Inquirer.com – Zurich DR

Tag: no-latest

  • A shootout that killed 3 at a food festival near Seattle’s Space Needle may have been gang-related

    A shootout that killed 3 at a food festival near Seattle’s Space Needle may have been gang-related

    SEATTLE — There were at least three suspects involved in a shootout at a crowded food festival near Seattle’s Space Needle over the weekend, police said Monday. One of them was among those killed in the violence.

    In a document filed in juvenile court in Seattle, where a 15-year-old arrested in the case waived his initial appearance Monday, police said they believe there were at least three shooters, rather than two: the 15-year-old, an acquaintance who died at the scene and “at least one other unknown suspect.”

    Nicole Powell, the Seattle Police Department’s assistant chief of investigations, told a news conference Monday afternoon that investigators believe the shooting may have been gang-related, with two groups firing at each other. The deceased shooter was 19.

    A judge ordered the 15-year-old held in juvenile detention for investigation of firearms violations and first-degree assault. The King County prosecutor’s office said it expected to receive the case from Seattle police on Wednesday for a charging decision.

    The gunfire erupted around 6 p.m. Sunday in the waning hours of the Bite of Seattle, leaving three people dead and at least four others, including a toddler, injured. The annual three-day festival draws hundreds of food and retail vendors and performers to Seattle Center, a sprawling park in the shadow of the Space Needle. Many attendees rushed into campus buildings or ran from the park at the sound of the shots.

    Officials provided confusing statements about the shooting

    News that there were at least three suspects followed a series of confusing statements from city officials concerning the shooting.

    On Sunday, the police department waited five hours to share with the public that one shooter had been arrested and that they believed another to be on the loose. Earlier, Mayor Katie Wilson had announced two people were in custody, a statement she retracted.

    At a news conference before the court hearing Monday, Police Chief Shon Barnes said investigators weren’t sure if the second shooter was among the dead. Neither he nor the mayor made any reference to additional shooters. Barnes had been out of town Sunday, attending a conference of Black law enforcement executives in Dallas.

    The officials defended their handling of the case, saying they were trying to ensure they provided accurate information about chaotic events.

    The victims included a father of three

    The King County Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday identified the dead as Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44; Ashley Whitehead, 56; and Junior Cee Niko Semo, 19.

    Villalba was a husband and father of three known for his kindness and willingness to help others, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched Monday to help his family with funeral expenses. He died from a gunshot wound to his torso, while Whitehead died from a gunshot to her pelvis and Semo died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the medical examiner’s office.

    The four wounded included a 2-year-old boy, who was in satisfactory condition Monday. The others — two men, ages 23 and 27, and a woman, 39 — were discharged, a hospital spokesperson said.

    One of the victims was walking a bicycle when struck, the court document said. The toddler was with his mother.

    Vendors were allowed to clean up Monday

    Vendors were allowed to return to the campus Monday morning to collect their equipment. Skewered squid on grills, roasted ducks in ovens and plates full of food were among the items left behind as people fled.

    Near the spot of the shooting, a stain of what appeared to be blood was still visible. A candlelight vigil was planned Monday night at the center’s International Fountain.

    Dozens of officers were providing security at the event and responded in seconds, at least one observing a suspect firing, authorities said. Police searched an IMAX theater on the grounds where they initially believed a second shooter had fled.

    Adam Lombardo, who had a Burmese food stand at the festival, described the panic of fleeing people as a “stampede.” As he gathered his equipment Monday, he described how police escorted food vendors back to the crime scene to turn off their ovens and stoves.

    “It’s really sad because you think that three innocent people aren’t getting up with their families,” he said. “They just came to enjoy a food festival with people, with friends, with new friends, and they lost their lives in just what sounds like meaningless bloodshed.”

    Attendees describe chaos at a joyful event

    Festival attendee Faith Adia Hunter said she and her friends had just gotten food from a crepe vendor when gunfire broke out. They sheltered in the nearby Seattle Children’s Museum.

    “We were about to start eating, then heard someone yell something, then we saw people start to run,” Hunter said. “So we took off running, too.”

    Moises Perez, 30, was cooking in his apartment next to the Seattle Center when he spotted people running and yelling outside his window. When he opened his door, he heard gunshots and started ushering more than a dozen people, mostly women and children, inside.

    “I was like, ‘OK, we need to help these people,’” said Perez, a construction worker who had attended the food festival that morning. He said losing his brother to gun violence in Mexico years ago made him determined to help the people trying to get to safety.

    He and his roommate, William Large, 25, made sure the door was locked and started directing people to the bathroom and hallway, and told them they could stay as long as they needed.

    “They were definitely in shock. I know that a lot of people were crying, people were screaming, people were just in complete fear,” said Large, who works in social services.

    About 30 minutes later, Perez walked out to see what had happened. He found a woman shot in the leg being helped by emergency officials.

    The festival started in 1982 and draws 350,000 attendees, according to its website.

