Vladimir Putin has announced Russia will start deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus next month – Moscow’s first move of such bombs outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. The Russian president said the weapons would be deployed after special storage facilities are ready in just under a month’s time. It comes after he, last month, announced he wanted to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, in an apparent warning to Nato over its support for Ukraine. “Everything is going according to plan,” Mr Putin told his ally and Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. “Preparation of the relevant facilities ends on July 7-8, and we will immediately begin activities related to the deployment of appropriate types of weapons on your territory,” he said, according to a Kremlin transcript of his remarks. Earlier, Ukraine‘s domestic security service said it had intercepted a telephone call proving a Russian “sabotage group” blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric station and dam in southern Ukraine. The destruction of the facility on Tuesday unleashed mass flooding, forcing thousands of residents to flee and wreaking environmental havoc. Read More Ukraine goes on attack in Zaporizhzhia – as counteroffensive steps up Ukraine tells ‘clown’ Tucker Carlson to check his facts after pro-Kremlin rant in first Twitter show Before-and-after satellite images show profound toll of Ukraine dam collapse

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The law enforcement officer who took down the mass shooter at the Allen Premium Outlets mall has broken his silence for the first time. Authorities have confirmed that the gunman who killed eight people and injured seven others had “neo-Nazi ideation” in a press conference on Tuesday. The gunman, identified as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, brought eight weapons with him to conduct the mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday (6 May). Garcia had three weapons on his person and five in his vehicle, according to Hank Sibley, the regional director of the Texas Department of Safety. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms determined all of the weapons were obtained legally. Eight people, including three young children, were killed in the shooting. Gruesome footage depicting the victims in the moments after the shooting circulated around Twitter over the weekend and into Monday, leaving social media users horrified. Garcia’s motive remains unknown but a social media profile, reviewed by The Independent, reveals that he stalked the mall in the weeks before the shooting to identify peak visitation times. Read More Nazi images, hateful rants and ‘Right Wing Death Squad’: A look at Texas gunman’s alleged far-right social media posts Two days, three attacks, 18 dead: Texas reels from horrifying weekend of violence Elementary school sisters are named among eight Texas mall shooting victims Mauricio Garcia: Everything we know about the Texas mall gunman who killed eight

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A small central Kansas police department is facing a firestorm of criticism after it raided the offices of a local newspaper and the home of its publisher and owner

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich testified Thursday before a federal grand jury investigating January 6, 2021, according to a person familiar with the matter.

By Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Qatari prime minister held secret talks with the supreme leader of the Taliban this

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MrBeast said, 'This is a treasure map, and I've buried some treasure in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle, if you find it, you can keep it'

Ryan Blaney beat Kevin Harvick to the Talladega Superspeedway finish line by 0.012 seconds Sunday to advance into the round of eight of NASCAR’s playoffs and keep Harvick winless in his final season before retirement

Georgia prosecutors have reportedly obtained text messages linking a breach of voting machines to members of Donald Trump’s team as a grand jury prepares to hear evidence in a case surrounding the former president’s attempts to overturn 2020 election results in the state. That state investigation – separate from a federal probe and indictment charging Mr Trump with three criminal conspiracies and obstruction in connection with 2020 election subversion – appears to connect Trump-linked attorneys and operatives to a breach of voting machines in Coffee County. As Mr Trump and his allies hunted for evidence of fraud to undermine Joe Biden’s definitive victory, a local elections official allegedly sent a “written invitation” to attorneys working for then-President Trump, according to text messages reportedly obtained by CNN. Last year, a former Trump official told the House select committee investigating January 6 and attempts to overturn election results said that White House officials had discussed plans to access voting machines in the state during an Oval Office meeting on 18 December 2020. While much of the attention surrounding the Georgia case has involved Mr Trump’s call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” votes to ensure his victory, investigators have scrutinised the actions in Coffee County, and prosecutors appear prepared to argue that attempts to infiltrate sensitive voting machine software were a top-down effort from the former president. Mr Trump won the rural county in a landslide with 70 per cent of the vote. Katherine Friess, an attorney working with Trump-allied attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, among others, had shared the “invitation” to examine the county’s Dominion Voting Systems software on 1 January 2021, days before the breach, according to CNN. One month earlier, Ms Powell – who amplified false claims and conspiracy theories about Dominion that were central to a landmark defamation settlement between the company and Fox News – had previously enlisted forensics company Sullivan Strickler for $26,000 to investigate Michigan machines. Ms Friess also sent a “Letter of invitation to Coffee County, Georgia” to former New York City Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik, who was working with Mr Giuliani to bolster spurious claims of voter fraud, according to court documents in a civil case. Her texts reportedly show that she told operatives who ultimately performed the breach that Mr Trump’s team had secured written permission, CNN reported. “Just landed back in DC with the Mayor huge things starting to come together!” an employee with Sullivan Strickler reportedly wrote in a group chat on 1 January 2021. “Most immediately, we were just granted access – by written invitation! – to Coffee County’s systems. Yay!” the text reads, according to CNN. Data obtained from the Dominion Voting Systems software was uploaded to a password-protected website that could be accessed by election deniers across the country. Robert Costello, Mr Giuliani’s attorney, said that the former New York City mayor “had nothing to do with this”. “You can’t attach Rudy Giuliani to Sidney Powell’s crackpot idea,” he told CNN. A case led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is the culmination of a wide-ranging investigation over the last two years following the former president’s pressure campaign targeting state officials to reject the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state. Her office has notified at least two witnesses to appear next week before a grand jury, the strongest indication yet that prosecutors are preparing to issue indictments in the coming days. She has previously indicated that a grand jury would vote on indictments by the end of August. Read More Trump steps up attacks on Fani Willis as Georgia probe links Trump team to voting system breach - latest Georgia grand jury to hear Trump election subversion case next week Trump, January 6 and a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election: The federal investigation, explained Who is Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who could take down Trump