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The assessment from the British Defense Ministry comes as Western countries seek some sign their tentatively unified pressure campaign on Russia has had some effect Roughly 15,000 of Russia’s millionaires are attempting to flee the country in protest of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine and amid fears of the effects of devastating international sanctions, British intelligence assesses. The U.K. Ministry of Defense’s military intelligence unit concluded in an analysis released Friday morning that skepticism about the war is “particularly strong amongst Russia’s business elite and oligarch community.” ... The assessment comes as Western countries are eager for some sign that their tentative unanimity has had some effect on Russia as it settles into a grinding and bloody conflict as the war approaches the end of its fourth month. (more) https://www.usnews.com/news/world-report/articles/2022-06-17/u-k-intelligence-15-000-russian-millionaires-take-flight-over-sanctions-concerns

PM backed Ukrainian leader making ‘no compromise’ with Putin as they met to discuss new military training programme ‘to change equation of war’ Boris Johnson made a second secret trip to Kyiv on Friday and backed Ukraine making “no compromise” with Vladimir Putin. The Prime Minister gave Britain’s support for the hard line against Mr Putin after the war crimes committed by Russian forces and the illegal deportation of Ukrainian civilians from occupied parts of the country. It cames as he announced Britain stood ready to launch a major training operation for Ukrainian forces, with the potential to train up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days. (more) https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/prime-minister-boris-johnson-kyiv-ukraine-b1006865.html

The British government has approved the extradition of Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, to the United States to face charges of espionage. Assange now has 14 days to appeal the decision of both the District Judge and the Secretary of State’s decision to order extradition. Assange has always denied any wrongdoing. According to a tweet by Wikileaks, Assange will appeal through the legal system to the High Court. (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/uk-government-approves-julian-assange-extradition-to-us-on-spying-charges/ar-AAYzzRQ

The FDA on Friday authorized two Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use in babies, toddlers and preschool-age children, setting the stage for the country’s youngest kids to begin receiving shots as soon as next week. The agency’s action came two days after its independent advisory panel on vaccines unanimously voted to recommend EUAs for Moderna’s and Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccines, which can be administered to children as young as six months. The 21-member panel — comprised of pediatricians, infectious disease experts and vaccine researchers — found that the benefits of vaccinating children under 5 against Covid with either vaccine outweigh potential risks. ... The CDC’s panel of expert advisers will consider whether to recommend the shots’ administration during meetings on Friday and Saturday. Once CDC Director Rochelle Walensky signs off on a recommendation, children are expected to begin receiving shots by Tuesday. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/17/fda-authorizes-pfizer-moderna-covid-19-vaccines-babies-toddlers-00040223

President Joe Biden said Thursday Americans were "really, really down." He's right about that. A new USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll shows the country in a funk and one that sets a problematic political landscape for Democrats in the November elections that are approaching fast. Only 39% of Americans approve of the job Biden is doing as president. A stunning 47% "strongly" disapprove; just 16% "strongly" approve. Academic studies have shown that presidential approval is one of the most reliable predictors of what happens in midterm elections, and a rating this low would traditionally signal significant losses for the president's party. (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/biden-approval-rating-at-39-amid-economic-fears-47-strongly-disapprove-usa-today-suffolk-poll/ar-AAYzOxw

Rep. Bennie Thompson says U.S. ‘fortunate for Mike Pence’s courage’ in refusing to accept Trump’s scheme to reject electoral count The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol on Thursday said Donald Trump’s “dangerous” last-gasp attempt to pressure his vice-president, Mike Pence, to reject the electoral count, brought the country “dangerously close to catastrophe”. With live witnesses and recorded deposition, the panel aimed to show how an increasingly desperate Trump became fixated on a “completely nonsensical and antidemocratic” theory – devised by conservative law professor John Eastman – that Pence, in his role as president of the Senate, could reject the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election. The vice-president has no such power. Congressman Bennie Thompson, chairman of the committee and a Democrat of Mississippi, began the session by quoting from the former vice president who said earlier this year that there is “almost no idea more un-American” that one man could choose the president, as Trump was asking him to do. (more) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/16/jan-6-panel-reveal-new-evidence-pressure-from-trump-put-mike-pence-danger

Landlords are to be prevented from evicting tenants in England without giving a reason, under proposals published in a government White Paper. The Renters Reform Bill will also end blanket bans on benefit claimants or families with children - and landlords must consider requests to allow pets. Housing charity Shelter called it a "game-changer". But landlords associations said the government must ensure the changes would not worsen the housing crisis. (more) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61817249

Bill Clinton says he’s never before been so concerned about the country’s foundational future, lamenting there’s a “fair chance” that the United States could “completely lose our constitutional democracy.” The former president appeared Wednesday on CBS’s “The Late Late Show” and responded to a question from host James Corden that alluded to Donald Trump’s presidency without mentioning the ex-commander in chief by name. ... “I actually think there’s a fair chance that we could completely lose our constitutional democracy for a couple of decades if we keep making — if we make bad decisions,” Clinton, 75, said. ... Clinton’s remarks come a day after a poll found that nearly half of all Americans believe the U.S. might “cease to be a democracy in the future.” (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bill-clinton-fair-chance-us-could-completely-lose-its-democratic-system/ar-AAYxNbJ

