Weather update: Delhi continues to reel under heatwave, relief likely from this date
The Palam weather station recorded a maximum temperature of 46 degrees Celsius, seven notches above normal, while the Lodhi Road, Ridge and the Ayanagar observatories registered readings of 45.6 degrees, 46.3 degrees and 46.4 degrees, respectively.
‘Welcome to Wayanad, Priyanka Gandhi’: Congress in Kerala set tone for Lok Sabha bypoll
Leader of Opposition in Kerala Legislative Assembly, VD Satheesan, expressed confidence in Priyanka Gandhi’s victory with a historic majority.
Secret Service agent robbed at gunpoint during President Biden’s trip to Southern California
A Secret Service agent was robbed at gunpoint in California over the weekend, according to local law enforcement. It happened at the same time President Biden was in California for a star-studded Los Angeles fundraiser. On Saturday, June 15, just after 9:30 p.m., the Tustin Police Department said officers responded to a call about a possible robbery that happened at the Tustin Fields 1 residential community. Upon arrival, officers discovered the victim was a member of the Secret Service and that his bag was stolen at gunpoint. During the incident, police said an agent-involved shooting happened. HOLLYWOOD SLAMMED FOR PUSHING YOUNG AMERICANS TO VOTE FOR BIDEN: ‘THE LAST THING MY GENERATION WANTS’ The suspect(s) were not found, and it is unknown at this time whether the suspect(s) was injured as a result of the incident, police said. Officers found some of the victim’s belongings in the area and the incident is being investigated. Police are looking for a 2004-2006 silver Infiniti FX35 or similar vehicle that was seen leaving the scene. BIDEN CAMPAIGN RAISES $30 MILLION AT CELEBRITY FUNDRAISER AS TRUMP COURTS BLACK VOTERS IN DETROIT Authorities said there is no known threat to the public. The Tustin Police Department is looking for assistance from the public in identifying the subject(s) involved in the crime and are urging anyone with information to call 714-573-3372. President Biden was in Los Angeles for a campaign fundraiser on Saturday night. LATE-NIGHT DNCTV? COLBERT, KIMMEL FUNDRAISE FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand were among those in attendance at the star-studded event, which reportedly raised more than $30 million. Tickets for Saturday’s gala at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles, which an invitation described as a “historic night,” ranged from $250 for a single person to get in the door to half a million dollars for special access, photos with Biden and former President Obama and invitations to an after-party. The fundraiser comes less than three months after CBS’ Stephen Colbert participated in a lavish record-setting fundraiser that brought in $26 million for the Biden campaign. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment. Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Kristine Parks contributed to this report.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announces reparations task force, blasts ‘systemic racism’ in Juneteenth speech
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the creation of a reparations task force and agenda aimed at addressing historical injustices against Black people in the United States while citing systemic racism and other polices he said have harmed people of color. The task force will develop a definition and framework for reparations, which would be delivered in the form of improvements in housing, education, jobs, and criminal justice. The group will also conduct a study to catalog policies that have harmed African Americans in Chicago, including controversial real estate practices like redlining and restrictive covenants. “Reparations will be an investment in our neighborhoods and our people,” Johnson said Monday during a Juneteenth celebration. “It will unlock the doors of prosperity to fully flow through the neighborhoods that have been disinvested in for decades…we must never forget our goal to make sure reparations become a reality for Black residents of this city.” BOSTON ACTIVISTS CALL FOR $15 BILLION IN REPARATIONS, SAY THE CITY MUST ‘FULLY COMMIT TO WRITING CHECKS’ The City Council’s Black Caucus will also participate in the task force hearings and recommendations. Alderman Nick Sposato, a critic of Johnson, told Fox Chicago the planned $500,000 to fund the task force could be better spent elsewhere. “It’s too divisive, it’s going to divide us even more,” Sposato said. “I don’t know what the fairness about it would be. Maybe the report will say it’s unnecessary, but I highly doubt that.” Reparations has been a thorny subject as some cities have tried to create a pathway for the descendants of Black slaves to collect compensation for the free labor of their ancestors. CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY ARGUES CASH PAYMENTS TO DESCENDANTS OF SLAVES ‘RECOGNIZE THE HARM DONE’ FROM SLAVERY During his speech, Johnson said Chicago still bears the scars of “systemic racism and injustices that have been inflicted on our communities.” “We’ve seen them in highways that cut through Black neighborhoods and the industries that, of course, flock to these neighborhoods and often contribute to increased pollution and poor health outcomes,” he said. “The disinvestment in our community has been intentional,” he added. He also cited the mismanagement by previous mayors and the closing of schools and anti-Black and anti-business policies. Chicago has long been a Democratic stronghold; it last elected a Republican as mayor in 1927, when William H. Thompson served until 1931. Alderwoman Stephanie Coleman hailed the reparations initiative as a significant step forward. “I am thankful to the Johnson Administration for its continued support and commitment to addressing the deep wounds inflicted by centuries of injustice against the Black community,” Coleman said. “We will not be ashamed of who we are, and what we have overcome.”
