Members of the Lendu group are responsible for the mass killings of Hema during inter-ethnic clashes earlier this month in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province, according to a preliminary investigation by the U.N. Joint Human Rights Office.  The investigators report at least 117 people were killed during a series of attacks on multiple villages in Ituri province between June 10 and 13. They confirm at least 94 people were killed in Djugu territory and 23 in Mahagi territory. U.N. human rights spokeswoman Marta Hurtado says the victims include women and children, and the deaths were of a particularly vicious, gruesome nature. “Some of the victims were beheaded. Homes and warehouses were burned down after being looted,” she said. “Most of the victims belonged to the Hema community, and the rest to the Alur group. The attackers are reported to be unidentified individuals from the Lendu community.” Congolese victims of ethnic violence are seen at a makeshift camp for the internally displaced people in Bunia, Ituri province, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, June 25, 2019. Hurtado says the ferocity and scorched-earth nature of the attacks suggests the assailants intended to prevent survivors from being able to return …

U.S. President Donald Trump gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a light-hearted warning not to interfere again in American elections. Appearing before reporters during his bilateral meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, Trump was asked whether he would tell the Russian leader to not meddle in the U.S. electoral process. “Yes, of course I will,” replied Trump who then, with a smile on his face, turned to the Russian president to say: “Don’t meddle in the election, president.” He then repeated “don’t meddle in the election,” while pointing a finger at Putin. The exchange is likely to reinforce a perception among many that Trump does not take the issue seriously. First post-Mueller report meeting It was the first meeting between the two leaders since special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation concluded there was no conspiracy or coordination between Trump’s 2016 presidential election campaign and Russian government officials. Three U.S. intelligence agencies, however, jointly stated they were highly confident that Moscow orchestrated a sophisticated campaign to influence the election. Russians Have Low Expectations of Latest Putin-Trump Encounter video player. Embed

In a sea of more than 20 candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, former vice president Joe Biden entered the second of two nights of early Democratic primary debates Thursday with a big bulls-eye on his back. The front-runner before he even announced his candidacy, Biden was expected to ignore attacks from fellow Democrats as much as possible and to focus instead on challenging U.S. President Trump, trying to create the impression that the real race isn’t the primary at all, but an eventual Biden v. Trump showdown. And from the get-go, that really did seem like Biden’s strategy. But as the former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson once observed, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Biden was repeatedly challenged on his record by his opponents and by moderators from television networks NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo, which jointly hosted the event. His answers were often angry and defensive, even to attacks that he must certainly have known were coming. Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Representative from California Eric Swalwell speaks during the second Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, June 27, 2019. …

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was at center stage Thursday on the second night of Democratic presidential debates, but one of his main challengers, Sen. Kamala Harris, sharply questioned his relations with segregationist lawmakers four decades ago and his opposition to forced school busing to integrate schools. Harris, a California lawmaker and former prosecutor, turned to Biden, saying, “I do not believe you are a racist.” But the African American senator drew cheers from the crowd in an auditorium in Miami, Florida, when she said it was “hurtful to hear” Biden recently as he described how as a young senator he worked with segregationist Southern senators to pass legislation. “That’s a mischaracterization of my position across the board,” a stern-faced Biden responded. “I did not praise racists.” Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Senator for California Kamala Harris speaks during the second Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, June 27, 2019. But Harris persisted in a sharp exchange, demanding of Biden, “Do you acknowledge it was wrong to oppose busing?” Harris said she had benefited from busing to attend desegregated schools. Biden defended his longtime support for civil …

The second set of 10 Democrats took the stage Thursday night for the second Democratic primary debate of the 2020 U.S. election cycle in the race to try to oust Republican President Donald Trump from the White House. On stage were Sen. Michael Bennet (Colo.), former Vice President Joe Biden, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.), former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Eric Swalwell (Calif.), author Marianne Williamson and businessman Andrew Yang. Here is a look at the top quotes from the spirited debate: Democratic presidential hopeful former U.S. Vice President Joseph R. Biden speaks during the second Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, June 27, 2019. Joe Biden As the front-runner, Biden faced tough questions. He was questioned over his recent comments about working well with segregationist senators and his past opposition to busing plans used to desegregate public schools. Kamala Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, said to Biden: “I do not believe you are a racist and I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding …

A second small city in Florida has agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom to cybercriminals who disabled its computer system.  Days after ransomware crippled the city of about 12,000 residents, officials of Lake City agreed this week to meet the hackers’ ransom demand: 42 Bitcoin or about $460,000.  Last week, River Bench, in Palm Beach County, paid $600,000 in Bitcoin to retrieve its data. In both cases, most of the money will be paid by insurance companies.  On Thursday, Key Biscayne, a third Florida city, said it too had been targeted by a cyberattack. But city officials said it had managed to restore most of its computer systems by late Wednesday.  Ransomware, a type of malicious software designed to deny access to a computer system or data until a ransom is paid, is becoming an epidemic in the public sector.  The cybersecurity firm Recorded Future reported in May that 170 city, county or state government systems have been attacked since 2013. Ransomware attacks are not limited to small cities. Baltimore, a city of more than 600,000, has been fighting a cyber breach since May. The city refused to pay the $80,000 ransom that the hackers demanded. …

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was at center stage Thursday on the second night of Democratic presidential debates, set to make the case that he has the best chance to oust Republican President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Biden currently leads Democratic voter preference surveys for the party’s presidential nomination, but he was facing some of his biggest rivals before a live audience in Miami, Florida, with millions watching on national television. Democratic presidential hopeful former U.S. Vice President Joseph R. Biden speaks during the second Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, June 27, 2019. He was joined in the debate by nine other presidential aspirants, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist; California Sen. Kamala Harris, a former state attorney general, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of the Midwestern city of South Bend, Indiana. Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Senator for California Kamala Harris speaks during the second Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, June 27, 2019. In the early moments of the debate, Biden, Sanders and Harris all attacked Trump …

