Top U.S. & World Headlines June 27, 2023

[Music] welcome to democracynowdemocracynow.org the War and Peace report I'm Amy Goodman the embattled head of the Wagner group of Russian mercenaries reportedly arrived in Belarus to live in Exile earlier today the Kremlin said it had dropped criminal charges against Wagner chief evgeny pagosian after he led a mutiny that saw an armored column Advanced within 120 miles of Moscow in a major test of Vladimir Putin's rule

on Monday pagosian published his first public statement since calling off the Mutiny Saturday saying his forces were reacting to an attack by Russia's military that killed dozens of Wagner Fighters despite the fact that we did not demonstrate any aggression a missile strike was launched against us and helicopters followed suit right after that about 30 people Wagner Fighters were killed this incident served as a trigger which

forced the Council of Wagner commanders to decide that we had to start the March immediately President Vladimir Putin spoke to Russian soldiers outside the Kremlin earlier today praising them for their defense of Russia's capital which he said quote essentially prevented a civil war Putin's remarks followed a short statement on national TV Monday evening in which he accused Wagner's leaders of treason but offered the group's Fighters

a path to avoid prosecution I thank those soldiers and commanders of the Wagner group who made the only right decision they did not turn to fractures of Bloodshed they stopped at the last line today you have the opportunity to continue serving Russia by entering into a contract with the ministry of defense or other law enforcement agencies or to return to your family and friends whoever once

week said an accounting error had freed up in additional 3.2 billion dollars worth of funding for weapons and ammunition for Ukraine this Builds on another three billion dollars in additional arms shipments the Pentagon announced in May citing accounting mistakes the commander of Sudan's paramilitary rapid support forces has announced a 48-hour unilateral ceasefire for the Muslim Festival of Eid alada the Declaration came as the United Nations

children fund UNICEF warned more than a hundred thousand children fleeing violence in Sudan face new dangers amidst A desperate situation in refugee camps and neighboring Chad UNICEF warned essential services such as Water Shelter health and education remain extremely limited for the more than 140 000 Sudanese refugees and 34 000 chadian returnees who've crossed the border since fighting erupted in April between the Rival factions of Sudan's

military Junta many of the refugees are injured or lost loved ones as they fled rapidly Rising levels of violence in Sudan in the occupied West Bank a mob of armed Israeli settlers stormed the village of um Safa over the weekend firing bullets at residence and setting fire to homes and vehicles several people were injured this is Muhammad radhi a Palestinian journalist who was shot at by

an Israeli settler as he filmed the attack we arrived there were dozens of settlers they fired at the Village the moment one of the settlers saw us filming he shot in our Direction two of the bullets went into the camera then the camera blew up from the shooting thank God we were safe on in the last week alone Israeli settlers have carried out at least 85

assaults on Palestinian towns in the West Bank this comes as Israel's far-right government has approved the construction of thousands of new homes and illegal settlements across the West Bank despite growing International condemnation in the United States the Supreme court has ordered Louisiana to redraw racially gerrymandered Congressional map siding with a lower court that ordered the state to create a second majority black congressional district Monday's ruling

was celebrated by Louisiana's lone black Congress member Troy Carter who said in a healthy democracy fair and Equitable representation matters unquote also on Monday the Supreme Court cleared the way for survivors of sexual assault to sue Ohio State University for failing to protect them from Predator Dr Richard Strauss in 2020 former Ohio State wrestler Adam de Sabato accused Republican Ohio Congress member Jim Jordan of begging

him not to corroborate accounts of widespread sexual abuse perpetrated by Dr Strauss after de sabato's brother Mike exposed the abuse in another ruling the Supreme Court sided with the Biden Administration over its immigration policy allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to prioritize certain people for arrest and deportation this week the Supreme Court will rule on four other major cases one seeks to ban the use of race

conscious College admissions policies another case asks the Supreme Court to embrace the independent state legislature Theory a radical reading of the Constitution that claims State lawmakers have sweeping authority to override courts Governors and state constitutions a third case argues businesses have the right to discriminate against lgbtqia people if they cite religious objections and justices will rule on whether the Biden Administration can proceed with a plan

to eliminate up to twenty thousand dollars in federal student loan debt for many Borrowers newly published audio reveals former president Trump showed a classified Pentagon document to a publisher a writer and two staffers during a conversation at his Bedminster New Jersey Golf Club two years ago and the tape Trump has heard shuffling through papers as he describes a Top Secret Pentagon document revealing a plan by