As disabled Texans wait for services, low caregiver wages worsen staffing shortages
I’d trim the summary this way: Caregivers got a raise from state lawmakers last year but many still leave for other higher-paying state jobs.
Team preview: Can Ronaldo win UEFA Euro 2024 for Portugal?
⚽ Portugal – Key Euros Stats ⚽ Euro appearances: 18Euro titles: 1Best finish: Winners (2016)Euros record: W19 D10 L10Goals scored: 56Biggest win: 3-0 (most recent vs Hungary in Euro 2020)Player to watch: Bruno FernandesWorld ranking: 6thTeam nickname: Os Navegadores (The Navigators)Group fixtures: June 18: Portugal vs Czech Republic (Leipzig Stadium, Leipzig, 9pm local/19:00 GMT) June 22: Turkey vs Portugal (BVB Stadion, Dortmund, 6pm local/16:00 GMT) June 26: Georgia vs Portugal (Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen, 9pm local/19:00 GMT) How to follow our Euro 2024 coverage: UEFA Euro 2024 on Al Jazeera It only took six short years for the Euro 2016 champions Portugal to hit rock bottom at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. The devastating defeat to Morocco in the World Cup quarterfinal left them with the unenviable record of just one win in the knockout stages of a major competition since that spectacular Euro 2016 triumph. In the aftermath of their World Cup exit, coach Fernando Santos called time on his stint with the national team. As the tears streamed down Cristiano Ronaldo’s face as he walked down the player’s tunnel in Qatar, you felt as though he would follow suit. Portugal’s darkest moment. A benched Cristiano Ronaldo and coach Fernando Santos look dejected after the match as Portugal are eliminated from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 by Morocco [Paul Childs/Reuters] Santos’s final act as Portugal manager – even before his side fell to Morocco at the quarterfinal stage – had seen him drop Ronaldo from the starting lineup for each of Portugal’s knockout matches at the Qatar World Cup. That his replacement, Goncalo Ramo, went on to score a hat-trick against Switzerland in the round of 16 felt like the final nail in the coffin of the superstar’s long and illustrious international career. But it hasn’t proved to be the final act with the now 39-year-old Ronaldo set to play in a record sixth European football championship at Euro 2024 in Germany. One of the first things Roberto Martinez is reported to have done after taking over as Portugal manager was to meet every member of the 26-man side that had been picked for the World Cup in Qatar. All of them, Ronaldo included, expressed their desire to continue with the national team. Of those 26 players, 21 have been named in Martinez’s squad for Germany. Among them is 41-year-old defender Pepe, who’s been picked more for his importance off the pitch than on it. “Pepe’s role in the locker room is important, the way he represents the national team shirt,” Martinez said. “When he is fit, he is a very important player. We have a very interesting dressing room because we have players from different generations. We have a good mix of experience and youngsters. It’s a list of 26 players that will give a good response.” Manager Roberto Martinez was brought in to instill a winning mentality in the Portugal players after the disappointment of losing at the quarterfinal stage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 [Pedro Nunes/Reuters] A new beginning While the personnel change has been minimal, the energy emanating from the team is hugely different to what it was in Qatar. A strong qualification campaign has played a role in this – albeit against weak opposition. Portugal went unbeaten across their 10 Euro 2024 qualifiers, scoring the most goals, 36, of any team and conceding the fewest, two. Martinez isn’t lacking for firepower in a front line that includes players of the pedigree of Bernardo Silva, Diogo Jota, Goncalo Ramos, Joao Felix and Rafael Leao. But crucially, he has opted to remain with Portugal’s most famous player, Ronaldo, as the talisman of the attack. Since Martinez took over in January 2023, Ronaldo has started 10 games out of a possible 12 matches, only missing the other two fixtures due to suspension and load management protocols. The former Real Madrid superstar’s impressive 10 goals in Euro 2024 qualification put him second on the goalscoring charts behind only Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku. Ronaldo will remain the focus of Portugal’s forward line at Euro 2024, despite being 39 years old [Borut Zivulovic/Reuters] Questions remain When assessing Portugal’s chances at Euro 2024, the only caveat is that the highest-ranked team in Portugal’s qualification group was Slovakia at world number 48, making any prospective form evaluation against the top contenders a difficult exercise. At the Euro 2024 group stage, they will face a much sterner test with matches against the Czech Republic, ranked 36, Poland, ranked 28, and Turkey, ranked 40. After a year in Saudi Arabia with Al Nassr, all eyes will be transfixed on Ronaldo and how well he will fare against top-ranked opposition upon his return to Europe’s premier nations competition. Martinez’s debut tournament with Portugal at Euro 2024 is of equal intrigue. During his time as Belgium boss, Martinez guided the team to a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup – the highest in their history. In Euro 2020, Belgium coincidentally knocked out Portugal in the round of 16 but suffered a quarterfinal exit at the hands of eventual winners Italy. