Expert: Crypto investing ‘can make the 401(k) more engaging and relevant’ – Yahoo Money

Associated Press

Southern Baptist board OKs probe into sex abuse controversy

The president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee said Friday it is contracting an outside firm to investigate its actions amid accusations that top denominational leaders mishandled sex abuses cases, despite calls from some critics for a more independent probe. Ronnie Floyd announced the hiring of international consulting company Guidepost Solutions to review the allegations made by Russell Moore, who resigned last month as president of the denomination’s influential Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. In letters to SBC officials that became public, Moore accused Floyd and Mike Stone, who at the time was chairman of the Executive Committee, of trying to stall efforts to hold churches accountable for their handling of abuse cases and of seeking to intimidate and retaliate against those who advocated on the issue.

Associated Press

Dakota Access foes seek environmental review updates from US

Dakota Access oil pipeline opponents asked a judge Friday to require the pipeline company and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide detailed monthly status reports while the federal government conducts an extensive environmental review of the project. The request comes after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled in May that the pipeline, which carries oil from North Dakota to a shipping point in Illinois, may continue operating while the Army Corps of Engineers conducts the review known as an environmental impact statement. In court documents, attorneys for the pipeline company said Boasberg should not require the monthly reports and also renewed their longstanding request to have the case dismissed.

Associated Press

Bills that could force Big Tech breakups unveiled in House

A group of House lawmakers put forward a sweeping legislative package Friday that could curb the market power of Big Tech companies and force Facebook, Google, Amazon or Apple to sever their dominant platforms from their other lines of business. The bipartisan proposals are the culmination of a 15-month investigation by the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, led by Democratic Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island. It concluded that the four tech giants have abused their market power by charging excessive fees, imposing tough contract terms and extracting valuable data from individuals and businesses that rely on them.

Associated Press

Lakota spiritual leader, activist Leonard Crow Dog dies

Chief Leonard Crow Dog, a renowned spiritual leader and Native American rights activist who fought for sovereignty, language preservation and religious freedom, has died at age 78. Crow Dog, Sicangu Lakota Oyate, passed away June 6 at Crow Dog’s Paradise on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota after a battle with cancer, Indian Country Today reported.

The Daily Beast

Jeff Sessions Claims He’s Clueless About His DOJ’s Snooping on Congress

JIM WATSON/AFP via GettyFormer Attorney General Jeff Sessions is telling associates that he had no idea his Justice Department seized phone records of two top Democratic Congressional critics of then-President Donald Trump.In the hours since the New York Times broke the news on Thursday that prosecutors subpoenaed Apple metadata from Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, former Attorney General Sessions has privately told people that he wasn’t aware of, nor was he briefed on, the reported data se

Associated Press

Governor: Texas building new border barrier; no details yet

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has offered no details on his plans to construct new barrier along the border with Mexico while also launching an aggressive campaign to arrest migrants — moves that set up another clash with the Biden administration over immigration. Abbott did not say how much new barrier Texas would erect, where it would be installed along the state’s 1,200 miles (1,930 kilometers) of border or what it would look like when he made the announcement Thursday in a room full of sheriffs in the border city of Del Rio. A top official in one of Texas’ largest border counties, Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez, said Friday that he sees the goal as putting in place new barriers that would give state troopers grounds to arrest migrants who go around or damage it — and then put them in jail for six months.

Associated Press

Seized House records show just how far Trump admin would go

Former President Donald Trump has made no secret of his long list of political enemies. Two House Democrats disclosed this week that their smartphone data was secretly obtained by the Trump Justice Department as part of an effort to uncover the source of leaks related to the investigation of Russian-related election interference. It was a stunning revelation that one branch of government was using its power to gather private information on another, a move that carried echoes of President Richard Nixon during Watergate.