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Received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit 06/10/2021 11:33:52AM

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'Apartheid': Namibia's Herero, Nama Leaders Denounce German Genocide Settlement Made Without Them by Morgan Artvukhina

Opposition lawmakers in Windhoek are furious over a deal reached between the Namibian and German governments that will lead to Berlin apologizing for its genocide in Namibia, saying the deal did not include representatives from the targeted Herero and Nama peoples and that the payments agreed to in the deal will not reach them. “They have excluded communities, groups of Namibians ... that is apartheid that government has practised,” Rep. Edson Isaacks, from the opposition Landless People’s Movement Namibia (LPM) party, thundered in the National Assembly on Tuesday, calling the deal a “substandard agreement.” “You have betrayed us,” Utaara Mootu, another LPM lawmaker, told Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila. “You have not allowed for equal participation based on human rights policies. You have not given us the chance to narrate the economic trauma” caused by the genocide, she said, according to Al Jazeera. Kuugongelwa-Amadhila’s government reached a reconciliation deal last month, the product of six years of negotiations, in which the German government will admit that it carried out a genocide in Namibia while the country was a German colony in the early 20th century, and will pay out a $1.22 billion settlement over the next 30 years, amounting to $40.67 million per year. However, the deal has not been approved by either parliament, and will also require each prime minister’s signature. Colonial Brutality and Resistance The Herero and Nama peoples were targeted for extermination by German colonial officials in what was then called German South-West Africa after they rose up in rebellion against encroachments on their traditional pasturing lands and plans to force them onto reservations. German commander Lothar von Trotha, who was sent to crush the uprising, ordered in 1904 that “every Herero, with or without rifles, with or without cattle, will be shot,” giving a similar order for the Nama people the following year. The tribes were driven off their lands and forced into the harsh Namib desert, and the German soldiers sealed off watering holes to stop them from returning. Those who didn’t perish in the desert were put into concentration camps to work as slave labor, where many more died. In all, roughly 80% of the 100,000-strong Herero people and 50% of the 10,000-strong Nama people had been killed by 1908. After, von Trotha was decorated by German Kaiser Wilhelm II, supporting the belief that the monarch authorized or even ordered the genocide, although no such document has survived. German colonial rule in Namibia began in 1884 as European powers divided up Africa among themselves and ended after World War I in 1919, when it was given to the Union of South

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Africa, then part of the British Empire. It then became a South African colony and was subjected to the same Apartheid white supremacist system as the rest of South Africa, but Pretoria faced a powerful insurgency by the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO), who won Namibia’s independence in 1990 after South Africa’s invasion of Angola collapsed. White Apartheid rule in South Africa ended just four years later, in 1994. However, the legacy of the colonial era persists in the distribution of wealth: although white descendants of German settlers and South African Boers account for just 6% of the Namibian population, together they hold roughly 80% of the country’s wealth, including 72% of all agricultural land, much of which was seized during the genocides of the Herero and Nama peoples. Nama, Ovaherero Say They ‘Did Not Participate’ in Deal SWAPO has been the ruling party ever since, but because it is composed chiefly of people from the majority Ovambo tribe and the opposition National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO), whose base is strongly Ovaherero, was not included in the talks, many feel the deal is being imposed on the Ovaherero. “We will not be a party to any signatory for things that we did not participate in,” NUDO leader Josef Kauandenge said Tuesday. “That agreement can be signed between the German and the Namibian government, but the vast majority of Nama and Ovaherero people will reject it with the contempt it deserves.” The Council of Chiefs, a body representing the Ovaherero and Nama people, has also called for renegotiation of the agreement, particularly to increase the financial payments. Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has insisted both tribes were “fully consulted during the negotiations.” However, the deal has also been criticized from inside her government. Namibian Vice President Nangolo Mbumba said last week the $1.22 billion was “not enough.” "No amount of money in any currency can truly compensate for the life of a human being," Mbumba told reporters on June 4. "We need to recognise that the amount of €1.1 billion agreed upon between the two governments is not enough and does not adequately address the initial quantum of reparations initially submitted to the German Government." According to the German Foreign Ministry, those funds will be used on energy, water, education and vocational training projects where large populations of Hereros and Namas live, who would play a key role in deciding what the funds are to be used for. Laidlaw Peringanda, chairperson of the Namibian Genocide Association, told Al Jazeeralast week they were worried “that the social projects proposed by the German government won’t actually benefit us. If they are not including us in the negotiations, how will they suddenly involve us when it comes to these projects?” “We have lost our ancestral land. A lot of us, of our community, live in poverty today. Some of us live in shacks and have to go without eating for a week. A lot of us inherited transgenerational trauma,” he added. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is set to travel to Windhoek later this year to issue the apology before the National Assembly, but Herero chief Vikuii Reinhard Rukoro has promised mass protests if he comes, according to the Frankfurter Allaemeine.Hundreds of Namibians welcomed home the skulls of ancestors taken to Germany for racist experiments more than a century ago. The skulls are "testimony to the horrors of colonialism and German

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cruelty against our people," Prime Minister Nahas Angula said at an airport ceremony, "The Namibian nation accepts these mortal remains as a symbolic closure of a tragic chapter." Rukoro said he would “expose Germany ... to the embarrassment that they signed an agreement on the genocide of Hereros and Namas, which was ratified by a parliament made up of SWAPO people and Ovambos who know nothing about the genocide.” He also said the deal is “nothing but a construct of a racist mindset on the part of Germany and neocolonial subservience on the part of Namibia.” Notably, the payments are being called a settlement, not reparations, since doing so would be an acknowledgement of guilt under the 1948 United Nations Convention on Genocide, and Berlin maintains the statute cannot be retroactively applied to past events. Sima Luipert, a descendant of Nama victims of the genocide, who lives on a reservation in southern Namibia, told the New York Times that Steinmeier “might as well stay in Germany. We are not going to accept his apology as long as he doesn’t see us as human beings, as long as he doesn’t come down to our leaders and apologize.”

US to Buy, Donate 500 Million Pfizer Shots to Show Democracies 'Can Best Deliver Solutions' by Morgan Artvukhina

The Biden administration is set to buy 500 million more doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine with the intent of distributing them to the Third World. The highly effective vaccine has been all but off-limits for poorer nations, as Pfizer has refused to significantly lower the price and demanded substantial collateral to ensure bills are paid. According to the Associated Press, which cited a person familiar with the matter on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden is expected to announce the program during the Group of Seven (G7) summit being held in Cornwall, England, later this week. The New York Times reported that the doses would be distributed to about 100 countries, with 200 million doses being sent this year and the rest sent in the first half of 2022. White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters the US would become the ’’arsenal of vaccines,” akin to the “arsenal of democracy” term President Franklin Delano Roosevelt used during World War II to describe how US industries supplied Allied powers with war materiel. Sullivan added that Biden wanted to “leverage what the United States is doing to help get the world’s democracies to increase their commitment to supplying vaccines to the developing world to help end this pandemic once and for all" and show "that democracies are the countries that can best deliver solutions for people everywhere." The World Health Organization has said that roughly 11 billion vaccines are required to vaccinate 70% of the Earth’s population, and made urgent calls for vaccines to be sent to Africa in particular, which as a continent has the world’s lowest vaccination rate of just barely 2%. However, so far the US distributed a tiny amount of vaccines and only pledged to send a total of 80 million shots to poorer countries. By contrast, the People’s Republic of China has already

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sent 350 million vaccine shots abroad while also administering 808 million shots at home as of Wednesday, according to National Health Commission data. In addition, Russia has pledged 300 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute to Africa by May of 2022, in addition to other deals with individual nations, including for the vaccine to be manufactured in Egypt starting later this year. The announcement comes as the US faces increasing pressure to begin distributing the trove of vaccines it has accumulated for itself. The US government has already paid for 750 million vaccines, twice the total US population, and both Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, said they would take care of vaccinating Americans before helping other parts of the globe. On Wednesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CPC) recorded that 63.9% of Americans had received at least one shot of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, which paralleled with the lowest daily new case rate since the early weeks of the pandemic: the seven-day average on Tuesday was 14,142 new cases across the US, and a seven-day average of 360 deaths. Sullivan told reporters the forthcoming purchase would be made in lieu of pushing for a waiver of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement, which US Trade Representative Katherine Tai had previously stated the administration was discussing with the World Trade Organization. “We're all converging around the idea that we need to boost vaccine supply in a number of ways, sharing more of our own doses," Sullivan said. “We'll have more to say on that, helping get more manufacturing capacity around the world." More than 80 nations, led by India and South Africa and supported by progressive figures in the US, have been pressuring the WTO to waive the TRIPS agreement and allow them to produce the vaccines developed by First World pharmaceutical giants locally as generic drugs. However, those same companies have staunchly opposed the suggestion, which would undermine their anticipated massive profits from vaccine sales. As Sputnik has reported, although Pfizer says it offers tiered pricing to help poorer nations afford its vaccine, the amount per shot is only marginally lower than those offered to rich nations like the US. Further, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism found that the company had made stiff demands of several Latin American nations before it would sell to them, including requiring them to bear the costs of any lawsuits brought against Pfizer due to the shots. Brazil and Argentina reported that their negotiations with Pfizer fell apart after they refused to offer up state assets like military bases and embassies as collateral for their purchases.

Construction of First Two B-21 Raider Stealth Bombers Is Complete, US Air Force Says Northrop Grumman by Miir^anArtyukiii_na

Atop US Air Force official told lawmakers on Tuesday that the first two B-21 Raider stealth bombers have been completed by Northrop Grumman and will soon be available fortesting. The flying wing-shaped aircraft is styled much like the B-2 Spirit it is intended to replace.

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Darlene Costello, the Air Force’s Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that Northrop Grumman had finished building the first two models of the B-21 at its Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, according to The War Zone. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Air Force said the plane was expected to fly for the first time in December 2021, but that has now been pushed back into 2022. While years of testing await the new aircraft, once adopted the jets will be based first at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, then at both Missouri’s Whiteman Air Force Base and Dyess Air Force Base in Texas. The service expects to buy 100 B-21 s for the prices of $550 million each. The B-21s will first begin to replace the aging B-1B Lancer fleet, which is overworked and under-maintained. However, Costello said Tuesday that no more Lancers would be retired after the 17 already in the process of being put out to pasture until the first Raiders are delivered later in the decade. The bomber is expected to reach initial operational capability (IOC) by 2030, and will carry nuclear weapons, including the forthcoming Long-Range Standoff Weapon (LRSO) cruise missile. Eventually, the Raiders will replace the 20 B-2 Spirits as well, on which it is heavily based. Observers also anticipate getting to see China’s forthcoming stealth bomber sometime this year, as well. Little is known about the H-20, except that it is being built by Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation and that, as per a January 2021 promotional video, it has a flying wing design very similar to the B-2 and B-21.

Three Drones Attacked US State Department Facility Near Baghdad Airport, Officials Say by Morgan Artvukhina

Several drones attacked a US facility near Baghdad International Airport early on Thursday morning, according to local security officials, who said the same group attacked another base 40 miles north of Baghdad just hours earlier. According to the statement by the Security Media Cell of the Iraqi prime minister's office, "an outlaw group" that had attacked Balad Air Base north of Baghdad with three rockets on Wednesday had "returned again late on Wednesday night and targeted Baghdad Airport." The office said three drones had attacked Camp Victory, a sprawling former US military installation surrounding Baghdad airport that still houses US forces. One of the drones was reportedly shot down. A security official told AFP the attack was carried out by a "booby-trapped drone." A spokesperson from the US-led coalition told Sputnik they had opened an investigation, clarifying that the incident took place at the Bagdad Diplomatic Support Center (BDSC), a US State Department facility adjacent to Baghdad airport.

