Tuesday morning news: June 27, 2023

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Russia » The leader of the Wagner mercenary group is defending his short-lived insurrection in Russia.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, in an 11-minute online rant, said he wasn’t seeking to stage a coup but was acting to prevent the destruction of his private military.

He said, “We started our march because of an injustice.” He has claimed that the Russian military attacked his forces.

President Biden, meantime, says the United States and its allies jointly decided to stay tight-lipped as Prigozhin’s troops marched to Moscow.

JOE BIDEN: They agreed with me that we had to make sure we gave Putin no excuse, let me emphasize, we gave Putin no excuse to blame this on the West or to blame this on NATO. We made clear that we were not involved.

Belarus helped broker a deal between Prigozhin and the Kremlin on Sunday.

In the wake of the ordeal, Moscow is working to project stability to the Russian people, posting a video Monday of Russia’s defense minister reviewing troops in Ukraine.

SCOTUS » The Supreme Court on Monday opted to step aside in battle over how to draw Congressional boundary lines in Louisiana. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has more.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN: The high court lifted its hold on the Louisiana political remap case. A legal battle dragged on for more than a year with a federal judge and Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards saying the map drawn by Republicans is unfair to black voters.

The court’s ruling follows its decision to turn away a redistricting case in Alabama earlier this month.

The justices on Monday also dealt a blow to Democrats ruling a lawsuit challenging for President Trump’s ownership of a Washington hotel while he was president should be tossed out.

And the high court decided not to get involved in a case regarding a dress code at a charter school.

For WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

Becerra » Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra says his department is set to go on the “offensive” in promoting gay and transgender rights.

Becerra kicked off the department’s first ever Pride Summit by saying there is a need for the government “to move faster” to push the LGBT agenda.

He told attendees. “Let’s play on the offensive and let’s grow.”

The Biden administration has suggested states that pass laws to protect children from transgender procedures are “breeding hate.”

Starbucks » Meantime, some Starbucks employees went on strike over the weekend over a perceived lack of company support for LGBT “Pride” month. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: The union that organized the strike timed the walkout to force the company to temporarily shutter 21 of its stores, including its flagship location in Seattle.

The workers were responding to reports that the company banned “Pride” displays in its stores this month in the wake of the Bud Light and Target boycotts.

Starbucks refutes those reports. It insists nothing has changed and that the Pride flag still flies over its headquarters.

In a statement, the company said, “We want to be crystal clear: Starbucks will continue to be at the forefront of supporting the LGBTQIA2+ community, and we will not waver in that commitment.”

Starbucks also recently ran an ad in India promoting transgenderism.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Cancer Treatment » The next big advance in cancer treatment could be a vaccine.

Scientists say a vaccine would be used to shrink tumors and hamper the disease’s ability to come back after treatments. The vaccines use mRNA to get the body’s own immune system to attack the cancer.

Dr. Nora Disis works with the University of Washington’s Cancer Vaccine Institute:

NORA DISIS: I am pretty confident that in the next 5 to 8 years, we will have approval of more than one cancer vaccine to be used in that area of preventing disease recurrence.

Scientists are conducting a number of trials to study the efficacy and safety of cancer vaccines.

Hajj » Possibly the largest ever annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia is underway with more than two million people participating.

It’s the largest mass pilgrimage since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Hajj was effectively canceled in 2020.

Pilgrims began circling the Islamic site The Kaaba seven times on Sunday. Muslims are generally expected to make the trip at least once in their life.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: A new attempt to fix immigration in Congress. Plus, hammering out a family legacy.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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