The Associated Press reports: Serbia’s president on Thursday nominated the highly conservative country’s first openly gay prime minister, a move likely to infuriate both the Christian Orthodox church and ultranationalists. President Aleksandar Vucic announced that Ana Brnabic, 41, was nominated as the prime minister-designate, which could also make her the first female head of government in the country’s history. Her …

CNN reports: Vice President Mike Pence has hired his own lawyer to represent him in the special counsel investigation and congressional inquiries into Russia’s role in the 2016 election. The lawyer, Richard Cullen, is a former Virginia attorney general and a former US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia. Pence interviewed several lawyers before selecting Cullen, who is based …

The Hill reports: President Trump assailed the ongoing probes of Russia’s role in the 2016 election on Friday, blasting Congress and the Justice Department for continuing the investigations despite not presenting “any proof” of collusion between his campaign and the Kremlin. Reports emerged this week that the government’s probe of last year’s election has expanded to included possible obstruction of …

The Los Angeles Times reports: A Los Angeles jury has awarded a former city sanitation worker $17.4 million after finding that he endured repeated harassment by his supervisors, who falsely perceived that he was gay. Jurors deliberated for about two hours Wednesday before unanimously deciding that James Pearl of L.A. was subjected to verbal abuse, hazing and a bullying campaign …

The Washington Post reports: The Commerce Department has removed language from its annual equal opportunity statement barring discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, prompting a protest from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists. In a statement Thursday afternoon, the Commerce Department said the statement “was never intended to change the policy or exclude any protected categories.” “The Department …

Reuters reports: The Texas governor signed a law on Thursday to protect the religious rights of faith-based groups in state child welfare programs, but critics said it could be used to discriminate against LGBT and non-Christian families in adoptions. Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 3859 which allows faith-based groups working with the Texas child welfare system to deny …

The New York Daily News reports: She’s arranged tournaments at Trump golf courses, served as the liaison to the Trump family during his presidential campaign, and even arranged Eric Trump’s wedding. Now President Trump has appointed longtime loyalist Lynne Patton — who has zero housing experience and claims a law degree the school says she never earned — to run …

ESPN reports: More than $1 million has been raised for charity ahead of Thursday night’s Congressional Baseball Game in Washington, according to the organization’s Facebook page. The Republican team was holding its last practice before for the game when five people were shot Wednesday morning at a suburban Virginia park, including Rep. Steve Scalise (R- LA), the third highest-ranking republican …

The Southern Poverty Law Center reports: This week various members of the so-called “Alt Right” have been taking shots at Oath Keepers — an antigovernment organization that primarily recruits current and veteran military, law enforcement and emergency first responders — after video surfaced of a Texas militia member putting a neo-Nazi protester in a headlock in a Houston park last …

Politico reports: The right-wing website Gateway Pundit was denied a congressional press pass from the Senate Periodical Press Executive Committee on Tuesday, and now plans to appeal the decision to Speaker Paul Ryan. The committee upheld its previous denial of Gateway Pundit’s application for a press pass, which gives the holder access to certain areas of the Capitol otherwise sealed …

The Hill reports: The Washington Post announced Thursday it had 80.7 million unique visitors in May, an increase of 28 percent when compared to the same month last year, according to comScore. Page views also exceeded 1 billion, marking a 33 percent year when compared to May of 2016. Those reading the paper are also staying longer online. “Washington Post …

The Independent reports: President Donald Trump has mounted another Twitter attack on former election opponent Hillary Clinton, accusing her of having covert dealing with Russia, destroying her phones with a hammer, and “bleaching” her emails. The tweets come one day after The Washington Post reported that Mr Trump is under investigation for potential obstruction of justice. The Post reports Robert Mueller, …

This is their second attack on the show. Via email from Monica Cole: TNT’s new summer program, “Claws,” has an extremely graphic plot like none we have ever seen. “Claws” airs on Sunday evenings at 9:00 p.m. You can be assured with a MA – LSV rating, it is not appropriate for television. Originally, this so called “comedy” was to …

Raw Story reports: White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Thursday that she was forbidden from discussing things that President Donald Trump has written on Twitter. In a tweet on Thursday morning, Trump accused Special Counsel Robert Mueller of conducting a “witch hunt” after news reports suggested that the president may be under investigation for obstruction of …

Facebook this afternoon published a blog post outlining their artificial intelligence strategies in combating terrorists who use the site to spread propaganda, recruit, and share tactics. An excerpt: We want to find terrorist content immediately, before people in our community have seen it. Already, the majority of accounts we remove for terrorism we find ourselves. But we know we can …

The New York Daily News reports: Republican lawmakers who survived the rampage at an early morning baseball practice say it would have been a massacre if not for a pair of Capitol Hill police officers. Special Agents Crystal Griner and David Bailey, at the practice because they’re on House Majority Whip Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) security detail, returned fire when a …

Unlike his Obama administration predecessor, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has omitted sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in his 2017 employment anti-discrimination policy statement. Here’s what the pertinent section now says: The Department of Commerce does not tolerate behavior, harassment, discrimination or prejudice based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability. We will also provide …

The Toronto Star reports: The Liberal government will introduce legislation later this year to erase past convictions for sexual activity with a same-sex partner, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday as multi-coloured flags were raised on Parliament’s west lawn. The legislation would add to reforms already in the works to atone for the damage caused to thousands of Canadians convicted …

NBC News reports: The jury in the Bill Cosby trial said Thursday it’s deadlocked, but the judge ordered them to continue trying to reach a verdict. “We can not come to a unanimous consensus on any of these counts,” the panel said in a note to the judge sent out at 11:06 a.m. after more than 30 hours of deliberations. …

Homocon nutjob Chadwick Moore appeared on Fox News on Tuesday night to denounce the Gays Against Guns rally held at the Stonewall Inn to mark the anniversary of the Pulse massacre and tell some lies about Donald Trump, whom he claimed rushed to Orlando after the attack. Which, of course, never happened. Via Gay Times: After describing the Stonewall Inn …