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"This evening, there was an incident with unmanned aerial systems impacting at BDSC," the spokesperson said. "The incident is under investigation and more details will be provided as they become available." The airport and the facilities near it have come under attack several times in the past, but perhaps the most infamous attack at the airport wasn't against US forces, but by them. On January 3, 2020, A US MQ-9 Reaper drone destroyed several vehicles at the airport, killing Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. the head of the Kata'ib Hezbollah militia and deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces. The strike, made without permission from the Iraqi government, prompted widespread outcry and Iraqi lawmakers voted days later to ask US forces to leave the country. They refused.

Watch: Bolivian Lawmakers Brawl in Parliament in Heated Debate Over Anez Detention by Morgan Artvukhina

Two lawmakers traded punches in Bolivia’s Plurinational Legislative Assembly on Tuesday amid an intense debate about the detention of Jeanine Anez, who led the coup government that overthrew democratically elected President Evo Morales in 2019 and was herself arrested in March. Judging from footage of the event, Antonio Colque of the left-wing Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party appears to throw the first punch as Henry Montero of the right-wing opposition party Creemos waves his fist in another lawmaker’s face. As the melee continues, it’s Colque who winds up on his back as Montero rains punches down on him. However, after Montero gets up and others separate them, a second fight soon breaks out between two female lawmakers: Tatiana Anez from Creemos and Marfa Alanoca of MAS. "They all grabbed me, pulled me by my back," Colque told reporters after the fight. "We can't allow this." Bolivian senators were gathered on Tuesday to review the circumstances leading up to Anez’s March 2021 arrest on charges of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy. Before being ousted in an October 2020 election, Anez had ruled the country for 11 months, coming to power in the vacuum created by Morales’ sudden departure from Bolivia amid threats against him and the blocking by police of lawmakers from his MAS party from entering the Senate to decide on the path of succession. Anez, then a senator of minor ranking, became the most senior official in the legislature and declared herself the country’s interim leader in violation of the Bolivian constitution, being instantly hailed for it by Western powers like the US, who had opposed Morales. Morales and MAS have long claimed it was a coup, and after taking office Anez moved quickly to erase the legacy of 15 years of rule by the indigenous-led party, as well as to crush the indigenous protests against her new government, killing at least 33 people. However, opposition parties who said Morales had fouled the October 2019 election results in order to stay in power said Anez was an interim leader whose goal was to return Bolivia to democracy.

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When Luis Arce of MAS handily won the elections, which had been delayed repeatedly by the Anez government, the trend was reversed and Anez and most of her central government cohort were arrested and charged for their roles in the coup within months. International experts have also mostly admitted that they were wrong about the counting of votes in October 2019 being fraudulent, as well. She has rejected the charges against her and called them a “political persecution.” Thus, there was no shortage of tension in the senate hearing on Tuesday, and it brought Colque and Montero to blows. According to the Rio Times, immediately before the fight, Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo, during which victims of the massacres of indigenous protesters at Sacaba, Senkata and Pedregal by the military that happened under Anez protested outside the chamber, carrying three cardboard coffins and asking del Castillo for justice. Creemos is a right-wing alliance of the Solidarity Civic Unity and Christian Democratic Party, which fielded Luis Fenando Camacho in the 2020 election. Camacho led the Union Juvenil Crucehista fascist militia, which formed the tip of the spear during the 2019 coup, capturing the presidential palace just hours after Morales fled the swelling violence.

Cicada Invasion: Biden Brushes Off Bug Attack After Brood X Clogs Press Plane’s Engine by Gabv Arancibia

Brood X is a group of periodical cicadas that spend nearly their entire lives underground. However, depending on the type of cicada, they eventually mature either during their thirteenth or seventeenth year and emerge from the ground for mating season. While some Americans have rejoiced in the insect’s arrival, not all can say the same. US President Joe Biden recently had a one-on-one confrontation with a pesky cicada that appeared to ram straight into the commander-in-chief’s neck as he prepared to depart on his first foreign trip. The Wednesday incident took place when Biden was standing outside at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, as he was chatting with a US Air Force official alongside first lady Jill Biden. Video of the all-too-common event shows the American president suddenly swiping at the offending cicada when it came in close contact with his neck. In subsequent remarks to nearby reporters, Biden warned members of the press pool to “watch out for the cicadas,” adding that “I just got one. It got me.” While Biden was able to literally brush off the buggy strike, the same could not truly be said for a group of White House reporters who were attempting to arrive in the UK in order to cover Biden’s first trip abroad as president. Although the reporters were initially meant to depart from the tarmac at 9 p.m. local time on Tuesday, the flight was delayed until 11 p.m. But that wasn’t all, folks. Several more delays later, the flight ultimately didn’t take off until nearly 4 a.m. on Wednesday in the end.

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The somewhat-stranded journalists were quick to offer their own take on the events on social media, with one noting that the hours-long delay had been “17 years in the making” on account of Brood X’s life cycle. Officials relayed that the massive flight delay was effectively caused by cicadas clogging the charter plane’s engine. To date, estimates suggest that billions of cicadas have emerged along the US East Coast and parts of the Midwest. In fact, so many of the insects have surfaced that they’re starting to even appear on Doppler radars that are normally used to track storms. Biden’s first presidential trip abroad will see him participate in a Group of Seven meeting in the United Kingdom, as well as appearances in Belgium for a NATO summit and Switzerland for a conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

European Parliament to Hold Global Conference on Settling Political Crisis in Belarus by Gabv Arancibia

Earlier, Belarus made headline news around the world after a Lithuania-bound Ryanair flight was grounded in the nation's capital and saw Roman Protasevich, a Belarusian journalist who co-founded the banned Telegram channel Nexta, taken into custody. Authorities also detained his companion, Russian citizen Sofia Sapega. The European Parliament is expected to soon convene an international conference that will focus its efforts on how best to settle the political crisis brewing in Belarus, it was revealed on Wednesday. The initiative was detailed in a draft resolution that notes the conference would be dubbed "Future of Democratic Belarus," and would also investigate any offenses committed by Belarusian authorities against the public. "The European Parliament calls on the [European] Commission and the VP/HR, together with international partners, to initiate the organisation of a high-level ‘Future of Democratic Belarus’ international conference on the resolution of the crisis in Belarus, and the investigation and prosecution of crimes by the Belarusian authorities against the people of Belarus," the draft resolution states. Lawmakers are expected to vote on the resolution on Thursday, a move that will later serve as a non-binding recommendation fo members of the European Union. It's believed that officials with the Group of Seven, as well as other international groups may take part in the looming conference. The resolution further calls for barring Belarus' diplomats from accessing any of the European Parliament's buildings in Brussels and for a revision on the exchange of information with the Belarusian embassy. "The European Parliament calls on the Member States to improve their cooperation on intelligence matters regarding the crisis in Belarus and to expel known and suspected Belarusian intelligence officers active across the Union," the draft reads.

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"[The body] encourages its President to restrict access to the European Parliament for the staff of the Embassy of Belarus in Brussels, including physical and remote access to meetings hosted by the European Parliament, and to review Parliament’s communication with the Embassy of Belarus." The draft is also calling for a full study on whether Russia played a roll in the Ryanair incident, in addition to the potential implementation of a fourth round of individual sanctions on Belarus, including other financial restrictions that would affect oil, potash, steel and wood-processing industries. "The European Parliament calls on the Council to extend as soon as possible the lists of persons and entities under EU sanctions by including individuals and entities involved in the interception and forced landing of Ryanair flight FR4978 and the detention of [Nexta Telegram channel co-founder] Raman Pratasevich and Sofia Sapega; recalls that the journalist Raman Pratasevich is at risk of facing the death penalty ... Urges the Council to proceed with utmost urgency with the fourth package of sanctions against individuals and entities ... and to begin work on a subsequent package," the document continued. "The European Parliament calls ... for consideration to be given to temporarily suspending Belarus from the [Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication] system." The SWIFT system is a network tapped by various financial institutions that allows individuals to securely and quickly send and receive information. Russia has firmly rejected that it played any role in the May grounding of Ryanair flight FR4978. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov previously informed reporters that the Russian government fully welcomes the International Civil Aviation Organization's investigation into the incident. In the wake of the mid-May grounding, European leaders have prohibited any Belarusian aircraft from entering the bloc's airspace and airports, as well as barring any EU-based carriers from flying over Belarus' airspace.

Biden Using ‘Methodical’Approach to Shutter Guantanamo Facility by End of First Term - Report by Gaby Arancibia

Dozens of US lawmakers recently took up an effort to urge the Biden administration to initiate the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, where approximately 40 individuals are being held at the military prison. Many of the detainees have been imprisoned for nearly two decades without being charged with a crime or tried in court. US President Joe Biden is reportedly tapping a low-key approach in his efforts to officially shutter operations at the infamous Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp within his first term in office, it was recently revealed. Sources familiar with the administration’s measures informed NBC News that Biden’s approach would be much less public than steps taken by former US President Barack Obama, who was

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repeatedly blocked by congressional lawmakers from both sides of the political spectrum during his two terms. The initiative would reportedly first see the administration transfer as many individuals as possible to foreign countries, and then work alongside lawmakers to clear the transfer of the remaining detainees to the US mainland - including individuals suspected of playing a role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Officials have previously rejected attempts to transfer such detainees to the US mainland, even to supermax prisons. At present, an estimated 19 detainees may be eligible for transfer should the review board determine they no longer present a threat to the US, the outlet reported, adding that there is a “core group” of some 12 individuals who will more than likely not be eligible. Reports surfaced earlier this month that the Biden administration had in fact approved the release of three detainees, two of whom were from Pakistan and one of Yemen. However, the low-profile endeavour would see the Biden administration initially hold off on creating an office within the US Department of State and naming an envoy in their bid to close the facility. The same would also be temporarily avoided at the US Department of Defense. "They don't want it to become a dominant issue that blows up," an unidentified former senior administration official involved in the discussions explained to the outlet. "They don't want it to become a lightning rod.” “They want it to be methodical, orderly," the official underscored. The Guantanamo detention facility, which was opened in 2002 under the direction of former US President George W. Bush, housed nearly 800 detainees at the height of its usage. By the end of the Obama administration, 41 detainees remained after hundreds had been transferred to various countries. Under the Trump White House, an executive order directing the facility to remain open and fully functioning was signed in January 2018. Only one individual was transferred away from the camp during former US President Donald Trump’s time in office. Asked about the alleged plans, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters that he was not aware of any timeline associated with the facility’s closure. He further indicated that discussions are “ongoing” between the National Security Council, and US Departments of State, Justice and Defense, among other agencies.

Major Meat Producer JBS Paid Hackers $11 Million in Bitcoin After Cyberattack, CEO Reveals by Gabv Arancibia JBS is a Brazilian company considered to be one of the world’s largest producers of both beef and poultry, establishing a foothold in the US, Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and the UK. However, within the US, operating as JBS USA Holdings Inc., the company is known as the top dog in the industry.

