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Jun 3, 2026 - World

Actor Richard Gere described how America was facing a dark time in history and called President Donald Trump a "maniac," according to reports on Wednesday.Gere was speaking at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway with Thor Halvorssen, a Venezuelan-Norwegian human rights activist, and discussed politics, history and freedom, The Daily Beast reported. The actor, who has criticized Trump in the past, revealed a dark parallel between the current United States and the past."We’re living in the darkest moment that I’ve experienced on this planet," Gere told the audience.“How is this even possible? Because we went to sleep. We didn’t care. We didn’t vote. We didn’t really listen,” Gere said.He believes he also "didn’t do enough work to skillfully convince people around me, close to me, not close to me, that this was insane to elect this person as president of the United States."And in his comments, Gere described how on the "first day, this guy dismantled almost everything that was good about the U.S. government and the U.S. people."He warned that people must act — before it's too late.“We have to see the cues, this dictatorship of the monsters, how quickly it happens," Gere said. "We have to be vigilant."He referenced a trip to Dachau, a Nazi concentration camp in Germany, and what he walked away thinking about after the visit and seeing an exhibit that showed "the transformation of German society and German government and how quickly it happened there.""Good people turned into monsters," said the Golden Globe-winning performer."But you see how quickly our world can be taken from us if we fall asleep. And we have to see the cues," he added, saying that people must be aware of how fast "this dictatorship of the monsters" can happen."We can’t sit back and go, ‘Ah, life is good. I’m fine. You know, I’ve got food. I got money. Blah blah blah. I got my house. I got another car. I’m thinking about this. I’m OK. I know he’s a bad guy, but it’s OK,'" Gere explained."But it’s not OK. It’s not OK. It’s never OK," he said.Richard Gere with a word.. pic.twitter.com/joMqYz3ETe— Loni Love (@LoniLove) June 3, 2026

Jun 3, 2026 - World

North Carolina judge said Levi Mendez-Maldonado failed to show up in court – even after being told he had died in 2024An immigration judge in Charlotte, North Carolina, recently ordered the deportation of a young man who was killed in 2024, citing his failure to appear in court.Judge Amy Lee ordered the removal of Levi Mendez-Maldonado in absentia on 21 May. Mendez-Maldonado, originally from Honduras, came to the United States as an unaccompanied minor at age 17 and was murdered in a shooting in November 2024. Continue reading...

Jun 3, 2026 - World

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the virus ‘had a big head start’ but that the response was catching upThe Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could have begun as early as January, the head of the World Health Organization said, giving the virus “a big head start”.Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said the response was being hindered by blanket travel restrictions and highlighted high levels of community mistrust and low levels of contact tracing as key concerns. Continue reading...

Jun 3, 2026 - World

Conservative podcaster Candace Owens is scheduled to appear at a panel alongside Russian media figures and politicians under U.S. and European Union sanctions for supporting Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine at a major event in St. Petersburg on Thursday.The right-wing conspiracy theorist, who has seen her popularity rise as she’s openly feuded with other conservative luminaries such as Erika Kirk and Laura Loomer, has lavished praise on Russia in X posts over the past week for its “Christian heritage and expression” and “family-friendly” amenities. Owens is scheduled to appear on a panel at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum entitled, “A Big Family, A Big Reach: New Demographics and Narratives for Media Leaders.”The appearance puts her on the same stage as Alexander Zharov, who was directly appointed by President Vladimir Putin to lead the Russian state’s mass media arm and is currently under U.S. sanctions as an official of the Russian government, and Anna Kuznetsova, a deputy chair of the Duma, a house of the Russian parliament, who is also on the State Department’s sanctions list.“By speaking at this forum, she’s actively aligning herself with an event that exists to push the interests of the Russian state,” said Hannah Gais, a senior researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center who monitors Russia and the far right.The panel, which features “influential figures with large families” who produce “content that focuses on family values,” highlights a longstanding obsession in Russia with population collapse, Gais said, noting that the theme has long attracted far-right actors from the United States and Europe.Gais told Raw Story that Owens’ presence helps the Russian state show that it can build bridges with the U.S far right.“An aspect of any kind of soft-power effort, so to speak, would be to push your own messaging, whether it be Russia as a partner in the ‘war on wokeness,’ which is one framing that certain reactionaries or partners in protecting Christian civilization like to emphasize — those are talking points that would serve the interests of the Kremlin,” Gais said.Russian state media reported Owens' participation in the panel at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, but she has not publicly announced it. Requests for comment submitted by Raw Story through the contact form on Owens' website were not returned.Meanwhile, the British-American manosphere influencer Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, arrived in Moscow on Tuesday, sparking speculation that they too will attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which begins Wednesday.Owens’ social media posts have largely presented her visit to Russia as a family sight-seeing trip, but on Sunday Vladimir R. Legoyda, a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, posted photos on his Instagram account of a media interview with Owens for Spas TV. The outlet is currently under sanction by the European Union for “spreading disinformation and propaganda in support of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.”The interview has not yet been broadcast, but Owens confirmed her participation in a reply to a detractor on X, writing, “Please share a link when it drops in case I miss it! Was a great discussion.”Owens has vocally criticized Israel’s attacks on Gaza and ongoing bombardment of Lebanon — including resharing a post as recently as May 30 showing Israeli aerial attacks in Lebanon — but has remained largely silent on Russia’s war in Ukraine and targeted attacks on civilians.Other Russian panelists scheduled to share the stage with her who are under sanctions for spreading disinformation about the war in Ukraine and praising Putin include Yuliya Baranovska, a television presenter, who was sanctioned by the European Union for, among other things, “publicly promoting Russian war crimes such as the forced deportation of Ukrainian children.”Kuznetsova, the deputy at the Duma, is similarly under sanction by the European Union, along with the U.S. Treasury Department, while a 2024 Voice of America report flagged her playing an instrumental role in a propaganda campaign to falsely accuse Ukrainian medical teams of harvesting organs from children. The conspiracy theory has been used by Russia to deflect from its responsibility for relocating at least 20,000 children in what the U.S. State Department under former President Joe Biden described as “systematic efforts to suppress Ukraine’s identity, history and culture.”The Russian intelligence service, known by its acronym FSB, has long courted foreign media figures in an effort to generate positive news stories, often using the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum as an arena for cultivating potential assets.Nomma Zarubina, a 35-year-old woman who pleaded guilty in February to lying to the FBI about her role as a Russian spy, worked with an FSB handler who encouraged her to cultivate contacts with American journalists, according to a federal court documents. Zarubina’s handler instructed her to attend the 2021 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, “and asked her to find journalists who would be willing to publish positive stories about the event and Russia.”A screenshot retrieved from her phone by the FBI revealed the results of her efforts: contact information for a German public broadcasting journalist.Owens has thumbed her nose at critics, such as her former boss, Ben Shapiro who accused her in a piece at the Daily Wire of going to Russia “to visit her friends, ideological handlers, and sponsors.”Whether Russian intelligence services directly engage Owens or not, her pro-Russia messaging already appears to align with Kremlin interests. Posting about a cat she ostensibly planned to adopt, Owens wrote: “Deep down I know she will never be loyal to me and she will always report back to the Kremlin, but I will love her nonetheless.”Whether there’s an espionage connection or not, Gais said Owens represents a segment of the U.S. far right that already shares overlapping interests with the Kremlin.“This has been an ongoing trend on the far right, from Tucker Carlson to the alt-right,” Gais said. “Candace Owens is following in a long line of right-wingers who have gone to Russia and see it as an ally in a conflict that they see as civilizational and existential in the West against liberalism.”

