🇦🇫Officials in the Biden administration are in talks with the Taliban about allowing the group access to Afghanistan's central bank reserves to prevent widespread hunger in Afghanistan, The Washington Post reports.

❗Biden: US to increase number of Navy destroyers in Spain

⚡⚡Turkey will support Finland's, Sweden's bid to join NATO during Madrid summit, Helsinki says

🎥Sweden, Finland will cooperate with Turkey on countering terrorism, agreement is reached - Erdogan's office

❗Sweden and Finland have pledged not to support the PKK, YPG and FETÖ, Erdogan's office said

🔎Ghislaine Maxwell, the jet-setting socialite who once consorted with royalty, presidents, and billionaires, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.

The stiff sentence was the punctuation mark on a trial that explored the sordid rituals of a predator power couple who courted the rich and famous as they lured vulnerable girls as young as 14, and then exploited them.

Prosecutors said Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial, sexually abused children hundreds of times over more than a decade, and couldn’t have done so without the help of Maxwell, his longtime companion, and onetime girlfriend. In December, a jury convicted Maxwell of sex trafficking, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, and two conspiracy charges.

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Thousands of anti-NATO demonstrators are gathering in Madrid to protest the alliance's summit which is currently taking place in the city.

Considering all the crimes associated with NATO and criticism of the bloc even from its members - should the "defensive" alliance even exist?

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🔴A man from Reedley, California faces an attempted homicide charge after police say he intentionally struck someone walking in the road with his vehicle.

According to Reedley Police, officers were called on June 17 around 11:15 p.m. after learning that an injured person was found lying in the road near Huntsman and Reed Avenues.

When officers arrived, they found that person with several injuries, including one to the head. The victim was then taken to Community Regional Medical Center where they are said to be recovering.

Investigators say the driver who struck the pedestrian was later identified as Timothy Dugan, 22, of Reedley. He was found on June 22 and arrested by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. According to the Police, Dugan was booked into the Fresno County Jail where he now faces an attempted homicide charge.

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📲Instagram is blocking posts that mention abortion from public view, in some cases requiring its users to confirm their age before letting them view posts that offer up information about the procedure.

Over the last day, several Instagram accounts run by abortion rights advocacy groups have found their posts or stories hidden with a warning that described the posts as "sensitive content."

For example, Instagram covered a post on one page with more than 25,000 followers that shared text reading: "Abortion in America How You Can Help." The post encouraged followers to donate money to abortion organizations and to protest the Supreme Court's decision to strip constitutional protections for abortion in the U.S. The post was slapped with a warning from Instagram that covered the seat, reading, "This photo may contain graphic or violent content."

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🔎❇️A federal court Tuesday allowed Tennessee to ban abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy, while a Texas judge provisionally blocked the execution of that state’s decades-old ban on virtually all abortions, as a flurry of activity set off at courthouses across the U.S. by the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Roughly half the states are expected to prohibit or severely limit the procedure now that the high court has left it up to them.

Since Friday, judges have agreed to allow bans or other restrictions to take effect in Alabama, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee. But abortion bans remained temporarily blocked in some states, including Louisiana, Texas, and Utah. Decisions are pending in other places, including Florida and Indiana.

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🇨🇴At least 49 people have died and dozens were injured in a fire during an apparent riot in a prison in the southwestern Colombian city of Tulua, according to officials.

General Tito Castellanos, the head of the national prison’s agency, said on Tuesday authorities were investigating whether prisoners had lit their mattresses on fire as part of an “escape attempt” or whether the riot was provoked “to cover some other situation”.

Ivan Duque, the outgoing president of Colombia who is on a visit to Portugal, said the incident would be investigated.

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🔻A New Jersey man was arrested at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshal Airport this month after authorities said he tried to smuggle more than 30 pounds of cocaine hidden inside a motorized wheelchair.

Gabriel Ruiz, 34, of Union City, N.J., faces charges of narcotics importation and drug possession.

Ruiz flew into BWI from Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic on June 20. Officials with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection recommended he have a secondary examination. During that examination, officers X-ray his Jazzy 614 electric wheelchair and found usual readings from the seat and back cushion. Officials said they found 13 plastic-wrapped bricks of cocaine inside. Tests confirmed the white powder was cocaine, CBP said.

Officials said the cocaine hidden inside the chair could have been sold for nearly $1 million.

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"Where is his cheat sheet?": Netizens cringe as Joe Biden looks lost at the NATO summit

At a reception with the Spanish King during the G7 summit, the US President looked visibly confused, staring at a chair before being told what to do by the King of Spain.

Twitter users didn't take long to react to Biden's confusion, with some suggesting he was looking for instructions like "YOU take YOUR seat"
"So very sad, he is completely lost" one user noticed, while another tweeted "Oh no, he forgot who 'YOU' is"

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🍽 🚨Participants of NATO summit in Madrid were surprised to find a "Russian salad" on the menu of the restaurant servicing the event. Despite raising some eyebrows, the salad sold out almost instantly, Spanish broadcaster Sexta reports.

❗️ Biden: US to send two additional F-35 fighter squadrons to UK

🇺🇸🎾🥇US tennis star Serena Williams said she would like to play in the upcoming tennis tournament US Open where she won her first of 23 Grand Slam noscripts.

On Tuesday, 40-year-old Williams lost in the first round match of the Wimbledon tennis tournament to Frenchwoman Harmony Tan.

🏆The US Open will be held from August 29 to September 11.

⚡️ The Russian MoD’s latest statements on the Ukraine crisis:

▪️ Russian air defense units have destroyed two Su-25 airplanes and one Mi-8 in a day

▪️Russian Armed Forces have destroyed a battalion of Ukrainian troops in the vicinity of the Lisichansk Oil Refinery

▪️The Russian military hit two Ukrainian Grad multiple rocket launcher platoons and two Ukrainian artillery platoons

▪️Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed a training base for foreign mercenaries in the Nikolaev region

▪️In the subdivisions of Ukraine near Lisichansk, combatants are deserting due to hunger

▪️Some 221 planes and 3,853 tanks have been destroyed during the special military operation.

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🎥Mi-35 attack helicopters in combat action during the special military operation in Ukraine (Russian MoD video)

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👽Mystery solved? The US Coast Guard said that the bizarre "UFO" flashing lights seen in San Diego and Tijuana yesterday were actually from flares fired from a ship off the coast, local media reported. Naval crews were conducting flare training with expired flares, the Coast Guard is reported to have said.

So, are those who are eagerly awaiting the arrival of little green men doomed to disappointment after all?

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❗️Russia's foreign minister has summoned Norwegian charge d'affares due to the refusal of Norwegian authorities to allow the transit of cargo through Svalbard