At least 27 Syrian troops were killed and three wounded in two attacks on Thursday by al-Qaida-affiliated fighters in the central Syrian province of Hama, according to jihadi sources. The two surprise attacks took place against Syrian military positions near the village of Atshan in the northern part of Hama, al-Bayaan, an Arabic website dedicated to jihadi news in Syria, reported. The website also published a statement by a jihadi coalition that has launched an offensive against Syrian regime forces in parts of Hama and the nearby northwestern province of Idlib. “This blessed operation resulted in killing and wounding more than 30 soldiers and officers from the [Syrian] army … an ammunition depot unit was destroyed, and the army retreated from the checkpoints near the location of the raid, due to the fear that struck them,” the statement said. Several pro-rebel media outlets reported on the attacks as well, but attributed them to rebel forces that are also active in the region. FILE – Rebel fighters man a checkpoint in Taybat al-Imam town after they advanced in the town in Hama province, Syria, Aug. 31, 2016. Jihadists or rebels? The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor that has …

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to begin a series of one-on-one meetings with at least eight world leaders on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Japan.  His first meeting Friday was with summit host Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, followed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel — all of whom Trump criticized  just hours before he landed in Osaka. “We’ll be discussing trade, we’ll be discussing military,” Trump said as he met with Abe before heading to the talks.  Trump, recently, had publicly criticized the U.S.-Japan defense alliance, that has been in place since World War Two. “If Japan is attacked, we will fight World War Three. We will go in and protect them with our lives and with our treasure,” Trump said during a telephone interview with Fox Business News on Wednesday. “We will fight at all costs … but if we are attacked, Japan doesn’t have to help us at all. They can watch on a Sony television.” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their meeting at the Prime Minister’s Residence, June 26, 2019, in New Delhi, India. Trump met jointly …

U.S. House Democrats dropped opposition on Thursday to a bill passed by the Republican-controlled Senate that would release $4.6 billion in emergency funds to address worsening humanitarian conditions for migrant children and families on the U.S.-Mexico border, lawmakers said. Leading Democrats in the House of Representatives said the chamber was likely to vote later Thursday on a spending bill, approved by the Senate on Wednesday. A photo of two drowned migrants and reports of horrendous conditions for detained children have spurred efforts to craft compromise legislation to send to President Donald Trump before Congress breaks this week for the U.S. Independence Day holiday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave in to pushback from moderate Democrats and dropped plans to add migrant protections to the Senate bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., center, walks to the House floor from her office on Capitol Hill, June 27, 2019. “At the end of the day, we have to make sure that the resources needed to protect the children are available,” Pelosi said in a statement. “In order to get resources to the children fastest, we will reluctantly pass the Senate bill.” Pelosi and liberal Democrats had earlier planned to amend the Senate bill …

On a beach in Ghana’s capital, Accra, fishermen from the Nungua community are waiting for the vibrantly painted canoes to return from sea with their catch of small fish to be sold at the local market. In Ghana, about 2 million people rely on these fish for their food and income.  But trawlers, run almost exclusively by Chinese operators using Ghanaian front companies, are illegally targeting this staple catch and selling it back to local communities at a profit in a practice called saiko, according to a report from local NGO Hen Mpoano and the Environmental Justice Foundation. Kofi Agbogah, director of the NGO, says saiko used to just be a regular practice where fishermen would meet trawlers at sea and exchange the trawler’s catch for goods they were carrying.  “Today it has become a multimillion-dollar business where trawlers are harvesting fish that they are not licensed to harvest and sell it back to some canoes — I will call those canoe business people,” he said. “They are not traditional fishers. They just go out there without nets, they buy the fish from the trawlers, and come and sell it in some designated ports.” Destroying livelihoods Ghana’s coastline is dotted with …

Another 10 Democratic U.S. presidential contenders will debate Thursday night, including a larger number of leading candidates, following a spirited Wednesday night debate in the first major event of the 2020 election campaign. Thursday’s participants include former Vice President Joe Biden and other top-tier possible choices, including Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Kamala Harris of California; Mayor Pete Buttigieg of the Midwestern city of South Bend, Indiana; along with six others. All twenty Democratic presidential hopefuls hope to oust Republican President Donald Trump after a single term in the White House. The immediate focus Wednesday was on Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive lawmaker from the northeastern state of Massachusetts who national surveys show has edged closer to Biden as a Democratic favorite to oppose Trump in the election set for Nov. 3, 2020. Democratic presidential hopeful Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren participates in the first Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, June 26, 2019. She told a live audience in Miami, Florida, and millions more watching on national television, “I want to return government to the people.” She added, referring to major corporations, “What’s been missing is …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is looking forward to a meeting with President Donald Trump to end the escalating crisis over Ankara’s procurement of Russia’s S-400 missile system. The expected meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, is seen as the last chance to avoid a rupture in ties between the NATO allies. “The [presidents’] meeting is a turning point,” said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen who served in Washington. “Why, because we have a deadline, for the first time we have a delivery date by the end of July, and the sanctions from Washington are ready to kick in. They are concrete; they are ready.” Erdogan is playing down the threat of sanctions. “I don’t know if NATO countries began to impose sanctions on each other. I did not receive this impression during my contact with Trump,” Erdogan said Wednesday to reporters before leaving for Japan. Erdogan is expecting a breakthrough with Trump. “I believe my meeting with U.S. President Trump during the G-20 summit will be important for eliminating the deadlock in our bilateral relations and strengthening our cooperation,” Erdogan told the Nikkei Asian Review, in an interview published Wednesday. Washington says the …