President Trump went nuclear on Barack Obama, claiming the recent trove of documents released by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is proof that he was the ringleader. The president accused Mr. Obama of treason.
“Barack Hussein Obama is the ringleader. Hillary Clinton was right there with him and so was Sleepy Joe Biden, and so were the rest of them — Comey, Clapper, the whole group. And they tried to rig an election and they got caught.”
Barack Obama can’t lie himself out of this one. Tulsi Gabbard has the receipts!pic.twitter.com/6cQPhna3Iv
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) accused the media of being “either duped or complicit” on the interference of the 2016 election by Russians.
“I want the press to be honest. I want Pulitzer Prizes to be returned. They were either duped or complicit in pushing that false narrative that put America in political turmoil for years,” Johnson told NewsNation’s Blake Burman on “The Hill.”
“It’s continuing to go on, all based on a Hillary Clinton dirty trick, the Steele Dossier that those guys knew was a dirty trick, and yet they used that to gin up the Mueller investigation, impeachments, everything else,” he added. “Listen, this is, again election interference orders of magnitude worse than anything Russia or China ever, ever could hope to achieve,” he added.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard put out a report last week alleging that Obama administration officials manipulated intelligence linked to Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Gabbard argued in a statement that former officials took part in a “treasonous conspiracy” and said her office was turning over evidence to the Justice Department for possible criminal referrals.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the United States agreed to a “massive” trade deal with Japan, including a 15% tariff on its exports. Months of negotiations followed Trump’s global trade offensive, with steel and auto tariffs key sticking points.
Senate passes Labor motion expressing ‘extreme disapproval’ against Mehreen Faruqi for Gaza sign protest
While the Coalition amendment failed, Labor’s original motion to sanction Mehreen Faruqi passes the Senate.
The Greens opposed the motion along with independent senator Fatima Payman while One Nation and independent senator Tammy Tyrrell teamed up with the two major parties to sanction Faruqi.
While we have been calling it a censure motion, it’s technically a motion to express “profound disapproval” against the senator but also includes that the Senate voted it not “appropriate for Senator Faruqi to represent the Senate as a member of any delegation during the life of this parliament”.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) believes it is unlikely former President Barack Obama will be indicted by a grand jury for his administration’s alleged role in ignoring intelligence pointing to Russia not being involved in the 2016 election.
Graham compared the chance of Obama, ex-CIA Director John Brennan, or former FBI Director James Comey being indicted to him “being in the NBA.”
“When you show these documents to a DC grand jury, and we know all about DC grand juries, what do you think the chances are of an indictment coming for Brennan, Comey, Barack Obama, or any of these guys?” Fox News host Jesse Watters asked Graham.
“Probably like me being in the NBA,” Graham responded.
Watters: If you showed these documents to a DC grand jury.. what do you think the chances are of an indictment coming for Brennan, Comey, Obama or any of these guys?
The anchoring effect is one of the sneakiest tools companies use to make us spend money.
Here’s how it works. Let’s say we’re shopping for a smartphone manufactured by Dapple, which has just released two new models: a $1,200 model with a big screen and a $900 one that is more compact. The more expensive smartphone will serve as the “anchor” by which we make comparisons, so the $900 model will appear to be value for money — even if it is costly in absolute terms. But we’re likely to feel good about choosing it because we’ve “saved” $300 on our purchase.
This scenario seems to be what’s happening with the U.S-Japan trade agreement freshly announced late Tuesday stateside. U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington would gain access to Japan’s markets for rice and cars — which had been sticking points during negotiations — while the latter would see 15% tariffs on its exports to America.
At first glance, that doesn’t sound too positive for Japan. But investors celebrated the news — the Nikkei 225 jumped 3.8% at 1:45 a.m. ET. After all, a 15% tariff rate is a big improvement from the 25% tariff Trump slapped on Tokyo earlier this month. Furthermore, Japanese auto exports to the U.S. — which made up 28.3% of all shipments in 2024 — will face a tariff of 15%, lower than the universal 25% other countries are subject to.
As Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, said, “It’s a sign of the times that markets would cheer 15% tariffs. A year ago, that level of tariffs would be shocking. Today, we breathe a sigh of relief.” That, in essence, is the anchoring effect at play.
More than 100 aid organisations warned on Wednesday that “mass starvation“ was spreading in Gaza, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where more than 2 million people face severe shortages of food and other essentials after 21 months of conflict, triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel.
The UN said on Tuesday that Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations in late May – in effect sidelining the existing UN-led system.
A statement with 111 signatories, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam, warned that “our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away”.
More than 100 aid organisations warned on Wednesday that “mass starvation“ was spreading in Gaza, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where more than 2 million people face severe shortages of food and other essentials after 21 months of conflict, triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel.
The UN said on Tuesday that Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations in late May – in effect sidelining the existing UN-led system.
A statement with 111 signatories, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam, warned that “our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away”.
Russian soldiers needing medical care returned by Ukraine
Two Russian soldiers in need of medical care were handed over by Ukrainian authorities yesterday to be returned home, the Russian defence ministry said.
A ministry statement on Telegram said the two servicemen were handed over and taken to Belarus, one of Moscow’s closest allies, on Russia’s western border. They were receiving treatment in Belarus and would soon return to Russia, it said.
The statement said the action was undertaken on the basis of agreements reached at the second of two direct meetings aimed at ending the conflict last month between Russian and Ukrainian representatives.
The two meetings in Istanbul resulted in agreements to return prisoners of war and remains of fallen soldiers, but made little progress towards an end to the more than three-year-old conflict.
Sudan’s oil-rich Kordofan region has turned into a major front line in the war between the army and rival paramilitary forces, as both sides try to gain the upper-hand in a conflict that has devastated the vast African state for more than two years.
Attacks that killed hundreds of civilians earlier this month have shifted attention to the battle for this part of the country.
“Whoever controls Kordofan effectively controls the country’s oil supply, as well as a huge chunk of Sudan,” Amir Amin, an analyst with risk consultancy Oasis Policy Advisory, told the BBC.
The region is also vital for landlocked South Sudan, as its oil flows through pipelines in Kordofan, before being exported. So, it has a vested interest in Kordofan’s stability.
Poilievre, Conservative MPs publicly support ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizers ahead of sentencing – Canada’s National Observer Source Link Excerpt:
Several Conservative MPs are criticizing the Crown’s approach to prosecuting two key organizers of the “Freedom Convoy” protests, with the party’s deputy leader calling it an act of “political vengeance.”
Tamara Lich and Chris Barber were convicted of mischief in April for their roles in organizing the demonstration, which blockaded streets around Parliament Hill for more than three weeks in early 2022. Barber was also convicted of counselling others to disobey a court order.
Iran vows to press on with nuke enrichment despite Trump’s threats and ‘serious damage’ done by stealth bombings– www.thesun.co.uk Source Link Excerpt:
IRAN has vowed to push on with nuclear enrichment – in a stark warning to the west following Donald Trump’s stealth blitz on Tehran’s nuke plants.
The pariah state pledged to enrich uranium, despite the 12-day war which started over fears the mullahs were dangerously close to getting a nuclear warhead.
The first new U.S. rare-earth mine in 70 years broke ground this month in Wyoming.
Ramaco Brook Mine, which contains 1.7 million tons of rare earth minerals, is a “groundbreaking discovery” that “marks a turning point for America,” the Department of Energy announced.
The groundbreaking discovery at the Ramaco Brook Mine marks a turning point for America as the first new rare earth facility in 7 DECADES, containing 1.7 MILLION tons of rare earth oxides.
Developing American supply chains for rare earth minerals STRENGTHENS our energy security.
— U.S. Department of Energy (@ENERGY) July 9, 2025
The federal judge who has been assigned to take care of President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal is Darrin P. Gayles, a former federal prosecutor who was appointed by Barack Obama.
Gayles, a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida, is a former US attorney who was appointed by Obama in 2014. At the time, a vote of 98-0 unanimously confirmed him in the Senate. Gayles went on to become the first openly gay Black man to serve on the federal bench. His appointment to Trump’s case happened randomly.
