in comments exclusively given to The Midwesterner, Turner noted the best is yet to come, namely rescinding the Biden administration’s revisions to the International Energy Conservation Code.

The IECC was revised in 2021 to increase building energy efficiencies as part of the Biden administration’s Green Energy initiatives. In reality, the regulatory framework added thousands of dollars to building costs, which resulted in exorbitantly driving up the costs of building homes, helping to lead to the housing shortage the nation’s currently facing. Failure for builders to comply with the EICC results in losing federal funding.

“If you do not comply with this code then you will not be able to receive [federal] funding to build new construction,” Turner told The Midwesterner.

“That added up to $31,000 per project so we tore this down,” he added. “We rescinded it, if you will, because builders are already built into these costs…. When you add this $1000s on top of $100,000 of regulations already in a single family home where the home prices of 400,000 and above in America, that’s unsustainable for builders.”

Turner added that eliminating $30,000 of regulations helps builders provide homes to buyers for under $300,000, which, he noted, “[H]elps more Americans to be able to afford them. Tearing these regulations down, taking burdensome regulations down, taking away green energy mandates, now you’re unleashing builders, now you’re unleashing ingenuity, now you’re unleashing the creativity and the brains like we see here,” he said.

The “here” Secretary was referring to is the neighborhood in the vicinity of the city’s Livernois and McNichols area. On the coincidentally named Turner Street, six homes have been refurbished extensively through a cooperative effort between HUD and the City of Detroit and the Detroit-based real estate firm Circuit Avenue and Boston-based Arctaris Impact Investors. The partnership focuses on affordable housing for families earning below 30% of the Area Median Income.

“If we didn’t have Opportunity Zones, if all [builders] had to do was deal with city and and state paperwork all the time, none of us would be standing here,” Turner said. Rolling back federal regulations is the key to unlocking the front doors of affordable housing by renovating vacant houses and blighted properties, he added.

“That’s the difference of President Trump,” Turner said. “The difference in our administration is we listen to the stakeholders. We listen to the experts in the industry” express hindrances to progress.

“Then we start tearing it down and then we unleashed them to go build for the American people,” Turner said. “Because at the end of the day and I want everybody to understand … is that more American people can achieve their American dream of home ownership,” he added.

Homeownership “is the greatest way to create generational wealth in America,” Turner said. “No matter the size. no matter the cost, building generational wealth, creating families, children with their parents at home, great education, safe neighborhoods. That’s why we’re standing here today and it’s because of the mindset of the president and the policies that we put forth. Policies matter because people matter.”

https://www.themidwesterner.news/2026/06/hud-honcho-scott-turner-exclusively-tells-the-midwesterner-trump-admin-rescinding-biden-green-energy-housing-mandates/

Iran sentences singer Parastoo Ahmadi, eight others to lashings over performance without hijab

The artists will also face a two-year travel ban and a two-year restriction on all artistic activity after the Iranian judiciary found the nine artists had offended “public decency."

Iranian singer Parastoo Ahmadi, musicians Ehsan Beiraqdar and Soheil Faqih Nasiri, and six members of the production team for the Caravanserai Concert were ordered to be lashed 74 times by the Qom Provincial Criminal Court, Iranian human-rights groups and diaspora media outlets reported Thursday.

The artists will also face a two-year travel ban and a two-year restriction on all artistic activity. The court ruled they had offended “public decency through the production and publication of obscene and immoral content on cyberspace platforms.”

The artists and their team were first arrested after their performance was broadcast on YouTube last December. They were ordered to appear before the Prosecutor’s Office for Moral Security in January.

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The court prosecuted them under Articles 638 of the Islamic Penal Code and 743 of the Computer Crimes Law, BBC Persian reported.

Article 638 of the Islamic Penal Code criminalizes the performance of any “open religious taboo” or acts that offend public decency, such as appearing without a hijab. Article 743 criminalizes the promotion or encouragement of corruption, prostitution, or acts deemed offensive to public morality via digital networks.

During Ahmadi’s performance, she sang without wearing a hijab. Women are also forbidden from singing to any audience with male members. The punishment for that is often flogging.

Attorney Mohammad Hadi Jafarpour said a woman’s singing was not criminalized in Iranian law, and such interpretations of the penal code are without merit, Iranian legal organization Dadban reported.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency quoted the head of the Information Center of the Mazandaran Province Police Command as saying: “Following the production and publication of a video by Ms. Parastoo Ahmadi that was deemed contrary to social norms and values, she was summoned to the Public Security Police and instructed to appear before the judicial authorities.”

In response to the verdict, Iranian-American journalist and activist Masih Alinejad wrote: “They call America the Great Satan. And then they flew to the table and signed a deal with the ‘Devil.’ But a woman’s voice scared them more than any superpower ever could.

“A regime that whips women for showing their hair and singing – there’s not a normal government. This is called apartheid against women.”

