Social Media

Bickering exchange removed.

VIDEO REPORT FROM CNN

Off topic post removed.

Turkey condemned a decision by Swedish authorities to approve a small Quran-burning demonstration outside a mosque in Stockholm on Wednesday, a move that may jeopardize Sweden’s bid to join NATO before the bloc’s key summit in July. A single person took part in the planned Quran burning in the Swedish capital and images of the event show he was the only person apart from his translator at the demonstration, which coincided with the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha, one of the most significant in the Islamic calendar. The decision to permit the protest was made in accordance with the right of freedom of speech, Swedish police said, adding that the demonstration does not pose an immediate security risk. But allowing such an inflammatory protest stirred a backlash in Turkey, a NATO member state that has obstructed Sweden’s accession bid. Sweden and neighboring Finland both formally applied to join the bloc after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.” Turkey’s foreign minister condemned the protest on Wednesday, calling it a “heinous act.” FULL STORY

President Biden is denying he was present when his son Hunter allegedly texted a Chinese business partner in 2017 demanding payment. IRS supervisory agent Gary Shapley says Hunter used his father as leverage to get the money. Hunter Biden’s attorney questioned the legitimacy of the message. NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez has more details. FULL sTORY (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON — House Republicans are using the powers of their majority to carry out Donald Trump’s quest for retribution against his political adversaries, bolstering the indicted former president’s 2024 campaign message that he is the victim of a wide-ranging conspiracy by “villains” who must be brought down. The battle to avenge Trump began on the first day of the new Congress, and it has grown nearly six months into the GOP majority, led by Trump’s staunchest allies in the conference and usually getting a helping hand from Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. They’re fighting to “expunge” his impeachments. They’ve punished his most outspoken Democratic critics. They’re investigating law enforcement entities that charged Trump. They crafted a “weaponization” panel that channels his grievances. Swing-district Republicans are in a bind between the wishes of their pro-Trump GOP base and Trump-skeptical independents. “I accept Trump at his word that he will seek retribution,” said David Jolly, a former Republican congressman who is now a vocal Trump critic. “But what we’ve learned is: If he has a Republican Congress, that Congress will probably do what they can to ensure Trump has the executive authority to seek retribution.” FULL STORY

Protesters pray outside Dutch government buildings in The Hague, Netherlands, as the Upper House of Parliament began debating registration that will legalize euthanasia under strict guidelines. The slogan on the table reads, "Human considers, God decides." Netherlands programs have euthanized otherwise healthy individuals with autism and intellectual handicaps in recent years, researchers have found. Five individuals under the age of 30, who cited autism as a factor in their decision to seek legal euthanasia, are among the cases reviewed by specialists at the U.K.'s Kingston University. "Factors directly associated with intellectual disability and/or ASD were the sole cause of suffering described in 21% of cases and a major contributing factor in a further 42% of cases," Kingston University's report on the issue found. NETHERLANDS EXPANDS EUTHANASIA LAWS TO INCLUDE TERMINALLY ILL CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 1 YEAR OLD The study noted that in many cases, doctors determined there was "no prospect of improvement" for intellectually challenged individuals because there is no treatment for their handicap. Story

The U.S. Attorney who led the federal investigation into Hunter Biden was "briefed" on the key FBI form that contained allegations that then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national were engaged in a criminal bribery scheme that involved influence over U.S. policy decisions, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee revealed Wednesday. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent letters to Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Trump-appointed Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who led the federal investigation into Hunter Biden demanding answers amid allegations from whistleblowers suggesting the probe was slow-walked and influenced by politics. GRASSLEY, GRAHAM DEMAND FBI TURN OVER KEY DOCUMENT LINKED TO BIDEN ALLEGATIONS Graham wrote to Garland and Weiss separately, seeking information on the alleged politicization that influenced decisions throughout the Hunter Biden probe. Full Story & Video

Russia's president has said members of the Wagner mercenary group were fully funded by the state. According to Vladimir Putin, Wagner was given 86.262bn roubles ($1bn) from May 2022 to May 2023 alone for salaries and bonuses, which came from the defence ministry and state budget. The private army's revolt on Saturday rocked Russia. Its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, arrived in Belarus on Tuesday after agreeing to leave Russia. His arrival was confirmed by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. Earlier, a private jet linked to Prigozhin was tracked landing in Minsk, the Belarusian capital. On Saturday, mercenary troops led by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin took over the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, marched on Moscow and shot down Russian military helicopters and a plane on their way. Their mutiny was later aborted after a deal was struck with the help of Mr Lukashenko. The Russian authorities said Wagner will be disarmed but its members will escape prosecution over its short-lived rebellion. Full Story