  • Stocks drift on Wall Street and crude oil prices drop as Mideast tensions cool

    Stocks drift on Wall Street and crude oil prices drop as Mideast tensions cool

    Stocks on Wall Street drifted to a mixed close Monday as oil prices fell after the U.S. and Iran paused their attacks while work resumed on restarting negotiations to end the war.

    The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1% after spending much of the day bouncing between small gains and losses. The benchmark index was coming off two weekly losses in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%, its fourth straight loss.

    The three major stock indexes are on pace to close out this month in the red. It would be the second straight monthly loss for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

    Oil prices reversed course from a week ago, when a sharp escalation in fighting between the U.S. and Iran worsened worries about global oil supplies. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 6.3% to settle at $85.87 a barrel for October delivery. Prices surged to over $100 a barrel last week before easing.

    U.S. crude oil for September delivery fell 7.5% to settle at $82.61 a barrel.

    The war between the U.S. and Iran has sharply curtailed, and at a times halted, traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz. That has had a ripple effect throughout the world’s economy. Gasoline prices have surged and shipping costs for most goods are rising, with businesses typically passing those costs along to households.

    Markets closed higher in Europe and Asia.

    Bond yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.65% from 4.69% late Friday.

    Technology companies were behind much of the shifts in the market, with gains and declines for a mix of big companies resulting in uncertain trading.

    Nvidia fell 5% and Micron Technology slumped 2.3%. At the same time, Microsoft rose 1.9% and Apple rose 1.2%. They are all among the most valuable companies in the world, and those huge valuations give them more influence over the direction of the broader market.

    The mix of gains and losses from a variety of those companies had more impact in pushing and pulling the market, even as the majority of companies in the S&P 500 gained ground.

    Communications company stocks were among the gainers Monday. Google parent Alphabet rose 2.1%, while Charter Communications jumped 6.7% and Comcast rose 2.3%.

    Credit card issuers and payment processors also notched gains. American Express climbed 2.8%, Capital One Financial added 2.1%, Visa rose 1.9%, and rival Mastercard gained 2.2%.

    In Asia, Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT soared in its debut in Shanghai. The company jumped to become China’s most valuable listed company with an estimated market capitalization of 3.3 trillion yuan (nearly $490 billion).

    All told, the S&P 500 added 1.20 points to 7,413.18. The Dow gained 262.83 points to 52,210.08, and the Nasdaq dropped 43.74 points to 24,932.08.

    Wall Street has a busy week ahead with several potentially mark-moving updates on the economy and company earnings. Reports are due out on consumer confidence Tuesday and inflation on Thursday.

    “This is a week with more than its fair share of potential surprises, good and bad,” said Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.

    The big focus will be on the Federal Reserve, which will give an update Wednesday on its interest rate policy. The central bank has been grappling with the impact from rising inflation because of the ongoing U.S. war with Iran. It also has to contend with a fresh round of U.S.-imposed tariffs globally, which could further worsen inflation.

    Wall Street anticipates a nearly 36% chance that the Fed will raise interest rates at its meeting this week. Higher rates can help cool inflation by making borrowing more expensive and slowing economic growth.

    The central bank has been holding rates steady throughout the year as it monitors inflation’s direction and impact, but Wall Street expects at least one rate hike by the end of the year.

    Stubbornly high inflation has been squeezing households and fuel costs have hit budgets and spending particularly hard. Gasoline costs are taking a bigger chunk out of household budgets, and that could mean tighter spending on other things like clothing and travel.

    Investors are monitoring the latest round of corporate earnings for signs of consumer stress along with whether the yearlong jump in stock values throughout Wall Street is justified by profits and forecasts for profit growth.

    Investors also have a heavy round of corporate earnings to review this week. Many of those reports could provide more clues into the health of different areas of the economy. Paint and coatings maker Sherwin-Williams, aircraft maker Boeing, and payments processor Visa will report their latest results on Tuesday.

    Starbucks and Chipotle will report results on Wednesday.

    Technology companies are being watched especially closely because their sharp gains throughout the year have been behind the Wall Street’s record run. Microsoft will report results Wednesday. Amazon, with its growing cloud services business and AI focus, will report results on Thursday, along with Apple.

  • French president pledges support on visit to fire zone, vows: ‘We will win this battle together’

    LEGE-CAP FERRET, France — French President Emmanuel Macron urged fire crews to “stay strong” as they battled Monday to bring a monster wildfire under control, warning that the fight will take time but vowing, “We will win this battle together.”

    On a visit to a coordination center for the massive firefighting effort in southwest France, Macron heard how the blaze raging since last week has been wildly unpredictable, transforming at times into a self-feeding fire storm as it burned through an area four times the size of Paris and forced 220,000 people to flee their homes.

    “We’re facing a completely unprecedented fire,” Macron said, describing the situation as France’s worst fire-related crisis since World War II.