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-899858

Dan Scavino

The White House

@Scavino47

I have been fortunate to fly around the world on this iconic plane for 5 1/2 years — of the 35 years it has been serving U.S. Presidents…

THANK YOU…

AIR FORCE ONE 2900🫡🇺🇸🦅

https://x.com/Scavino47/status/2067523503817977868

Blondelady2024

@arva61138

WOW!💥💥💥💥💥

Here’s President Trump‘s beautiful new Air Force 1 jet!

The old AF1 jet’s last trip was to the G7.

Can’t help but see the significance of the end of the Olden Age and beginning of the Golden Age!

https://x.com/arva61138/status/2067648573194313866

Military officials identify all 8 victims of fiery B-52 crash at California Air Force base

The eight men killed in this week’s fiery crash of a B-52 during a test flight at California’s Edwards Air Force Base included four active duty airmen, a reservist and three civilians who were on a team devoted to keeping the bomber flying for decades to come, military officials said Wednesday.

The airfield where the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff on Monday remained closed but other base operations have resumed, according to a base spokesperson. No cause has been determined. Officials said it could take six months to complete the investigation.

The victims were identified as: Col. Gregory Watson, 53; Retired Lt. Col. Miles Middleton, 50; Lt. Col. Gabriel Estrella, 40; Maj. Alexander Davis, 34; Maj. Robert Dee, 40; Maj. Brad Hovey, 35; Jeromy Smith, 32; and Christopher Rischar, 41.

“They were dedicated professionals, beloved family members and irreplaceable teammates,” Col. Thomas Tauer, commander of the 412th Test Wing at Edwards, said in a statement.

Watson, a weapons systems officer, and Middleton, a pilot, were Boeing employees and the company said their loss “is deeply felt across our teams, and our hearts remain with their families, loved ones and those who worked with them.”

Rischar was a flight test engineer with government contractor JT4 who had worked at Edwards for 10 years, said his wife, Rebecca Rischar. She said he loved going to airplane museums and showing their two children, 15 and 14, different types of aircraft and how they functioned.

She recalled how her husband’s father, who also works at the base and had seen the crash, called her to ask if Christopher had been flying.

“I knew he was on that flight,” she said Wednesday. “It was routine, and if the plane went up, he was going up with it.”

Rebecca and Christopher met at a church youth group while attending the same high school in nearby Lancaster and had celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary in April. He had just started helping their teenage daughter learn how to drive.

“Our marriage is not just for this life here on Earth but for eternity, so we are sealed together,” she told The Associated Press.

The B-52 that crashed Monday was taking part in a test mission as part of a program aimed at making the 65-year-old bomber fleet operable through at least 2050. The bomber had arrived at Edwards in December after having a modernized radar installed at Boeing’s facility in San Antonio, an Air Force press release said at the time.

The plan was to use the bomber as a testbed throughout 2026 to help military officials decide whether to proceed with the B-52 Radar Modernization Program, the Air Force said.

For almost a decade before the plane served as a testing platform, it was based in Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, where the bomber was the flagship of the 307th Bomb Wing.

Its pilot, Col. Bruce Cox — an alumni of Texas A&M – dubbed the bomber “The Spirit of Aggieland.” An Air Force press release from 2015 said that the bomber was “dedicated to former and future cadets that graduated from Texas A&M; University’s Corps of Cadets Program.”

Cox would go on to take his final flight aboard the bomber in 2017 before retirement, according to the unit’s Facebook page.

The aircraft took off shortly before noon on a clear day, heading southwest into the prevailing winds. It flew straight and crashed on the same 15,000-foot (4,572-meter) runway. The compact wreckage indicates the plane dropped sharply.

Aviation safety experts have said their first thoughts about what might have caused the crash were about a malfunction in the flight controls or engines, but it is much too early to know. Investigators will consider several factors, including the age and maintenance of the plane.

Aerial footage showed virtually nothing left of the aircraft that went down at the base in the Mojave Desert about 100 miles (161 km) northeast of Los Angeles.

Lauren Smith told Eyewitness News KBAK-CBS and FOX58 that her husband, Jeromy Smith, was a flight test engineer for the U.S. Department of Defense and died doing what he loved.

“It is such a horrible hurt, and I’m still processing everything that happened,” she said Tuesday.

https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2026/06/17/military-officials-identify-all-8-victims-fiery-b-52-crash-california-air-force-base/

SpaceX to acquire Cursor for $60B in stock, days after blockbuster IPO

SpaceX has agreed to acquire AI coding startup Cursor in a $60 billion stock deal, just a few days after the space company’s historic IPO and less than two months after announcing a tie-up between the two.

The deal is meant to help SpaceX’s AI division — built around Elon Musk’s AI company xAI, which SpaceX merged with earlier this year — catch up to the major AI labs. Despite being a centerpiece of its IPO promises, SpaceX’s AI division has been in the midst of a restructuring after running into repeated controversies, like allowing users to generate non-consensual deepfakes of women and children.