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JBS USA Holdings Inc. recently forked over $11 million in bitcoin to cybercriminals who attacked the company’s operating systems as part of a larger effort to avoid any further disruptions to the business, the supplier has revealed. Andre Nogueira, the chief executive officer of the company’s US division, disclosed to the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that the hefty bitcoin payout was done after the majority of the JBS’ plants had resumed operations. “It was very painful to pay the criminals, but we did the right thing for our customers,” the company chief said, adding that the company tech experts warned hackers could attack again despite their efforts to mitigate the effects of the cyberattack. “We didn’t think we could take this type of risk that something could go wrong in our recovery process.” “It was insurance to protect our customers,” Nogueira underscored, referring to the decision to pay the ransom. Although officials did immediately alert US federal authorities about the ransomware incident, Nogueira revealed they also had cybersecurity experts and fellow consultants starting to negotiate with the attackers, who were later identified as the REvil group. At present, the company is still unsure about how the cybercriminals managed to gain access to JBS’ systems. The CEO explained that the company was able to quickly resume operations as it maintains an encrypted, secondary backup system. Nogueira declined to specify when the payout was issued, as well as name the cybersecurity experts it had been working alongside during the hacking event. The official did state the company is certain information regarding its customers, suppliers and employees was not compromised. JBS first announced that it had been victim to a cyberattack on May 31, a day after the incident actually took place. It was not until June 3 that the company declared it had restored its systems and was “fully operational.” Incidentally, the cyberattack came a few weeks after hackers targeted the Colonial Pipeline and forced a six-day shutdown to one of the US’ largest fuel suppliers. At the time, it was revealed pipeline officials paid hackers $4.4 million to the DarkSide cybercriminal group. However, the US Department of Justice announced earlier this week that it had managed to recover the “majority” of the funds.

GOP Lawmakers Press Facebook CEO Zuckerberg on Censorship, Communications With Dr. Fauci by Evan Craighead

Last week, thousands of pandemic-era emails authored by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US' leading infectious disease expert, were released via Freedom of Information Act requests. One email thread with redacted sections showed that Fauci was contacted by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who both thanked the expert, and requested his assistance for an event.

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Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and James Comer (R-KY) on Wednesday penned a joint letter to Zuckerberg, accusing the Facebook CEO and his platform of censoring conservative speech and topics regarding COVID-19, including conversations about the contagious disease's origin. "Newly released documents indicate that you, personally communicated with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases about the COVID-19 pandemic," the lawmakers wrote, referring to now-public, redacted emails between Zuckerberg and Fauci. The emails in question showed Zuckerberg thanking Fauci, extending a request for a Facebook appearance and making a request of some sort. The redacted paragraph in the Facebook CEO's email to Fauci has been labeled as a b(4) exemption, which "permits agencies, as a matter of discretion, to withhold trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person which is privileged or confidential." The Washington Post, one of two outlets that obtained Fauci's email threads, said "the redaction was deemed necessary" due to so-called "trade secrets." "In light of Facebook's subsequent censorship of certain COVID-19 content—including content about the pandemic's origin—these communications with Dr. Fauci raise the prospect that the federal government induced Facebook to censor certain speech in violation of the First Amendment," Jordan and Comer wrote. The GOP lawmakers also claimed "Big Tech is out to get conservatives," as its "censorship decisions did not occur in a vacuum." The joint letter comes weeks after Facebook announced it would no longer remove posts that claim COVID-19 was "man-made or manufactured." The decision came as a reversal to a policy implemented back in February 2021. Facebook said that the move came "in light of ongoing investigations into the origin" of the contagious disease. Relatedly, US President Joe Biden has called for the US intelligence community to "redouble" their collection and analyses of information that could lead to a "definitive conclusion" regarding the origin of COVID-19. The GOP's criticism of Facebook and other social media platforms has notably intensified since Facebook's Oversight Board announced that former US President Donald Trump would remain banned from the platform until January 7, 2023. "Next time I'm in the White House there will be no more dinners, at his request, with Mark Zuckerberg and his wife," Trump said of the move. "It will be all business!"

Lockdown Lifted at US Air Force Base in Texas, Following Reports of Gunfire by Evan Craighead

Earlier Wednesday, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland (JBSA-Lackland) was placed on lockdown amid reports that two gunshots were heard outside the Texas-based US Air Force base. JBSA-Lackland is one of three military installations that make up Joint Base San Antonio.

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The lockdown at JBSA-Lackland was lifted approximately one hour after officials received reports of shots fired near the western side of the US military installation. Lt. Col. Brian Loveless, commander of the 802nd Security Forces Squadron, told reporters Wednesday that investigators are still attempting to figure out whether the incident was credible, or a false alarm. Loveless said that around noon security forces received a report about two gunshots fired at the base from an off-base location. He said they have received no reports of people witnessing any gunshots fired at the base. "We’re trying to investigate a couple of leads right now to confirm that gunshots actually did take place on the installation," Loveless said. No injuries were reported, and members of the San Antonio Police Department are handling the investigation. "There’s a lot of facilities on this installation that are very important to the Air Force. I would rather overreact (to a gunfire report) than underreact," the commander said. "Our response was perfect," Loveless added. Joint Base San Antonio is the largest joint base of the US Department of Defense. It is used, among other things, for the training of soldiers of the National Guard and officers of the American army.

Trump Celebrates 'Exoneration' in June 2020 Clearing of Lafayette Square by Evan Craighead

Nearly a year ago, then-US President Donald Trump notoriously conducted a photoshoot with a Bible in front of St. John's Church in Washington, DC, while authorities violently cleared nearby Lafayette Park of reporters and protesters mourning the loss of George Floyd. At the time, many accused the Trump administration of ordering the removal. Trump announced Wednesday that a new report from the Department of Interior's Office of the Inspector General completely exonerates him and his administration from any wrongdoing on June 1, 2020. "Thank you to the Department of the Interior Inspector General for Completely and Totally exonerating me in the clearing of Lafayette Park!" Trump said in response to the IG report. "As we have said all along, and it was backed up in today’s highly detailed and professionally written report, our fine Park Police made the decision to clear the park to allow a contractor to safely install antiscale fencing to protect from Antifa rioters, radical [Black Lives Matter] protestors, and other violent demonstrators." According to the IG report in question, US Park Police (USPP) already planned to clear DC's Lafayette Park hours before Trump's impromptu photo-op. The USPP's decision was made "to allow a contractor to safely install antiscale fencing in response to [the] destruction of Federal property and injury to officers," the IG report details.

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"As such, we determined that the evidence did not support a finding that the USPP cleared the park on June 1,2020, so that then President Trump could enter the park," Interior Department Inspector General Mark Greenblatt said in an accompanying statement. At the same time, the IG report emphasized that this determination does not absolve law enforcement of brutality allegations. "This report does not address allegations of individual use-of-force incidents, as those are the subject of separate inquiries as well as ongoing lawsuits," the report read.

US Trade Chief Plays Up Importance of Taiwan Trade, Investment Amid New Tiff With China

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai has played up the importance of Taiwanese trade and investment to United States, the Office of the USTR said on Thursday. “Ambassador Tai emphasized the importance of the US-Taiwan trade and investment relationship and explained the Biden-Harris administration’s worker-centered trade priorities,” the Office of the USTR said in a statement. “Ambassador Tai also expressed the United States’ continued interest in working together with Taiwan on issues of common concern in multilateral organizations.” Tai’s remarks came after holding a virtual meeting with Taiwan Minister-Without-Portfolio John Deng on Thursday and at a time when US President Joe Biden wages a new fractious trade relationship with China. Tai and Deng committed to convening in the coming weeks the 11th Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council meeting with the participation of the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, the statement added. Taiwan has been governed independently of China since 1949, but Beijing views the island as part of its territory and has vowed to unify Taiwan with the mainland by using force if necessary.

China Boosting Its Military Capability at Very Serious, Sustained Rate - Top US General WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - China is boosting its military capabilities at very serious and sustained rate which will require the United States to remain competitive in face of the alleged threat to its national security, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said in testimony to Congress on Thursday. "China is increasing its military capability at a very serious and sustained rate, and we must ensure that we retain our competitive and technological edge against this pacing threat,” Milley said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

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US Consumer Prices Up 5% On The Year In May, Highest Inflation Since 2008 - Labor Dept

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - US consumer prices, a measure of inflation, grew by 5.0 percent over a one-year period in May for its largest increase in almost 13 years, the Labor Department announced on Thursday. "Over the last 12 months, the all-items index increased 5.0 percent before seasonal adjustment,” the department said, referring to the Consumer Price Index or CPI. "This was the largest 12-month increase since a 5.4-percent increase for the period ending August 2008." For the month of May itself, the CPI rose 0.6 percent. Economists polled by US media had forecast an annual increase of 4.7 percent and monthly rise of 0.5 percent for May. “This is a big upside surprise for the second month in a row,” economist Adam Button said in a post on ForexLive. The Federal Reserve acknowledges the inflation arising from bottlenecks in US supply chains struggling to cope with demand in an economy reopening after months of pandemic-suppression. But the central bank’s policymaking Federal Open Market Committee, led by Chairman Jerome Powell, insists that these price pressures are "transient” and will fade as the economy makes a full recovery. Like in April, prices of used cars and truck prices continued their climb in May, rising 7.3 percent on the month and 29.7 percent for the past 12 months, the CPI data showed. However, the energy component of the index was surprisingly flat on the month, despite retail prices of gasoline continuing to rise in May. For the year, the gasoline component was up 56.2 percent, reflecting seven-year highs of above $3 a gallon for fuel prices at US pumps. The food component of CPI grew 0.4 percent in May, reprising its April growth, and expanded 2.2 percent for the 12-month period. The US stock market has fallen on many occasions over the last two months on fears that creeping inflation would force the Fed to raise interest rates and taper some of the $120 billion in bonds and other asset purchases the central bank has been doing over the past year in its pandemic-rescue mode. But stocks have also routinely rebounded as the Fed denied these conjectures, saying it would only raise rates and pull back asset purchases significantly when it achieves its twin mandates of inflation averaging at 2 percent a year and a job market with full employment. Under Fed definition, full employment is attained when the jobless rate is at 4.0 percent or lower for a month. In May, the unemployment rate was at 5.8 percent.

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US Homeland Secretary Mayorkas to Visit Mexico on June 14-15 - DHS

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - US Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will visit Mexico next week for talks on areas of mutual interest, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Thursday. "On Monday, June 14, 2021 and Tuesday, June 15, 2021 Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas will travel to Mexico to meet with counterparts in the Government of Mexico on areas of mutual interest. This will be Secretary Mayorkas’s first international trip since being confirmed in February," the department said.

US Weekly Jobless Claims Down 2% in Continued Progress From COVID-19 - Labor Dept.

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The weekly filings for jobless claims in the United States fell by 2 percent last week as some 376,000 people sought unemployment benefits, the lowest number since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March 2020, the Labor Department said Thursday. "In the week ending June 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 376,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 385,000,” the department said in a statement. "This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020, when it was 256,000.”

US Consumer Prices Up 5% On The Year In May, Highest Inflation Since 2008 - Labor Dept

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The US Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation, grew by 5.0 percent over a one-year period in May for its largest increase in almost 13 years, the Labor Department announced on Thursday. “Over the last 12 months, the all-items index increased 5.0 percent before seasonal adjustment,” the department said, breaking down the data. "This was the largest 12-month increase since a 5.4-percent increase for the period ending August 2008.” This material is distributed by Ghebi LLC on behalf of Federal State Unitary Enterprise Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, and additional information is on file with the Department of Justice, Washington, District of Columbia.