    He praised firefighting teams who stopped the inferno’s progression Monday after days of spreading flames that edged toward the wine region city of Bordeaux. But with woodlands still smoldering, he and other government officials cautioned that the battle isn’t yet won, with forests turned tinder-dry by successive heat waves this year and another forecast for this week.

    “The weeks ahead will be hard. We must hold firm,” Macron said.

    Fire crews racing against feared next heat wave

    With thousands of firefighters on the ground and rotations of water- and retardant-dropping aircraft, it became a race against time Monday to contain the blaze before temperatures soar, with national weather service forecasts of 95 F and above in southwest France from Tuesday.

    Authorities also are working to feed, shelter and care for evacuees who fled in staggering numbers: 250,000 in the southwest, driven away by two fires.

    Macron spoke of displaced people “traumatized” by the upheaval and “who sometimes have lost everything.”

    No new evacuations were announced Monday. But with France about to enter its peak August tourist season, authorities for the Gironde region around Bordeaux worked to keep vacationers away, banning holiday camps for children and for people with disabilities. Government ministers also urged people not to travel to the region that is popular for its Atlantic beaches, famous wines and some of France’s largest expanses of forests.

    Crews using earth movers tore up strips of forest and scrubland to create barren spaces, intended to block the flames that officials said had come within 10 miles of Bordeaux’s outskirts. Farmers kept fire crews supplied with water, transporting it to them in tanks.

    Briefing Macron, the Gironde region’s fire chief explained how crews had wrestled with the blaze unlike any they’d previously tackled, extraordinarily virulent and capricious, “a fire that’s going everywhere” and which generated electrical storms that sparked more flare-ups.

    “The last 24 hours went well, thanks to your work” Macron told firefighters. “Doubtless, tomorrow will be more complicated than today.”

    Spain is also battling fires

    Around a dozen countries have provided planes, helicopters, firefighters, and other assistance to both France and Spain, which is also fighting unprecedented blazes. All told, fires in the two countries have forced more than 330,000 people to flee.

    In Spain, wildfires have burned out of control around Madrid and in the Valencia region. Authorities evacuated 79,000 people and confined 30,000 others to their homes.

    In both Spain and France, the exceptional scale of the fires — fueled by heat waves that hit especially hard and early this year, making forests and scrubland tinder-dry — are driving calls for stronger action against climate change.

    “What we are experiencing is not a series of isolated incidents. It is the consequence of a climate emergency that is making wildfires even more violent, heat waves more frequent,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

    A fire raging in hilly, rural terrain in Ávila, west of Madrid, has become Spain’s largest on record, scorching 193 square miles, the government said. That’s five times the size of Barcelona.

    “Look at how the valley is burned. Look at the houses, the people,” said David Gonzalez, a 48-year-old gardener who used his van to run supplies to firefighters in Ávila.

    “We are feeling lot of anger and helplessness. It’s something inhuman,” he said.

    Fires have burned 590 square miles this year in Spain — six times the area scorched by blazes in the first half of 2025, said Sara Aagesen, the ecology minister.

    The minister said that another heat wave forecast from Tuesday — which would be Spain’s fourth so far this year — could ratchet up the fire danger. Spain’s weather agency forecast temperatures above 104 F.

    Water-dropping planes combat fire in Italy

    A wildfire driven by strong winds broke out on Sunday afternoon near Peschici, in Italy’s southern Puglia region, burning pine forest and scrub and forcing the evacuation of about 300 tourists from beaches and campgrounds, authorities said.

    The Coast Guard evacuated tourists by sea to nearby Vieste, where authorities opened temporary shelters.

    Three Canadair water-bombing planes and fire crews on the ground continued Monday to battle the blaze, which revived memories of devastating wildfires that hit the same coastal area in 2007.

  • Trump defends his economic policies in Michigan, where new Canadian tariffs may sting

    Trump defends his economic policies in Michigan, where new Canadian tariffs may sting

    MILFORD, Mich. — In a visit to Michigan on Monday, President Donald Trump argued that his economic policies have revived the auto industry and American manufacturing even as many businesses contend that the sweeping tariffs he’s imposed against Canada and the rest of the world have hurt the state.

    Trump defended his policies while visiting a General Motors facility in the Detroit suburb of Milford that is a testing ground for its vehicles. He pumped a fist after watching Corvette, Cadillac, and Hummer vehicles compete in a series of drag races.

    In a speech, Trump cheered GM’s plans to expand production domestically in coming years and declared himself a president who was standing up for auto workers “at long last.”

    “I’ve done more for you than your parents, OK?” he said.

    After being led on a tour of vehicles from different eras of GM, some of which he sat in, Trump claimed the tariffs have helped the automaker.

    “They’ve come a long way,” he said to reporters about the Detroit-based automaker. “It’s amazing what tariffs are doing for GM.” Trump said he’s been good to the company but he declined to say more.

    “The rest of the world doesn’t love me, but that’s OK,” he said, alluding to tariffs. “It’s called ‘America first.’”

    Trump’s visit is close to Michigan primary on Aug. 4

    Trump called out several Republican candidates and invited them onstage during his remarks Monday.