Trump’s lawsuit was filed in federal court in Miami on July 18. It accuses the newspaper, its parent companies, executives and journalists of falsely claiming that Trump wrote a 50th birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. Trump’s lawsuit reportedly names Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp, WSJ publisher Dow Jones, executive Robert Thomson, and two WSJ journalists whose bylines were there in the story.
New Jersey federal judges sideline Alina Habba as top prosecutor, Trump’s DOJ ousts her replacement– www.cbsnews.com Source Link Excerpt:
Federal judges in New Jersey invoked a rarely used judiciary power to sideline interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, installing her top assistant as the state’s top federal prosecutor — but hours later, the Trump administration responded by ousting Habba’s deputy.
President Trump installed Habba, who had served as his personal attorney, on March 24 in an interim capacity. An appointee can lead a U.S. attorney’s office for up to 120 days pending Senate confirmation. Habba was not formally nominated for the role until July 1 and has not been confirmed.
The state’s district judges voted to replace her. Chief Judge Renée Bumb wrote in an order Tuesday that they appointed Habba’s first assistant, longtime prosecutor Desiree Leigh Grace, to the role.
Hours later, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department had “removed” Grace, accusing “rogue judges” of “threatening” the president’s constitutional powers.
A Justice Department official told CBS News that Grace is no longer with the department.
BREAKING: Trump announces ‘massive’ trade deal with Japan, includes $550 billion investment in US | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com Source Link Excerpt:
Trump said Japan will invest $550 billion into the US economy and that the United States will receive 90% of the profits from the deal.
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday evening that a new trade agreement has been finalized between the United States and Japan, calling it “perhaps the largest Deal ever made.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Japan will invest $550 billion into the US economy and that the United States will receive 90% of the profits from the deal. The president says the agreement would generate “Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs” and significantly expand trade between the two countries.
“We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made. Japan will invest, at my direction, $550 Billion Dollars into the United States, which will receive 90% of the Profits. This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs — There has never been anything like it. Perhaps most importantly, Japan will open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things. Japan will pay Reciprocal Tariffs to the United States of 15%. This is a very exciting time for the United States of America, and especially for the fact that we will continue to always have a great relationship with the Country of Japan. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” the post reads.
Exclusive: Who are Syria’s Druze and why are they under attack?– www.euronews.com Source Link Excerpt:
The new authorities in Damascus have largely been met with a cautious sigh of relief by the international community.
Al-Sharaa has met with leaders from Western powers, including the UK, the EU and the US. Donald Trump even called the new president “handsome”.
What followed was the lifting of many crippling sanctions that were imposed on the Assad regime for crimes against the Syrian people. Today, 90% of the population still lives below the poverty line, and the economy hangs by a thread.
Although many have lauded al-Sharaa for providing stability to a country ravaged by over a decade of war, Syria has endured multiple eruptions of interethnic violence, notably in early March when Alawite communities were massacred in coastal regions.
While al-Sharaa at the time called for calm and promised an independent investigation into claims that government-affiliated forces initiated what one commentator called the “orgy of violence,” many believe the president was complicit.
“They asked (the Alawites) to hand over weapons,” the Suwayda resident said during their interview. “When the weapons were handed over, and the Syrian coastal area became isolated … they attacked and committed terrible massacres against humanity.”
“The entire villages were killed and exterminated. Houses and houses were burned.”
Sheikh Hikmat agreed, adding, “They use a local group to stir up strife, and then they carry out mass killings against their opponents.”
Protests in Ukraine as Zelensky signs bill targeting anti-corruption bodies– www.bbc.com Source Link Excerpt:
President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a bill that critics say weakens the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies, sparking protests in several cities and drawing international criticism.
Critics say the new law undermines the authority of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sapo) – placing them under the control of the prosecutor general.
In an address on Wednesday, Zelensky said both agencies would still “work” but needed to be cleared of “Russian influence”.
After the bill passed, hundreds of people gathered in Kyiv for the biggest anti-government protest since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Demonstrations were also seen in the cities of Lviv, Dnipro and Odesa.
