Jul 7, 2023 By Ap 7 min read

Texas gunman in Walmart shooting gets 90 consecutive life sentences and may still face death penalty

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A white gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack on Hispanic shoppers at a Walmart in Texas has been sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences in federal prison. Patrick Crusius pleaded guilty this year to nearly 50 federal hate crime charges in the 2019 mass shooting in the border city of El Paso. The 24-year-old’s sentencing Friday came nearly four years after he drove more than 700 miles from his home near Dallas and targeted Hispanic shoppers with an AK-style rifle inside and outside the store. Texas prosecutors want Crusius to get the death penalty when he stands trial in state court. That trial date has not yet been set.

The US will provide cluster bombs to Ukraine and defends the delivery of the controversial weapon

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has decided to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine for the war against Russia, even though the United Nations urges the warring countries to avoid using them. The decision was announced Friday. Biden says it was a “difficult decision” but “the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition” and the cluster bombs should provide a temporary fix. There are widespread concerns about civilian casualties from cluster bombs. But the Pentagon says the munitions it will provide to Ukraine have a reduced “dud rate.” That means fewer of the unexploded rounds that can result in unintended civilian deaths. Cluster bombs open in the air to hit multiple targets at once.

For the third time this week, Earth sets an unofficial heat record. What’s behind those big numbers?

Earth’s average temperature set a new unofficial record high on Thursday, the third such milestone in a week that already rated as the hottest on record. The planetary average hit 63 degrees Fahrenheit, surpassing the 62.9-degree mark set Tuesday and equaled Wednesday, according to data from a University of Maine tool that uses satellite data and computer simulations to measure the world’s condition. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has distanced itself from the calculations in part because they rely on modeling. But scientists say the daily drumbeat of records — official or not — is a symptom of a larger problem where the precise digits aren’t as important as what’s causing them.

Leslie Van Houten, follower of cult leader Charles Manson, is one big step closer to freedom

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten is one step closer to being released from prison after California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he’ll no longer fight her parole. Van Houten has been in prison for 53 years for participating in two fatal stabbings at Manson’s direction. Van Houten’s attorney Nancy Tetreault says the state parole board must give one final sign-off and Van Houten could be out in weeks. Newsom rejected parole for Van Houten three times. But a state appeals court in May said she should be released. Newsom said Friday he won’t fight the decision as an appeal is unlikely to succeed.

Video shows Britney Spears inadvertently hit herself in the face in encounter with Victor Wembanyama

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Police say no charges will be filed following a brief investigation of the altercation involving pop star Britney Spears, San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama and a member of the player’s security team. Spears said she was struck by a security guard as she tried to approach Wembanyama near a restaurant in a Las Vegas casino complex on Wednesday night. Wembanyama said a person, who he later found out was Spears, grabbed him from behind. Spears filed a police report, alleging battery. But police say surveillance video shows Spears inadvertently hit herself in the face after her hand was pushed off Wembanyama.

An Afghan man who spent years helping US forces in Afghanistan is shot and killed in Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Afghan immigrant who’d worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan was shot and killed this week in the United States. Nasrat Ahmad Yar came looking for a better life for his four children, but he died in Washington while working as a ride-share driver. Rahim Amini is a close friend of Ahmad Yar’s from Afghanistan. He describes his longtime friend as a generous person who sent money back to family and friends still in Afghanistan. No suspects have been arrested, but surveillance video captured the sound of a single gunshot and four boys or young men were seen running away. Police have offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Dutch premier resigns because of deadlock on thorny issue of migration, paving way for new elections

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has announced his resignation and that of his Cabinet, citing irreconcilable differences within his four-party coalition about how to rein in migration. The decision late Friday by the Netherlands’ longest-serving premier means that the country will face a general election later this year for the 150-seat lower house of Parliament. “It is no secret that the coalition partners have very different views on migration policy,” Rutte told reporters in The Hague. “And today, unfortunately, we have to draw the conclusion that those differences are irreconcilable. That is why I will immediately … offer the resignation of the entire Cabinet to the king in writing.”

Trump blasts DeSantis in Iowa, says GOP rival ‘despises’ the state’s ethanol

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Campaigning in Iowa, former President Donald Trump has attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as an enemy of corn-based ethanol. Trump headlined his largest Iowa campaign event in nearly four months on Friday with a speech to more than 1,000 in an arena in Council Bluffs. He assailed DeSantis, his top rival for the GOP presidential nomination, for opposing the federal mandate for ethanol, a renewable fuel additive that Iowa leads the nation in producing. Although caucus campaigns have become more focused on national priorities, some candidates have portrayed support for ethanol as a litmus test in Iowa. But Sen. Ted Cruz won the state’s 2016 GOP caucuses despite opposing the mandate.

Capitol rioter linked to Proud Boys gets 5 years in prison for pepper-spraying police

A Florida man prosecutors say is affiliated with the Proud Boys extremist group has been sentenced to five years in prison for attacking police officers with pepper spray as they tried to defend the U.S. Capitol. The sentencing in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack came Friday in federal court in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors say Barry Ramey also tried to intimidate an FBI agent investigating Ramey before his arrest by anonymously calling the agent and reciting the agent’s home address. Ramey has been locked up since his April 2022 arrest. His lawyer said in court papers that her client understands “the gravity of his actions.”

France’s small towns are reeling from the spread of rioting. ‘Now it’s affecting the countryside’

PARIS (AP) — Tranquil French villages and towns escaped previous cycles of urban violence. But they were whacked in the latest spasm of unrest that engulfed the country after police shot and killed a teenager of north African descent in the Paris suburbs. It has left rural mayors scratching their heads and concerned that the tensions of France’s cities are trickling outward. By the government’s count, more than 500 cities, towns and villages were impacted, adding to a staggering nationwide tally of destruction. It’s more proof that in the 21st century, geography isn’t the insulating force it once was.