SpaceX said Tuesday that the acquisition is likely to close in the third quarter of this year.

Before SpaceX came knocking, Cursor was on track to close a $2 billion funding round from the likes of Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive, and Nvidia that would have valued the AI coding startup at $50 billion, TechCrunch has reported.

Musk’s company announced a curious deal in April ahead of its IPO: It would either buy Cursor for $60 billion in stock, or pay a $10 billion break-up fee if the deal fell through.

Cursor was growing fast when this deal was announced. But one source told TechCrunch at the time that the $2 billion it was planning to raise wasn’t going to be enough to help it break even. That’s despite the startup previously raising $900 million in a Series C in June 2025, and another $2.3 billion in late 2025.

Founded in 2022 as Anysphere, Cursor has been on a meteoric rise as AI-powered coding took off over the last two years. It went through OpenAI’s startup accelerator in 2024 before raising enough money to wind up with a price tag of around $29 billion before the SpaceX deal was announced.

Signs of SpaceX’s interest in Cursor appeared earlier this year when xAI hired two of the startup’s senior engineering leaders. Then, in April, Business Insider reported that xAI had decided to rent out some of its data center capacity to Cursor — a hint of the similar deals that SpaceX struck with Anthropic and Google ahead of its IPO this year. Those conversations between SpaceX and Cursor quickly evolved into the deal that is being finalized now.

The deal also happened at the same time that xAI was falling apart.

All 11 of Musk’s co-founders in xAI had left the company by the end of March, and Musk publicly admitted that xAI “was not built right [the] first time around” and that he was rebuilding it “from the foundations up.” This followed xAI’s Grok chatbot calling itself “MechaHitler” in 2025, and allowing users to generate nudes and sexual deepfakes of women and children earlier this year. SpaceX told investors in its IPO filings that behavior like this is a risk to its business, and the company currently faces a number of legal challenges as a result of these actions.

xAI’s teardown started as SpaceX started moving toward what would become the biggest IPO in history. In that process, SpaceX and its bankers pitched investors on the idea that the company faced a total addressable market of around $28 trillion. Nearly all of that — $26 trillion — was centered around the company’s AI efforts.

SpaceX told investors that it sees a potential $2.4 trillion AI infrastructure business (including its stated plans to build a satellite constellation that handles AI compute) and a $22.7 trillion opportunity in “enterprise applications.”

SpaceX is now leaning on Cursor to deliver on some of these promises. But the prospect of acquiring the startup must have seemed even easier to swallow post-IPO: Since going public last Friday, SpaceX’s stock has gone from its IPO price of $135 per share to more than $200 per share in pre-market trading as of Tuesday morning, adding nearly $1 trillion — or roughly 16 Cursors — to its valuation in the span of just a few days.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/16/spacex-to-acquire-cursor-for-60b-in-stock-days-after-blockbuster-ipo/

Supreme Court rules 9-0, marijuana user may own guns

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of a Texas man who challenged a federal law that bars certain drug users from having firearms.

In a unanimous decision in the case U.S. v. Hemani, the justices found that Ali Hemani's prosecution for having a firearm while he was an unlawful drug user is inconsistent with the Second Amendment. Hemani allegedly was only an occasional user of marijuana when the FBI found a handgun at his Texas home in 2022.

The ruling from the Supreme Court is narrow, since the justices did not strike down the law at the center of the case in its entirety. Instead, the high court said the government cannot automatically disarm a person who uses marijuana a few times a week. Justice Neil Gorsuch authored the majority opinion for the court.

The government, he wrote, "asks us to conclude that anyone who regularly uses marijuana is categorically violent and dangerous without any further showing. All based on little more than its current say-so, one at odds with its own regulatory actions. And affording the government that kind of 'broad power to designate any group as dangerous and thereby disqualify its members from having a gun' would risk allowing it to 'quickly swallow' the Second Amendment."

The Supreme Court's decision does not address efforts to ban drug addicts or those presently intoxicated from having firearms, Gorsuch wrote. He also said it does not impact other federal firearms restrictions, including those that disarm convicted felons, or prosecutions that involve proof that a defendant's drug use renders him dangerous.

The law at issue in the case forbids an unlawful drug user from possessing firearms, and violators face up to 15 years in prison. The Justice Department estimates roughly 300 people are charged with the offense each year.

Perhaps the most high-profile person convicted under the law was Hunter Biden, former President Joe Biden's son, though he was pardoned by his father in December 2024.

The law at the center of the case was the latest to face Supreme Court scrutiny in the wake of its landmark 2022 decision that recognized the right to carry a firearm outside the home. In that decision, the high court laid out a new test for courts to apply when considering the constitution of a gun law. The framework requires the government to show that a restriction is consistent with the nation's historical tradition of firearms regulation.