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar was the lowest point of Martinez’s reign, with the Belgians crashing out at the group stage. The jury is still out on Martinez’s Belgium tenure and whether or not he underachieved with them. But the one thing he did successfully do with the national side was instill a winning mentality; the Spaniard helped transform Belgium’s reputation from plucky underdogs to serious contenders. Martinez now finds himself facing a similar task with his current team at Euro 2024. Many commentators believe the time has come for Portugal to shed the “dark horse” tag they have saddled themselves with in major tournaments. This established – and talent-stacked – squad enters Euro 2024 with the players to win it all but still faces questions about whether they possess the necessary self-belief that was characteristic of the victorious Euro 2016 Portugal side. ⚽ Portugal’s final squad for Euro 2024 ⚽ Captain:
US envoy meets with Israeli leaders as tensions with Hezbollah escalate
A senior United States diplomat has met Israeli leaders and will later visit Lebanon as part of a push by Washington to defuse tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. US envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Israel on Monday and held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Gallant’s office said the minister “provided a situation assessment of developments on Israel’s northern border, emphasizing the daily attacks conducted by Hezbollah against Israel’s northern communities and detailing the [Israeli military’s] efforts to thwart Hezbollah terrorists and infrastructure”. “Minister Gallant and Mr Hochstein discussed the security situation at length and its impact on the region,” it added. Hochstein’s visit comes amid growing fears of an all-out war between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah that could potentially lead to an even wider regional conflict. Hezbollah had stepped up attacks against Israel in the past week after the killing of one of its top commanders in an Israeli air raid on southern Lebanon. But the Iran-aligned group, which has been targeting Israeli military positions nearly daily since the war in Gaza broke out, has not announced a new attack against Israel since Saturday evening. It is not clear whether the lull, which coincided with the Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday, is linked to Hochstein’s visit to the region. On Monday, the Israeli military said it killed a Hezbollah member in a drone strike, describing him as a “central operative” in the group’s rockets division. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that Hochstein is holding indirect talks with Hezbollah, which is designated as a “terrorist” organisation by Washington, through Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a close ally of the group. The sides are discussing a “preliminary agreement” to end the hostilities, according to the newspaper. Later on Monday, the administration of President Joe Biden stressed that it does not want to see escalation at the Lebanon-Israel border and suggested that the US is advancing a proposal to avert a large-scale conflict. “There is a diplomatic framework that we believe is reachable that would resolve this conflict without a full-on war,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. Hochstein’s official title is special presidential coordinator for global infrastructure and energy security. But after he helped broker a deal in 2022 to resolve a maritime border dispute between Lebanon and Israel over oilfields in the Mediterranean Sea, he became a de facto US envoy for the two countries. He has visited the region frequently in past months. The US has said it wants a diplomatic resolution to the crisis at the Lebanon-Israel border. Hezbollah has said it will not halt its attacks until the war on Gaza ends. The Lebanese organisation started attacking military bases in northern Israel the day after the outbreak of the war on Gaza on October 7 in what it says is a “support front” to back Palestinian armed groups. Israel responded by bombing villages across southern Lebanon and targeting Hezbollah positions. Despite the frequent violence, the confrontations have largely been limited to the border area. Israeli officials have promised to push Hezbollah back from their country’s