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Biden administration blocks expedited release of Prince Harry visa records in drug use lawsuit The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has rejected a request by the conservative Heritage Foundation to expedite a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the think tank for the release of the immigration records of the Duke of Sussex. DHS Senior Director Jimmy Wolfrey wrote in a letter that “To the extent records exist, this office does not find a public interest in disclosure sufficient to override the subject’s privacy interests,” according to the New York Post. The Heritage Foundation has argued that Prince Harry’s past admissions of drug use, such as in his memoir Spare, make him ineligible for a US visa.

One third of schools said they would present heterosexual relationships as the 'main' or 'ideal' context for intimacy, and some went further. Some schools in Northern Ireland have been teaching children that homosexuality is wrong, during relationships and sex education classes - known as RSE - according to a new report. The report, from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, found that around one-third of schools stated they would teach pupils that heterosexual relationships were the "main" or "ideal" context for sex. But some schools go even further, to explicitly "outline their beliefs that homosexuality is wrong in their policies." One example given in the report from a school stated “the belief that homosexual acts are against the nature and purpose of human relationships will be presented to pupils.” The report also found that some schools "contributed to the shame and stigma surrounding unplanned pregnancy and abortion" by making statements such as "those who knowingly engage in casual sex must bear the consequences of their actions.

Trump is leaning on right-wing Cubans for support After being arraigned on federal charges, Trump stopped at Versailles, a restaurant in a major Miami hub of conservative Cuban Americans. Here’s why that matters. June 15, 2023, 3:51 AM +07 By Ja'han Jones If you caught Joy Reid on Tuesday’s episode of “The ReidOut,” or MSNBC’s special coverage of Donald Trump’s federal arraignment in Florida, you got a bit of an inside scoop as to why the former president may have chosen the Versailles restaurant in Miami to make a post-arraignment appearance. Having lived in Florida for several years, Joy shared some insight: Versailles is located in a major hub of conservative Cuban Americans and likely Trump supporters. In other words, it’s in an area full of people whose view of government oversight — perhaps informed by experiences abroad — could potentially be manipulated by the former president for his own gain. Despite the GOP being the party that attacks bodily autonomy through its assault on abortion rights, attacks freedom of thought with its assault on inclusive school curricula, threatens political opponents with extrajudicial imprisonment, and excuses violent insurrections as “legitimate political discourse,” conservatives have tried to frame liberals as the real fascists.

Democratic lawmakers are attempting to force insurance companies to pay for pregnancy treatments for homosexual couples in California by redefining "infertility" to include couples who cannot reproduce because they have a partner of the same sex. The California Senate passed a bill in May that for insurance purposes would redefine "infertility" as "a person’s inability to reproduce either as an individual or with their partner without medical intervention." SB-729 would repeal and add to sections of the state's current Health and Safety Code and Insurance Code so that same-sex couples unable to reproduce together would be considered "infertile," and insurance companies would be required to cover costs for treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) or surrogacy.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was pressed Wednesday for a response to the United Kingdom's decision to ban puberty blockers for minors despite President Biden's claim that American lawmakers pushing such bans were "hysterical" and "prejudiced." Biden made the comments on June 8 during a joint press conference at the White House with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the first person of color elected British prime minister, and declared his administration was "not relenting" when it came to making sure LGBTQ Americans were "protected."

The White House condemned attendees at Saturday’s Pride event on the South Lawn who engaged in what President Joe Biden’s press secretary described as “unacceptable” behavior. “The behavior was simply unacceptable. We’ve been very clear about that. It was unfair to the hundreds of attendees who were there to celebrate their families,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday, adding that the people seen engaging in the “inappropriate” behavior won’t be invited back to the White House. She was responding to video from the Saturday event that showed some attendees removing their tops in front of the South Portico while dancing. “It’s not appropriate. It’s disrespectful,” Jean-Pierre said, going on to say the video “really does not reflect the event that we hosted to celebrate the LGBTQ+ families.”

Republicans have alleged a double standard in DOJ prosecutions Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday hit out at Republicans for their defense of former President Donald Trump as he faces a federal indictment over the alleged mishandling of classified documents, calling their actions "profoundly disturbing." Clinton, whose 2016 presidential bid hit the rocks in part due to a scandal surrounding her use of a private email server while serving as the nation’s highest diplomat, was asked about the Trump indictment unsealed last week and the Republican response to it. A "Pod Save America" host asked about Republican comparisons to her email scandal, with Republicans noting that she was criticized for her handling of sensitive information, but not prosecuted. Republicans have alleged a politicized double standard when it comes to prosecutions of politicians. FULL STORY

First lady Dr. Jill Biden is emerging as a prominent voice taking on Republicans and former President Donald Trump since his indictment – even as the White House has maintained a stay-silent strategy on the legal case. In her first solo events of the campaign, the first lady has not shied away from critiquing the former president and offered a rare comment related to his legal woes as she reflected on Republican support for Trump despite his indictment. “My heart feels so broken by a lot of the headlines that we see on the news,” she said during an off-camera fundraiser in New York City Monday, according to comments reported by the Associated Press and confirmed to CNN by someone in attendance. “Like I just saw, when I was on my plane, it said 61% of Republicans are going to vote, they would vote for Trump.” “They don’t care about the indictment. So that’s a little shocking, I think,” she went on. In a pair of Democratic fundraisers in California Tuesday evening, she warned of the impact “MAGA Republicans” would have on the country and framed the presidential election as a choice between the “corruption and chaos” of the Trump administration and stability offered by her husband. “We cannot go back to those dark days,” the first lady said at a fundraiser in Marin County, California. “And with your help we won’t go back.” FULL STORY

As Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis lead the pack, Sky News takes a look at the candidates hoping to win the race for the White House in 2024. The race to be the next US president is intensifying. Will Joe Biden be back for another four years? Are we headed for a Donald Trump White House 2.0… or will there be a new face in the Oval Office? Sky News takes a look at the list of hopefuls competing to be commander-in-chief - from Florida’s anti-woke warrior and Trump's main rival, Ron DeSantis, to a leading anti-vaxxer who also happens to be a member of the Kennedy clan, and a self-help guru. Can Uncle Joe do it again? Joe Biden, Democrat, 80 The "battle for the soul of America is" ongoing, says President Biden, and he needs a second term to secure victory. His first term has been marked by delivering on some of his core campaign promises (creating millions of jobs, returning America to a sense of normality post-COVID) but there have been lows too (see the chaos in Kabul as it fell to the Taliban). His critics point to his age - he is the oldest candidate in the race, several years older than Trump - and his propensity for gaffes and the odd unfortunate tumble. FULL ARTICLE

The development, watched closely by the United States and its allies, comes after Alexander Lukashenko appeared to contradict Vladimir Putin over the potential use of the weapons. Belarus has started to receive tactical nuclear weapons from Russia, its leader has said. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told Russian state TV that his country is taking delivery of the weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Lukashenko said Tuesday that "everything is ready" for the Russian nuclear weapons' deployment, adding that "it could take just a few days for us to get what we had asked for and even a bit more." Asked later by a Russian state TV host whether Belarus had already received some of the weapons, Lukashenko responded coyly by saying: "Not all of them, little by little." FULL STORY

The footage that began circulating on Russian social media channels last week depicted what was portrayed as a significant military setback for Ukraine at the beginning of its counteroffensive. In a flat, open area south of Zaporizhzhia – bisected by hedges and a wide muddy track – about 12 Ukrainian armoured vehicles had become pinned down, bunched too close together near a minefield. In one video, shells and rockets can be seen tearing into the ground and into vehicles, including one of Ukraine’s new German-supplied Leopard tanks and US Bradleys. Soldiers can be seen running through the smoke from one damaged vehicle to another. When the shooting was finally over, several Ukrainian soldiers were dead. Smashed vehicles had been left abandoned. Russian commentators were crowing over the failure. FULL STORY

The EU has taken a major step towards passing one of the world’s first laws governing artificial intelligence after its main legislative branch approved the text of draft legislation that includes a blanket ban on police use of live facial recognition technology in public places. The European parliament approved rules aimed at setting a global standard for the technology, which encompasses everything from automated medical diagnoses to some types of drone, AI-generated videos known as deepfakes, and bots such as ChatGPT. MEPs will now thrash out details with EU countries before the draft rules – known as the AI act - become legislation. “AI raises a lot of questions socially, ethically, economically. But now is not the time to hit any ‘pause button’. On the contrary, it is about acting fast and taking responsibility,” said Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for the internal market. A rebellion by centre-right MEPs in the EPP political grouping over an outright ban on real-time facial recognition on the streets of Europe failed to materialise, with a number of politicians attending Silvio Berlusconi’s funeral in Italy. The final vote was 499 in favour and 28 against with 93 abstentions. Full Story

When Donald Trump told the world last week that he’d been indicted by federal prosecutors, the former president appeared to be executing a carefully crafted public relations strategy. The Republican was breaking the news on his own terms, at a time of his choosing, with the precise message he wanted Americans to hear. There was, however, one glaring problem: Trump apparently couldn’t think of a credible defense. He instead told several obvious lies, mischaracterized federal law, and generally struggled to say anything that might persuade anyone who wasn’t already in his corner.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump were both implicated in major breaking news on June 8. But only the allegations against Trump received coverage by the big three news networks, according to a recent Media Research Center NewsBusters study. The analysis revealed that ABC, CBS and NBC devoted a total of 291 minutes to the Trump indictment between June 8 and June 12. In the same period of time, those same networks gave zero coverage to news that Fox News Digital broke on the Biden family. President Joe Biden was allegedly paid $5 million by an executive of the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, a confidential human source told the FBI during a June 2020 interview, sources familiar told Fox News Digital. Hunter Biden, who allegedly was paid $50,000 a month while on Burisma’s board, was also a beneficiary of the pay to play scheme, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann was publicly fact-checked after he mocked a Republican congresswoman for claiming that failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign previously destroyed government devices. "Hillary Clinton used a hammer to destroy evidence of a private e-mail server and classified information on that server and was never indicted. The same standard should apply to everyone, including Donald Trump," Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. tweeted Sunday. The claim drew a sharp response from Olbermann, who suggested that the congresswoman was not in the proper mental state to understand reality.

War crimes were possibly committed during last month's fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, Amnesty International says. A report by the human rights group concludes that Israeli forces conducted apparently disproportionate air strikes which killed Palestinian civilians. It also says indiscriminate Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) rocket fire killed both Israeli and Palestinian civilians. Amnesty is calling on the International Criminal Court to investigate. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it operated in accordance with its obligations under international law and made efforts to minimize harm to civilians that were not required by law. A spokesman for PIJ said the group welcomed Amnesty's report. Thirty-four Palestinians and one Israeli were killed in the latest round of cross-border fighting, which erupted on 9 May and ended five days later with an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire. It began when Israeli warplanes carried out overnight air strikes that killed three senior commanders of PIJ's military wing in their homes as well as 10 civilians, including relatives and neighbours of the men.

A federal judge will allow E. Jean Carroll to amend her original defamation lawsuit against former President Donald Trump to include comments he made at a CNN town hall. Carroll, a former magazine columnist, asked the judge for permission to amend the initial November 2019 lawsuit so she could try to seek additional punitive damages after Trump repeated statements a federal jury found to be defamatory.