June 10 2000 UTC Brief

In U.S. politics President Trump said he is happy with inflation at a three-year high, even as prices continue to squeeze households and rattle some of his own allies. In Maine, Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner has gone on the offensive with an ad attacking the political establishment, saying it has a “love of Jeffrey Epstein and a hatred of me.” Separately, Bill Gates told lawmakers in closed-door testimony that Epstein wanted a personal relationship with him and that he did not reciprocate. In the Middle East Trump said he ordered a secret U.S. operation to help move more than 100 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, part of an effort to protect commercial shipping in the region. In Lebanon, an Israeli strike hit a car in Sidon, killing two people and setting it on fire. In courts and violent crime A British man convicted on nine charges, including rape and sexual assault, remains a fugitive in Bosnia after being wrongly freed from HMP Wormwood Scrubs. Prosecutors say Bernadin Dedic was released after a court official mixed up his digital file and entered him as granted bail. In Louisiana, former mayor Misty Roberts has been sentenced to 90 days after being convicted of statutory rape and indecent behavior with a juvenile. She had faced up to 17 years. Three people linked to ISIS ideology have been convicted in South Africa over the 2018 murders of British botanists Rod and Rachel Saunders. The case crossed borders, and the financial trail helped lead investigators to the suspects. In Belfast, a man has been charged with attempted murder after a knife attack, as unrest continued in Northern Ireland for a second night. Police and community leaders have condemned the disturbances. In public safety and regulation The FBI searched a Southern California aerospace facility after a chemical tank incident that triggered a mass evacuation last month. Authorities say the warrant covers records tied to methyl methacrylate, which overheated and forced about 50,000 people to leave amid fears of an explosion. In Cuba Cuba says U.S. sanctions are blocking UN aid deliveries and worsening the island’s most severe economic and energy crisis in decades. Officials there blame the pressure campaign for making an already fragile situation worse.