🤔 Today, Americans are for the first time officially celebrating Juneteenth. What is it?

Joe Biden on Thursday signed the "Juneteenth National Independence Day Act", officially establishing Juneteenth – 19 June – as a federal holiday in the US.

So, what is Juneteenth about? Here are some key points:

▪️Juneteenth commemorates the day (19 June 1865) when Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger rode into the Texan city of Galveston and announced that the Civil War was over, freeing the last African-American slaves.

▪️It is also known as Freedom Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day.

▪️It is the first federal holiday to be approved since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

▪️Prior to reaching Biden's desk, the bill was unanimously passed in the US Senate, but encountered pushback from 14 Republicans in the US House of Representatives.

▪️Juneteenth has the same status as Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and other federal holidays in the US.

🚔At least 9 injured in Show Low, Arizona, as a truck driven by a man rams into a group of bicyclists who were riding for charity.

According to police, four victims are in critical condition, two are in critical but stable condition, and one was transported to hospital by air. Two to three people walked into the hospital themselves and are said to be in stable condition.

‼️Biden to host Israeli president Rivlin to the White House on 28 June

Better late than never?

The US state of Georgia's top electoral official has come forward to claim voting irregularities in Atlanta — seven months after the presidential election.

In one of the newly-discovered incidents, more than 100 batches of absentee ballot papers — each at least 100 votes — were sent to be scanned through vote-counting machines in Fulton County, but their tracking numbers were never recorded in hand-written logs of counted batches, raising the prospect that they were not tallied.

🇮🇷 The Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will resume the negotiations in Vienna on June 20, the European Union External Action Service said on Saturday.

When 50 is not enough.

Musician Macy Gray has proposed that the American flag be modified, as it “no longer represents” American values.

She suggested 52 stars, instead of the 50, so as to include Washington DC and Puerto Rico and suggested that the stars have the “colors of ALL of us — your skin tone and mine — like the melanin scale.”

Saying "goodbye" to old glory?

🇮🇷 The US State Department claims that the presidential election in Iran was not a fair one, but the US will continue to advance its interests in Iran regardless of who is in power, a department spokesperson told Sputnik.

One person was reportedly killed after a man drove a truck into a crowd of marchers at a Stonewall pride parade in Florida's Wilton Manors.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean J. Trantalis, who appeared to have witnessed the incident, dubbed the violence a "terrorist attack" against members of the LGBTQ community, according to the reports.

❌ Only 'cool' holidays accepted?

The city of Evanston, Illinois, has cancelled the nation’s Independence Day holiday celebrations in the city over COVID concerns, although it has allowed Juneteenth and Pride celebrations.

🗣 Former US President Donald Trump has announced the dates of his national tour dedicated to the history of his administration that he will be conducting together with former television host Bill O'Reilly.

According to the release, Trump will be in Sunrise, Florida on December 11 and will head to Orlando the following day. On December 18, he will hold an event in Houston, Texas and will then go to Dallas on December 19.

Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov has left Moscow to return to Washington following an agreement between presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden.

Before departing he told Sputnik that:

- he is heading [to the US] with an optimistic mood;

- he already has plans, scheduled meetings, and lots of work;

- he looks forward to constructive work with American colleagues to build equitable, pragmatic relations.

DETAILS | https://sptnkne.ws/G8Bp

Check out some news you may have missed:

▪️North Carolina has stopped its 30-hour search for two missing tubers who reportedly went over a Dan River dam last week.

▪️Two tech companies have filed a lawsuit to block Florida’s “deplatforming” law, which allows legal action if a state political candidate was removed from Twitter and Facebook.

▪️The city of Evanston, Illinois, has cancelled the July 4 parade due to COVID-19 concerns – but allowed Juneteenth and pride celebrations.

▪️Three suspects in San Antonio were arrested after they allegedly robbed a woman who had held a Zoom call with her coworkers at that moment.

▪️Dignity and Power Now, a non-profit started by a BLM co-founder in 2013, has failed to disclose significant donations.

#URGENT | US to continue imposing Nord Stream 2-related sanctions, Biden aide says.

🔸The United States will continue to impose sanctions against the Russian companies involved in the Nord Stream 2 project, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday.

🔸In addition, the Biden aide said that Washington is also preparing another package of sanctions related to the Alexei Navalny case.