News and headlines: In The News, Politics, World News, Commentary/Opinion.

In The News:

St. Louis man who went viral defending his property speaks out on ‘Tucker‘

Prosecutor takes aim at St. Louis couple Mark and Patricia McCloskey for defending their home during a protest.

Interior Presents the 2020 Independence Day Celebration in the Nation’s Capital

Today, the U.S. Department of the Interior and National Park Service announced additional details about the Independence Day celebrations on the National Mall, which will include multiple flight demonstrations from different branches of our military, in particular the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, and a monumental firework display.

President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will host the 2020 Salute to America on the South Lawn of the White House and Ellipse on Saturday, July 4, 2020, which will be livestreamed on WhiteHouse.gov and other news organizations.

The National Mall and surrounding areas will remain open and available to the general public for prime viewing of both the Salute to America flyovers and the annual fireworks demonstration.

‘I wanted to remain true to myself’: Professional soccer player explains why she broke with team to stand during national anthem

“I chose to stand because of what the flag inherently means to my military family members and me, but I 100% percent support my peers.

Symbolically, I tried to show this with the placement of my hand on Casey’s shoulder and bowing my head.

I struggled, but felt that these actions showed my truth, and in the end I wanted to remain true to myself,” she wrote.

Companies Added 2.4 Million Jobs in June: Survey

The payroll company ADP said Wednesday that small businesses reported the biggest increase, adding 937,000 jobs. Among industries, construction firms, restaurants and hotels, and retailers posted large gains in hiring.

Yet according to ADP’s data, the economy still has 14.3 million fewer jobs than it did in February, before the viral outbreak intensified.

“We’ve obviously got into a big hole here because of the pandemic and are just trying to claw our way out,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. Moody’s helps compile the ADP data for its monthly reports.

Shootings in NYC: 250 Victims, Worst June in Decades

Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) denounced the NYPD cuts.

“Billion $ cut to NYPD Budget is indefensible. Shootings are up. Police do great job. War against cops increases.

Main victims will be innocent, hardworking people in minority communities. Time to stand with Men and Women in Blue!!” he said in a July 1 tweet.

For Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) the cuts don’t go far enough.

“Defunding police means defunding police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math,” she said in a statement, Fox News reported.

SUV Carrying Iowa Governor Hits Black Lives Matter Protester, No Injuries: Police

Iowa State Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Alex Dinkla told The Hill that the protester, who was not identified, wasn’t injured in the incident.

Dinkla said the person “intentionally stepped in front of the slowly moving vehicle” in Ackley, Iowa.

The protester, meanwhile, didn’t seek medical attention but “immediately began shouting obscenities at the responding personnel” before blocking police from leaving the area, according to the spokesman.

DHS deploys special unit to guard monuments from vandalism

Special federal units will be deployed to protect monuments and statues across the nation; acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf explains on ‘Fox & Friends.’

Protester shoots 60-year-old driver whose SUV is blocked by mob of demonstrators; suspect arrested for attempted murder

The victim was driving a white SUV on University Avenue and tried turning onto Center Street when protesters began “crowding around the vehicle.

A male protester ran to the SUV on the passenger side, pointed a handgun at [the] driver, and shot one round through the window,” Provo Deputy Police Chief John Geyerman told the outlet.

Police on Tuesday night arrested Jesse Taggart of Salt Lake City on a charge of attempted aggravated murder in connection with the shooting, Deseret News said.

Taggart, 33, also faces charges of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, rioting, threatening use of a weapon in a fight, criminal mischief, and firing a weapon near a highway, Provo Police Sgt. Nisha King told the outlet.

Facing Court Loss Defendants In California Lawsuit Settle With SAF Partners

“This is a victory for the First Amendment as well as the Second,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb.

“We’re delighted the 22nd District Agricultural Association and fairgrounds board decided against prolonging a legal action.”

SAF was represented by attorney Don Kilmer, who observed, “The gun culture belongs on Main Street and that is what this lawsuit was all about.”

Seattle Police Dismantle CHOP After Protesters Threaten Mayor’s $7 Million House

Not after six shootings and two teenage deaths, as hedge fund manager and author James Altucher notes – rather, after protesters threatened to take over Mayor Jenny Durkan’s 5,000 sqft., $7.6 million house.