During a press briefing, World Health Organization (WHO) officials from the European region said they were investigating whether reports from Germany and Italy—which showed a small number of patients had monkeypox DNA in semen samples—mean the disease could be transmitted through sexual intercourse. "It's something we are looking at, but it doesn't change our assessment of the current transmission route we are seeing at the moment, which is skin-to-skin contact, skin-to-mouth. That's what's driving the transmission," said Catherine Smallwood, PhD, the monkeypox incident manager at the WHO Regional Office for Europe. Smallwood said because of this discovery of the virus in semen, patients who are fully recovered—meaning scabs have fallen off revealing healed skin—should still wear condoms for 12 weeks. Currently Europe has 1,160 confirmed cases in 22 countries, many of which had never seen a monkeypox case until this year. The majority are in men who have sex with men. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/06/who-says-its-investigating-monkeypox-dna-semen

Hong Kong's Jumbo Floating Restaurant — a famed but ageing tourist attraction that hosted Queen Elizabeth II and featured in many Hollywood films — has been towed out of the city's harbour after the COVID-19 pandemic finally sank the struggling business. The massive floating structure — which was designed like a Chinese imperial palace and at 76 metres long could house 2,300 diners — was towed from Aberdeen Harbour on Tuesday. Since its establishment in 1976, it had received more than 30 million guests. But Jumbo Floating Restaurant was forced to close in 2020 due to the pandemic, and all staff were laid off. (more) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-15/victim-of-pandemic-hong-kong-floating-restaurant-towed-away/101153896

June 14 (UPI) -- Pope Francis on Tuesday again denounced Russia's bloody war in Ukraine -- and again suggested that perhaps Moscow was baited into invading the former Soviet republic. In an interview with Jesuit magazine La Civiltà Cattolica, the pontiff called for an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, and cautioned against viewing the war as battle between good and evil. Previously, Francis condemned the war as a "macabre regression of humanity" and said he was willing to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss an end to the hostilities, despite the centuries-long tensions between the Russian and Catholic Orthodox churches. ... "A couple of months before the war started I met a head of state, a wise man, who speaks very little, very wise indeed," Francis told the magazine. "He told me that he was very concerned about the way NATO was moving." (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/Pope-Francis-again-suggests-NATO-may-have-provoked-Russian-war-in-Ukraine/ar-AAYsaxX

Former senior Obama adviser David Axelrod warned that President Biden’s age could be a “major issue” in the 2024 presidential election. “The presidency is a monstrously taxing job and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue,” Axelrod told The New York Times of 79-year-old Biden. “He looks his age and isn’t as agile in front of a camera as he once was, and this has fed a narrative about competence that isn’t rooted in reality,” he added. (more) https://thehill.com/news/administration/3520559-bidens-age-would-be-major-issue-if-he-runs-again-axelrod-says/

The High Court ruled last week the first asylum seekers could be flown to Rwanda for relocation - but fresh legal challenges have been made in an attempt to stop those trying to enter the UK from being sent to the African nation The Court of Appeal has ruled the first deportation flight taking asylum seekers to Rwanda can go ahead tomorrow. Human rights campaigners had appealed against a decision by a lower court last week to allow the one-way trip but the appeal court said it "cannot interfere" with the original decision. The flight to the capital Kigali is scheduled to take place tomorrow with 11 asylum seekers onboard. Activists have argued that the government policy is inhumane and will put migrants at risk. (more) https://news.sky.com/story/rwanda-deportation-plan-first-flight-taking-asylum-seekers-to-african-country-can-go-ahead-says-court-of-appeal-12633234

French voters are choosing lawmakers in a parliamentary election as President Emmanuel Macron seeks to secure his majority while under growing threat from a leftist coalition French voters are choosing lawmakers in a parliamentary election Sunday as President Emmanuel Macron seeks to secure his majority while under growing threat from a leftist coalition. More than 6,000 candidates, ranging in age from 18 to 92, are running for 577 seats in the National Assembly in the first round of the election. (more) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/emmanuel-macron-ap-france-national-assembly-jeanluc-melenchon-b2099087.html Also: https://www.france24.com/en/france/20220608-as-france-returns-to-the-polls-can-mélenchon-s-left-deprive-macron-of-a-majority

Russian President Vladimir Putin Yale historian Timothy Snyder said Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to starve some countries as part of his efforts in Ukraine. Snyder published a lengthy Twitter thread Saturday explaining how he believes Putin is using food insecurity to his advantage and called it the "latest chapter of hunger politics." "Russia has a hunger plan. Vladimir Putin is preparing to starve much of the developing world as the next stage in his war in Europe," Snyder, a professor at Yale University and expert on authoritarianism, began, noting the importance of Ukraine's food exports to the global food supply. The area around the Black Sea, including Ukraine and Russia, has been referred to as the "world's breadbasket" due to its fertile soil and high rates of grain production. Collectively, the two countries account for 30% of the global wheat exports while Ukraine produces about 12%. (more) https://news.yahoo.com/putin-preparing-starve-much-developing-051547728.html