RPT - Yaroshenko's Family Hopes Putin, Biden to Discuss Convict's Case - Lawyer

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WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The family of jailed Russian national Konstantin Yaroshenko hopes that Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden will have the chance to discuss his case during their meeting in Geneva next week, Yaroshenko’s lawyer Alexey Tarasov told Sputnik. "The family’s expectation that hopefully this issue will come up for discussion when the two leaders get together in Geneva next week,” Tarasov said. Last week, Yaroshenko’s wife Viktoria and daughter Yekaterina sent a letter addressed to Biden and sent to the White House and to the US Embassy in Moscow asking for a presidential pardon. "To my knowledge, the family has not received any response from the US government,” Tarasov said. The defense also still waiting for the response from the US court to a motion for Yaroshenko's compassionate release. “The motion was filed in December of last year. It is fully briefed, but there is still no decision on that notion,” the lawyer noted. Yaroshenko served more than 11 years of his 20-years sentence, and the family cannot visit him on a regular basis, he added. “His mother passed away several years ago without being able to see Konstantin again, and Yaroshenko was very much grieved that he could not attend the burial service for his mother,” Tarasov said. Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in May 2010 on suspicion of drug trafficking. A year later, he was extradited to the United States and sentenced to 20 years in prison for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy to smuggle a large amount of drugs into the country. Yaroshenko has denied all charges. On December 19, 2020, Yaroshenko’s legal defense filed a motion for a compassionate release on health grounds. At the time, Tarasov told Sputnik that Yaroshenko suffers from hypertension, hyperlipidemia and arthritis, which the US health authorities have characterized as severe illnesses in case an individual contracts the novel coronavirus. Later in December, the US government expressed opposition to Yaroshenko’s early release.

Johnson, Biden Expected to Reach Deal on Resuming UK-US Travel - Prime Minister's Office

LONDON, June 9 (Sputnik) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden are expected to agree to work on resuming travel between their two countries, Downing Street said in a statement. "Today the Prime Minister and President Biden are expected to agree to work to relaunch UK-US travel as soon as possible through a new travel taskforce which will make recommendations on safely reopening international travel," the release said. Biden and Johnson will meet in Cornwall for the first time later on Thursday. The two leaders are also expected to agree on a landmark technology agreement, the release added.

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Biden arrived in the United Kingdom on Wednesday starting his first overseas trip. Over the next eight days, Biden will meet with G7, NATO and EU counterparts in the UK and Belgium and have a summit with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Switzerland.

US-Led Coalition Probing Drone 'Incident' at Diplomatic Facility in Baghdad - Spokesperson

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The US-led coalition in Iraq is investigating a drone incident that impacted the Bagdad Diplomatic Support Center (BDSC), a spokesperson told Sputnik. "This evening, there was an incident with unmanned aerial systems impacting at BDSC," the spokesperson said on Wednesday. "The incident is under investigation and more details will be provided as they become available." Earlier on Wednesday, media reported that the Victory military base near Baghdad International Airport came under rocket fire. There were also reports that the Balad air base in the Iraqi province of Salah ad Din came under rocket fire as well.

Keystone XL Termination 'Huge Blow1 for Tax Revenue, National Security - US Lawmakers

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The decision to terminate the Keystone XL pipeline hurts prospects of collecting more tax revenue and strengthen national security in the energy sector, US Republican lawmakers said. TC Energy, the parent company behind Keystone XL pipeline, announced earlier on Wednesday that it terminated the project following several years of legal challenges from indigenous tribes and environmental advocacy groups. "This is devastating news and it's entirely Joe Biden's fault," US Senator Steve Daines said in a statement via Twitter on Wednesday. "A huge blow that has killed all hope for the jobs, tax revenue and national security that KXL [Keystone XL] would have provided." US House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans said TC Energy's decision to abandon the Keystone XL project destroys thousands of jobs and jeopardizes US energy independence. McCarthy and Congressman Steve Scalise, also criticized President Joe Biden for not taking aggressive enough action to disrupt operations to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. "If it was a Russian pipeline Biden probably would’ve green-lighted it like he did for Nord Stream 2," Scalise said in a statement. The Keystone XL pipeline faced a huge setback in January when President Joe Biden, in one of his first acts as US president, signed an executive order to rescind the Keystone XL construction permit granted in 2019 by former President Donald Trump.

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Keystone is an oil pipeline system that moves Alberta crude oil from the Canadian town of Hardisty to refineries and tank farms in the US states of Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas. The first three phases of the system are currently operational, however, the construction of the fourth phase, better known as Keystone XL, which is planned to transport oil to the US state of Nebraska, has caused a major uproar on both sides of the border. While the project appears to be unsalvageable, 21 Republican-led US states are seeking redress in federal court to revive it. US oil and gas consultants told Sputnik at the end of March that the lawsuit stands on solid legal grounds but the outcome of the legal battle is difficult to predict.

Keystone XL Termination 'Landmark Moment’ in Climate Crisis Fight - Environment Group

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The terminating of the Keystone XL pipeline project is a landmark moment in the fight against climate change, Center for Biological Diversity senior attorney Jared Margolis said in a statement. TC Energy, the parent company behind the Keystone XL pipeline, announced that it terminated the project following several years of legal challenges from tribes and environmental advocacy groups. "This is a landmark moment in the fight against the climate crisis,” Margolis said on Wednesday. "We need to keep moving away from dirty, dangerous pipelines that lock us into an unsustainable future. We’re hopeful that the Biden administration will continue to shift this country in the right direction by opposing fossil fuel projects that threaten our climate, our waters and imperiled wildlife. Good riddance to Keystone XL!” The Keystone XL pipeline faced a huge setback in January when President Joe Biden signed an executive order to rescind the Keystone XL construction permit granted in 2019 by former President Donald Trump. Keystone is an oil pipeline system that moves Alberta crude oil from the Canadian town of Hardisty to refineries and tank farms in the US states of Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas. The first three phases of the system are currently operational, however, the construction of the fourth phase, better known as Keystone XL, which is planned to transport oil to the US state of Nebraska, has caused a major uproar on both sides of the border. While the project appears to be unsalvageable, 21 Republican-led US states are seeking redress in federal court to revive it. US oil and gas consultants told Sputnik at the end of March that the lawsuit stands on solid legal grounds but the outcome of the legal battle is difficult to predict.

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Canadian Gov't. Says Disappointed About Decision to Cancel Keystone XL Pipeline Project

TORONTO, June 9 (Sputnik) - The Canadian government is disappointed that TC Energy and the Albertan government terminated the Keystone XL Pipeline project, but will continue to support workers in Alberta and throughout the country, the Natural Resources Minister’s Press-Secretary Ian Cameron told Sputnik. "Today's announcement by TC Energy follows the disappointing decision by President [Joe] Biden to rescind Keystone XL’s presidential permit earlier this year. Canada supported this project. \Ne will continue to support and invest in workers in Alberta and across Canada,’’ Cameron said on Wednesday.

US Trade Representative Asks Mexico to Review Labor Rights at Automotive Facility

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai has asked the Mexican government to review labor rights issues at the Tridonex automotive parts manufacturing facility in Matamoros, the Office of the USTR said. "United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai and United States Secretary of Labor Marty \Afelsh today announced that the United States has asked Mexico to review whether workers at the Tridonex automotive parts facility in Matamoros, State of Tamaulipas, are being denied the rights of free association and collective bargaining,” the Office of the USTR said in a statement on Wednesday. The request marks the second time the United States has requested that Mexico review collective bargaining rights issues under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade. In May, the United States asked Mexico to review whether workers at a General Motors facility in Silao were being denied the right of free association and collective bargaining. Last month, the Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement (ILC) received a petition alleging that workers at the Tridonex automotive parts facility were being denied the right of free association and collective bargaining. The ILC reviews petitions that it receives and the accompanying information within 30 days. Having determined that there is enough evidence of a denial of rights, Kai has requested that Mexico review whether workers at the Matamoros facility are being denied their rights. The Mexican government has ten days to agree to conduct the review and 45 days from today to remediate should they agree.

Canadian Oil Giant Abandons Keystone XL Pipeline Project - Statement

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WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - TC Energy, the parent company of the Keystone XL pipeline project, is abandoning the undertaking, the company announced. "TC Energy Corporation confirmed today that after a comprehensive review of its options, and in consultation with its partner, the government of Alberta, it has terminated the Keystone XL Pipeline Project," the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The pipeline extension project, which has faced vehement opposition from environmental and indigenous groups, was dealt a significant blow in January when, in one of his first acts as US president, Joe Biden signed an executive order to rescind the Keystone XL construction permit granted in 2019 by former President Donald Trump. The Canadian province of Alberta, which has poured billions of dollars into the project, expressed its disappointment with the development. "We remain disappointed and frustrated with the circumstances surrounding the Keystone XL project, including the cancellation of the presidential permit for the pipeline’s border crossing," Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said in a statement. However, the premier, who has bemoaned the "legal harassment" that the Canadian oil industry has allegedly endured at the hands of internationally-funded special interest groups, said that Alberta will continue to play a key role in the North American energy market and will work with US partners to ensure the province meets energy demands south of the border. The office of Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan did not immediately respond to Sputnik’s request for comment. Keystone is an oil pipeline system that moves Alberta crude oil from the Canadian town of Hardisty to refineries and tank farms in the US states of Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas. The first three phases of the system are currently operational, however, the construction of the fourth phase, better known as Keystone XL, which is planned to transport oil to the US state of Nebraska, has caused a major uproar on both sides of the border. The proposed section of the pipeline was twice rejected by the Obama administration, but was backed by Trump. While the project appears to be unsalvageabie, 21 Republican-led US states are seeking redress in federal court to revive it. US oil and gas consultants told Sputnik at the end of March that the lawsuit stands on solid legal grounds but the outcome of the legal battle is difficult to predict.

UN Chief Travel to UK’s G7 Summit Thursday, Plans to Meet PM Johnson - Spokesperson UNITED NATIONS, June 9 (Sputnik) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to the United Kingdom on Thursday where he will meet with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said during a press briefing. "On Thursday evening, the Secretary-General will travel to the United Kingdom to attend the 2021 G7 Summit that is being held in Cornwall," Dujarric told reporters. "He will clearly have one [bilateral] with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the host."

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When asked whether Guterres will meet with US President Joe Biden, who already arrived in Cornwall, Dujarric said the UN chief would have "as many pull-asides as possible." Dujarric also said Guterres will advocate for an equitable and expanded global vaccination plan and will urge G7 members to deliver more concrete commitments towards the funding to fight climate change.