Last weekend, City Councilmember Kshama Sawant led a march to Durkan’s home, where she railed against the Mayor and police brutality to a whipped-up crowd of BLM protesters.

In response to Sawant’s stunt, Durkan called for her expulsion from the City Council in an angry Tuesday letter.

Politics:

USMCA, a major Trump policy win, quietly begins July 1 as virus, economy, unrest dominate headlines

“When I ran for president, I made a solemn promise to the American people that I would end the job-killing failure called the North American Free Trade Agreement and replace it with a better deal for our workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses,” Trump said Wednesday in an official White House statement.

“Today, with NAFTA ending forever and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement entering into full force, our grateful Nation pays tribute to America’s workers and celebrates their ability to overcome decades of bad deals and failed policies.”

The International Trade Commission estimates that the deal will boost U.S. gross domestic product by roughly $70 billion, and increase exports to Canada and Mexico by 5% and 7%, respectively.

Trump backs second and bigger round of relief checks

“I support it, but it has to be done properly. And I support larger numbers actually than the Democrats, but it’s got to be done properly,” Trump said on Fox Business.

Trump also said on Wednesday that the March coronavirus relief legislation, known as the CARES Act, gave people a disincentive to work but that since it was still helping people with direct cash, he “was all for that.”

He said he wants “to create a very great incentive to work,” though, in the next round of legislation.

Richmond orders removal of Confederate statues on city land

RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney on Wednesday ordered the immediate removal of all Confederate statues on city land, saying he was using his emergency powers to speed up the healing process for the former capital of the Confederacy amid weeks of protests over police brutality and racial injustice.

Work crews began removing a statue of Gen. Stonewall Jackson early Wednesday afternoon.

Flatbed trucks and other equipment were also spotted at several other Confederate monuments along Richmond’s famed Monument Avenue.

Tucker: Voters need to demand change from the GOP

Commentary/Opinion:
Republican office holders are not working hard enough for the American people and, at a moment like this, that’s a severe and dangerous problem.

FL Governor Signs Pro-life Parental Consent Bill

About 1,500 underage girls have abortions in Florida each year and the new parental consent law makes abortion congruent with other medical procedures and laws affecting minors in Florida.

For example, it is illegal to tattoo a child under 16, and parental consent is required for minors between 16 and 18.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “The parental consent laws underscore the importance that parents, not abortion doctors, have the right to direct the decisions of their minor children.

Parental consent laws help prevent young girls from making a hasty, uninformed decision to abort their unborn babies. There is no such thing as a safe abortion, and these laws help protect the lives of girls and unborn children.”

President Trump vows to veto defense bill if military base renaming amendment is included

The president made the announcement on Twitter just before midnight, saying, “I will Veto the Defense Authorization Bill if the Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren (of all people!) Amendment, which will lead to the renaming (plus other bad things!) of Fort Bragg, Fort Robert E. Lee, and many other Military Bases from which we won Two World Wars, is in the Bill!”

The amendment filed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) passed the GOP-led Senate Armed Services Committee last week and, if signed into law, would require the Defense Department to rename any and all posts and assets honoring the Confederacy within three years.

The amendment has also faced opposition in Congress. According to The Hill, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced a proposal to block Warren’s amendment, saying, “This latest effort to unilaterally rename bases … smacks of the cancel culture the Left wants to impose on the nation.”

World News:

US says ‘there must be justice’ for murdered Daniel Pearl as Pakistan considers releasing kidnapper

Pearl, a 38-year-old Jewish American, was in Karachi investigating Pakistani terrorist groups, following leads on al Qaeda and Richard Reid, the British-born “Shoe Bomber.”

After being abducted, Pearl was beheaded on video by al Qaeda operatives on Feb. 1, 2002.

One of the key members of that operation may now soon find himself a free man after his 90-day detention order expires Thursday and after the high court declined to take up the case until Sept. 25.

Pakistan’s handling of the case has earned it the ire of Pearl’s family and the United States.

UK Unveils Citizenship Offer for Hong Kong Residents After China Imposes Security Law

During Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons on July 1, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the National Security Law “constitutes a clear and serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration,” as it “violates Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and is in direct conflict with Hong Kong basic law.”