Ukrainian officials are concerned that Russia’s protracted war in the country – now entering its fourth month – could make Western allies tire of their steadfast support. The U.S., along with its allies, has supplied Ukraine with billions of dollars in aid and weapons to defend itself against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion. ... And while videos and images of alleged atrocities have shocked the world, domestic crises and nearly three and a half months have pulled focus from the largest war in Europe since World War II. Now, Kyiv officials are concerned about international "war fatigue." ... The fatigue is growing, people want some kind of outcome (that is beneficial) for themselves, and we want (another) outcome for ourselves," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said recently. (more) https://www.foxnews.com/world/ukrainian-leaders-war-fatigue-western-allies-russia

WASHINGTON – The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack heard riveting testimony Thursday from a police officer wounded in the attack and broadcast to a prime-time audience video of a meeting between men charged with seditious conspiracy. The committee also outlined subjects it will cover in a series of June hearings, including former President Donald Trump's pressure on Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election and his attempt to replace his attorney general. ... • Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., vice chair of the committee, charged that Trump “oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated 7-part plan to overturn the presidential election." (more) https://news.yahoo.com/jan-6-committee-hearings-kick-203239352.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration will drop pre-departure COVID-19 international air testing requirements effective Sunday at 12:01 a.m. after heavy lobbying from airlines and the travel industry. The Biden administration will announce on Friday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will no longer require pre-departure COVID-19 testing for travelers coming to the United States after it determined based on the science and data that this requirement is no longer necessary. The CDC will do a reassessment of this decision in 90 days, the official said. (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/u-s-to-drop-covid-testing-for-incoming-international-air-travelers/ar-AAYjbA5

PM Johnson said to have snapped at foreign secretary over legislation to overhaul N Ireland trading arrangements Tensions flared in Boris Johnson’s cabinet on Wednesday as the prime minister prepared to publish legislation that would enable the UK government to rip up parts of its 2020 Brexit treaty with the EU. Johnson snapped at Liz Truss, foreign secretary, accusing her of toughening up draft legislation to rewrite parts of the Northern Ireland protocol after pressure from Eurosceptic Tory MPs, according to people briefed on the meeting of cabinet ministers. The protocol governs Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements, and Johnson is pressing Brussels to agree to changes because of concerns it has unleashed political tensions in the region as well as unacceptable border friction. (more) https://www.ft.com/content/1acd84fe-bac8-4e16-b4b7-750016d37ee8

Kyle Rittenhouse on Monday posted a video of himself firing off what appeared to be an automatic firearm while declaring to President Joe Biden that he couldn't take away Americans' guns. Rittenhouse posted the video to Twitter along with the caption, "Come and take 'em, Joe." The video appeared to show Rittenhouse firing off a slew of bullets from an automatic weapon while at a shooting range. After stepping back from the gun and being patted on the back, Rittenhouse gives a thumbs up and declares: "Joe Biden, you're not coming for our guns." Rittenhouse fatally shot two men and injured a third amid protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020. He was acquitted in November of five charges, including first-degree homicide. (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/kyle-rittenhouse-posts-video-of-himself-firing-off-a-slew-of-bullets-from-an-automatic-firearm-declaring-joe-biden-you-re-not-coming-for-our-guns/ar-AAYaeZo

Boris Johnson has narrowly survived a vote of confidence among Tory MPs - but suffered a rebellion bigger than Theresa May. Some 211 MPs voted for the prime minister, compared to 148 votes against - a majority of 63. He needed a simple majority - 180 votes or more - to continue in office. The result means 59% of Conservative MPs backed Mr Johnson, with 41% voting against him. https://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-narrowly-survives-confidence-vote-but-suffers-significant-tory-rebellion-12628873

A federal grand jury has indicted Peter Navarro, a former Trump White House adviser, on criminal contempt of Congress charges over his refusal to cooperate in the House investigation of the January 6th attack. The indictment comes after the House voted in April to refer Navarro to the Justice Department for failing to comply with a February subpoena from the House Select Committee on the January 6 Capitol riot. Navarro was charged with one contempt count for his refusal to appear for a deposition, and another for his refusal to produce documents requested by the committee, despite the subpoena from the January 6 committee, the Justice Department said Friday. (more) https://www.nationalreview.com/news/former-trump-aide-navarro-indicted-for-contempt-of-congress-over-refusal-to-cooperate-with-january-6-investigation/

The Supreme Court will soon issue its first major Second Amendment opinion in more than a decade, coming after a pair of recent mass shootings sent the nation reeling and reignited a tense debate over gun rights and public safety. The conservative majority court is expected to rule in the coming days or weeks in a pending dispute over New York state’s tight limits on the concealed carry of handguns. Experts said that while it’s unclear just how broadly the Supreme Court would rule, the restrictive New York law is likely to be invalidated in a decision that could have ramifications for gun control efforts across the country. (more) https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3503408-supreme-court-may-soon-expand-gun-rights-amid-roiling-debate/