TV News LIES

Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, advised Donald Trump not to host Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, having called the Ukrainian president a “little fucker”, a “special-needs child” and “Mr Bean on crack”, according to a new book.

The suggestion that a US cabinet official described a world leader in such terms is included in Regime Change, a blockbusting account of the second Trump aNews of Bessent’s alleged remarks may embarrass the Trump administration, although the meeting that did take place on 28 February 2025 proved outright disastrous, as Trump and JD Vance blasted Zelenskyy for not being grateful for aid in his fight against Russian invaders, and for not wearing a suit.

Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, advised Donald Trump not to host Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, having called the Ukrainian president a “little fucker”, a “special-needs child” and “Mr Bean on crack”, according to a new book.

The suggestion that a US cabinet official described a world leader in such terms is included in Regime Change, a blockbusting account of the second Trump administration by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, set to be published worldwide on Tuesday.

News of Bessent’s alleged remarks may embarrass the Trump administration, although the meeting that did take place on 28 February 2025 proved outright disastrous, as Trump and JD Vance blasted Zelenskyy for not being grateful for aid in his fight against Russian invaders, and for not wearing a suit.

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Federal agents have arrested hundreds of immigrants off New York and New Jersey streets in recent months in a stealth enforcement campaign that disproportionately targeted people from Latin American countries, according to an investigation by the City Reporter based on a review of more than 1,200 lawsuits.

More than 93% of the people grabbed off area streets who filed suit were from Latin American countries, although Latinos make up only 66% of immigrants without legal status in the region.

The arrests have rattled Latino neighborhoods, as people disappear in moments as mundane as buying milk, walking their dog, taking out the trash or picking up their children from soccer practice.

Street arrests are different from other types of immigration enforcement in that they unfold in minutes, often on quiet residential streets and out of public view. Many immigrants who had no expectation of being detained were targeted at the sole discretion of agents in the field. In some accounts of the arrests, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents said they stopped people because they looked similar to someone they had a warrant for, then realized they had a different subject, but apprehended the person anyway.

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At least 12 people in a crowd on a Chicago street suffered gunshot wounds after an SUV pulled up and two people inside the vehicle started shooting, police said.

The SUV drove away from the South Side neighborhood, leaving two people, both male, in critical condition following the shooting late on Friday, police said in a news release. One suffered a gunshot wound to the thigh.

The eight men and four women in the group ranged in age from 17 to 47. They were being treated at four hospitals.

Police said another man suffered unknown injuries and refused medical treatment.

Police initially responded to a call of one person shot, and found a woman with two gunshot wounds to her back and a man with four graze wounds to his back. Both were listed in fair condition.

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The Justice Department released a memo this week that quietly calls into question decades of civil rights protections for Americans with disabilities and stirred fear and anger among advocates and families.

The memo, an opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel, argues that states do not have to provide in-home or community-based care to people with disabilities who need support. These services allow many disabled Americans to continue to live, learn and work at home or in their own communities, among family and friends.

"It is now the position of the United States government that people with disabilities don't have a right to be part of their communities," says Alison Barkoff, a health law and policy professor at George Washington University who led disability law and policy efforts during both the Obama and Biden administrations. "I can't overstate how significant this change in position is."

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Israeli strikes in Gaza on Saturday killed at least six people, including two children and a cameraman with broadcaster Al Jazeera, according to Palestinian health officials.

Despite an October ceasefire between Israel and the militant group Hamas, the enclave has seen near-daily Israeli attacks that have killed over 1,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The first strike on Saturday hit an apartment in Gaza City around 2 a.m., according to the ministry. At the site, an Associated Press reporter saw rubble and chunks of concrete stained with blood.

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Iran’s top joint military command said on Saturday morning that it will close the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil trading corridor, due to ongoing Israeli strikes in Lebanon during a ceasefire agreement.

Khatam al-Anbiya Central ‌Headquarters said the attacks violated the ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran. Israel targeted Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah hours after the two sides agreed to halt fighting.

“In view of the United States’ bad faith and its clear breach of its commitments by failing to implement the first article of the memorandum ending the war, and in response to the continuous and ongoing violation of the ceasefire by the Zionist regime in southern Lebanon… It hereby announces that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to the passage of vessels,” the military command said in a statement reported by state broadcaster IRIB.

“In view of the United States’ bad faith and its clear breach of its commitments by failing to implement the first article of the memorandum ending the war, and in response to the continuous and ongoing violation of the ceasefire by the Zionist regime in southern Lebanon… It hereby announces that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to the passage of vessels,” the military command said in a statement reported by state broadcaster IRIB.

The announcement comes just days after President Trump signed a framework agreement with Iran that authorized the reopening of the critical waterway. The strait’s closure during the Iran war has sent energy prices skyrocketing and strained global fuel supplies.

Trump said in a speech at Joint Base Andrews on Friday that “ships are flying out of the Hormuz Strait like nobody’s ever seen before.”

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Three hikers died from suspected heat-related illness in Grand Canyon National Park amid extremely hot temperatures, officials said.

Grand Canyon National Park rangers and emergency personnel responded to incidents on June 12 and June 16, resulting in three deaths, according to a June 19 National Park Service news release. Hikers were on trails in the Inner Canyon, where officials said temperatures in the shade could reach 109 degrees around midday.

“Hiking in Grand Canyon can be a challenge for anyone, especially during the heat of summer,” the park service news release said. Park officials have warned visitors to avoid the Inner Canyon during peak daytime hours because of extreme temperatures.

On June 12, a 72-year-old man died from symptoms of heat-related illness along the South Kaibab Trail. The park service website said the trail offers expansive views but little shade and no water other than a water filling station at the trailhead during the summer.

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A broad coalition of former high-ranking Israeli officials, including former prime ministers and defence chiefs, have issued what they termed a “wake-up call” and “final warning”, demanding that the Israeli government act against Jewish settler “terrorism” in the occupied West Bank. 

In a joint statement reported by Haartez on Thursday, the ex-officials, who include former prime ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, warn Benjamin Netanyahu’s government that they will appeal to the Supreme Court if immediate action is not taken to change policies on the matter.

The letter states that the government and its ministers “have done nothing to eliminate Jewish terrorism” and that some of its officials have even provided support to illegal settlement outposts where the attackers reside.

“He [Netanyahu] and all government ministers have done nothing and are doing nothing to eradicate Jewish terror in [the West Bank]," the statement says.

"They do not condemn it, do not require the Israel Defence Forces, the police, the Shin Bet and the Civil Administration to fight it, and some of them, at least, even support this terror by providing financial and equipment assistance, and building illegal farms and outposts that serve as residences for Jewish terror activists."

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