Thousands of extra security forces are facing a second night of unrest in France after a 17-year-old driver was shot and killed by police near Paris on Tuesday during a traffic check. The teenager, named as Nahel M, was shot at point-blank range as he drove off and crashed soon afterwards. Paris police said they had contained "sporadic episodes" of fresh violence. In Toulouse, protesters started a fire and threw stones at firefighters as they tried to put it out. Demonstrators also clashed with police in the northern city of Lille. French President Emmanuel Macron said the shooting of Nahel was "unforgivable". But his comments drew an angry reaction from police unions, who accused him of rushing to judge the officers involved. The Alliance Police union called for them to be presumed innocent until found guilty, while the rival Unité SGP Police also spoke of political interventions that encouraged "anti-cop hatred". Full Story

Parts of the tourist submersible that imploded on a deep dive to the Titanic, killing five people, have been seen for the first time since the incident. Metal wreckage from the Titan sub was unloaded from the Horizon Arctic ship in St John's, Canada, on Wednesday. Photographs showed metal pieces from the sub covered in tarps before cranes lifted them on to trucks. US Coast Guard officials have said the submersible's landing frame and a rear cover were found among the debris. All five people on board the vessel died on 18 June after it imploded about 90 minutes into a dive to view the famous 1912 shipwreck, which sits at a depth of 3,800m (12,500ft) in the north Atlantic. The submersible's construction included at least one titanium end cap, a titanium ring and a carbon fibre cylinder. The debris brought ashore on Wednesday appeared to include at least one titanium end cap, the sub's porthole with its window missing, as well as a titanium ring, landing frame and the end equipment bay, according to BBC. Full Story

Joe Biden told reporters that Vladimir Putin is “clearly losing the war in Iraq” in his latest blunder. The US president on the South Lawn of the White House when he was asked how damaged Mr Putin was in the aftermath of Wagner Group’s aborted uprising. “He’s clearly losing the war in Iraq. He’s losing the war at home and has become a bit of a pariah around the world,’ Mr Biden said, clearly referencing the war in Ukraine. He was heading to Chicago to deliver an address on the economy when he made the gaffe. Story Video

Reported post removed

Paedophiles are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to create and sell life-like child sexual abuse material, the BBC has found. Some are accessing the images by paying subscriptions to accounts on mainstream content-sharing sites such as Patreon. Patreon said it had a "zero tolerance" policy about such imagery on its site. The National Police Chief's Council said it was "outrageous" that some platforms were making "huge profits" but not taking "moral responsibility". The makers of the abuse images are using AI software called Stable Diffusion, which was intended to generate images for use in art or graphic design. AI enables computers to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. The Stable Diffusion software allows users to describe, using word prompts, any image they want - and the programme then creates the image. But the BBC has found it is being used to create life-like images of child sexual abuse, including of the rape of babies and toddlers. UK police online child abuse investigation teams say they are already encountering such content. FULL STORY

Most people around the world in a new survey have largely positive views of the U.S. and President Biden, according to data from the Pew Research Center. The poll, released Tuesday, found that 59 percent of people surveyed globally view the U.S. favorably, with 30 percent responding unfavorably. Similarly, 54 percent of respondents have confidence in Biden, compared to 39 percent with little confidence. Support for the U.S. is strongest in Poland, Israel, South Korea, Nigeria, Japan and Kenya. Much of the increase in support in Poland is due to U.S. support for the war in Ukraine, researchers said. Only Hungary did not have a majority-favorable view of the U.S. among surveyed countries. Researchers this spring polled over 27,000 people from 23 countries all over the world, many of which are U.S. allies. FULL STORY

New Zealand seeks to exterminate predators to save native birds On a bright Sunday morning the wildlife-lovers gather in Miramar, a scenic peninsula. They are on an exterminating mission. Predator-Free Miramar aims to protect birds in this area of Wellington, New Zealand's capital, by ridding it of rats - every last one of them. After donning hi-vis jackets, the volunteers are handed peanut butter - ideal bait for rodents - and poison. Each is assigned a patch where they will check coil traps and toxin-laced bait boxes. "Good luck fellows," says Dan Coup, who leads the group. A GPS app guides Coup through the bush to devices on his route. For each one he replaces the bait and updates the information on the app. None shows signs of a visit by a rat. But as he surveys the ground for droppings and other clues, his phone vibrates. One participant has posted an image to their WhatsApp group: a dead rat in a trap. This is not welcome news. "Dave will feel good that he's caught it, but we feel sad that there's still a rat," Coup sighs. Eradicating rats and other predators is the goal not just for Miramar but for all New Zealand. The government expects the task to be completed by 2050. full story

Serious failures at a New York jail gave convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein the opportunity to take his life, federal investigators found. Guards left Epstein alone and failed to check on him or search his cell, according to a report by the US justice department's watchdog. The report says that 13 employees failed in their duties. Epstein, 66, was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges at the time of his death. The watchdog said it had identified "numerous and serious failures" in the jail. The justice department inspector general found guards failed to conduct rounds, neglected to monitor Epstein and later falsified jail records after the fact to cover up their misconduct. The 120-page report said that, despite Epstein's previous suicide attempt, guards did not assign him a cellmate and allowed him access to extra bed linens, which were used in his suicide. The report also says surveillance cameras near the unit where he was housed were not working, meaning they did not capture video footage of outside his cell the night he died. FULL STORY