In the wake of that ruling, the Supreme Court upheld in 2024 a federal law barring people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from having guns. The justices are also considering a challenge to a Hawaii law that prohibits people with concealed carry permits from bringing their guns onto private property open to the public without permission.

The government's case against Hemani focused solely on his marijuana use, which his lawyers said did not make him dangerous. Forty states have legalized marijuana use to some degree in recent years, adding a wrinkle to the legal battle. While cannabis remains illegal at the federal level, President Trump signed an executive order in December to reschedule marijuana to a lower drug classification. The Justice Department in April reclassified certain marijuana products as less-dangerous drugs.

Gorsuch, in the majority opinion, and Justice Samuel Alito, in a concurring opinion joined by Justice Elena Kagan, both noted the shifts in marijuana policy at the federal and state levels, as well as the rise in marijuana consumption, and said those trends worked against the Justice Department in the case.

"Whatever one thinks of these developments, the federal government has not just tolerated them; it helped fuel them," Gorsuch wrote. "All of which leaves it awkwardly positioned to suggest that the millions of Americans who now regularly use marijuana are categorically and unusually dangerous. "

While the president has taken steps to bolster Second Amendment rights, the Trump administration also defended the ban on possession by drug users before the Supreme Court and urged it to uphold the restriction.

In filings with the high court, the Justice Department said the Second Amendment allows Congress to restrict gun possession by habitual drug users. Backing the Trump administration were gun violence prevention groups like the Brady Center for Prevent Gun Violence and Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

"Since our nation's founding, commonsense restrictions for owning firearms have been a part of our laws. Today's opinion continues to allow the government to enact and enforce reasonable categorical prohibitions on firearms ownership," Leigh Rome, senior litigation attorney at Giffords Law Center, said in a statement.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-drug-users-gun-law-us-v-hemani/

Subcontractors say they’re owed millions, face financial ruin, after helping build Obama Presidential Center

Adamson Plumbing owner Mike Owen says his company is owed nearly $4M on the Chicago project.

CHICAGO — The Obama Presidential Center was billed as a lasting legacy to former President Barack Obama, and its construction was touted as an ambitious model built with aggressive goals for minority-owned and local businesses.

But now, some of the very subcontractors who helped build the 19.3-acre campus on Chicago’s South Side say they are facing financial ruin as they race to recover millions of dollars they claim remain unpaid ahead of the center's grand opening Friday. Overall construction costs were reported to be $830 million in 2021, and have likely climbed past the $1 billion mark.

A Fox News Digital investigation identified multiple construction firms claiming losses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to tens of millions. The allegations cut against one of the Center's defining goals: helping minority-owned businesses and local contractors grow through one of Chicago's highest-profile construction projects. Several of the complaints reviewed by Fox News Digital come from firms that were supposed to benefit from that mission.

Among them is Adamson Plumbing, whose owner Mike Owen says is nearly $4 million in the red after years of work on the project.

"That is a hole that no subcontractor, small business can survive," Owen said.

Subcontractor owners interviewed by Fox News Digital described what they characterized as a chaotic work environment marked by repeated design changes, rework, scheduling disruptions, extensive oversight and years-long compensation disputes that still remain unresolved.

Several also described what they viewed as a wall of silence surrounding the project, with some declining to speak publicly or requesting anonymity because of confidentiality agreements or fears of professional retaliation.

The allegations emerge days after a Fox News Digital investigation reported that the Obama Foundation’s reserve fund — originally promoted as a $470 million financial safeguard intended to help protect taxpayers if the project encountered financial trouble — remains funded at roughly $1 million.

Standing outside the center on a gloomy Friday afternoon, Owen flipped through spreadsheets and financial records that he said documented millions of dollars in losses tied to the project.

Owen said the project stretched on for years longer than anticipated, forcing his company to absorb millions of dollars in labor and overhead costs as work demands changed and expanded.

He said the losses have drained the company's reserves, created uncertainty for employees and could ultimately force layoffs. Owen also said the years-long effort to recover what he believes is money owed has taken a significant toll on his mental health.

"I haven't had eight hours or six hours sleep in over a year," Owen said. "I'm cooked emotionally. I feel like an aluminum can that's been thrown in front of a steamroller. We're crushed. And I have to fight for my company and for my people."

read moar:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/subcontractors-say-theyre-owed-millions-face-financial-ruin-helping-build-obama-presidential-center

Jeff Bezos told Trump the Washington Post was his worst investment before slashing staff: ‘People there are terrible’

WASHINGTON — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos called the Washington Post his worst investment in a conversation with President Trump months before gutting the newsroom, according to a new book by New York Times journalists Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman.

"The people there are terrible," Bezos told Trump over dinner in December 2024, according to an excerpt obtained by The Post ahead of the June 23 release of "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump."

"They don't listen. My other companies, they listen," Bezos said, focusing his ire at the business side of the publication after losing more than $100 million that year.

