White House calls on Republicans to act on gun control after Fourth of July weekend killings – as it happened

White House press secretary urges Republicans to act to protect US communities after latest spate of gun violence

The Washington Post reports that the cocaine discovered at the White House was found on the ground floor in an area where visitors leave their cellphones.

White House employees can give tours of the building, usually on evenings and weekends, and part of the security protocol involves having visitors leave their cellphones in a locked box. As the for the cocaine, the Post adds that “Authorities are trying to find the person who left it at the White House.”

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UPS workers edge closer to strike as talks break down with shipping giant

A strike has already been authorized by union members – who number 340,000 – should negotiations for a new contract fail

UPS workers moved closer to their first strike action in 27 years on Wednesday after the Teamsters Union said United Parcel Service “walked away” from negotiations over a new contract. The shipping giant denied the claim, lobbing its own accusation that the union had stopped negotiating.

The two sides traded salvoes in early morning statements even as they attempted to come to an agreement to prevent a strike when the current contract, which covers about 340,000 workers, expires at the end of the month.

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Fourth of July overshadowed by 16 mass shootings across US

Fifteen people were killed and 94 injured across 13 states as well as Washington DC

From the nation’s capital to Fort Worth, Texas, from Florin, California, in the west to the Bronx, New York, in the east, the Fourth of July long weekend in the US was overshadowed by 16 mass shootings in which 15 people were killed and nearly 100 injured.

The Gun Violence Archive, an authoritative database on gun violence in America, calculated the grim tally using its definition of a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people excluding the shooter are killed or injured by firearms.

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‘Freakin’ it out’: lip-syncing New Jersey judge in hot water over TikTok videos

Gary Wilcox allegedly performed to graphically sexual and violent songs while wearing his robes at court and in chambers

A judge in New Jersey is under investigation for allegedly filming TikTok videos in which he lip-synced to popular songs, at times in his bed or his judicial chambers.

Last Friday, the advisory committee on judicial conduct in New Jersey’s supreme court filed a complaint against Gary Wilcox, a 58-year-old superior court judge who presides over criminal cases in Bergen county.

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Lab test confirms white powder found at White House is cocaine

Secret Service review of visitor logs and surveillance cameras will seek to determine how drug came to be in the West Wing

A formal laboratory test of a white powder found in a “highly-trafficked” area of the White House has been confirmed as cocaine, NBC News reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed official with knowledge of the investigation.

A Secret Service review of visitor logs and surveillance cameras will seek to determine how the cocaine, described as being in a small, zippered bag, came to be in the executive mansion.

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Central Park Five’s Yusef Salaam wins Democratic city council primary

Salaam prevails over two veterans in improbable feat for political novice wrongly accused with four others of raping a woman in 1985

Yusef Salaam, one of the exonerated Central Park Five, is all but assured of a seat on the New York city council after being confirmed as the winner of a Democratic primary, an improbable feat for a political novice who was wrongly accused, convicted and imprisoned as a teenager for the rape and beating of a jogger in Central Park.

Additional votes released on Wednesday showed Salaam as the clear winner of the primary to represent Central Harlem, which took place last week.

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Republican party tweets Independence Day well-wishes with flag of Liberia

Official GOP account deletes tweet featuring Liberian flag, which has single white star where Stars and Stripes has 50

The Republican party was embarrassed when a tweet from its official account celebrating Independence Day featured the wrong flag.

The tweet read: “247 years ago, our forefathers told Ol’ King George to get lost! Happy Independence Day from the GOP!”

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Donald Trump Jr’s Australian speaking tour delayed, promoter says

Turning Point Australia says appearances of former president’s son in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne postponed ‘due to unforeseen circumstances’

A speaking tour from the son of the former US president Donald Trump has been delayed, the tour promoter announced on Wednesday.

Donald Trump Jr was to speak at events in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, kicking off this Sunday. However Turning Point Australia announced on Wednesday that “due to unforeseen circumstances” the appearances would be postponed.

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Russia may be open to prisoner swap for jailed US reporter Evan Gershkovich

Kremlin spokesman says there have been ‘certain contacts on the subject’ with the US but says any discussion will be held in secret

The Kremlin has suggested it could be open to a possible prisoner exchange involving jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, but reaffirmed that such talks must be held away from the public eye.

Asked whether Monday’s consular visits to Gershkovich, who has been held behind bars in Moscow since March on charges of espionage, and Vladimir Dunaev, a Russian citizen in US custody on cybercrime charges, could potentially herald a prisoner swap, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow and Washington had touched on the issue.

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Biden decries gun violence as shootings across US mar Fourth of July festivities

At least 15 people shot dead across the country in mass shootings so far on the holiday weekend celebrating the US’s independence

A long holiday weekend of bloodshed has intensified after a heavily armed gunman in a bulletproof vest opened fire on the streets of Philadelphia on the eve of Fourth of July celebrations, in yet another mass shooting in the US, killing five people and wounding two boys before surrendering to the police.

Across the country, Texas was entering the holiday to news that another shooting had killed three people, in Fort Worth, occurring just before midnight amid a gathering in a parking lot that also wounded eight.

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South Carolina woman dies after being attacked by alligator

The 69-year-old was found dead on Hilton Head Island with the reptile appearing to guard her body and hampering rescue efforts

A South Carolina woman died on Tuesday after she was attacked by an alligator while walking her dog near a golf course, authorities said.

The 69-year-old woman, who has not been named, was found dead in the Spanish Wells community of Hilton Head Island, the Beaufort county sheriff’s office said in a news release.