    Republican Mike Rogers is unopposed in the Senate primary, but the GOP gubernatorial contest pits Trump-backed Rep. John James against Perry Johnson, a businessperson turned politician who has launched unsuccessful campaigns before, including for president in 2024.

    Johnson is now trying to style himself in the president’s mold — despite missing out on his endorsement.

    The Democratic Senate primary between Rep. Haley Stevens and progressive Abdul El-Sayed has drawn national attention for the right to face Rogers, who was narrowly defeated by Democrat Sen. Elissa Slotkin in 2024.

    Early voting is underway.

    Trump’s new Canada tariffs could hurt Michigan

    Michigan was one of the 2024 battlegrounds Trump flipped after it backed Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. But the state has seen parts of its economy affected by the president’s tariffs, including those on imported cars and auto parts.

    A new round of steep import levies is taking effect on dozens of U.S. trading partners. But Trump has singled out Canada with tariffs as high as 50% on a wide array of its products, including cars.

    The GM facility is in Oakland County, which encompasses much of Detroit’s northern suburbs. Once a Republican stronghold, it has increasingly leaned Democratic, backing Biden against Trump in 2020 and Vice President Kamala Harris against Trump four years later.

    GM says its facility is the oldest dedicated vehicle testing operation in the United States, where 4,200 employees work to refine nearly every vehicle the company makes before they reach consumers.

    Michigan’s economy relies heavily on Canada, however, meaning the new tariffs — coupled with inflation still running high and gas prices rising again as the already unpopular war in Iran continues — have created additional economic concerns statewide.

    Those come at a time when voters across the country were already increasingly dissatisfied with Trump’s handling of the economy.

    Jason Roe, a former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party who tried unsuccessfully to distance it from Trump’s Make America Great Again movement in 2021, said that more than coinciding with his new round of tariffs, Trump’s visit is a function of Michigan’s relatively late primary and is meant to ensure that James secures the nomination.

    But Roe also said it was a risk for the president to tie himself too closely to top Republicans before the general election, calling it “kryptonite to November voters.”

    Trump, who won the White House on a promise to lower the cost of living, also has seen his approval ratings sag, meaning kitchen table issues could be a liability for Republicans trying to hold control of Congress in the Nov. 3 elections.

    “We’re happy to have the president here, campaigning with Republicans. We think it highlights the fact that the only thing they care about is Donald Trump and refuse to stand up to him,” said Curtis Hertel, chairperson of the Michigan Democratic Party. ”It’s good for us every time the president is here because he’s incredibly unpopular.”

    U.S. and Canada have squabbled over a new border bridge

    The Supreme Court struck down many of Trump’s sweeping tariffs, but his administration has tried to find ways around that, including by arguing that he can impose them on Canada because that country is discriminating against American exports of products including automobiles.

    But Trump’s latest round of tariffs came after he voiced frustration with Canada for having retaliated and imposed its own levies on U.S. imports in response to Trump’s initial tariffs last year. Trump launched the first round after alleging Canada should do more to stop fentanyl smuggling.

    It is Trump’s third trip to Michigan in his second term.

    In January, he visited a Ford plant in Dearborn and addressed the Detroit Economic Club, offering a defense of tariffs even as auto industry leaders blamed them for increasing the cost of doing business.

    The president marked his second term’s first 100 days with a rally in Warren, where he mostly mentioned grievances left over from the 2024 campaign,

    His latest visit coincides with tensions between his administration and Canada that have marred the opening of a new bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

    Canada on Friday held its own event hailing the opening of the $4.7 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge instead of a planned celebration with officials in the U.S. after Trump announced the new Canadian tariffs.

    An earlier, joint ceremony had been set for June but was scrapped after Trump suggested the U.S. wanted a “better” deal on the bridge it co-owns with Canada.

    That eventually led to an agreement on splitting tolls that was supposed to allow for the rescheduled joint U.S.-Canada celebration — until the new tariffs derailed that, too.

  • Trump’s border czar says vetting of ICE officer is under internal review after Maine shooting

    Trump’s border czar says vetting of ICE officer is under internal review after Maine shooting

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s border czar said Sunday that the vetting of an immigration officer involved in the deadly shooting of a Colombian native in Maine is under internal review after relatives revealed to The Associated Press that he had a history of serious mental health struggles and violent behavior.

    Tom Homan said if the allegations against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer are true, “I don’t think he should ever have cleared vetting.”

    “There’s several things under review,” Homan said on CNN about the officer, Army veteran David Brouillette. “The training is under review. I know this specific case, as far as the vetting, is under review by the internal affairs section.”

    Questions about the Department of Homeland Security’s rush to hire, train and deploy thousands of new ICE officers to carry out Trump’s immigration crackdown have come into stark focus after back-to-back fatal shootings of immigrants in Maine and Houston.

    Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin ordered a pause in vehicle stops after the fatal Maine shooting, but Trump almost immediately reversed course and insisted the stops resume as a necessary tool in his campaign to round up and deport immigrants who are in the U.S. without current legal status.

    Homeland Security did not immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment about the internal review.

    ICE issues new requirement for body-worn cameras during vehicle stops

    Homan said that “changes have been made” and that acting ICE director David Venturella has issued a new directive that body-worn cameras must be in use if officers make a vehicle stop.

    “Right now, on all vehicle stops, there’s at least one body camera on site to record the entire event,” he said.

    He said Venturella “sent an instruction out that he wants at least one body camera on those vehicle stops, so we have everything on video.”

    It’s unclear whether the steps that the department is taking will be enough to quell the concerns coming from certain lawmakers in Congress over Homeland Security’s training and tactics as tries to reach Trump’s mass deportation goals.

    Lawmakers push for answers but have more questions

    Lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns.

    Democrats pressed ICE officials during a closed-door briefing for the House Homeland Security Committee last week, leaving some with more questions than answers.

    Lawmakers were told during the briefing that there have been 56 complaints of excessive force against ICE officers — 32 were cleared, and one was referred for disciplinary action.

    No discipline had yet been handed out, the lawmakers said they were told. The rest of the incidents are still under investigation.

    Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, has pushed for the use of body-worn cameras and ensured funding for the effort. She had said it was “extremely unfortunate” that the officer involved in the shooting in her home state was not using a camera.

    Homeland Security is under scrutiny but also faces pressure to increase deportations

    The Trump administration has failed to meet its goal of deporting 1 million people a year, despite an intense immigration enforcement crackdown that has resulted in violent scenes in cities nationwide.

    At least 10 people have died in encounters with immigration officers since the start of Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

    While the Trump administration insists it is targeting the “worst of the worst” criminals, that has not always been the result, and American citizens also have been among the deaths.

    The ICE officer shot 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian national who was killed in his car near his home in the coastal city of Biddeford.

    In Houston, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was killed July 7 when ICE officers chased his white work van through the streets, then shot him through the window in front of his work crew, including his brother.

    Earlier this year, two Americans protesting ICE actions in Minneapolis, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, were killed, sparking a backlash nationwide.

    Democrats launched the longest agency shutdown in history earlier this year when they refused to fund Homeland Security in a largely failed attempt to force the administration to impose various restraints on the officers.

  • Trump administration urges Supreme Court to allow order targeting mail-in voting before midterms

    Trump administration urges Supreme Court to allow order targeting mail-in voting before midterms

    WASHINGTON — The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to clear the way for an executive order from President Donald Trump that could dramatically change mail-in voting ahead of November’s midterm elections.

    The Justice Department asked the justices to halt for now lower court decisions blocking work to implement the sweeping changes in nearly half the country.

    The request comes shortly after Trump delivered a primetime address elevating his yearslong push to raise doubts about the legitimacy of elections, and could be one of several voting-related challenges before the court ahead of the high-stakes midterm contest.

    Trump ordered the government in March to create a “state citizenship list” of eligible voters and deliver mail ballots only to people on that list.

    Democratic officials in 23 states and the District of Columbia sued, saying the Constitution gives states and Congress the authority to set election rules, not the president. Their attorneys have said Trump’s proposed changes are ripe for abuse and could cause chaos.

    A judge in Massachusetts blocked the order for the plaintiff states, and a divided 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel left her ruling in place over the weekend.

    The executive order issued in March calls for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the commissioner of the Social Security Administration to create a federal list of eligible voters. It tells the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to people on that list.

    The order also calls for ballots to have secure envelopes with unique bar codes for tracking. Federal funding could be withheld from states and localities that don’t comply.

    The appeal argues that Trump’s order lays out “general policy guidance” and doesn’t directly dictate how states run their elections. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the high court to freeze the judge’s order as lawsuits play out, calling it indefensible.

    “And the injunction is especially indefensible because the agencies are still deliberating over how (if at all) to implement the Order, yet the district court preemptively decided that whatever the agencies may choose to do will necessarily be unlawful,” Sauer wrote.

    He urged the high court to move quickly, arguing that any new policies would have to be in place as soon as August to be effective for the November elections.

    A response to the appeal is due Aug. 3.

    Trump promoted the proposed changes as safeguards to keep non-U.S. citizens from voting. Noncitizen voting has been shown to be rare, and is a felony that can be punishable by deportation.

    U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani in Boston, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, agreed in June to halt implementation for the Nov. 3 elections.

    Her ruling differed from that of another federal judge based in Washington. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was appointed by Trump, found in May it was too early to block the order because it had not yet been implemented.

    The office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading the lawsuit, did not immediately comment on the Trump administration’s appeal. New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office declined to comment.

    the Postal Service also would not discuss its plans regarding implementing Trump’s order or its rule, citing the ongoing litigation. In Kansas, Secretary of State Scott Schwab’s office said it has not yet heard from the Postal Service about plans going forward.