northern borders. “We want this to be resolved either diplomatically or militarily,” Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said on Monday. “The current state of affairs is not a sustainable reality – 5,000 rockets raining down on our north, making the north uninhabitable.” The violence has displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border, piling pressure on Netanyahu’s government, which is struggling to deter Hezbollah and achieve its war aims in Gaza. Netanyahu dissolved his war cabinet on Monday, eight days after his political rival Benny Gantz quit the emergency government that was formed to oversee the war in Gaza. Some Israeli officials have been calling for a more forceful response to Hezbollah’s attacks. For its part, the US has been pushing for a truce in Gaza that it said would pave the way to restoring calm between Hezbollah and Israel. “Our assessment of the situation continues to be that the best way to get a diplomatic resolution in the north – which we think all sides ultimately prefer – is to reach a ceasefire in Gaza,” Miller, the State Department spokesperson, said. Last week, Gallant rejected a French proposal for Israel, France and the US to form a working group to help avoid war at the Lebanese border. “As we fight a just war, defending our people, France has adopted hostile policies against Israel,” Gallant said in a statement. “In doing so, France ignores the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israeli children, women and men. Israel will not be a party to the trilateral framework proposed by France.” Adblock test (Why?)
Gaza fighting continues despite Israeli ‘pauses’ announcement: UNRWA
Israeli forces battled with Palestinian groups in Rafah and elsewhere in southern Gaza despite the Israeli military’s announcement on Sunday of tactical pauses in operations to allow humanitarian aid to enter, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini has said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday criticised plans announced by the military to hold daily pauses in fighting along one of the main roads into the besieged Palestinian enclave that has been under relentless Israeli bombardment for more than eight months. Lazzarini, commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the main organisation delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza, said that there had been no pause in the fighting. “There has been information that such a decision has been taken, but the political level says none of this decision has been taken,” Lazzarini told a press conference on Monday. “So for the time being, I can tell you that hostilities continue in Rafah and in the south of Gaza. And that operationally, nothing has changed yet.” The Israeli military said on Monday that its forces were continuing operations in the Rafah area, which included ground fighting. Residents said Israeli forces were advancing deeper into the central and western areas of Rafah. Hamas forces were fighting from close range inside the Shaboura camp in the heart of Rafah, according to the group’s armed wing and residents, who reported hearing sounds of non-stop explosions and gunfire. The Israeli military had announced at the weekend the daily pauses from 05:00 GMT until 16:00 GMT in the area from the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing, to the Salah al-Din Road and then northwards. It later clarified that operations would continue in Rafah, the main focus of its ongoing assault in southern Gaza. International humanitarian officials have repeatedly said that Israeli inspections, ongoing fighting, and looting by desperate residents have impeded aid deliveries. Israeli ground troops have been operating in the southern city of Rafah since early May. They have since sealed shut the vital Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Before the Rafah ground operation, there was already an inadequate flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and the number of trucks entering the Gaza Strip’s south stood in the hundreds – not nearly enough to sustain the daily needs of the enclave’s population of 2.3 million. ‘Hell on earth’ “As we have reiterated, humanitarian operations in Gaza must be fully facilitated, and all impediments must be lifted,” UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told The Associated Press on Monday. “We need to be able to deliver aid safely throughout Gaza.” With the Israeli assault on Gaza in its ninth month, Haq said, displaced Palestinians in the territory urgently need food, water, sanitation, shelter and healthcare, “with many living near piles of solid waste, heightening health risks”. He said Israel needs to ensure that the movement of aid convoys and staff members through checkpoints is expedited, that all roads are operational, and that fuel – which is in critically short supply – enters Gaza regularly. Meanwhile, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said