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US Secret Service investigating as cocaine reportedly found in White House

It wouldn’t be the first time illegal drugs were brought into the president’s residence

A preliminary field test on a white substance found in the White House has reportedly come up positive for cocaine, law enforcement authorities said, and the US Secret Service was investigating on Tuesday how it came to be at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The presence of the substance – which has been sent out for further testing – came to light late on Monday when a firefighter with the Washington DC fire department’s hazardous materials team radioed: “We have a yellow bar saying cocaine hydrochloride,” the Washington Post first reported.

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Fears for Libyan oil production amid military threats

Gen Khalifa Haftar warned of military action unless oil revenues are divided fairly

Fears have been raised of a damaging oil shutdown in Libya with implications for global energy markets after Libya’s strongman in the east, Gen Khalifa Haftar, warned of military action unless oil revenues are divided fairly within the next two months.

With the country long divided between two governments in the east and west and little prospect of presidential elections designed to reunify the country at least until next year, politicians in the east have threatened to put oil revenues under judicial control preventing the revenue reaching the Central Bank from the National Oil Corporation (NOC), the state-run oil firm.

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Daniel Kaluuya’s Barney the Dinosaur film to be ‘adult’ and ‘lean into millennial angst’

Mattel says the Barney movie will be inspired by Charlie Kaufman, while Barbie director Greta Gerwig is planning two Narnia movies for Netflix

The Daniel Kaluuya-produced movie featuring Barney the Dinosaur will be an “adult”, “surrealistic” and “A24-type” film inspired by Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze, it has been revealed.

In a wide-ranging report on the film-making plans of toymaker Mattel in the New Yorker, Mattel Films executive Kevin McKeon said of the project: “We’re leaning into the millennial angst of the property rather than fine-tuning this for kids. It’s really a play for adults. Not that it’s R-rated, but it’ll focus on some of the trials and tribulations of being thirtysomething, growing up with Barney – just the level of disenchantment within the generation.”

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Millions under US heat warnings as record temperatures to continue | First Thing

Further extreme conditions expected during 4 July holiday, as thunderstorms and intense heat continue across the country

Good morning.

Millions across the US have been caught up in dangerous weather conditions over the weekend and are braced for further extreme conditions ahead of today’s 4 July holiday, as thunderstorms and intense heat continue to affect much of the country.

What else is happening? Many midwest cities are also dealing with the aftermath of severe rain and flooding. Weekend thunderstorms in Chicago flooded streets and highways as nearly nine inches of rain fell in some areas of the city in just a few hours, affecting trains as well as motorists. Many in the midwest are without power after the weekend storms.

What’s happening in North Carolina? PFAS pollution from a Chemours plant in North Carolina has widely contaminated the soil, water and air for hundreds of square miles around the company’s Fayetteville Works plant, and residents have said their exposure to the chemicals is behind elevated cancer levels and other serious health problems. Residents have also said they suspect their pets have gotten sick from exposure to the chemicals.

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Emerging details on Titan sub reveal allegedly cavalier attitude toward safety

Experts had flagged safety problems with OceanGate’s vessels much before the doomed journey that killed five people

As additional details emerge about the Titan submersible’s deadly implosion in June, raising still more unknowns, concerns surrounding exploration company OceanGate Expeditions’ allegedly cavalier attitude toward safety have come into sharper relief.

The doomed vessel reportedly dropped weights at some point during its descent; however, it is not known whether this was due to a routine part of descent or in an effort to abandon the doomed mission. All five Titan occupants died in the implosion.

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Houston teen who went missing in 2015 is found alive in city

Rudy Farias was found lying on the ground in front of a church, with his whereabouts for the past eight years still unknown

A Texas man who went missing as a teenager in 2015 after last being seen walking his dogs in Houston has been found alive, his family and police said on Monday.

Police and firefighters found Rudolph “Rudy” Farias IV around 10pm on Thursday after getting a call about a person lying on the ground in front of a church in south-east Houston, a police spokesman, John Cannon, said.

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US investigators zone in on Trump election-plot lawyer John Eastman

Experts say Eastman, faces possible disbarment in California, under increasing scrutiny in federal and state inquiries

John Eastman, who was in the vanguard of lawyers plotting schemes involving “fake electors” and other ploys to help Donald Trump thwart Joe Biden’s win in 2020, is now under close scrutiny in federal and state investigations of Trump’s drives to stay in power, and faces possible disbarment in California, say former prosecutors.

The former California law professor is one of several lawyers whose legal stratagems have been heavily examined by Special Counsel Jack Smith’s accelerating investigation into Trump and his allies’ efforts to block Biden from taking office.

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Fourth of July is a US celebration. Why is it the riskiest day for mass shootings?

Homicides spike in the summer, and large gatherings with a lot of people – and alcohol thrown in – can see gun violence

Gun violence is a daily reality across the US, but an emerging body of research indicates the most risky day for mass shootings in the nation is the Fourth of July, when Americans celebrate their independence from Britain.

Using data from the Gun Violence Archive, James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, found that there have been 52 mass shootings on the Fourth of July over the past decade, averaging just over five a year, and more than on any other given day.

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Man accused of attacking Capitol officer as January 6 arrests pile up

Jeremy Rodgers, 28, arrested in Florida a day after armed man wanted over riot detained near Barack Obama’s Washington home

Americans continue to be arrested on suspicion of taking part in the Capitol attack, two and half years after the January 6 insurrection by supporters of Donald Trump.

Court documents on Monday showed that a Michigan man accused of attacking a police officer with a flagpole during the insurrection was arrested in Florida last Friday, a day after an armed man also wanted for the rioting was arrested near Barack Obama’s Washington home. Another man suspected of violence at the Capitol was arrested in Maryland last month.

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