  • Years of scandals haven’t stopped Ken Paxton. Can James Talarico change that?

    Eight years ago, during a campaign for Texas attorney general, Justin Nelson ran television advertisements with security camera footage of Ken Paxton pocketing an expensive pen that didn’t belong to him.

    Four years ago, George P. Bush went after Paxton by putting up billboards that said “he’s a crook” next to his mugshot from when he was charged with securities fraud.

    And earlier this year, U.S. Sen John Cornyn said “judgment day is coming” as he tried to fend off a Republican primary challenge from Paxton.

    All of them lost. Now the question is whether James Talarico, who topped Rep. Jasmine Crockett in an expensive and fiercely contested Democratic primary, will have any more luck as he faces off against Paxton in one of the country’s most closely watched U.S. Senate races.

    “The guy’s ability to take shots and just keep moving on and stay in elected office is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my career, in 25 years of running campaigns,” said Ash Wright, who worked as a senior adviser to Bush.

    Paxton has never been convicted, and he’s survived by championing conservative legal battles over immigration, abortion, and transgender issues in a Republican-dominated state. Much like President Donald Trump, he’s long portrayed himself as the victim of political persecution.

    Former Paxton challengers and a half dozen campaign strategists who worked against him warned that Texans may tune out any attempt to revive scandals that they’ve heard about for years, especially when rigid partisanship has convinced voters to be extraordinarily forgiving of candidates’ trespasses.

    However, Talarico’s team has studied the previous races and is attempting its own version of the playbook by trying to paint Paxton as part of a broader culture of corruption that has failed to improve people’s lives.

    Paxton’s campaign suggested Talarico’s claims were aimed at distracting voters from a record of “out-of-touch views.”

    “Every time a fighter, like President Donald Trump and now Ken Paxton, stands up to the permanent political class, even after they are completely acquitted of wrongdoing, people like James Talarico continue pushing the same accusations and claiming corruption,” Paxton campaign spokesperson Madison Cercy said.

    Paxton won first reelection narrowly, despite indictment

    Paxton was first elected as Texas attorney general in 2014, and Nelson ran against him in 2018. A Democratic lawyer from Austin, Nelson made Paxton’s indictment on charges of securities fraud central to his campaign, and he poked fun at him for picking up another lawyer’s $1,000 pen after finding it at a courthouse security checkpoint.

    “Vote Justin Nelson for Texas attorney general,” the narrator said. “He will fight on behalf of all Texans. And he won’t steal your pen.”

    Nelson argued that his approach was effective, reflected in Paxton’s narrow margin of 3.6 percentage points in a year when Republican Greg Abbott was reelected as Texas governor by more than 13 percentage points. Nelson’s campaign spent roughly $6.5 million, about half of what Paxton’s campaign spent.

    “My message was working,” Nelson said. “I just needed to go louder and longer.”

    In 2022, Paxton faced a Republican primary challenge from George P. Bush, the Texas land commissioner and the grandson and nephew of two former presidents from the state.

    The securities fraud case was ongoing, and Paxton was also under federal investigation over accusations that he abused his position to benefit an Austin real estate developer, took bribes, and retaliated against whistleblower employees.

    Paxton responded by portraying himself as a Trump-era Republican and Bush as the heir to a privileged political legacy.

    Pro-Paxton organizations spent more than $20 million, about twice as much as Bush and his allies. The race went to a runoff, in which Paxton defeated Bush by 34 percentage points.

    Paxton ran against Rochelle Garza, a Democratic civil rights lawyer from Brownsville, in the general election. She said her campaign had a 300-page opposition research file on Paxton but it was difficult to figure out how to approach his past because voters had heard about it for years.

    “The amount of potential hits on Paxton can make message discipline challenging,” Garza said.

    Paxton ran as the leading legal opponent of President Joe Biden, promoting a string of lawsuits against Biden’s Democratic administration on immigration, abortion, and gender policy.

    Overwhelmingly outspent, Garza lost by roughly 10 percentage points.

    Some supporters see Paxton as a ‘flawed’ fighter

    There was more trouble ahead for Paxton.

    He split with his wife, who later filed for divorce “on biblical grounds.” He was also impeached by the Texas House, although the Senate acquitted him in 2023 and allowed him to remain in office. The securities fraud case ended in 2024, and Paxton was directed to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution.

    Throughout the years, he’s maintained strong support from Republican voters like David and Nancy Lapp, a retired couple from the small town of Wolfforth. They described him as a conservative warrior who has been a victim of persecution.

    “He’s had his share of scandals, and almost all of them have, so it’s not necessarily disqualifying anymore,” said David Lapp, 76. “He’s a flawed person, no doubt about it, but he fights for traditional American ideals.”

    He added that “nowadays, as long as you’re not in jail, they’ll elect you.”

    Biden’s Justice Department in 2024 decided not to prosecute Paxton after the yearslong federal investigation, and Paxton went on to challenge Cornyn for his Senate seat.