About two months after the dinner, Bezos ordered the Washington Post's opinion pages to promote "two pillars: personal liberties and free markets" — as subscribers peeled off in protest of the paper withholding its endorsement from Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

Bezos this February authorized the sweeping downsizing of the celebrated Watergate paper, eliminating roughly a third of its workforce, including all staff photographers and the sports section.

Bezos' candor with Trump was described by Swan and Haberman as part of a larger effort by Big Tech titans to cozy up with the incoming president, who had spent his four years in political exile railing against what he viewed as bias by news outlets and major internet platforms.

Trump told Bezos "this Washington Post is really unfair. You've got to take better care," the book says.

"Bezos commiserated with Trump over their December dinner, indicating that he, too, was deeply frustrated with the Post, though for a different reason."

"In Trump's telling, Bezos told him he had lost half his friends over the investment," the authors write. "Bezos would tell others that wasn't quite right: He hadn't lost friends, but people close to him had urged him to sell the newspaper."

Trump said in an interview for the book that he "hated" Bezos during his first term under the mistaken belief that the billionaire controlled what the newspaper wrote.

"He said they write stories about him. And I didn't believe him the first time, first term. And I hated him for it," Trump recalled. "And then I believed him."

A Washington Post spokesperson declined to comment.

It's unclear how Bezos currently views the Post. The paper's former publisher and CEO Will Lewis — whom Bezos paid a $3 million salary — was tossed out shortly after this year's mass firings for partying at the Super Bowl, sparking a firestorm of criticism over the tone-deaf optics.

Before the large-scale downsizing, the Post had in January 2025 eliminated 4% of its staff focused on the advertising department.

Jeff D'Onofrio, who formerly worked at CafeMedia and Tumblr, has replaced Lewis in an acting capacity and said he is "going to fight like hell for this institution" and recently has approved new content and licensing deals to bring in revenue from OpenAI, Apple News+ and Alexa+.

https://www.aol.com/news/jeff-bezos-told-trump-washington-203407849.html

TV News Now

@TVNewsNow

🚨 NEW: Fox’s @BretBaier challenges Sen. John Thune on why the SAVE America Act and voter ID reform hasn’t progressed: “What do you say to the President?”

THUNE: "The only way you can get this done is to nuke the legislative filibuster. And this is not something that we have anywhere close to the votes to do. So we have had votes… We will continue to put the Democrats on record. The Democrats are voting against an issue that 80 to 85% of the American people are for."

https://x.com/TVNewsNow/status/2067010918983332140

Trump settles lawsuit with his niece over his tax records

The president claimed his now-61-year-old niece, Mary Trump, “smuggled” his financial records out of an attorney’s office in violation of a decades-old estate settlement.

MANHATTAN (CN) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday settled a $100 million lawsuit he brought against his own niece Mary Trump, whom he claimed conspired with reporters to publicize his tax records.

“The parties are pleased to report that they have reached a settlement and anticipate being able to stipulate to the dismissal of this action with prejudice in the ensuing weeks, following completion of certain conditions precedent,” the parties wrote in a joint filing, docketed Tuesday.

The terms of the settlement remain unclear. Mary Trump didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did her lawyers. The White House deferred to the president’s personal lawyers, who also didn’t respond to inquiries on Tuesday.

Donald Trump initially brought the suit in 2021 after he was ousted from the White House following his election loss to Joe Biden. He claimed that Mary Trump, a fervent critic of her uncle, engaged in an “insidious plot” with a trio of New York Times reporters to get their hands on the records for a Pulitzer Prize-winning 2018 probe into his finances.

According to the president in his lawsuit, Mary Trump “smuggled” his tax records out of her attorney’s office after gaining access to them via a 2001 agreement over the estate of Donald Trump’s father, Fred Trump. In doing so, Mary Trump purportedly violated a nondisclosure and confidentiality agreement in that estate settlement.

Donald Trump initially sued the three Times journalists — Susanne Craig, David Barstow and Russell Buettner — alongside his niece. But those claims were tossed by a state judge in 2023 and he was ordered to pay nearly $400,000 in legal fees to The New York Times.

Mary Trump had sought to ice the lawsuit after Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, arguing to a New York judge that there is an “unmistakable imbalance of power” between the parties. She also argued pausing the case would be best for the president, too, as he would be able to focus on the obligations of his office “without distraction.”

New York Supreme Court Justice Robert Reed disagreed, allowing the lawsuit to move forward.

The settlement comes after Mary Trump claimed to have issues getting her uncle to sit for a deposition, effectively stalling the case. Last summer, her lawyers accused the president of simply dragging his feet to prolong the case.

As of the latest status conference on May 19, the deposition still had not occurred. But Trump’s lawyer Michael Madaio said at the time that the parties were “close” to a resolution.

The 2018 New York Times investigation into Donald Trump’s finances scrutinized the president’s longstanding claims of being a self-made billionaire by disclosing how he dodged taxes and received hundreds of millions of dollars from his father throughout his lifetime.