Joint Chiefs of Staff chair General Mark Miller to attack Iran well with Millie uh let me see that I'll show you an example he said that I wanted to attack Iran isn't it amazing I have a big pile of papers this thing just came up look the 2021 recording which was first aired by CNN contradicts Trump's recent claim on Fox news that he did not have

classified documents with him in the July 2021 meeting wait a minute let's see here [Applause] yeah I just found isn't that amazing this totally wins my case you know except it is like highly confidential secretive there's a secret information Trump faces 31 counts of violating the Espionage Act through the willful retention of classified records he also faces six counts including obstruction of justice and false statements

at a federal trial in Miami scheduled for August 14th we'll have more on this story later in the broadcast in Pennsylvania a federal court in Pittsburgh has begun the penalty phase of the trial of the man who shot and killed 11 Jewish worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018. last week a federal jury found the gunman guilty of all 63 federal charges jurors will

now decide whether he should be sent to death row in a federal prison in Indiana Joe Biden campaigned on abolishing the federal death penalty during his 2020 presidential campaign and the justice department has instituted a moratorium on federal executions but the Administration has continued to seek the death sentence in some cases in Colorado a shooter who killed five people and injured more than a dozen others

at an lgbtqia nightclub last November has been sentenced to more than 2 000 years in prison Monday sentencing came after the shooter pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder and 46 counts of attempted murder at Club Q in Florida's Broward County jury deliberations have begun in a criminal case against Scott Peterson a former police officer who's accused of child neglect and other charges for failing

to confront the gunman who killed 17 people and wounded 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day in Parkland Florida 2018. it's believed to be the first time a U.S police officer has faced criminal charges for inaction at a school shooting this is prosecutor Kristen Gomes speaking in closing arguments Monday he was trained and he was armed and when the moment came and

he was called upon to act he made a choice at 2 23 PM Scott Peterson chose not to enter knowing that those shots were being fired every time the trigger was being pulled one of his students was done he chose to retreat and then he instructed all responding officers to stay back in Texas three San Antonio police officers have been suspended without pay and arrested on

murder charges after they shot and killed a 46-year-old woman in her own home Melissa Perez was struck and killed by police gunfire as she brandished a hammer at officers while she appeared to be suffering a mental health crisis San Antonio's police chief said Friday the actions of Sergeant Alfred Flores and officers Eleazar Alejandro and Nathaniel Villalobos were not consistent with the Department's use of force policies

and training and Honduras human rights Advocates are warning of possible violations after Honduran Armed Forces raided prisons Nationwide and the government announced a massive Crackdown on organized crime the operation Drew comparisons with neighboring El Salvador as photos emerged a prisoners wearing nothing but underwear sitting in rows with their heads down and hands around the back of their necks while armed soldiers and riot gear watched over

them this is Colonel Fernando Munoz speaking to reporters after soldiers said They seized guns ammunition and grenades from a prison in the city of Tamara where at least 41 women were killed last week by accused gang members and possible complicity with prison authorities la La following the president's order we have started transitioning the prisons from the National Police to the military police we have begun the

searches in order to take control of the jails and Mexican authorities have rested the former head of Mexico's Federal anti-kidnapping special unit in connection with the forced disappearance of 43 students from Iota Napa in 2014. Roberto Ramirez Gutierrez was taken into custody early Sunday morning he was first arrested in 2015 accused of ordering the killing of the 43 students but he was ultimately released three years

later arrest warrants were also issued against eight other soldiers over their possible involvement in the mass kidnapping to see our extensive coverage of ayotsanapa go to our website democracynow.org and those are some of the headlines this is democracy Now The War and Peace report