“We made clear that if China continued down this path we would introduce a new route for those with British National (Overseas) status to enter the UK, granting them limited leave to remain with the ability to live and work in the UK and thereafter to apply for citizenship,” he said, adding “that is precisely what we will do now.”

Also speaking in Parliament, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab promised to honour Britain’s commitment to the people of Hong Kong by providing a “bespoke immigration route for BNOs and their dependants.”

Sweden: GRENADE ATTACK caught on VIDEO against family with sleeping kid – Could be revenge for police report

Earlier the same day, the man had reportedly been run over by a mopedist, after which he took a photo of the driver and called police.

Only hours later his house is bombed, the attack was caught on security cameras.

Police suspect that a criminal network is behind the grenade attack.

The bombings in Sweden is a continuing crisis with a whopping 257 explosions taking place last year.

Germany disbands elite army unit over extremism concerns

Some of the 70 soldiers in the unit will be distributed among the KSK’s other three combat companies, while “those who made clear they are part of the problem and not part of the solution must leave the KSK,” she said.

The entire organization’s training and deployments are being scaled back as the investigation into extremism continues, and reforms are implemented.

It comes at a time of broader concerns that Germany has not done enough to tackle right-wing extremism within its Bundeswehr military in general.

France pulls out of NATO naval mission in the Mediterranean

French Ambassador to NATO Muriel Domenach sent a letter on Tuesday to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg notifying him of the decision to pull out of Operation Sea Guardian, meant to control an arms embargo on Libya.

In it she said a NATO report into an incident between a French ship and a Turkish ship in mid-June “did not establish the facts,” according to a French defense ministry official.

The report is classified and has not been made public.

Hong Kong Police Arrest More Than 300 Less Than A Day After Enacting Security Law

Thousands of protesters gathered downtown Wednesday for a rally marking the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China from the United Kingdom, and were met with riot police deploying pepper spray and pellet rounds, Reuters reported.

The police made several arrests as crowds reportedly chanted “resist till the end.”

During confrontations between protestors and police Wednesday, the police held up banners citing provisions of the law, Reuters reported.

“You are displaying flags or banners/chanting slogans/or conducting yourselves with an intent such as secession or subversion,” one of the police banners warned.

Captagon: Italy seizes €1bn of amphetamines ‘made to fund IS’

Captagon is a brand name for the synthetic stimulant fenethylline. It was originally used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy, but many countries banned it during the 1980s because of its addictive properties.

Now, counterfeit Captagon is reportedly one of the most popular drugs among affluent youths in the Middle East, particularly in Gulf Arab states.

The drug has also been consumed by combatants in the civil war in Syria, including IS militants, who value its ability to inhibit fear and ward off tiredness.

Syria is believed to be the biggest producer and exporter of counterfeit Captagon.

Commentary/Opinion:

Black Lives Matter Is a Marxist Movement

Black Lives Matter is run by Marxist organizers.

They have not been silent about their agenda to dismantle the nuclear family, transform gender/sexual identity, and force radical change.

So why are so many eagerly following along?

Professor Carol M. Swain, PhD sits down with Will Witt to discuss.

Historian: Woke Politics Destroying US History & Academia | Niall Ferguson | ACADEMIA | Rubin Report

Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report talks to Niall Ferguson (Historian, Author, Hoover Institute Senior Fellow) about the decline of academia, the distorting of American history in the 1619 Project and if the next generation will be woke.

From Niall’s his vantage point he is seeing a backlash to the progressive woke politics that are being forced on children in school.

He shares a story of his 8 year old son who told him about the WOKID-19 pandemic and how it’s more contagious than the actual pandemic.

Niall also gives his opinion of the current vandalism and toppling of historic statues.

Niall discusses what is wrong with the New York Times Pulitzer Prize winning 1619 Project and how it distorts American history and the founding of the United States.

Doctor Who Has 97%+ Survival Rate for COVID-19 Patients Urges America To Continue Reopening | Ep. 49

Commentary/Opinion:
Rudy Giuliani sits down with Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, MD, Board Certified in Family Medicine, to discuss the protocol he used to achieve a 97%+ survival rate for his COVID19 patients.

Dr. Zelenko urges America can continue to reopen and have maximum participation with the fallback of a very effective treatment regimen.