Shell Oil to Expedite Reduction of C02 Emissions After Hague Court Decision - CEO

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - Royal Dutch Shell will not change but rather accelerate its strategy to reduce carbon dioxide (C02) emissions by 2030 as ordered by the Hague district court in May and it plans to appeal the ruling, CEO Ben van Beurden said in a statement. “For Shell, this ruling does not mean a change, but rather an acceleration of our strategy. We will seek ways to reduce emissions even further in a way that remains purposeful and profitable. That is likely to mean taking some bold but measured steps over the coming years," Beurden said on Wednesday. “We are carefully reviewing the court’s judgment and the challenges it presents, and we expect to appeal." Beurden shared his surprise over the fact that the court in Hague singled out Shell and mandated the company to cut its worldwide emissions by 2030 even though the company adopted a strategy to become a net-zero business by 2050 in April. Shell’s chief pointed out that society, government and customers should work together with the company to change the current energy system while such change should also involve the demand for carbon-based energy, not just its supply. On May 26, the Hague district court ordered Royal Dutch Shell to cut its C02 emissions by 45 percent by 2030 , which arose from the legal action taken by the environmental advocacy group Friends of the Earth International.

Monthly Southern Border Apprehensions Set Another Record, Reach New High of 180,000 - CBP WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The number of asylum-seeking migrants apprehended along the southern border with Mexico in May set another record, reaching a new 21-year monthly high of 180,034, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data revealed. The CBP released data on Wednesday that showed the majority of the illegal migrants apprehended in May are single adults from Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. Some 112,000 migrants were immediately turned away under the Trump-era Title 42 policy, which US authorizes immigration enforcement to do so because of public health concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.

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The data shows the number of monthly apprehensions of migrant children on the southern border dropped for a second-consecutive month, decreasing to 14,158 in May. A total of 929,868 migrants have been apprehended illegally crossing the US-Mexico since October, putting the Biden administration on pace to break the previous annual record of 977,509 set in 2019. The United States has apprehended more than 1.5 million illegal migrants at the southern border with Mexico in 1986, 1996, 1998-2000, according to CBP data.

US Condemns Russian Court's Decision to Label 3 Navalny-Linked Organizations ‘Extremist’

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The US government has condemned a Moscow court’s decision to label three organizations tied to Russian political opposition figure Aleksey Navalny as being "extremist," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said. “We condemn today’s decision by a Moscow court to designate as ‘extremist’ three organizations affiliated with imprisoned opposition figure Aleksey Navalny,” Price said on Wednesday.

US Awards Raytheon $3.1 Bln Contract for F-15 Eagle Vision Radar System - Pentagon

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The US government awarded a $3.12 billion contract to Raytheon for the production of F-15 fighter jet radar systems, the Defense Department said in a statement. "The Raytheon Co., El Segundo, California has been awarded a $3,120,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for F-15 Radar Eagle Vision. This contract provides for the production, modernization and support of the F-15 APG-82 radar system to rapidly deliver and stay aligned with the F-15 weapon system program," the release said on Wednesday. Wbrk is expected to be completed by 2036, according to the Pentagon. This material is distributed by Ghebi LLC on behalf of Federal State Unitary Enterprise Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, and additional information is on file with the Department of Justice, Washington, District of Columbia.

Not All Hackers From DarkSide Group Located in Russia - Cybersecurity Firm

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The fact that members of the DarkSide hacking group speak Russian does not mean they all operate from within Russia and the majority of the

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cybercriminals are coming from Eastern Europe, cybersecurity firm Fire Eye Senior Vice President Charles Carmakal said during a congressional hearing on the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack. "DarkSide group is a network of different operators that conduct subversions on behalf of the DarkSide name. While there is a requirement to be affiliated with a DarkSide group that you have to speak the Russian language, it doesn't mean that every single operator is located within Russia. We assess that the majority of the operators are Eastern European criminals,” Carmakal said on Wednesday. Carmakal said that his company does not possess any information indicating that the recent attacks against Colonial Pipeline and the meat producer JBS were directed by the Russian government. At the same time, Carmakal welcomed US government attempts to encourage the Russian side to try to apprehend the cybercriminals as well as to stop them from conducting harmful operations. The cyberattack on the major US fuel transporting facility Colonial Pipeline occurred on May 7 and triggered a gas outage crisis across the southern US states. The attack was attributed to an unknown group of allegedly Russian-speaking hackers. However, President Joe Biden said on several occasions that there was no evidence Russia was involved. FireEye assisted the investigation of the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack by respective US agencies.

Canadian Oil Giant Abandons Keystone XL Pipeline Project - Statement

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - China’s sales to US allies of 5G communications equipment threatens NATO's ability to protect its forces in Europe and ensure interoperability of disparate national militaries, although the US is making progress in persuading allies to shun Chinese companies, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, US General Tod Walters said.

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"Our goal is to make sure that the NATO equipment and the NATO force elements of the future are safe and secure and interoperable,” Wolters told the Atlantic Council on Wednesday. "As many know, with the infusion of 5G on behalf of China that is not the case.” At the same time, Wolters reported some success in the efforts to steer US allies away from Chinese equipment. "\Afe’re seeing some trending as far as contracts are concerned that show us from a 5G perspective many of the European nations are looking away from China and more towards other vendors that are offering more secure systems that are more NATO interoperable," Wolters said. Walters spoke President Joe Biden arrived in Europe to attend a weekend G7 summit in the United Kingdom, followed by a NATO summit in Brussels and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva. Legislation aimed at countering China’s push for technical dominance, approved by the US Senate on Tuesday, would prohibit the Commerce Department from removing sanctions against Chinese telecom giant Huawei, a global leader in 5G technology. The sanctions reflect US fears that Huawei equipment provides so called backdoors that could allow Chinese intelligence to spy on users. However, media reports suggest that some US allies, including Britain and Germany, are prepared to permit sales of some Huawei equipment over Washington's objections.

Pentagon Establishes New Arctic Security Studies Center - Austin

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The US Defense Department has set up a new security studies center for the Arctic regions, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said. "Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III is proud to announce the establishment of a new Department of Defense Regional Center, the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies,” the Defense Department said in a press release on Wednesday. The center is named after a former US senator from Alaska and it will seek to boost cooperation on the challenges and security concerns related to the Arctic region, the release explained. The new center “will address the need for US engagement and international cooperation to strengthen the rules-based order in the region and tackle shared challenges such as climate change,” Austin said in the release. The center will develop collaborative insights with allies and partners and will support the Interim National Security Strategic Guidance direction to address the need for US engagement and international cooperation to strengthen the rules-based order in the region, Austin added.

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SPUTNIK TOP STORIES OF THE DAY WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik)

US-RUSSIA RELATIONS * US President Joe Biden said in a speech upon arriving in the United Kingdom on Wednesday that the United States will respond decisively in case Russia engages in harmful activities. * Biden said he does not know whether he will be able to reach an understanding with Russian President Vladimir Putin on cyberattacks during the upcoming summit on June 16. * The United States is committed to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty concerning collective defense, Biden said. * Russia hopes the upcoming Putin-Biden summit will bring answers to many questions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said. * Russia is ready to resume normal operation of embassies even on the next day after the summit of Putin and Biden if the United States has will, Ryabkov said.

BELARUS DEVELOPMENTS * The United States will introduce another set of sanctions against Belarus soon, US Ambassador-Designate to Belarus Julie Fisher said in a congressional testimony on Wednesday. * The United States may impose sanctions on Belarus’ sovereign debt, central back and key exports as well as barring the landlocked country’s ships from European ports, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez said. * Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya called on the international community on Wednesday to respond more broadly to the situation in Belarus and not focus all efforts solely on the Ryanair incident. * The European Parliament lawmakers will call for convening an international conference dubbed Future of Democratic Belarus, to find a way out of the political crisis in the country, according to a joint draft resolution. * The European Parliament lawmakers will call for examining Russia's possible role in the Ryanair plane emergency landing in Minsk and imposing sanctions on any Russian involved in the incident, according to the draft resolution.

US SANCTIONS AGAINST NICARAGUA * The United States imposed sanctions against four Nicaraguan nationals, including the daughter of the country’s president, the US Treasury Department announced on Wednesday.

UKRAINE * Russian President Vladimir Putin said the idea of dividing peoples into indigenous and non-indigenous categories resembles the theory and practice of Nazi Germany. * Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik the US and Russian presidents will definitely discuss the issue of Ukraine and the country’s potential bid for NATO membership. * Putin praised the intelligence of Ukrainians who oppose their country's NATO membership, noting that they do not want to become cannon fodder or political currency. * Ukraine has invited Russia to discuss international security, Putin said.

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NAVALNYCASE * A Moscow court outlawed the Anti-Corruption Foundation FBK (designated as a foreign agent by the Russian Ministry of Justice), founded by Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny, and ruled that it should stop all operations in the country effective immediately, the court's press service told Sputnik on Wednesday.

US Stocks End Broadly Lower Ahead of Key Inflation Data

NEW YORK, June 9 (Sputnik) - US stocks closed broadly lower on Wednesday as market participants awaited the release of key inflation data that could pressure the Federal Reserve’s super-easy monetary policy designed for the coronavirus pandemic. \Na\\ Street’s three main equity benchmarks — The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P500 and the Nasdaq Composite — all settled in the red on concerns that May’s reading for the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, will overshoot expectations. The CPI rose by 0.8 percent for the month in April, and by 4.2 percent over the year from April 2020 for its largest increase in almost 13 years. Analysts have forecast a monthly rise of 0.4 percent in May and an annualized growth of 4.7 percent. "The Fed won’t budge this year over its asset purchases, but a hot reading for the CPI could help put a tentative floor on Treasury yields,” Ed Moya, a stock analyst at broker OANDAsaid. Treasury yields, representing so-called real interest rates, have surged for the better part of this year, pressuring the Federal Reserve’s own near-zero US interest rates since March 2020 put in place to deal with the pandemic. The Fed has also been buying $120 billion of assets monthly over the past year to provide ample credit to markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the broadest US equity barometer on the New York Stock Exchange, closed at 34,447, down 153 points or 0.4 percent. The S&P 500, which groups the top 500 stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, closed at 4,220, down 7.7 points or 0.2 percent. The Nasdaq Composite index, which includes high-flying tech stocks such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix and Google, closed at 13,911, down 14 points or 0.1 percent. The US economy grew by an annualized rate of 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2021, after a 3.5 percent contraction for all of 2020 due to shutdowns and other disruptions caused by the pandemic. The Fed expects a 6.5 percent growth for all of this year. The problem for the central bank though is inflation as prices of almost everything have soared from the lows of the pandemic. Some economists believe that inflation growth in 2021 could be the highest in 35 years.

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Legal Obstacles Frustrate US Attempts to Vaccinate Americans Held Hostage Overseas - Envoy

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - A Biden administration effort to vaccinate Americans detained by unfriendly nations ostensibly for political reasons has failed due to legal obstacles that federal agencies and pharmaceutical companies have been unable to resolve, Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens said on Wednesday. "The bottom line is we’re failing here" Carstens said in an interview with the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation. "We are failing to get vaccines into the arms of those who are wrongfully detained in Iran, Venezuela, Russia, fill in the blank. We’re not getting it done right now." Carstens said the Biden administration has attempted to work with foreign governments and with vaccine makers to inoculate about 40 Americans held overseas. Asked whether the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) could help, Carstens said they also face legal obstacles obtaining vaccines from pharmaceutical companies. "Trying to adhere to the laws that we’re required to follow, whether its ICRC or whether it’s the State Department or whether it’s even another country using vaccines either manufactured in a third country or their own, the legal issues have proven quite challenging," Carstens added. The foundation sponsoring the Carstens interview honors James Foley, an American reporter kidnapped in Syria by the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia) in 2012 and beheaded two years later.