    Cornyn and his allies vastly outspent Paxton, blanketing the state with more than $90 million in advertising. After the race went to a runoff, Trump endorsed Paxton, and he won decisively.

    Talarico hopes Waco case sparks new scrutiny

    Talarico promised at a rally in Houston the day after the Republican runoff to “prosecute the case” against Paxton, whom he called “the most corrupt politician in America.”

    Since then, he has sought to introduce a newer question about Paxton, one that involves his office’s handling of a child sexual abuse case this year.

    The attorney general’s office was assigned the felony case involving Waco lawyer Adam Hoffman after the county district attorney recused himself over a potential conflict of interest. After a hung jury trial last year, Hoffman agreed to state lawyers’ offer in April to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge. Prosecutors said the victim did not want to testify a second time. Hoffman served 60 days in jail and was not required to register as a sex offender.

    Talarico said the plea agreement shows Paxton is willing to allow preferential treatment at Texans’ expense.

    “He is everything that’s wrong with this broken, corrupt political system,” Talarico said of Paxton at a rally in Del Rio last week. “This is the rot at the core of this broken political system. It’s why we can’t get ahead, no matter how hard we work, no matter how much we save, because the system is rigged against us.”

    Talarico reported having $21.5 million available last week, while Paxton reported having $7.5 million.

    The Democrat’s fundraising advantage could help him broadcast his message further than Paxton’s previous opponents have been able to do, Nelson said.

    “Even a little bit more money would have helped me,” he said. “I think James has a legitimate shot.”

  • Gunther von Hagens, the German anatomist behind the ‘Body Worlds’ exhibition, dies at 81

    Gunther von Hagens, the German anatomist behind the ‘Body Worlds’ exhibition, dies at 81

    BERLIN — Gunther von Hagens, the German anatomist who generated both fascination and revulsion around the globe with his Body Worlds exhibits of preserved human corpses, has died. He was 81.

    Mr. von Hagens’ family and the Institute for Plastination, which he founded, said he died on Friday. A statement they issued on Monday gave no further details. Mr. Von Hagens had announced in 2010 that he was living with Parkinson’s disease.

    Mr. von Hagens trod a fine line between science, entertainment, and commerce with his touring exhibits, as well as headline-grabbing actions such as a public autopsy.

    At the heart of Mr. von Hagens’ work was the so-called plastination process — replacing body fluids with liquid plastic that then hardens. That technique, which he started developing in the 1970s, prevented decay, left tissues intact, and allowed him to display preserved corpses and their inner organs.

    The resulting exhibition, Body Worlds, first went on show in Japan in 1995.

    Two years later, the collection of partly skinless corpses went on display in Mr. von Hagens’ homeland, overcoming an attempt by local church leaders to block its opening on the grounds that it was disrespectful. Mr. von Hagens said he was helping viewers understand how their bodies work.

    The anatomist “is forced in his daily work to reject the taboos and convictions that people have about death and the dead,” Mr. von Hagens said of his work.

    “I touch here a taboo, which is our body, and nothing is so near as our body is to us,” he said.

    The shows used the corpses of people who agreed to donate their bodies for plastination. Critics argued that Mr. von Hagens bordered on sensationalism with his works, which included a corpse riding a plastinated horse, and a pregnant woman with an eight-month-old fetus inside.

    Mr. von Hagens “plays with the corpses like a child plays with dolls,” the Rev. Ernst Pulsfort, spiritual rector of Berlin’s Catholic Academy, said when the show first opened in the German capital in 2001. He argued that it catered to a “public lust for sensation.”

    During a Body Worlds show in London in 2002, the anatomist — wearing, as ever, his trademark black fedora — conducted Britain’s first public autopsy in 170 years before a sellout crowd of hundreds, defying government warnings that it might be illegal.

    Mr. von Hagens declared it a “huge success.” The British Medical Association’s head of ethics, Michael Wilkes, said it was “degrading and disrespectful.”

    The Body Worlds exhibits were shown in several American cities after making their U.S. debut in Los Angeles in 2004.

    Mr. von Hagens’ “Plastinarium,” where bodies are prepared, opened in the eastern German town of Guben in 2006.

    The anatomist was born Gunther Liebchen on Jan. 10, 1945, in what is now western Poland.

    He went to medical school in Jena in East Germany, but increasingly questioned the communist system and made a failed attempt to flee to the West. He was detained before West Germany bought his freedom in 1970, a regular practice at the time.

    He continued his medical studies at the University of Luebeck and, in the 1970s, began working at Heidelberg University’s pathology and anatomy institute. He married a former classmate, Cornelia von Hagens, and took her surname.

    His second wife, Angelina Whalley, heads his Heidelberg-based Institute for Plastination and curates his exhibitions, and he had three children from his first marriage.

    Monday’s statement said it was Mr. von Hagens’ wish that his body be made available for plastination and “his family will respect and carry out this wish.”

  • Tate brothers will remain in jail at least 2 more weeks as they fight extradition to the U.K.