At the time, the paper attributed the tax records to a confidential source. But Mary Trump later revealed in her 2020 book — titled “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” — that she had been the one to procure the files.

Donald Trump sued his niece over that, too, in what was ultimately a failed effort to prevent her from publishing the tell-all.

https://www.courthousenews.com/trump-settles-lawsuit-with-his-niece-over-his-tax-records/

U.S. Coast Guard Interdicts 25 Chinese Aliens Attempting to Illegally Enter the United States

Release Date: June 17, 2026

WASHINGTON — The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the following statement after a U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement crew interdicted a vessel carrying 25 aliens attempting to illegally enter the United States a mile south of Key Biscayne, Florida.

On June 10, a Coast Guard crew with Coast Guard Station Miami Beach approached a vessel that failed to comply with orders to stop. The crew deployed warning shots, which were ineffective in gaining compliance. The crew then deployed disabling fire, successfully stopping the vessel. No injuries were reported.

Personnel from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) responded to assist following the interdiction. Special agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) also responded to the interdiction and initiated a criminal investigation. All 25 aliens who were encountered claimed to be Chinese nationals.

Following the interdiction, the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell embarked the aliens for further processing.

The vessel was seized and towed to Station Miami Beach. The case remains under investigation.

“Last week, a Coast Guard crew out of Station Miami Beach encountered a vessel with 25 Chinese aliens attempting to illegally enter the United States,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. “This sends a clear message to illegal aliens attempting to enter the United States: don’t even think about it. By land or sea, our borders are CLOSED.”

“Our Coast Guard crews, working closely with our local, state, and federal maritime law enforcement partners, remain vigilant in detecting and deterring unlawful maritime migration ventures,” said Lieutenant Matthew Ross, commanding officer, Coast Guard Station Miami Beach. “Anyone considering one of these dangerous voyages should understand that they are risking their lives at sea and can expect to be interdicted and repatriated.”

The Coast Guard, alongside its Operation Vigilant Sentry partners, maintains a continuous presence with air, land, and maritime assets throughout the Florida Straits, Windward Passage, Mona Passage, and Caribbean Sea. Operation Vigilant Sentry's layered approach is designed to safeguard life at sea while deterring and preventing unlawful maritime migration to the United States and its territories.

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/06/17/us-coast-guard-interdicts-25-chinese-aliens-attempting-illegally-enter-united

Proposed USPS rule could restrict vote by mail

Nearly 30% of all votes cast in the 2024 presidential election were by mail. But voting by mail could be severely restricted if a new rule proposed by the U.S. Postal Service is adopted.

The proposed rule would block the postal service from delivering ballots unless states give the agency access to its voter registration data.

It echoes an executive order President Donald Trump signed earlier this year directing the postal service to process mail ballots in states only if the state has provided the federal government with a list of eligible voters at least 60 days before the election.

Democrats are painting the change as part of an unconstitutional plan by the Trump administration to meddle in races for Congress. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., who was once the top election official in California, is blasting the proposal as illegal.

“The president does not have the authority to make these types of changes. The Constitution is clear: Elections are administered by states,” said Padilla in an interview with Spectrum News Tuesday. “If the federal government is going to have a say in the time, place or manner in which elections are conducted, that falls to Congress, not the executive branch.”

Twenty-three Democratic-led states are suing to block the postal service proposal and the president’s executive order, but so far the courts have declined to step in.

Legal experts say if the new rules are allowed to take effect, the November election would be disrupted.

“There's so many problems with putting it together in such a short amount of time, so I do expect that we'll have a lot of legal complaints that will perhaps put it at pause, or USPS will consider applying those rules later,” explained Thessalia Merivaki, an associate professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

Merivaki said that such a rule change would also grant the agency unprecedented power.

“USPS now becomes the significant gatekeeper in the election system. It was from a partner to a gatekeeper that kind of shifts the relationship between the states and USPS,” she said.

Public comment on the proposed rule change is open until July 2, meaning if the USPS moves forward with the change, a huge public information campaign would have to be undertaken — and quickly — before the November election

“We have our work cut out for us – state officials, local officials, voting rights advocacy organizations, political parties, you know, both sides – out here to inform voters on what they need to know to participate in the November election,” said Padilla.

Another potential change that could affect the election in November is in the hands of the Supreme Court. The justices are considering whether mail-in ballots postmarked by election day but received afterwards can still be counted.

“My biggest concern is members of the military service members that are potentially overseas, their ballots not being counted through no fault of their own,” said Padilla. “If the Supreme Court rules the way we disagree with, then we'll have our work cut out for us to inform voters to mail their ballot in extra early.”