US Air Force Base in San Antonio Investigating Possible Shooting, Whether 'False Alarm' WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - US Air Force Security Forces Squadron commander at Lackland, Lt. Col. Brian Loveless, said on Wednesday that security forces are trying to confirm whether two gunshots were fired at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. "No injuries reported and we are investigating certain leads and trying to confirm whether gunshots did occur from off the installation," Loveless said in a press conference. Earlier in the day, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland went on lockdown due to reports of an active shooter situation. Loveless said that around noon security forces received a report about two gunshots fired at the base from an off-base location. He said they have received no reports of people witnessing any gunshots fired at the base. The base said the lockdown is completely lifted and the military installation is secure.

US Committed to Article 5 of NATO Defense Act - Biden

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WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The United States is committed to Article 5 of the NATO Defense, US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday upon arrival to the United Kingdom. "In Brussels. I will make clear that the United States’ commitment to our NATO allies and Article 5 is rock solid,” Biden said.

Biden Says US Will Respond in Robust \Afey When Russian Gov't Engages in 'Harmful Activity'

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden said in a speech upon his arrival in the UK on Wednesday that Washington will respond decisively in case Moscow is engaged in a harmful activity. “We are not seeking conflict with Russia, we want a stable predictable relationship,” Biden stated. “I’ve been clear the United States will respond in a robust and meaningful way when the Russian government engages in harmful activities."

US Strongly Condemns Killing of at Least 160 Civilians in Burkina Faso - State Dept. WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The US strongly condemns the killing of at least 160 civilians on June 5 in an armed attack on a village in northern Burkina Faso, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Wednesday. "The United States condemns in the strongest terms the senseless killing of at least 160 civilians, including children in Burkina Faso, on the night of June 4 to June 5. We stand with Burkinabe partners in the fight against violent extremism. We extend our sincere condolences to the families of the victims of this heinous attack, and we call for those responsible to be held accountable,” Price told reporters during a briefing. Gunmen stormed the village of Solhan, near the border with Niger, earlier this month, killing men, women and children and burning homes and the local market. Nearly 40 people were seriously injured. The country's northern regions that border Niger and Mali have been repeatedly targeted by militants affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State terrorist groups (both banned in Russia). The surge in attacks in recent months prompted the government to evacuate some villages located in that part of Burkina Faso.

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UN Seeks $332Mln to Provide Aid to Pakistanis in Need in 2021 - Spokesman

UNITED NATIONS, June 9 (Sputnik) - The UN Humanitarian Response Plan launched on Wednesday seeks $332 million to address a wide range of needs for the most vulnerable population in Pakistan, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Wednesday. "The Plan calls for $332 million for a range of activities, including food security, livelihood assistance, primary health services, support for women’s health and education, as well as shelter for displaced people,’’ Dujarric said. The UN plan, launched together with the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aims to reach 4.3 million people faced with climate disasters and the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, the plan seeks to support some of the 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees in the country with protection, health, education and livelihood items.

Trudeau Says Opposition NDP Politicizing Legal Battle Between Gov't, First Nations

TORONTO, June 9 (Sputnik) - Canada’s opposition New Democrat Party (NDP) is politicizing the legal process between the federal government and residential school survivors, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the House of Commons passed a non-binding motion that calls on the governing Liberals to “cease its belligerent and litigious approach to justice for indigenous children by immediately dropping its appeal before the Federal Court.” "It is unfortunate, that on an issue as important as reconciliation, the NDP continues to try and make political points and twist rhetoric,” Trudeau said during Question Period, responding to NDP leader Jagmeet Singh. The Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation, which discovered the remains of 215 children on the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, filed a class-action lawsuit against the federal government in 2012 seeking reparations for the damage inflicted upon First Nations culture. However, government lawyers have maintained that Ottawa is not liable for the damage done to the First Nation indigenous culture. Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller told reporters earlier in the day that the federal government is intent on compensating the survivors of the residential school system and is not interested in reopening survivors’ old wounds. The legal battle between the federal government and First Nations communities has been reintroduced into the spotlight following the grisly discovery in Kamloops, British Columbia, which has ignited national outrage.

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US Calls on Ortega to Release Opposition Figures Arrested Over Past Week - State Dept.

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The United States is urging Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to promptly free opposition figures who were arrested over the past week, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Wednesday. "The United States calls on President Daniel Ortega and the Nicaraguan government to immediately release Presidential candidates Cristiana Chamorro, Arturo Cruz, Felix Maradiaga and Juan Sebastian Chamorro as well as other civil society and opposition leaders who have been arrested over the past week in increasing wave of oppression," Price said. "The United States condemns these actions in the most unequivocal terms and hold President Ortega and those who carry out these authoritarian orders responsible for their safety and well-being." Earlier on Wednesday, the US Treasury Department announced that the United States imposed sanctions on four Nicaraguan nationals, including the president's daughter. Camila Antonia Ortega Murillo, born in 1987, was added to the Specially Designated Nationals list run by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The other three sanctioned individuals include Edwin Ramon Castro Rivera, Leonardo Ovidio Reyes Ramirez, Julio Modesto Rodriguez Balladares. Earlier in the week, the Nicaraguan police detained another opposition politician who could have run for president in the upcoming November election. The arrest comes less than a week after the police detained Chamorro and placed her under house arrest on suspicion of money laundering. Her mother, former President Vioieta Barrios de Chamorro, was also placed under house arrest.

Biden Expected to Discuss Nord Stream 2 Implications With German Leadership - Sullivan

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden is expected to bring up the issue of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline with German leadership during upcoming bilateral discussions, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday. "I expect Nord Stream 2 will come up in conversations with the Germans. Again, I don’t want to negotiate publicly on this issue, they understand well our concerns, but we do want to talk to them about what the implications of this pipeline are for energy security in Europe and for Ukraine," Sullivan told reporters. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is designed to transfer natural gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea, has been a point of contention between US and German officials. The US has remained consistent in its stance that the project threatens European energy independence, and gives Russia the ability to use energy as leverage.

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Biden has received criticism on the homefront for his decision to waive sanctions against the company leading the project's construction, Nord Stream AG, and its CEO. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the administration inherited a nearly-complete pipeline, and must balance their desire to see the pipeline canceled with their desire to maintain a healthy relationship with Germany. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Nord Stream 2 is a purely economic project and any statements claiming otherwise do not correspond to reality.

Biden Arrives in UK as First Leg of Europe Trip

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden arrived in the United Kingdom on Wednesday starting his first overseas trip. Live TV broadcast showed him and his wife Jill deplaning at Royal Air Force Mildenhall where the couple was greeted by US Air Force personnel. Over the next eight days, Biden will meet with G7, NATO and EU counterparts in the UK and Belgium and have a summit with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Switzerland.

Canada Mulls Allowing Fully Immunized Entrants to Bypass Hotel Quarantine Requirement

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) ~ Canada is considering allowing travelers fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease to bypass the country's controversial hotel quarantine requirement, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said on Wednesday. "What is currently being considered... is to allow fully vaccinated individuals, currently permitted to enter Canada, to do so without the requirement to stay in government-authorized accommodations,” Hajdu told reporters. However, under the proposed new border measures, fully vaccinated entrants will still have to abide by all the other measures, including pre-departure tests, tests upon arrival and the 14-day quarantine, Hajdu said. For non- or partially-immunized individuals all of the restrictive measures currently in place, will remain in effect, including the hotel quarantine. Canada’s federal government is considering the first week of July as the starting point for the new rules, Hajdu said, emphasizing that the border remains closed to non-Canadian citizens or foreign nationals not permanently residing in the country. Additionally, only those who have received a Health Canada approved vaccine - Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson - will be eligible to skip the hotel quarantine requirement.

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Canada’s hotel quarantine condition - introduced in February - has been the source of intense criticism, with some women having reported being sexually assaulted, while others have likened the requirement to internment camps. The measure is currently being contested in court. The requirement also flies in the face of a hand-picked expert panel, which called on the federal government to drop the mandate, in favor of stronger adherence to the quarantine mandate in place. Although the Canadian government is constitutionally prohibited from barring citizens from leaving the country, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has used the enhanced border security measures to discourage international travel amid the pandemic. Apart from the hotel quarantine requirement, all entrants into Canada must also complete a mandatory 14-day quarantine. As of March 25, 2020, Quarantine Act violators may be subject to a fine of up to $537,000 and/or imprisonment for six months.

US Air Force Base in San Antonio Under Lockdown Due to Active Shooter Situation- Statement

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland said on Wednesday that it has imposed a lockdown on its premises because of an active shooter situation. "Active shooter warning for all JBSA-Lackland personnel. All base personnel implement lockdown procedures immediately and take cover,” the statement said. The base issued another statement saying a shooting occurred outside a gate on the perimeter of the base and there are no reported injuries at present. The local authorities are currently securing the base and searching for the gunmen, the statement said.

US to Provide Foreign Countries SOOMIn Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccines - Report

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - US administration plans to purchase 500 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to distribute them globally, as Washington significantly increasing its effort to vaccinate people all over the world, the Vteshington Post said on Wednesday, citing three sources familiar with the plan. The report did not provide details of this plan. The White House declined to comment, while Pfizer did not respond immediately, it added. Earlier on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden told reporters that he plans to announce his global vaccine strategy while being in Europe next week. Last Thursday, Biden announced the intention to share 80 million doses of American coronavirus vaccines globally by the end of June.

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US Vice President Kama la Harris has notified last week the heads of Mexico, Guatemala, India and the Caribbean Community countries of the United States’ plans to distribute 25 million doses of coronavirus vaccines.

US Treasury Imposes Sanctions Against Nicaraguan President’s Daughter, 3 Others

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The United States imposed sanctions on four Nicaraguan nationals, including the daughter of President Daniel Ortega, the US Treasury Department announced on Wednesday. Camila Antonia Ortega Murillo, one of the president’s nine children and coordinator of the Creative Economy Commission, was added to the Specially Designated Nationals list run by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The three other sanctioned individuals include Leonardo Ovidio Reyes Ramirez, President of the Central Bank of Nicaragua; Edwin Ramon Castro Rivera, a deputy of the Nicaraguan National Assembly; and Julio Modesto Rodriguez Balladares, a brigadier general of the Nicaraguan Army and executive director of the Military Social Welfare Institute. "President Ortega’s actions are harming Nicaraguans and driving the country deeper into tyranny. It’s clear the Ortega regime intends to continue its suppression of the Nicaraguan people. The United States will continue to expose those officials who continue to ignore the will of its citizens,” OFAC Director Andrea Gacki said in a statement. OFAC explained that Camila Ortega was designated for being a government official - a key advisor to President Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo, her parents, the Coordinator of the Creative Economy Commission and the head of television station Canal 13. The Treasury Department action mandates blocking all US-based assets of the sanctioned individuals and prohibits all US citizens any dealings with them.

Putin-Biden Talks Will Help Determine What Needs to Be Done to Revive JCPOA- Sullivan

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The United States and Russia have worked jointly in a productive way on efforts to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the upcoming US-Russian presidential summit will be an opportunity to decide what more needs to be done, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday. "Russia is a member of the P5+1; the American negotiating team is working with the Russian negotiating team in Vienna; they have worked in a productive and constructive way to a large extent," Sullivan told reporters. "This [summit] will be an opportunity for the two presidents to be

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able to consult on where they think we are in those talks and what needs to be done to get them across the line."