Former President Donald Trump insists that he did "nothing wrong" as he reacted to a leaked recording of him apparently discussing what he described as "highly confidential" documents in his possession post-presidency. Trump, the commanding front-runner in the latest GOP presidential nomination polls as he runs a third straight time for the White House, argued in a Fox News Digital interview on Tuesday that "this is just another hoax." "I would say election interference more than anything else. It’s a disgrace that they can do it," Trump said. "Everything was fine. We did nothing wrong and everybody knows it." Trump was indicted and arraigned this month for his alleged improper retention of classified records. He pleaded not guilty in federal court to criminal charges that he illegally retained national security records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, following the end of his term in office and that he obstructed federal efforts to recover the documents. In total, Trump faces 37 felony charges. TRUMP HEARD ON TAPE APPARENTLY DISCUSSING CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS FULL STORY

The White House has repeatedly touted the Biden administration as the 'most transparent administration in American history' The Biden White House has repeatedly claimed they are the "most transparent administration in American history," but a Fox News Digital review found that the visitor logs from the beginning of the Biden administration through February 2023 have not included any of Hunter Biden’s White House visits or extended stays. Fox News Digital reviewed several articles to piece together Hunter Biden’s whereabouts during his dad’s administration and found that he has visited the White House over a dozen times through February 2023, the month accounted for in the most recent batch of visitor logs released last month. A majority of the White House visits that Fox News Digital found were from 2022, which include the annual egg roll, Medal of Freedom ceremony, France State Dinner on the South Lawn, Christmas tree lighting, his daughter’s wedding, among others. However, they are all absent from the visitor logs, including what appear to be extended stays at the White House. While many of these events are ceremonial and a tradition at the White House, Fox News Digital previously reported how Hunter Biden sought to use such events for his personal financial gain during the Obama administration. Hunter and his longtime business partner, Eric Schwerin, would coordinate with his father's White House staff to invite business associates and potential business partners they were courting to official events. FULL STORY

Ukrainian forces have "highly likely" recaptured an area of territory occupied by Russia since 2014, the UK's Ministry of Defence has said. In a new intelligence update, British officials said small advances have been made east from Krasnohorivka near Donetsk, which sits on the old Line of Control. "Recent multiple concurrent Ukrainian assaults throughout the Donbas" may have also left separatist forces in the area overstretched, the UK's analysis added. This is believed to be one of the first instances of gains being made since the war began last February. Whereabouts of Wagner boss confirmed - live updates full story

Advisers and allies to former President Donald Trump are expressing outrage after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that he thinks Trump can win in 2024, but does not know if he is the “strongest” candidate. “I’ve been fielding calls on this since it happened,” one Trump ally told CNN, referring to McCarthy’s comments. “People are not happy. What was he thinking?” During a CNBC interview Tuesday, McCarthy was pressed on Trump’s 2024 prospects and the multi-faceted legal issues facing the former president. “Can he win that election? Yeah he can,” McCarthy said. “The question is, is he the strongest to win the election – I don’t know that answer.” McCarthy later attempted to walk back his comments, telling Breitbart that Trump is “stronger today than he was in 2016.” FULL STORY

Russian missiles have hit the centre of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, killing four people and injuring many more, Ukrainian officials say. A restaurant and shopping area were hit in Tuesday's strike on the city, which is under Ukrainian control but close to Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. People may be trapped under the rubble and a rescue operation is under way. An eyewitness told the BBC he saw "dead people, people screaming, people crying, huge chaos". A 17-year-old girl is reported to be among those who were killed in the attack, which happened at around 19:30 local time (16:30 GMT). There were also apartment buildings at the epicentre of the explosion, officials said. Social media and drone footage from the scene show significant damage to the buildings, some of which have been reduced to rubble. Belgian freelance journalist Arnaud De Decker told BBC Newshour he was at the popular Ria Lounge restaurant just minutes before it was hit. "There's still people underneath the rubble because it's a big restaurant," he said. FULL STORY

A recording of Donald Trump saying he is holding secret documents he didn't declassify while he was president has emerged. The tape was made at the former US president's Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club in July 2021 and seems to indicate he knew of the proper declassification procedures but did not follow them. First obtained by CNN, the recording offers new insight into a conversation that is cited in special counsel Jack Smith's indictment against Mr Trump over the mishandling of classified documents. The two-minute recording suggests the Republican nominee frontrunner was holding classified information about the Pentagon's plans to attack Iran. The recording begins with Mr Trump saying, "these are bad sick people," while a staffer pointed out General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. FULL STORY