WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is on his way to Saipan to enter a plea deal with the U.S. government that will free him and resolve the legal case over his outlet's publication of a trove of classified documents. He’s expected to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense…

Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report on June 24. The state department says this report represents the world’s most comprehensive resource of anti-trafficking efforts around the globe. It covers 188 countries and territories, including the United States. The Supreme Court agreed on June 24 to hear a chal…

The Supreme Court on June 21 upheld by 8–1 a federal law that bars people under domestic violence-related restraining orders from possessing firearms. The justices found that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is not violated when an individual is disarmed after a court has found them to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of a…

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has failed to qualify for next week’s debate in Atlanta, according to host network CNN, as he fell shy of benchmarks for both state ballot qualification and the required polling figures. The missed markers mean that the June 27 showdown will be solely between Democratic President Joe Biden an…

On his first visit to North Korea in 24 years, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow and Pyongyang have ramped up ties to a “new level,” pledging to help each other if either nation is attacked. In a “breakthrough” new partnership, the two countries signed the new strategic partnership to replace previous deals signed in 1961, 2000, and 2001…

President Joe Biden announced on June 18 that his administration will not deport illegal immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens or whose parent is married to a U.S. citizen. Approximately 500,000 spouses of U.S. citizens, as well as about 50,000 children, will thereby be shielded from deportation and given the ability to gain legal status with…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved the country's six-member war cabinet, an Israeli official said on June 17, in a widely expected move that came after the departure from government of the centrist former general, Benny Gantz. Mr. Netanyahu is now expected to hold consultations about the Gaza war with a small group of ministers…

The Supreme Court on June 14 struck down a federal ban on bump stocks approved by former President Donald Trump. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion for a 6–3 court. The court’s liberal wing, led by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissented. President Trump had pushed for the ban in response to a 2017 mass shooting that killed 58 people at an outdoo…

The Supreme Court ruled against plaintiffs in a lawsuit Thursday that challenged the Food and Drug Administration’s approach to regulating the abortion pill mifepristone. The ruling allows for the pills to continue to be mailed to patients without an in-person doctor’s visit. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the opinion for a unanimous court. The cour…

President Joe Biden will arrive at the G7 summit in Italy armed with over 300 new sanctions aimed at further isolating and financially weakening Russia. The measures are “guided by G7 commitments to intensify the pressure on Russia,” according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and they mark the latest attempt to limit the Kremlin’s revenues a…

Hunter Biden has been convicted of all three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018 when, prosecutors argued, the president’s son lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. A sentencing date has not yet been set. The jury reached the verdict on June 11 after around three ho…

The criminal trial of President Joe Biden’s son resumed on June 10 and is heading into its final stretch as jurors hear instructions from the judge. The defense and prosecution have rested their cases and Hunter Biden did not testify. Closing arguments are expected after a lunch break. Hunter Biden is facing three felony charges related to a 2018 f…

Federal prosecutors wrapped up their gun case against Hunter Biden on June 7 with two final witnesses in their effort to prove that the president’s son lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form when he said he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. Prosecutors called an FBI forensic chemist, Jason Brewer, who tested a residue found on the leathe…

President Joe Biden delivered remarks on June 6, commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day landings at the Normandy American Cemetery in Northwestern France. “History tells us freedom is not free. If you want to know the price of freedom, come here to Normandy,” President Biden said during a nearly three-hour ceremony honoring those killed during…

Boeing launched astronauts for the first time on June 5, belatedly joining SpaceX as a second taxi service for NASA. A pair of NASA test pilots blasted off aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule for the International Space Station, the first to fly the new spacecraft. The trip by Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams was expected to take 25 hours, with an arr…

Attorney General Merrick Garland pushed back on Republican lawmakers’ claims of a weaponized Justice Department on Capitol Hill on June 4 amid their threats to hold him in contempt of Congress. In his opening remarks, Garland defended the Justice Department’s work "to uphold the rule of law," and said he and the department will "not be intimidated”…

One of the most influential U.S. officials during the COVID-19 pandemic is testified to Congress on June 3, days after one of his former advisers admitted deleting emails. Dr. Anthony Fauci, 83, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to late 2022, sat down in front of the House Select Subcommittee on the…

Former President Donald Trump on May 31 responded to his felony conviction for falsifying business records in New York, saying the trial was “very unfair” and said his team will appeal the case. “If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone,” he said. The Trump campaign reported a “record-shattering, small-dollar fundraising haul” of nearl…

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the National Rifle Association plausibly alleged that a former New York state official violated the First Amendment by pressuring insurance companies to cut ties with the gun rights organization. “A government official can share her views freely and criticize particular beliefs, and she can do so forcefully …

Jury deliberations began on May 29 in former President Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial, after Judge Juan Merchan gave jurors his instructions. The jury must evaluate 34 counts of falsifying business records, and there’s no time limit for the deliberations. President Trump told reporters that the charges were rigged and again accused the judg…

Closing arguments began on May 28 in former President Donald Trump’s New York criminal case, with each side expected to take hours. The Manhattan district attorney has charged President Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records to the first degree, to which he has pleaded not guilty. After the day-long summations, New York Supreme Court J…

As many as 2,000 people are feared to have been buried by last week’s massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, according to the country’s National Disaster Centre. The landslide occurred in the mountainous Enga region in northern Papua New Guinea on Friday, and the latest missing figure is a sharp rise from earlier estimates. Rescuers have struggled …

Judges at the United Nations' top court ordered Israel on May 24 to immediately halt its military operation against Hamas in the Southern Gazan city of Rafah, in a landmark emergency ruling in South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide. However, the International Court of Justice did not order the IDF to completely withdraw from Gaza. Hamas, t…

The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority preserved a Republican-held South Carolina congressional district on May 23, rejecting a lower-court ruling that said the district discriminated against black voters. In a 6-3 decision, the court held that the state’s legislature did nothing wrong during redistricting when it moved 30,000 Democratic-le…

Prosecutors and defense lawyers in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump are due in court Wednesday for the first time since the judge postponed the trial earlier this month. Just a day before, a newly unsealed motion revealed that President Trump’s team had alleged prosecutorial misconduct on the part of special couns…