Most US Republican Voters Like Pence But \Afent Party to Resemble Trump ~ Poll

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) ~ Former Vice President Mike Pence gets high marks from Republican voters, but most want the party to resemble former President Donald Trump in style, a Rasmussen Reports poll said on Wednesday. “Former Vice President Mike Pence is viewed favorably by most Republican voters, but given a choice, nearly two-thirds still say their party should be more like Donald Trump," a press release explaining the poll said. The survey found that 69 percent of Republican voters have a favorable impression of Pence, including 35 percent whose impression is “very favorable,” the release said. But when asked whether the Republican Party should be more like Pence or Trump, 64 percent said they preferred a party styled after Trump while just 24 percent want their party more like Pence, the release added. Among all Likely Voters, 49 percent have a favorable impression of Pence, while 46 percent have an unfavorable view of the former vice president, according to the release.

No Aspects of Whelan Case Under Consideration Ahead of Putin-Biden Summit - Diplomat

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - No aspects of the case of former US marine Paul Whelan, serving a sentence in Russia for espionage, are currently under consideration, including in the context of the upcoming summit of the Russian and US leaders, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Whelan’s lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov told Sputnik that his client no longer expects to receive a pardon, but wishes to be ordered out of Russia so that the US government can respond by expelling one of the Russian convicts in the United States. "These are all purely speculative approaches, they all somehow center around the work performed by lawyers. V\fe have no reason to say that now something is under consideration either in the context of the summit or outside this context. In any case, the information background around the upcoming event is saturated with stories that have very little to do with real life, which is regrettable," Ryabkov told reporters. Paul’s brother, David Whelan, said he is not surprised if the Russian side avoids mentioning or discussing the potential swap during the upcoming summit.

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"I think Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov is extremely consistent, and is repeating what he has said many times,” David Whelan told Sputnik. "I'm not at all surprised about that, even though there has been some Russian media coverage about the possibility that Russian convicts might be on the agenda of the Presidential summit, the MFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] would exclude Paul.” Whelan, who was arrested in December 2018, is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence for espionage per a Moscow court's verdict delivered last June. The convict, who is also a citizen of Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom, has maintained he is innocent and insisted that he came to Russia for a friend's wedding. Court papers have revealed that he has frequented Russia since 2007.

Canada to Receive 7Mln Moderna Vaccine Doses in June - Procurement Minister TORONTO, June 9 (Sputnik) - Canada is set to receive 7 million Moderna coronavirus vaccine doses in June, with deliveries beginning next week, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand said on Wednesday. “Moderna will deliver 7 million doses in June, with shipments commencing next week," Anand told reporters. The shipment will be the first to include US-made doses, Anand added. In total, based on confirmed deliveries Canada will have enough vaccine supply to fully immunize 80 percent of eligible Canadians by the end of July, the procurement minister said. According to the latest figures from Our Wbrld in Data, nearly 63 percent of Canadians have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, however, only 8.44 percent have been fully vaccinated against the deadly disease.

Syria Will Be on Agenda at Biden-Putin Meeting - White House National Security Advisor

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden will be discussing issues related to Syria during his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday. “Syria will be on the agenda, and our position on the humanitarian access issue is well understood. We believe there has to be cross-border humanitarian access to save lives, and so that certainly will be something that the two presidents discuss,” Sullivan said.

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US Senate Republicans Introduce Bill to Measure Lost Keystone Pipeline Jobs in US

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - US Senate Republicans led by Jim Risch introduced legislation on Tuesday that would require the Biden administration to produce a report to Congress about the number of jobs lost as a consequence of his decision to halt construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, Risch’s office said in a press release. "US Senator Jim Risch (R-ldaho) and 10 of his Senate Republican colleagues today introduced the Defending Keystone Jobs Act, which would require the Department of Labor to submit a report to Congress on the number of jobs lost as a direct or indirect result of the Biden administration’s move to cancel construction of the Keystone XL pipeline,” Risch’s office said. Risch was joined by Senate colleagues Mike Crapo, Steve Daines, John Barrasso, Cynthia Lummis, Jerry Moran, Roger Marshall, John Hoeven, Kevin Cramer, Tom Cotton, and Bill Cassidy. Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline project was framed in contrast to his decision not to sanction the Nord Stream 2 pipeline AG and CEO, with senators like Daines claiming that Biden is “standing with Russian workers” over American ones. The decision to cancel the pipeline was one of Biden’s very first executive orders, having been issued on his first day in office. The project could create roughly 11,000 direct high-paying jobs and up to 60,000 indirect and direct jobs in addition to strengthening North American energy independence, the statement claimed.

US Air Force Base in San Antonio Under Lockdown Due to Active Shooter Situation- Statement

US Warns Venezuela to Turn Away Iranian Ships Believed to Be Transferring Arms - Reports

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The Biden administration is warning the governments of Venezuela and Cuba to turn away two Iranian naval ships believed to be transferring military equipment across the Atlantic to Caracas, Politico reported on Wednesday citing officials briefed on the situation.

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The US intelligence community has evidence one of the Iranian naval ships is carrying fast-attack boats that are likely intended to be sold to Venezuela, the report said. The US administration has also warned other countries in the Latin America region to turn away the ships, Politico added. Iran is continuing to pressure Venezuela to allow the vessels to dock, the report said.

Yaroshenko's Family Hopes Putin, Biden to Discuss Convict's Case - Lawyer

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The family of jailed Russian national Konstantin Yaroshenko hopes that Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden will have the chance to discuss his case during their meeting in Geneva next week, Yaroshenko’s lawyer Alexey Tarasov told Sputnik. “The family’s expectation that hopefully this issue will come up for discussion when the two leaders get together in Geneva next week," Tarasov said. Last week, Yaroshenko’s wife Viktoria and daughter Yekaterina sent a letter addressed to Biden and sent to the White House and to the US Embassy in Moscow asking for a presidential pardon. "To my knowledge, the family has not received any response from the US government,” Tarasov said. The defense also still waiting for the response from the US court to a motion for Yaroshenko’s compassionate release. “The motion was filed in December of last year. It is fully briefed, but there is still no decision on that notion,” the lawyer noted. Yaroshenko served more than 11 years of his 20-years sentence, and the family cannot visit him on a regular basis, he added. "His mother passed away several years ago without being able to see Konstantin again, and Yaroshenko was very much grieved that he could not attend the burial service for his mother," Tarasov said. Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in May 2010 on suspicion of drug trafficking. Ayear later, he was extradited to the United States and sentenced to 20 years in prison for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy to smuggle a large amount of drugs into the country. Yaroshenko has denied all charges. On December 19, 2020, Yaroshenko’s legal defense filed a motion for a compassionate release on health grounds. At the time, Tarasov told Sputnik that Yaroshenko suffers from hypertension, hyperlipidemia and arthritis, which the US health authorities have characterized as severe illnesses in case an individual contracts the novel coronavirus. Later in December, the US government expressed opposition to Yaroshenko’s early release.

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US Mulls First Major Changes in 20 Years to Insider Stock Trading Rules - Regulator

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is considering the first major rule changes in 20 years on insider trading of stocks, Chairman Gary Gensler said in a video broadcast on Wednesday. Gensler referred to the SEC’s intent to revise rules on the controversial “10b5-1 plans” used now by company executives to avoid insider-trading claims when buying or selling their own stock. "In my view, these plans have led to real cracks in our insider trading regimes, thus our staff have to make recommendations for the commission's consideration and how we might freshen up, after 20 years, rules on 10b5-1 plans,” Gensler said. While the 10b5-1 plans stop insiders from changing or adopting a planned purchase or sale if they are in possession of material nonpublic information, there was no timeframe set for this, he said. “As a result, insiders can cancel plans when they actually do have material nonpublic information. This seems kind of upside down today” to what the rules were originally meant, Gensler added. Aside from the limitations on the canceling of 10b5-1 plans, Gensler proposed a mandatory 4-6 month “cooling-off’ period, limitations on the number of such plans that could be deployed in one instance and additional disclosure requirements.

Secretary Austin Orders Pentagon to Focus on China Security Challenge - Directive

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has ordered several new Department of Defense initiatives to deal with the growing security threats from China, the Department of Defense announced on Wednesday. "Based on final recommendations submitted by the Department of Defense China Task Force, Secretary Austin issued a directive today initiating several major department-wide efforts to better address the security challenges posed by China as the United States’ number one pacing challenge," the department said in a press release. The initiatives, some of which will remain classified, are designed to focus Departmental processes and procedures and help Pentagon leaders contribute to whole-of-government efforts to address the challenge from China, the release explained. “I asked a lot of them, and they delivered. Now it is time for us to move forward. The efforts I am directing today will improve the department’s ability to revitalize our network of allies and partners, bolster deterrence, and accelerate the development of new operational concepts [and] emerging capabilities,” Austin said.

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The directive also established Austin's authority to directly oversee the Department of Defense’s China-related policies, operations, and intelligence as the Task Force’s recommendations are incorporated into ongoing reviews and processes, the release noted.

UN Condemns' Attack on HALO NGO in Afghanistan, Calls for Probe - Spokesperson

UNITED NATIONS, June 9 (Sputnik) - The United Nations strongly condemns the deadly attack against the members of a non-profit organization HALO Trust, which has been involved in landmine clearing in Afghanistan, and is calling for an investigation into the incident, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the British-American charity that has been removing explosives in the country since 1988 said 10 of its employees were killed and 16 more were injured by an unidentified armed group while de-mining a camp in the Baghlan Province Tuesday night. "\Ne strongly condemn the heinous attack on the Halo Trust NGO that took place in the Baghlan-e-Markazi district of in northern Afghanistan," Dujarric said. "We further call on the full investigation to ensure that those responsible for this horrendous attack are held accountable and brought to justice." Dujarric said the United Nations is committed to staying and delivering in Afghanistan that has seen a 140 percent increase in violence incidence against aid workers in 2020 compared to the year before. Throughout 2021, the trend has continued, with 11 aid workers having been killed, 27 injured and 36 abducted from January to April, the spokesman pointed out. Dujarric further urged the parties to the conflict in Afghanistan to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure in compliance with their obligations under international law. The Islamic State (banned in Russia) had claimed responsibility for the attack, the SITE Intelligence Group that tracks the online activity of the terror group said.

US Treasury Imposes Sanctions Against Nicaraguan President's Daughter, 3 Others

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The United States slapped four Nicaraguan nationals with sanctions, including an apparent daughter of the country’s strongman president, the US Treasury Department announced on Wednesday. Camila Antonia Ortega Murillo, born in 1987, was added to the Specially Designated Nationals list run by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Three other individuals include Edwin Ramon Castro Rivera, Leonardo Ovidio Reyes Ramirez, Julio Modesto Rodriguez Balladares.

