Politics

Sky News reports: Donald Trump will meet the Queen when he visits Britain next month, the US ambassador to the UK has told Sky News. The president is due in Britain for a working visit on Friday 13 July – his first to the country since being elected in 2016. It is not a state visit with all the pomp …

Fox News reports: The White House is considering executive action to allow children to stay with parents caught crossing the border illegally, Fox News has learned — a step that could avoid the family separations that have triggered a national outcry and political crisis for Republicans. The action under consideration would allow children to stay in detention with parents for …

The Daily Beast reports: Top Republican strategist Steve Schmidt—the senior adviser for John McCain’s presidential run in 2008 and senior staffer for George W. Bush—has announced that he’s quit the GOP because it’s become “fully the party of Trump.” In a string of searing tweets Wednesday morning, Schmidt—who was also the campaign manager for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s re-election in California—attacked the …

The Huffington Post reports: Arnold Schwarzenegger says if anyone should be held in “cages,” it’s politicians who aren’t doing their jobs — and not innocent children. The former California governor took to Twitter to weigh in on the border crisis facing the Trump administration and their “zero tolerance” immigration policy that’s led to thousands of children being separated from their …

The Guardian reports: Theresa May has described Donald Trump’s policy of separating immigrant children from their families as “deeply disturbing” and “wrong”, but defended her decision to receive the US president in Britain next month. Quizzed about the images of children held in cages, and audio of crying toddlers separated from their parents by US border officials, May went further …

The BBC reports: Canada’s parliament has passed a law legalising the recreational use of marijuana nationwide. The Cannabis Act passed its final hurdle on Tuesday in a 52-29 vote in the Senate. The bill controls and regulates how the drug can be grown, distributed, and sold. Canadians will be able to buy and consume cannabis legally as early as this …

The Washington Post reports: Pope Francis stepped into a growing controversy over President Trump’s immigration policies, criticizing the separation of migrant families at the U.S.-Mexican border and saying that “populism” and “creating psychosis” are not the way to resolve migration problems, according to an interview published Wednesday. Speaking to Reuters news agency, the pope said, “It’s not easy, but populism …

Mediaite reports: Protesters tied to the Washington, D.C. area chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America heckled Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen out of a Mexican restaurant on Tuesday over her role in separating migrant families at the border. The protesters chanted “shame!” and “abolish ICE!” at Nielsen while she sat at a restaurant table surrounded by security. As can …

Politico reports: Clarke Tucker’s first general election ad for an Arkansas-based House race tries to defuse one of the GOP’s most potent attacks: “I’ve said from Day One,” the Democrat declares, “that I won’t vote for Nancy Pelosi.” Tucker, an Arkansas legislator who’s running against Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), is one of at least 20 House Democratic challengers who’ve publicly …

Just in from DNC chairman Tom Perez:  “The United States should be leading the world on human rights, not retreating into isolation and separating young children from their families. Because of our seat at the table, we’ve been able to give voice to the voiceless around the world while fighting for the council’s fair treatment of our allies like Israel. …

The BBC reports: The US has pulled out of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the US UN envoy Nikki Haley made the announcement at a joint news conference in Washington. Ms Haley last year accused the council of “chronic anti-Israel bias” and said the US was reviewing its membership. Formed in 2006, the …

Politico reports: A foundation established by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and headed by his wife is playing a key role in a real-estate deal backed by the chairman of Halliburton, the oil-services giant that stands to benefit from any of the Interior Department’s decisions to open public lands for oil exploration or change standards for drilling. A group funded by …

Axios reports: Donald Trump Jr. and George P. Bush had formed an unlikely alliance despite their fathers, Donald Trump and Jeb Bush, loathing each other — with Don Jr. backing George P. in his re-election campaign for Texas land commissioner, and even planning to headline a New York fundraiser for him on June 25. Two sources close to Don Jr. …

The Hill reports: President Trump son-in-law and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner on Tuesday met with King Abdullah II of Jordan to discuss Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. “Building on previous conversations, they discussed increasing cooperation between the United States and Jordan, regional issues, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and the Trump Administration’s efforts to facilitate peace between the Israelis and …

ABC News reports: Sixty-seven percent of Americans call it unacceptable to separate children from parents who’ve been caught trying to enter the U.S. illegally. Much of this is driven by large percentages of Democrats (90 percent) and independents (66 percent) who find it unacceptable, while Republicans are more divided overall, with 39 percent calling it unacceptable, and one in five …

From a wide-ranging interview with the Daily Beast: “I certainly understand the intense interest in the investigation and certainly some of the wild-eyed reporting in the media. I have spoken voluntarily to Congress and I also cooperated with the special counsel. I have plenty of opinions about the various investigations but there’s no question some people are taking it seriously …

Newsweek reports: President Donald Trump’s warm relations with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un have now extended to the decoration of the White House, with photos of the two men’s historic meeting last week adorning the West Wing. And, in a move that symbolically resembles the president’s cooler relations with the United States’s chief allies, the photos of Trump and …

The Associated Press reports: China’s government has denounced President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods as blackmail and warned it would respond with “strong countermeasures.” The Commerce Ministry on Tuesday gave no details but said Beijing is ready to “defend the interests of the Chinese people and enterprises.” Trump ordered the U.S. Trade Representative to …

This is certainly unexpected: Dear NASA Workforce, NASA has a unique ability to recruit and retain the finest workforce in the country. If we are to accomplish the awesome and sometimes daunting tasks ahead of us, we must maintain this unique ability. In June, we recognize that part of this amazing workforce includes members of the LGBT community. You have …

Talking Points Memo reports: A federal judge on Monday ruled that Kansas’ proof of citizenship voter registration requirement was a violation of the Constitution as well as the National Voter Registration Act. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson had in previous orders temporarily blocked the requirement, which was championed by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Robinson on Monday handed down …