“We chose Europe, not autocracy,” said a poster held by one demonstrator. “My father did not die for this,” said another.
Ukraine’s chief prosecutor, Zelensky loyalist Ruslan Kravchenko, will now be able to reassign corruption probes to potentially more pliant investigators, and even to close them.
Despite Billions in Aid, Somalia’s Army Crumbles as Al-Shabaab Resurgence Gains Ground, Donors Losing Faith – Garowe Online Source Link Excerpt:
Despite billions of dollars in international support, Somalia’s army has melted in the face of a months-long offensive by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab insurgency, and donors are running out of patience.
Using hundreds of fighters and a vehicle packed with explosives for a suicide attack, Al-Shabab retook the town of Moqokori on July 7, the latest in a wave of defeats this year for the government.
It has given them a strategic geographical position to launch attacks into the Hiiraan region. Still, it was also a powerful symbolic victory over a local clan militia that had been the government’s “best fighting force” against Al-Shabab, according to Omar Mahmood of the International Crisis Group.
Members of the House anxious to call for the release of Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein will have to wait until September, and some of them are not happy about it.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that even as momentum grows to have whatever the Justice Department files contain splashed before the public, the House will not act on a resolution to call for their release, according to The Hill.
The House is scheduled to begin its August recess on Thursday. It returns Sept. 2.
“Here’s what I would say about the Epstein files: There is no daylight between the House Republicans, the House, and the president on maximum transparency,” Johnson said Monday.
“He has said that he wants all the credible files related to Epstein to be released. He’s asked the attorney general to request the grand jury files of the court. All of that is in process right now,” he said.
An activist federal judge says Planned Parenthood may have a First Amendment right to challenge a law that deprives it of federal Medicaid dollars.
Massachusetts District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, ruled last night that Planned Parenthood can challenge a provision in the recently passed federal budget reconciliation bill which generally prohibits abortion vendors from receiving Medicaid dollars. The judge’s ruling extends a temporary injunction she offered soon after the passage of the bill; in fact, the temporary restraining order was unbelievably fast and unrealistic according to at least one legal scholar.
Much of the ruling reads like a Planned Parenthood news release, with the decision repeating the false claim that only 4% of what the abortion vendor does is abortion. (The corporation used to claim it was 3%).
However, the ruling does not completely stop the defunding of Planned Parenthood. It only applies to Planned Parenthood affiliates who will not be killing babies as of Oct. 1, 2025 and to those who received less than $800,000 in Medicaid payments in fiscal year 2023 (which is part of the law).
As the now-familiar wailing of air-raid sirens echoed across Ukraine on Sunday night, civilians across the country again sought refuge in metro stations, underground shelters and dimly lit basements, bracing for yet another massive Russian aerial assault.
This comes as Ag Pam Bondi has said the DOJ is meeting with Maxwell soon.
The House Oversight Committee has voted to subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell over the Epstein files.
The House Oversight Committee has voted to subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell, the girlfriend of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, according to the Independent. She is currently serving a 20-year prison term in Tallahassee for her involvement in a sex trafficking scheme.
The vote in the committee was done by voice vote, which will force Maxwell to testify before House Oversight. This comes after fallout from a DOJ memo that stated Epstein did not kill himself, and that he did not have any incriminating “client list.”
Upon the contents of the memo becoming public, there has been ire directed at the DOJ by Democrats as well as some Republicans claiming that there has not been enough transparency with the files.
Israel successfully assassinated 19 senior Iranian nuclear scientists during the 12-Day War, depriving Tehran’s atomic “weapons program of its most capable and experienced personnel,” according to a new intelligence assessment by a leading nonproliferation organization.
The military campaign evaporated decades of nuclear know-how, striking at the heart of Tehran’s weapons program in a way kinetic attacks could not, according to the Institute for Science and International Security.
“This act weakened Iran’s base for building nuclear weapons, eliminating needed expertise and hard-to-get management experience,” the organization determined. “This time the Israeli effort is different, and recovering may be far more difficult and take far longer.”
