USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump rebuffed his own security’s warnings about armed protesters in the Jan. 6 rally crowd and made desperate attempts to join his supporters as they marched to the Capitol, according to dramatic new testimony before the House committee investigating the 2021 insurrection.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Donald Trump learned his attorney general had publicly rejected his election fraud claims, he heaved his lunch at the wall with such force that the porcelain plate shattered and ketchup streamed down.

On the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, consumed by crowd size concerns, he directed staff in profane terms to remove metal detectors he thought would slow down supporters who’d amassed in Washington for a speech. Never mind that some were armed — they weren’t there to hurt him, he said.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 28 (APP): Some 284 million people between the age of 15 and 24 used drugs worldwide in 2020, a 26% increase over the previous decade, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed in a new report.

The report, titled World Drug Report 2022, pointed out that “young people are using more drugs, with use levels today in many countries higher than with the previous generation.”

Globally, 11.2 million people were estimated to inject drugs, around half of whom were living with hepatitis C; 1.4 million with HIV, and 1.2 million with both.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 28 (NNN-XINHUA) – A Chinese envoy, yesterday voiced deep concern, over the deteriorating situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, and called on the international community to take urgent and decisive actions, to prevent the Palestinian-Israeli issue from being totally derailed.

WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on more than 100 targets and banned new imports of Russian gold, acting on commitments made by the Group of Seven leaders this week to further punish Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. Treasury Department said it imposed sanctions on 70 entities, many of which it said are critical to Russia's defense industrial base, as well as 29 people in an effort to hinder Russia's ability to develop and deploy weapons and technology.

WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's administration added five companies in China to a trade blacklist on Tuesday for allegedly supporting Russia’s military and defense industrial base, flexing its muscle to enforce sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

The Commerce Department, which oversees the trade blacklist, said the targeted companies had supplied items to Russian "entities of concern" before the Feb. 24 invasion, adding that they "continue to contract to supply Russian entity listed and sanctioned parties."

NEW YORK (AP) — Ghislaine Maxwell, the jet-setting socialite who once consorted with royals, presidents and billionaires, is set to be sentenced Tuesday for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.

The 11 a.m. sentencing in New York is the culmination of a prosecution that detailed how the power couple flaunted their riches and prominent connections to lure vulnerable girls as young as 14, and then exploit them.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House panel investigating the Capitol insurrection will hear testimony Tuesday from Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide in Donald Trump’s White House who is a vital witness in the sweeping investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The 25-year-old, who was a special assistant and aide to former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, has already provided a trove of information to congressional investigators and sat for multiple interviews behind closed doors.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Forty-six people were found dead after being abandoned in a tractor-trailer on a remote back road in San Antonio in the latest tragedy to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico to the U.S. Sixteen people were hospitalized, including four children.

A city worker heard a cry for help from the truck shortly before 6 p.m. Monday and discovered the gruesome scene, Police Chief William McManus said. Hours later, body bags lay spread on the ground near the trailer and bodies remained inside as authorities responded to the calamity.

DETROIT (AP) — A judge had no authority to issue indictments in the Flint water scandal, the Michigan Supreme Court said Tuesday in an extraordinary decision that wipes out charges against former Gov. Rick Snyder, his health director and seven other people.

It’s an astonishing defeat for Attorney General Dana Nessel, who took office in 2019, got rid of a special prosecutor and put together a new team to investigate whether crimes were committed when lead contaminated Flint’s water system in 2014-15.