| | | 1.Trump '100 percent' willing to testify under oath to contradict Comey | | President Trump said Friday he is "100 percent" willing to testify under oath to contradict portions of former FBI Director James Comey's Senate testimony. Trump insisted he did not push Comey to "let go" of investigation into ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, nor did he ask for a pledge of "loyalty." Comey testified under oath that Trump did both. When asked if there are "tapes" of his conversations with Comey, Trump replied he'd clarify "in the near future." The president also implied a perjury accusation against Comey on Twitter earlier Friday, writing: "Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication … and WOW, Comey is a leaker!" Source: ABC News, Daily News | | | 2.Trump affirms commitment to NATO mutual defense | | President Trump affirmed his commitment to NATO's Article 5, the mutual defense clause in the alliance's founding documents, on Friday. "I'm committing the United States to Article 5," he said at a press conference. "Certainly we are there to protect, and that's one of the reasons that I want people to make sure we have a very, very strong force by paying the kind of money necessary to have that force." When Trump spoke before NATO leaders in late May, he did not mention the clause, omitting two sentences affirming it that were written into an earlier draft of his speech. Source: The Washington Post, Reuters | | | 3.U.S. military joins Philippines fight against ISIS-linked militants | | The United States military is now involved in the three-week siege against militants claiming ties to the Islamic State in the Philippines' Marawi City, Philippine officials said Saturday. U.S. troops "are not fighting. They are just providing technical support," said Philippine Lieutenant Colonel Jo-Ar Herrera. The U.S. embassy in Manila confirmed the military intervention but did not elaborate. This news comes one day after 13 Philippine marines were killed in Marawi and follows "very friendly" conversations between President Trump and controversial Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has encouraged extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers. Source: Reuters, The Hill | | | 4.May to form government despite election losses | | After meeting with Queen Elizabeth II following a devastating election for the Conservatives, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced she will form a government with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party in the "interests of the whole U.K." May called for the election in April when her party was 20 points ahead of its main opposition, anticipating a stronger mandate leading into Brexit talks. Instead, Conservatives won just 318 seats, short of the 326 necessary for a majority, while Labour, led by Jeremy Corbyn, gained seats for a total of 262. Source: The Telegraph, BBC | | | 5.Tillerson urges Gulf states to ease Qatar blockade Trump previously cheered | | Three days after President Trump seemingly took credit for the Gulf states' freeze-out of Qatar, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt to "ease the blockade." Tillerson said Friday the decision to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar bore "humanitarian consequences" and adversely affected the fight against the Islamic State, though he asked Qatar to address concerns it is providing financial support to Islamic extremists. Qatar has denied funding terror. Shortly after Tillerson's remarks, Trump again said Qatar has to "end that funding." Source: BBC, Agence France-Presse | | | 6.Report: Trump lawyers to file complaint against Comey over 'leaked' memos | | Former FBI Director James Comey admitted to leaking unclassified personal memos to the press about his interactions with President Trump, a point that Trump's personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, heavily criticized in a statement Thursday. "We will leave it [to] the appropriate authorities to determine whether [the] leaks should be investigated along with all those others being investigated," Kasowitz said. On Friday, however, CNN reported Trump's legal team is planning to file a complaint against Comey with the Justice Department inspector general and the Senate Judiciary Committee next week. Source: CNN, The Week | | | 7.London Bridge attackers tried to rent a larger truck | | The three terrorists who killed eight people and injured dozens in a knife and truck attack on and near London Bridge initially wanted to rent a larger vehicle to do more damage, U.K. law enforcement said Friday. One of the attackers attempted to rent an 8.3 ton (7.5 tonne) truck similar in size to the vehicle used in the attack in Nice, France, in 2016, but he did not pay for the rental. "Getting hold of a 7.5 tonne lorry — the effects could have been even worse," said London counter-terrorism Commander Dean Haydon. Source: Reuters, Fox News | | | 8.Biden urges Romney to run for Senate | | Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday encouraged his 2012 rival, Mitt Romney, to consider seeking a seat in the Senate. "By the way, you should run for Senate," Biden reportedly said to the former Massachusetts governor during a closed-door event at Romney's annual E2 Summit in Utah. Romney replied only with a smile, but the audience, packed with his supporters, cheered the idea enthusiastically. Observers have long speculated about Romney's interest in replacing Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (R), who is 83 and the longest-serving Republican Senator in American history. Source: Politico, CNN | | | 9.IOC adds 15 new events for Tokyo 2020 Olympics | | The International Olympic Committee announced Friday the addition of 15 new events, including 3-on-3 basketball and freestyle BMX. The events will debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. "The hope behind making 3-on-3 an Olympic sport is to really open up Olympic basketball to parts of the world that struggle to field 12-person teams in 5-on-5 competition," said Jim Tooley, chief executive of USA Basketball. Men's and women's teams will both be able to compete. Other new events include new distances in swimming and mixed-doubles in table tennis. Source: Bleacher Report, NPR | | | 10.Cavs' upset win ends Warriors' perfect run | | The Cleveland Cavaliers triumphed over the Golden State Warriors 137-116 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland Friday night, upsetting the Warriors' hope to complete their perfect run through the NBA Finals. "We finally settled in, man, it was about damn time, for all of us just to really see what playing well as a group looks like against a great team like the Warriors," said the Cavs' Kyrie Irving. The Warriors now lead the series 3-1. Game 5 tips off Monday at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. Source: Reuters, The Week | |  |  | | MOST POPULAR | | | | CAPTURED: A PHOTO BLOG | | Kelly Gonsalves | |  |  |  | | Is this email not displaying correctly?
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