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/mo/st-louis/politics/2026/06/16/proposed-usps-rule-could-restrict-vote-by-mail

Apple Price Cuts Spark Sales Boom in China While Huawei Faces Empty Stores

BEIJING – The college entrance exams in China have finally concluded. As a result, millions of students are flooding local malls for what people call “revenge spending.” Right now, Apple stores across the country are packed with eager retail buyers.

Meanwhile, nearby Huawei phone shops are surprisingly empty, creating a striking visual contrast. This dramatic shift comes after Apple introduced significant price cuts across its smartphone lineup. The aggressive pricing strategy has paid off handsomely for the American tech giant.

Domestic competitor Huawei, however, is facing a wave of unprecedented challenges and declining consumer interest. Some prominent media outlets are now openly asking if younger shoppers are becoming less patriotic.

-Apple recently sold over 32 million iPhone 17 units in China, breaking previous historical activation records.

-Huawei’s latest financial reports reveal struggling core profitability and surprisingly negative operational earnings.

-Chinese consumers are increasingly prioritizing device longevity and resale value over domestic brand loyalty.

-The United States is actively urging NATO allies to replace critical infrastructure components made by Huawei.

BEIJING – The college entrance exams in China have finally concluded. As a result, millions of students are flooding local malls for what people call “revenge spending.” Right now, Apple stores across the country are packed with eager retail buyers.

Meanwhile, nearby Huawei phone shops are surprisingly empty, creating a striking visual contrast. This dramatic shift comes after Apple introduced significant price cuts across its smartphone lineup. The aggressive pricing strategy has paid off handsomely for the American tech giant.

Domestic competitor Huawei, however, is facing a wave of unprecedented challenges and declining consumer interest. Some prominent media outlets are now openly asking if younger shoppers are becoming less patriotic.

Key Takeaways

Apple recently sold over 32 million iPhone 17 units in China, breaking previous historical activation records.

Huawei’s latest financial reports reveal struggling core profitability and surprisingly negative operational earnings.

Chinese consumers are increasingly prioritizing device longevity and resale value over domestic brand loyalty.

The United States is actively urging NATO allies to replace critical infrastructure components made by Huawei.

Apple has successfully reclaimed the top spot in the fiercely competitive Chinese smartphone market. Recent data gathered by industry researchers shows a massive surge in device activations across the country. In just a few weeks, the iPhone 17 series reached an activation volume of 32.33 million units.

This impressive milestone sets a brand-new record for any iPhone generation in China. By the 21st week of the year, Apple officially overtook Huawei as the undisputed sales leader. For a premium international brand, this rapid market dominance is highly unusual.

Market research indicates that Apple already held a strong advantage in the high-end price segment. Following recent discounts, many shoppers who initially wanted domestic phones quickly switched to Apple.

When comparing smartphones, the secondhand market reveals a startling truth about device longevity. A prominent technology vlogger recently shared a striking comparison between two popular flagship phones. He placed a well-maintained Huawei Mate 60 Pro next to an iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Both premium devices were originally released to the public back in 2023. Despite launching at similar price points, their current resale values are drastically different today:

-A well-maintained Huawei Mate 60 Pro now sells for less than 2,000 yuan.

-The iPhone 15 Pro Max still commands around 5,000 yuan on the secondhand market.

Consumers are quickly noticing that Apple devices retain more than double the value of their Huawei counterparts.

https://www.chiangraitimes.com/china/apple-price-cuts-in-china/

Luigi Mangione will assert psychiatric defense at state murder trial

Luigi Mangione will assert a psychiatric defense at his state murder trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a judge said Wednesday.

Judge Gregory Carro said Mangione's lawyers have informed him they will attempt to show that he was suffering from “extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the occurrence.”

-Luigi Mangione will assert a psychiatric defense at his state murder trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a judge said Wednesday

-Judge Gregory Carro said Mangione's lawyers have informed him they will attempt to show that he was suffering from "extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the occurrence"

-If they succeed, Mangione could be sent to a psychiatric treatment facility instead of prison

If they succeed, Mangione could be sent to a psychiatric treatment facility instead of prison.

Carro’s ruling came two weeks after he held a secret hearing on the matter at the request of the defense. He said he will unseal records pertaining to the hearing and the defense's move for a psychiatric defense.

“The reasons for the sealing was to give the defense an opportunity to determine whether they were going forth with that defense and the nature of that defense,” Carro said.

Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said unsealing the transcript of the secret hearing and materials related to his psychiatric defense will harm him in his federal case.

“The reason why we asked for the sealing is that this defense is not available federally and Mr. Mangione is being prosecuted federally and this is prejudicial to his defense to the exact same facts,” Friedman Agnifilo said.

The judge had been set to rule on the matter on Tuesday, but delayed it a day because prosecutors failed to inform Mangione's jail that the defendant was needed in court.

Mangione sat between his lawyers wearing a blue suit and a light-colored button down shirt. He is set to go to trial on Sept. 8.

Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing. His federal trial, which involves stalking charges, is set to begin on Oct. 13. He could spend his life in prison if convicted in either case.

Thompson, 50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan. At the May 18 hearing, Carro ruled that a gun and notebook that prosecutors say link Mangione to the killing can be used as evidence against him.

The gun, a 3D-printed pistol, matches the one used to kill Thompson, prosecutors said. The notebook describes wanting to “wack” a health insurance executive and rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel.”

Also Wednesday, Carro dismissed a charge related to a gun magazine that he had ruled inadmissible because it was found during an initial search of Mangione’s backpack at the McDonald’s.

https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2026/06/17/luigi-mangione-will-assert-psychiatric-defense-at-state-murder-trial

Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️

@christopherrufo

SCOOP: California is pressuring public utilities to award $633 million in special contracts to "LGBT-owned" firms. To qualify, residents must go through the state's official gay-certification program—and face up to a year in jail if they're not gay enough.

https://x.com/TVNewsNow/status/2067010918983332140

Big Fish

@BigFish3000

Replying to @christopherrufo

Gay Certifier (Scott Wiener). 🤣

https://x.com/BigFish3000/status/2066983929509294216

Amazon to build $10 billion data center west of St. Louis

MONTGOMERY CITY, Mo.—Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe announces Amazon plans to build a $10 billion data center north of I-70 in Montgomery County just east of New Florence.

-Amazon plans to build a $10 billion data center north of I-70 in Montgomery County near New Florence

-Amazon believes this campus will create thousands of trade jobs, 400 full time jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax revenue

-Amazon also announced $7 million of additional investments to the area including $3 million to emergency dispatch and $1 million to the fairgrounds

-Tentative build completion is 2032

This will be just a few miles from Google's multibillion dollar data center under construction.

“The building trades have been an enormous supporter of these projects,” said Kehoe. “The thousands of men and ladies who will be working, on these two jobs, literally will change lives for families all across the state.”

Amazon believes this campus will create thousands of trade jobs, 400 full time jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax revenue.

“That is going to be a considerable data center campus,” said Shannon Kellogg, AWS Public Policy of Americas for Amazon. “So that's going to be several buildings that we'll be putting in our initial campus.”

Kellogg noted a future expansion is possible as well. Selecting Missouri became more feasible with the evolution of data centers’ needs and how they're used for society.

“With AI, latency is less of a factor. So now it gives us an opportunity to build in a lot more places with the AI revolution upon us.”

“President Donald Trump said that AI is the space race of our time,” said Kehoe. “Believe me, there's a lot of countries around us that don't want us to have these data centers, that don't want us to have advanced technologies such as AI. So, I mean, this is what it's about. To keep this in America and have an America data center intelligence program.”

Amazon also announced $7 million of additional investments to the area, highlighting a few.

-$3 million to emergency dispatch services.

-$1 million for a new open-air pavilion and food stand at the Montgomery County fairground. Amazon is also sponsoring the county fair.

-$3 million for community projects. $150,000 has been allocated for the county’s community fund and $50,000 is being contributed to support local teachers and provide backpack supplies.

“We want to be part of this community,” said Kellog. “We want to invest in this community and we’re making early commitments.”

Kellog notes the cooling system for Amazon’s data center would only need to use water up to 7% of the time. Amazon is partnering with Arable Labs to work on implementing technology that will help local farmers improve irrigation, its efficiency and reduce groundwater withdrawals.

“The project is expected to reduce water use by 100 million gallons,” said Kellogg.

Gov. Kehoe is confident the power grid will be capable of handling both data centers.

“They wouldn’t invest this type of money if they didn’t feel confident in it,” said Kehoe.”

Amazon experts will hold an open house on June 23 to answer questions.

“Whether you have questions about water, power, sound, environmental impact, community engagement or anything else, our team will be here to listen and answer your questions.”

With $25 billion to be invested in the county, presiding commissioner Ryan Poston is excited for the facelift to come.

“The real estate and property tax that he was talking about, that is where the monumental growth is going to be in our school district,” said Poston. He added the county’s health department, which he already boasts about, will become state of the art.

“That’s the kind of stuff that’s going to make our community better—the whole thing is just exciting.”

Both Kellogg and Poston noted the Amazon data center would take years to fully construct, with a tentative 2032 as a possible completion. Poston said the Google data center will be done in three years.

“Montgomery County is going to show the rest of the state of Missouri how to lead, because that’s what we do in Montgomery County. We lead.”

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/mo/st-louis/news/2026/06/15/amazon–10-billion-data-center-montgomery-county-missouri

Colorado students report same-sex peers were made to kiss during class assignment, teacher fired

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/making-students-kiss-colorado-teacher-fired/

OSINTtechnical

@Osinttechnical

Footage of a Ukrainian attack drone hitting a storage tank at the Moscow Oil Refinery this morning, sending the tank lid perfectly soaring hundreds of feet.

https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/2067464916055814326