Jun 2, 2026 - World

Secretary of State Marco Rubio got in a heated exchange with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday.Rubio was testifying for the first time since the United States launched the Iran war and Booker raised questions about the Ebola crisis and the military operation. Booker told Rubio he was concerned the U.S. had rolled back its investment in eradicating diseases in Africa, and expressed doubt that the Iran war was over, despite the Trump administration's claims that it was."With the crisis of Ebola, we see the challenges have been brought about as a result of our surveillance, early detection, and the like. I'm concerned about what the administration's strategy is," Booker said. "We are clearly seeing that what goes on on the continent of Africa directly affects our public health as well."But Rubio did not see eye to eye with Booker."I don't agree with the assessment," Rubio said. "It's not about cutting back. The response is that how much money you spent it's the results you will get. Ebola, the outbreak was in a war-torn, isolated, rural area in the DRC. Since then, our response has been very rapid."Booker pushed back."You did not cut early detection?" Booker asked. "That's not the reason there was Ebola," Rubio said. Booker cut him off as the conversation intensified."I'm not trying to get in an argument. I would like to have my questions answered," Booker said. "We cut early detection when it comes to infectious diseases on the continent, factually. This is not an opinion. We cut early warning systems on the continent."Rubio continued to argue with Booker and interjected the senator, saying "It had nothing to do with the Ebola outbreak.""I don't need to tell you, we are living in a place where an infectious disease crisis anywhere is a threat everywhere," Booker said, adding that he worried further budget cuts would complicate future outbreaks. "The United States made major reductions in these areas putting us more at risk. If you're talking about the Ebola crisis, other cuts we have made, you see it factually. Even our own State Department personnel I've talked to are saying we are less prepared for a global outbreak than we were before."Rubio denied Booker's comments."I don't agree with that assessment," Rubio said. "I don't know who told you that at the State Department." "You can't even agree on the facts. It is not accurate that we cut early detection?" Booker asked, pressing Rubio to respond. "Those have been repurposed," Rubio said. "The different arrangements with the countries are an example."But Booker wasn't convinced. "If you're telling me that we are as or more prepared before the Trump administration came in, I would like to see the facts," Booker said. "I think when the reforms are finalized we will be better prepared. We are responding faster not just humanitarian crises but faster than before," Rubio said.Booker then moved on to discuss the Strait of Hormuz blockade."The conclusion I have is the Strait of Hormuz was opened before this unjustified war," Booker said. "We are now scrambling to find a way to get it back open again." Booker argued the U.S. was now in a "worse situation, an adversary and our enemy is causing havoc in the region, funding proxies and terrorists, has discovered, thanks to you all, the power of shutting down the Strait of Hormuz." He said Iran was now in a better position, while America was worse off."It made our adversary have a stronger negotiating position," Booker said. "We are the strongest on earth and we are in a stalemate with Iran. We are begging to get back into a deal that you trashed in the first place." "There is no one begging," Rubio maintained.Rubio argued that the war was over — and Booker pushed back, saying that although Trump says it has ended, it hasn't."You keep saying how we are winning the war," Booker said. "The war is over now," Rubio said. "The war is not over. The American people see how we are losing at the pump and with costs. Yet this thing has not been resolved," Booker said.