Wednesday, Jun 18th
Last update06:06:33 AM GMT
A visibly upset Biden, in remarks at the White House, voiced concern for any Americans who may be held hostage by Hamas, the Iran-backed group that launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza on Saturday.
At least 14 Americans died in the attack. National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters the U.S. believed 20 Americans were missing but that it remained unclear if they were being held hostage.
In the two years since Simone Biles returned home from the Olympics mentally and physically empty, it has taken everything for her to make it back to the top. She first had to withdraw from her sport in order to heal, with many hours spent in therapy. Since her return, she has thrown herself back in like never before.
It is a result of that hard work, commitment and mental strength, as well as her unparalleled talent, that Biles is once again, officially, the best gymnast in the world. On Friday, Biles won a record-extending sixth world all-around title at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp with a score of 58.399.
“It was emotional, and it means everything,” said Biles afterwards. “The fight, everything that I’ve put in to get back to this place, feel comfortable and confident enough to compete. It was a lot.”
A New York appeals court declined to temporarily pause former President Trump’s civil fraud trial but did halt the cancellation of Trump’s business licenses until after an appeals court hears his case.
The order follows a Friday motion filed by Trump’s legal team to stay the trial and the enforcement of an earlier ruling issued by the New York Supreme Court that found Trump and his businesses liable for fraud.
In that 1,154-page court filing, Trump’s legal team wrote that Judge Arthur Engoron’s decision imposed “unauthorized, undemanded, overbroad relief” to the New York attorney general’s office, which will result in “significant, irreparable harm” to the former president and his business.
“Supreme Court clearly does not comprehend the scope of the chaos its decision has wrought,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in the filing.
No charges will be brought against the Georgia State Troopers who fatally shot an activist who was protesting the planned construction of a police training center outside of Atlanta.
Manuel Teran, 26, was shot 57 times by police in January while protesting the intended site of the new training facility, dubbed “Cop City” by critics. Teran, who went by the nickname Tortuguita, was nonbinary and used they/them pronouns.
In a statement, Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Christian said the six officers who shot Teran acted lawfully.
“The use of lethal (deadly) force by the Georgia State Patrol was objectively reasonable under the circumstances of this case,” Christian wrote. “No criminal charges will be brought against the Georgia State Patrol Troopers involved in the shooting of Manuel Perez Teran.”
The FBI has interviewed several individuals who have alleged they were abused by members of the People of Praise (PoP), a secretive Christian sect that counts conservative supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett as a lifelong member, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The individuals were contacted following a years-long effort by a group called PoP Survivors, who have called for the South Bend-based sect to be investigated for leaders’ handling of sexual abuse allegations. The body, which has 54 members, has alleged that abuse claims were routinely mishandled or covered up for decades in order to protect the close-knit faith group.
It is not clear whether the FBI has launched a formal investigation into the PoP.
The House voted on an overwhelming bipartisan basis, 335-91, for a short-term funding bill, known as a continuing resolution or CR. The bill will now head to the Senate, where lawmakers there say they will not object to a speedy vote.
NATO’s secretary-general met with Ukraine’s president to discuss the status of the war and needs of troops on Thursday, the day after Russia accused Ukraine’s Western allies of helping plan and conduct last week’s missile strike on the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters in the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg agreed to make efforts to get NATO members to help provide additional air defense systems to protect Ukraine’s power plants and energy infrastructure that were badly damaged by Russian attacks last winter.
Zelensky also reminded the secretary-general of the persistent drone, missile and artillery attacks that often strike residential areas and were blamed Thursday for at least three civilian deaths in the past day.
Two cargo ships have arrived at a Ukrainian port after travelling through the Black Sea using a new route, Ukrainian port authorities said.
They reached Chornomorsk on Saturday, and were due to load 20,000 tonnes of wheat bound for world markets.
Officials said it was the first time civilian ships had reached a Ukrainian port since the collapse of a deal with Russia ensuring the safety of vessels.
Previously the corridor had only been used by ships departing from Ukraine.
Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the ships - Resilient Africa and Aroyat - sailed flying the flag of the Oceanic island nation of Palau and that their crew consisted of people from Ukraine, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Egypt.
The vessels will deliver the wheat to Egypt and Israel, according to Ukraine's agricultural ministry.
The Biden administration said Wednesday it would forgive $37 million in debt for more than 1,200 former students at the University of Phoenix, a controversial for-profit college that the Education Department alleges misled students for years with false advertising.
A national ad campaign promised prospective students that attending the school would lead them to receive preferential hiring treatment at a number of high-profile companies, including Microsoft and Adobe.
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