Secret Service text messages around Jan. 6 erased, inspector general says
Text messages sent and received by Secret Service agents around the time of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol last year have been erased, an inspector general said Thursday. In a letter obtained by The New York Times, the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security reported that many of the agents’ texts were erased as part of a device replacement program even after the inspector general had requested them as part of his inquiry into the events of Jan. 6. The news comes as the Jan. 6 committee is investigating an incident involving former President Donald Trump and the Secret Service after his speech on the Ellipse.
Biden, Lapid agree to stop Iran nuke program, differ on how
U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid stood side-by-side and declared they would not allow Iran to become a nuclear power. But they diverged on how to reach that outcome. Biden says he still wants to give diplomacy a chance while Lapid insists that tough words alone won’t thwart Tehran nuclear ambitions. Even as he suggested at a news conference with Lapid on Thursday that his patience is running low, Biden held out hope that Iran can be persuaded to rejoin the agreement. Lapid said threat of force is the only thing that will stop Iran.
Russian missiles kill at least 23 in Ukraine, wound over 100
Ukrainian officials say Russian missiles that struck a city in central Ukraine killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 100 others, including children, while dozens were missing. Officials say cruise missiles fired from a Russian submarine in the Black Sea struck a medical center, stores and residential buildings in Vinnytsia, a city southwest of Kyiv, the capital. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is accusing Russia of intentionally aiming missiles at civilians and repeating his call for Russia to be declared a state sponsor of terrorism. One military analyst thinks Thursday’s attack mirrors previous ones on residential areas that Moscow has launched “to try to pressure Kyiv to make some concessions.”
WNBA’s Griner gets support at trial from character witnesses
The drug possession trial of WNBA star Brittney Griner has resumed, with the head of the Russian club she plays for in the offseason and a teammate from that squad testifying in support of her character and what she has meant for women’s basketball in the country. Griner, who pleaded guilty last week, did not testify as expected at the third day of the trial. She has been detained in Russia since February, and the U.S. government is under pressure at home to do more to secure her freedom. Her guilty plea could be an effort to expedite the court proceedings so any negotiations about a prisoner exchange could move forward.
By wire sources