in an opinion piece in The New York Times that the impoverished and blockaded Gaza Strip has been turned into “hell on earth” as famine looms. He said humanitarian aid is obstructed and politicised while hunger and disease spread, “and humanitarian workers, health care workers, and journalists have all endured unacceptable losses”. Echoing his remarks, Gaza’s Government Media Office accused Israel and the United States of “purposefully” worsening famine-like conditions in Gaza by “withholding humanitarian aid as a tool for political pressure”. In a statement on Monday, the media office accused Israel and the US administration of “deliberately aggravating the humanitarian situation” in Gaza to achieve political goals. Separately on Monday, Norway said that it was increasing its funding to UNRWA by 100 million kroner ($9.3m). UNRWA was plunged into a crisis in January, when Israel accused about a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza employees of involvement in the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel. The allegations prompted several countries, including top donor the US, to suspend funding to the agency, though many have since resumed payments. “UNRWA is the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza,” Norway’s Minister for International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim said in a statement. “The war, accusations made by Israel, continuous attacks on the organisation and funds withheld by major donors have put UNRWA in an extremely difficult financial situation,” she said. An independent review of UNRWA, led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, found some “neutrality-related issues” but said Israel had yet to provide evidence for its main allegations. Adblock test (Why?)
Join us for a July 11 conversation with Dallas lawmakers
We’ll discuss their priorities for the 2025 legislative session and what it all means for Dallas residents.
Schumer pushes for bump stock ban after SCOTUS reverses Trump-era rule
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he will bring a law to ban bump stocks to the Senate floor this week after the Supreme Court ruled to reverse a ban on the item by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) under former President Donald Trump. At a press conference on Sunday, Schumer said, “The Senate can help restore this public safety rule, and next week, it will try. As majority leader, I have the ability to allow a unanimous consent vote, and we’ll see just what Republican MAGAs do: Will they allow it to go forward, or will they cower to MAGA and hurt the American people?” according to a clip shared by CBS News. ELIZABETH WARREN WARNS DEMS TO STAND FIRM ON TAX HIKES AS FIGHT LOOMS OVER TRUMP-ERA CUTS Schumer’s office did not respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital on the timeline for a vote this week. After the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 last week to strike down the ATF rule, the Democratic leader said, “Senate Democrats are ready to pass legislation to ban bump stocks,” adding that in order to do so “we will need votes from Senate Republicans.” REPUBLICANS BACK STOPGAP SPENDING BILL INTO 2025 IN ANTICIPATION OF GOP WINS It’s unlikely that the bill to codify the invalidated bump stock ban will be brought to the floor for a vote if sought by unanimous consent, wherein any senator can object. “The far-right Supreme Court continues their unprecedented assault on public safety by reversing the commonsense guidance issued in 2018 by the ATF,” Schumer said in a statement after the ruling. “Bump stocks have played a devastating role in many of the horrific mass shootings in our country, but sadly it’s no surprise to see the Supreme Court roll back this necessary public safety rule as they push their out of touch extreme agenda. They’re even further to the right of Donald Trump.” TRUMP SELLS SENATE REPUBLICANS ON PLAN TO WIN OVER WORKERS IN CLOSED-DOOR MEETING The rule banning bump stocks, which are firearm accessories that allow a weapon to fire in more rapid succession, was put in place during the Trump administration after the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas that saw 60 people killed and 500 wounded. TOOL TO STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT EMPLOYMENT COMES TO SENATE AS BORDER CRISIS RAGES Following the decision, Trump’s campaign said the court’s ruling should be respected. “President Trump has been and always will be a fierce defender of Americans’ Second Amendment rights and he is proud to be endorsed by the NRA. During a time when our border is open to terrorists and criminals, and migrant crime is on the rise, the right to keep and bear arms has never been more critical, and Joe Biden wants to take that right away from law-abiding Americans. President Trump won’t let that happen,” campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.