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US Senator Calls for Sanctions on Belarus’s Debt, Barring Country’s Ships From EU Ports

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The United States may impose sanctions on Belarus’ sovereign debt, central back and key exports as well as barring the landlocked country’s ships from European ports, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez said on Wednesday. "Working with Europe the [Biden] administration should impose sanctions on the Belarusian state bank, Belarusian sovereign debt and the energy and potash industries. It’s time to increase the pressure," Menendez said. Earlier on Wednesday, US Ambassador-Designate to Belarus Julie Fisher told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the United States will soon introduce another set of sanctions against Belarus, but refused to discuss potential targets. Menendez called for a robust investigation into the May 23 grounding of a Ryanair jet in Minsk and a focused set of penalties in response to what Senator described as "hijacking." "A lackluster response will send a crystal clear signal to autocrats in every corner of the world," Menendez warned. "I welcome the measures to block Belarusian flights into Europe and the EU should consider blocking Belarussian ships from its ports. A week response will only welcome continued aggression." Last month, a Ryanair commercial jet traveling from Greece to Lithuania made an emergency landing in Minsk over a bomb threat, which turned out to be fake. One of its passengers, Roman Protasevich, the founder of a Telegram channel designated as extremist in Belarus, was detained during the stopover in Minsk. The EU suspended the flights of Belarusian airplanes and recommended European carriers to avoid flights over Belarus.

US Weekly Gasoline, Diesel Stocks Jump as Refiners Hike Output for Summer - EIA

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - US gasoline and diesel stockpiles jumped sharply last week as refiners in the world’s largest oil consumer boosted production of fuels as the peak summer driving season got underway, data from the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Gasoline inventories rose by 7.05 million barrels during the week ending on June 4, versus the 1.2 million-barrel forecast by analysts polled by US media. Stockpiles of distillates, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 4.4 million barrels against expectations for a 1.8 million barrel rise.

Received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit 06/10/2021 11:33:52 AM Received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit 06/10/2021 11:33:52 AM

Refinery runs rose by 2.6 percentage points to 91.3 percent, the ElAsaid. "Refineries are running flat out to build inventories ahead of summer driving season,” economist Adam Button said in a post on ForexLive. “There is already talk of heavy traffic on the roads.” Crude oil stocks, meanwhile, fell by 5.2 million barrels last week versus forecasts for a 3.5 million-barrel drop, as a result of the higher output of fuels. Analysts have projected one of the biggest ever summer demand periods for fuel in the United States this year as the economy reopens fully from lockdowns and safety measures imposed for the coronavirus pandemic.

Coal and Natural Gas to Lose More US Market Share to Renewables in 2022 - EIA

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The drive for less-polluting energy is expected to continue widening US usage of renewables in 2022, notwithstanding the competition between natural gas and cheaper coal as utilities try to keep power generation costs down, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. “We forecast that higher natural gas prices will lead to less natural gas-fired generation and more coal-fired generation in 2021,” the EIA said. "However, in 2022, we expect both coal and natural gas to lose a portion of their shares to renewables.” The agency noted that carbon, or C02, emissions from US electricity generation have dropped by one-third in the past 15 years. "In 2005, 9 percent of the electricity generated in the United States came from renewable sources,” the ElAsaid. “The renewable share of generation rose to 18 percent in 2019, largely driven by growth in wind and solar generation. Nuclear generation, a zero-emission energy source, made up about 20 percent of U.S. generation in both 2005 and 2019.” Breaking down the 819 million metric ton decline in CG2 emissions from 2005 to 2019, the agency said approximately 248 million metric tons, or 30 percent, was attributable to the increase in renewable generation. In comparison, almost 532 million metric tons, or 65 percent, was due to the shift from coal-fired to natural gas-fired electricity generation. But the EIA cautioned that power sector C02 emissions may also rise as coal-to-gas switching reverses in the near term for economic reasons. The US thrust for less-polluting energy comes on the back of the Biden administration’s target of halving the US carbon footprint by 2030, and investing $400 billion over the next decade on “clean energy” projects such as wind, solar, water and nuclear.

New US Sanctions on Belarus ’Coming Soon' - Ambassador-Designate

Received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit 06/10/2021 11:33:52 AM Received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit 06/10/2021 11:33:52 AM

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - Another set of US sanctions against Belarus will be introduced soon following the Ryanair incident in May, United States Ambassador-Designate to Belarus Julie Fisher said in a congressional testimony on Wednesday. "With partners like the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada we coordinated and continue to coordinate new rounds of sanctions to promote accountability for those abuses. As announced by the White House on May 28, additional sanctions are coming, and they are coming soon,’’ Fisher told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. To impose sanctions, the Biden administration relies solely on the presidential Executive Order 13405 issued on June 16, 2006 following the presidential election that year. Fisher said interagency work is under way “every single day” to update the legal basis and add new options to increase the pressure on Belarus. “We are working hard on a new Executive Order at this time... 2006 was a long time ago and was a very different world. And there is room for us to do an awful lot with a new Executive Order. That is an effort that is underway,” she said. Fisher pointed out the Biden administration will continue to bring new authorities and new tools of pressure to bear. “We will raise the cost of the violence and the repression that the regime is inflicting,” she said. Fisher refused to discuss publicly potential new targets, but said there is an opportunity to apply Magnitsky sanctions on alleged “corruption enablers" in Belarus.

Bank of Canada Maintains Overnight Rate at 0.25%, Continues Quantitative Easing Program

TORONTO, June 9 (Sputnik) - The Bank of Canada on Wednesday maintained the target overnight rate at 0.25 percent and will continue to do so until the inflation rate plateaus at a sustainable level. "The Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at the effective lower bound of 0.25 percent, with the Bank Rate at 0.5 percent and the deposit rate at 0.25 percent," the Bank of Canada said in a statement. The central bank added that the overnight rate will remain at its effective lower bound until the country’s inflation rate levels off at the bank’s target rate of 2 percent. The Bank of Canada also maintained its quantitative easing program, continuing with its weekly purchase of $2.4 billion of government bonds, after scaling back the program from $3 billion in purchases to its current levels in April. The Bank of Canada's next overnight rate announcement is due on July 14.

Received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit 06/10/2021 11:33:52 AM Received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit 06/10/2021 11:33:52 AM

Biden Cancels Trump’s TikTok, WeChat Bans, Signs New Orders to Shield US Information

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - President Joe Biden has canceled his predecessor Donald Trump’s ban on Chinese social media applications TikTok and WeChat and signed his own executive order (EO) to protect US information technology and communications supply chains from threats that include those from China, the White House announced on Wsdnesday. "President Biden revoked and replaced three EOs that aimed to prohibit transactions with TikTok, WeChat, and eight other communications and financial technology software applications," the White House said in a statement. The White House explained that Biden’s order was intended to protect US information and communications from "a foreign adversary, including the People’s Republic of China, that may present an undue or unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States and the American people." The ban on TikTok and WeChat were part of a long-running diplomatic and trade war waged with China by Trump during the better part of his four years in office. While Biden has undone most of Trump’s executive orders on immigration, climate and other matters, he has left intact his predecessor’s tariffs against China, indicating he might use them to pressure Beijing into making concessions on trade and other issues. Earlier this week, Biden banned 59 Chinese military and surveillance firms from acquiring US investors or investments, expanding an original list of 44 Chinese companies targeted by Trump in a November executive order. On Tuesday, the White House said it will fight any "unfair foreign competition" that hurts US supply chains, citing China as one of the risks it had to look out for. Also on Tuesday, the Senate voted to overwhelmingly approve a $200 billion bill aimed at boosting US tech firms to compete against China, prompting an indignant response from Beijing for being cast as an "imaginary" US enemy.

G7 Must Act to Ensure Vaccine Access to Billions Across Global South - UN Officials

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - Eight United Nations officials have called on the Group of Seven (G7) leading economies to ensure peoples across the developing world get full and equal access to coronavirus vaccines, the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Refugees (OHCR) said on Wednesday. “UN human rights experts today called on leaders of the world’s largest economies to make sure people in the Global South get equal access to COVID-19 vaccines and not to allow the profit motive to undermine global health and equity,” the OHCR said in a news release. UN Special Rapporteurs Olivier De Schutter, Tlaleng Mofokeng and Saad Alfarargi Business and Human Rights Working Group members, Surya Deva, Elzbieta Karska, Githu Muigai and Anita Ramasastry with independent expert Obiora Okafor made the call.

Received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit 06/10/2021 11:33:52 AM Received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit 06/10/2021 11:33:52 AM

"Everyone has a right to have access to a vaccine for COVID-19 that is safe, effective, timely and based on the application of the best scientific development,” the United Nations officials said ahead of the G7 summit of leaders to be held in the United Kingdom on June 11-13. The officials warned that billions of people in the Global South were being left behind and that they only saw vaccines as a mirage or a privilege for the developed world, a situation that would prolong the crisis and increase its death toll.

US to \Afetch Russia's Exercise for Possible Increased Military Presence in Belarus - Envoy WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The United States and its NATO allies will closely watch Russia’s military exercise near its western borders this year with a particular focus on how many of its troops will enter Belarus and leave once the drill is over, US Ambassador-Designate to Belarus Julie Fisher said on Wednesday. "This year is the year of major Russian military exercise, Zapad [West] which we are watching very closely to see how this exercise will unfold, what kinds of troops and equipment move into Belarus and how much of that leaves. The Zapad exercise is one that NATO pays very close attention to and we will continue to do it this year," Fisher told the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Fisher claimed that amid the ongoing conflict with domestic opposition and international isolation, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko is increasingly more reliant on Russia and keeps ceding the country’s sovereignty in exchange for support of his rule. "It is Lukashenko’s willingness to increase dependency on Russia in every possible sphere that his brought him to the point of being in no position of barely having a say in what it is Russia would decide to do militarily in Belarus," Fisher said. Fisher took part in the Senate panel's hearing on the US policy on Belarus.

US to Buy 1,7Mln Doses of Experimental COVID-19 Treatment - Health Dept.

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The US plans to stockpile an experimental antiviral drug with the potential to reduce hospital admissions of COVID-19 victims, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Wsdnesday, "The Biden Administration today announced that the U.S. government will procure approximately 1.7 million courses of an investigational antiviral treatment, molnupiravir (M K-4482), for COVID-19 from Merck, pending emergency use authorization (EUA) or approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)," an HHS press release said. The release explained that Molnupiravir (M K-4482) is designed to induce viral genome copying errors to prevent the virus from replicating in the human body, and evidence to date from clinical

Received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit 06/10/2021 11:33:52 AM Received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit 06/10/2021 11:33:52 AM

trials in patients with COVID-19 suggests that molnupiravir may reduce replication of the SAR-CoV-2 virus. This treatment is being evaluated in an ongoing Phase 3 trial for its potential to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death in non-hospitalized patients who have [COVID-19] symptoms for five days or less and are at high risk for severe illness, the release added. The trial plans to enroll a total of 1,850 patients globally with final data expected in the fall of 2021, according to the release.

US and UAE Agree to Expand Cooperation in Areas Including Climate Change, Space

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Sputnik) - The US and United Arab Emirates agreed to expand cooperation on a wide range of issues including climate change and space during meetings on Tuesday, the State Department said in a statement on Wednesday. “The United States and the UAE also committed to exploring new and expanding existing cooperation in a range of areas, including, climate change and the environment, global health security and health care research, space, the digital economy and emerging technologies, the prevention of financial crime, and women’s economic empowerment,” the State Department said. The two countries met at the Eighth US-UAE Economic Policy Dialogue, an event that was held with significant in-person participation despite the challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic - a fact that both sides applauded. The dialogue acts as an annual platform to discuss bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. The event was co-chaired by the Assistant Minister for Economic and Trade Affairs for the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Abduinasser Alshaali, and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Peter Haas. Following the meetings, both delegations reiterated their desire to work jointly in promoting cooperation, regional partnership, and finding new opportunities for positive engagement with one another.

Received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit 06/10/2021 11:33:52 AM