“Two people were arrested in San Francisco in connection with a chaotic robbery of Pokemon cards, the San Francisco Police Department announced on Thursday. On May 28, police said, a person agreed to meet with someone he believed was going to buy his collection of trading cards. … The suspect then allegedly pepper-sprayed the seller and ran into a getaway car with two more suspects inside. Medical crews assessed the seller at the scene and determined he had non-life-threatening injuries. Police used Flock cameras to find the suspects’ car …. Officers used drones to follow the car and watched two suspects exit the car and enter a jewelry and pawn shop near O’Farrell and Polk streets. Plainclothes officers then took the suspects into custody and booked them into the Juvenile Justice Center, where they are facing robbery and conspiracy charges.” [editor’s note: Did even Orwell foresee this level of surveillance capability? – TLK] (06/12/26)
“The conviction of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will stay after an appeals court shot down his bid to overturn his 2023 conviction of fraud. Bankman-Fried, 34, a former cryptocurrency mogul and CEO, argued that his trial was unfair and that the firm would have paid out to investors in the long term. Judge Barrington Parker wrote in the ruling that ‘the government’s evidence against him was, conservatively stated, robust,’ Politico reported.” (06/12/26)
“Iran has denied that the US and Tehran have finalised all points in peace negotiations, as claimed by Donald Trump, reiterating that the regime will not compromise on its ‘red lines.’ Speaking to Iranian state TV: ‘We have not reached a final conclusion on this matter. This is a very important issue that is currently being reviewed by the relevant decision-making bodies.’ It comes after Donald Trump walked back his threat to strike Iran ‘hard’ last night, citing progress being made in peace negotiations. The US president said he ‘cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening.’ He added that ‘discussions and final points’ have been ‘approved by all parties involved.’ He later told reporters that a deal could be signed as soon as this weekend.” (06/12/26)
“Three people have been killed in the border region between Russia and Ukraine, according to officials, as the two sides launched attacks on each other in the latest exchange of fire. In Russia, two civilians were killed and two wounded in the region of Bryansk after Kyiv struck the settlement of Suzemka with artillery, Acting Governor Egor Kovalchuk said in a post on Telegram on Friday. A drone also hit an apartment building in Russia’s central region of Tatarstan, injuring three people …. In Ukraine, a drone attack in the border region of Sumy caused casualties. A 44-year-old woman working as a rail station operator died on her way to a shelter during the strike, according to the head of Ukrainian Railways, Oleksandr Pertsovkyi. Another woman, a station attendant, was wounded in the attack, Pertsovkyi added. Three people were wounded in separate attacks on Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region.” (06/12/26)
“A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison on Friday over charges linked to military drones sent over Pyongyang to help create a pretext for his failed December 2024 martial law declaration, Yonhap reported. The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of abuse of power and aiding the enemy, saying he had conspired in the October 2024 drone incursion from the outset, the news agency said. Yoon denied wrongdoing. His lawyers said he neither ordered nor later approved the operation, which they said was unrelated to martial law and instead a response to months of North Korean launches across the border of balloons stuffed with rubbish. … In February, a South Korean court sentenced Yoon to life in prison after finding him guilty of leading an insurrection linked to the martial law attempt.” (06/11/26)
“US President Donald Trump has named the top federal prosecutor in New York to be the nation’s most senior spy chief, after lawmakers in Congress objected to his previous choice due to lack of relevant experience. Jay Clayton is currently serving as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and is overseeing several prominent cases, including the drug trafficking case against former Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro. On Thursday, Trump tapped him to be the next director of national intelligence, the country’s top spy chief who oversees 18 government intelligence agencies. Outgoing Director Tulsi Gabbard’s last day is 30 June.” (06/11/26)
“Britain, Australia and Canada on Thursday launched a peace fund to complement broader efforts towards a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with each country contributing £1 million ($1.34 million) to the initiative. … The fund will focus on new and existing grassroots projects – particularly those that include youth groups, civil society organisations and women. The £3 million fund will seek to scale up and attract additional donors once operational.” (06/11/26)
“The House rejected a short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on Thursday, putting the government’s foreign surveillance authority on track to expire. A standoff over President Trump’s decision to install Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence has jeopardized what lawmakers in both parties consider one of the government’s most important intelligence tools. The vast majority of House Democrats opposed the extension through July 2, along with dozens of conservatives who are upset about a lack of reforms. The vote was 198-218. If Congress doesn’t act, Section 702 will lapse Friday.” (06/11/26)
“Sudanese paramilitary forces carried out drone strikes overnight in central Sudan, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens, health officials said Thursday, as the use of unmanned aircraft becomes increasingly common in the more than three-year war in the African country. The attacks, which started late Wednesday, targeted various areas of the city of el-Obeid, including near an army position, according to two health officials at el-Obed Hospital, which received the victims. More than 10 people were also wounded, some critically, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, after long-simmering tensions between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. The conflict has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced some 13 million, and pushed many parts of the country into famine.” (06/11/26)
“U.S. applications for jobless aid rose modestly last week, but remain at a historically low level despite economic headwinds brought on by the war in Iran. The number of Americans filing for unemployment aid for the week ending June 6 rose by 4,000 to 229,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the most since early February, before the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran, but still considered a healthy level. It’s also more than the 216,000 new applications forecast by analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet. Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.” (06/11/26)
