Jordan says it intercepted missiles launched from Iran
CAIRO (AP) — Jordan’s military says its air defenses intercepted five missiles launched from Iran early Wednesday. In a statement, the military says the missiles had been “intercepted and destroyed.” It did not mention any casualties. Earlier, the U.S. military said it knocked down an Iranian missile barrage and worked with Saudi Arabia’s forces to strike sites in Iraq that Tehran-backed militias have used to launch attacks in recent days, shattering a brief pause in fighting. All Iranian missiles launched against American forces in the Middle East were intercepted, U.S. Central Command said.
Rescuers search for the missing after Japan earthquake as death toll rises to 13
KUMAMOTO, Japan (AP) — Soldiers and emergency workers are combing through a badly damaged shopping mall and collapsed houses looking for trapped survivors after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 13 people in southwestern Japan. Bullet train services and some airport operations remained suspended Wednesday a day after the magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Kumamoto area on the southern main island of Kyushu. Damage was still being assessed, and an unknown number of people were missing. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said: “There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time.” A government spokesman said about 36,900 homes were without electricity and thousands spent the night in evacuation centers.
Senate confirms Jay Clayton as nation's intelligence director
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed Jay Clayton to become head of the nation’s intelligence agencies. The vote Tuesday puts a permanent director in the job weeks after President Donald Trump sought to delay his nomination. Clayton is the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman. Republicans had initially hoped to confirm Clayton in June, but Trump delayed his hearing in order to allow his temporary pick for the job, Bill Pulte, to take over for several weeks. The last director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, resigned in May.
Netanyahu praises first meeting with Trump since launching the Iran war
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he had an “excellent” meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House. It was their first sit-down since launching a joint war against Iran and it offered Netanyahu a chance to smooth out strains in their relationship. The closed-door meeting Tuesday lasted nearly an hour and a half. Trump called it a “very good meeting” where “many important subjects were discussed” but offered no further details. Both leaders face growing pressures at home. Netanyahu is up for reelection and is embattled in part because of his deteriorating relationship with the president. Trump is under pressure to end an unpopular war that has wreaked economic havoc ahead of U.S. elections in November.
Zelenskyy has a 'good meeting' with Trump at the White House as he seeks more cooperation with US
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have met to discuss Ukraine producing its own weapons amid its ongoing war with Russia. Zelenskyy called it a “good meeting.” Tuesday's White House sit-down followed a NATO summit in Turkey, where Trump announced the U.S. will allow Ukraine to make Patriot defense systems. Zelenskyy thanked Trump for the support and emphasized the importance of diplomacy. Trump later said the meeting went “very well!” The meeting coincided with Zelenskyy's visit to Washington for Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham's funeral. Zelenskyy met with senators after Graham’s funeral.
Lindsey Graham eulogized as an 'American original' with global reach
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump remembers Sen. Lindsey Graham as “a giant of the United States Senate" and a "true American original.” Trump joined foreign leaders, lawmakers and others at a funeral service for Graham on Tuesday at Washington National Cathedral. In his remarks, Trump said Graham was “the first person to make you laugh and one of the last people that you’ve really ever wanted to fight.” Earlier Tuesday, Graham’s flag-draped casket arrived for a tribute at the U.S. Capitol, where the Republican served for more than 30 years. Graham will be buried Wednesday in his home state of South Carolina. He died July 11 at age 71.
15-year-old arrested at Seattle food festival shooting was armed with a ghost gun, police say
SEATTLE (AP) — The 15-year-old arrested after a shootout at a food festival near Seattle’s Space Needle over the weekend was armed with a ghost gun with an extended magazine. Police Chief Shon Barnes told a news conference Tuesday that the weapon was a 9 mm gun from Polymer80 — a now-defunct company that was once a leading manufacturer of ghost gun parts. Barnes says investigators also recovered two other weapons and 14 shell casings that had been fired by weapons of two different calibers. The shooting left three people dead, including a 19-year-old gunman, and at least four people injured, including a toddler. Authorities say they believe the violence was gang-related.
Loss of work authorization sows confusion for thousands of Haitian immigrants and their US employers
KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — Thousands of businesses owners and managers in the U.S. are living in a state of constant uncertainty because confusion clouds the status of work permits for Haitian employees with Temporary Protected Status, better known as TPS. As part of its crackdown on legal and illegal immigration, the Trump administration terminated TPS for about 1 million people from more than a dozen countries, including 350,000 Haitians who have been living and working legally in the U.S. since 2010. The termination exposed them to deportation. The manager of a seafood restaurant in Key West, Florida, suspended six of his Haitian employees after they lost authorization to work in the U.S.
Teen gets life without parole for killing 4 at Georgia’s Apalachee High School
A teenager who killed two students and two teachers in a shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia has been sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sixteen-year-old Colt Gray had pleaded guilty Friday to charges including murder in the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting that also left several others wounded. Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm handed down the sentence Tuesday after hearing testimony and considering evidence from both sides. Gray was 14 at the time of the shooting and was charged as an adult. Investigators testified that Gray idolized other mass shooters and studied their methods before carrying out the attack.
Busiest US death chamber: Florida executes 2 men in a day, including an octogenarian
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — Florida has become the first state in nearly a decade to carry out two executions in one day, putting to death an ex-police officer convicted of murder and only the second octogenarian known to receive a lethal injection in modern U.S. history. Ex-police officer James Aren Duckett was pronounced dead after a three-drug injection Tuesday afternoon at Florida State Prison. He was convicted of the 1987 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. Hours later, 80-year-old Dominick Anthony Occhicone was executed for the 1986 killing of his ex-girlfriend’s parents. Florida has now carried out 12 executions this year — more than all other states combined. In 2017, Arkansas executed two men in a single day.