    Tate brothers will remain in jail at least 2 more weeks as they fight extradition to the U.K.

    MIAMI — Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will remain in jail at least two more weeks until their next hearing as they fight extradition to the United Kingdom, where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, a federal judge said Monday.

    U.S. Magistrate Lauren Louis set a detention hearing for Aug. 13 to determine whether the Tates should stay in jail or be released during what could be a monthslong extradition process.

    The brothers weren’t in court Monday or required to be there and have remained in jail since making a brief court appearance two days after their July 18 arrest.

    The Tates have become among the world’s most polarizing internet personalities with their promotion of wealth, male dominance, and misogyny through their social media empire. The new allegations are the latest in a long-running international legal saga involving the Tates that has spanned the U.S., Britain, and Romania. The brothers have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

    Attorneys for the brothers said Monday that they want the U.S. government to turn over documents that U.K. officials submitted to secure their arrest.

    “They don’t have anything but the accusations,” attorney Joseph McBride said after the hearing. “It’s just their word against our word right now.”

    The U.K. has until mid-September to turn over all of its materials to the State Department, U.S. attorney Alejandra Lopez said in court.

    The brothers have long claimed that their violent and misogynistic statements have been taken out of context or were intended as jokes.

    Jackie Perczek, another one of their attorneys, said the Tates have shown they are not a flight risk by returning to Romania every month after they were accused there of luring women for sexual exploitation.

    “For three years they have not fled,” she said. “They’ve traveled the world and every month they return to Romania.”

    The former professional kickboxers, who have dual U.S. and U.K. citizenship, have millions of social media followers and are vocal supporters of President Donald Trump. The White House has said the brothers shouldn’t expect any help from the president.

    McBride said shortly after the Tates were arrested that “they’ve never done nothing wrong. They shouldn’t be extradited for crimes they did not commit,” he said.

    McBride said the extradition attempt was politically motivated, though he provided no details.

    Prosecutors in Britain said the new charges relate to four new accusers and were brought after authorities received evidence from police in Bedfordshire, in southeastern England. The allegations, which span from 2010 to 2017, include rape, assault, trafficking, and offenses relating to “indecent images of a child and extreme pornography.”

    The brothers are already charged with rape, bodily harm, human trafficking, and controlling prostitution for gain relating to three other accusers in the U.K. between 2012 and 2015.

    The brothers moved to Romania in 2016 and were arrested there in 2022, accused of participating in schemes to lure women for sexual exploitation. They denied those allegations, and the Romanian case hasn’t gone forward because of legal and procedural problems.

    Andrew Tate, 39, became known a decade ago when he was a contestant on the U.K. reality television show Big Brother. He was booted from the show when a video appeared to show him assaulting a woman.

    He has amassed over 10 million followers on X but has been banned from other platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, for violating hate speech guidelines. He has made widely condemned comments, such as saying women who are sexually assaulted should bear some responsibility for the attacks and sharing graphic descriptions of how he might attack women.

  • At least 3 shooters at Seattle food festival, documents say

    SEATTLE — Police now say there were at least three suspects involved in a shootout at a crowded food festival near Seattle’s Space Needle over the weekend. One of them was among those killed in the violence.

    In a document filed in juvenile court in Seattle, where a 15-year-old arrested in the case did not appear for a scheduled initial appearance Monday, police said they believe there were at least three shooters, rather than two: the 15-year-old; an acquaintance who died at the scene; and “at least one other unknown suspect.”

    “Based on the evidence at the scene, investigators believe” the 15-year-old “and one of the deceased engaged in a gunfight with at least one other unknown suspect,” the document said.

    The teen was being held in juvenile detention for investigation of firearms violations and first-degree assault ahead of the scheduled court appearance, Mayor Katie Wilson said at a news conference. It was not immediately clear why the teen did not appear in court.

    The gunfire erupted around 6 p.m. Sunday in the waning hours of the Bite of Seattle, leaving three people dead and at least four others injured. The annual three-day festival draws hundreds of food and retail vendors and performers to Seattle Center, a sprawling park and event space in the shadow of the Space Needle. Many attendees rushed into campus buildings or ran from the park at the sound of the shots.

    Officials provided confused statements about the shooting

    News that there were at least three suspects followed a series of confused statements from city officials concerning the shooting.

    On Sunday, the police department waited five hours to share with the public that one shooter was in custody and that they believed another to be on the loose. Earlier, the mayor had wrongly announced two people were in custody.

    At a news conference Monday, just two hours before the 15-year-old was due in court, Police Chief Shon Barnes said investigators weren’t sure if the second shooter was among the dead. Neither he nor the mayor made any reference to additional shooters. Barnes had been out of town Sunday, attending a conference of Black law enforcement executives in Dallas.

    The officials have defended their handling of the case, saying they were trying to ensure they provided accurate information about chaotic events.

    Two people died at the scene and a third died at a hospital. They were described as two men, ages 19 and 44, and a woman, 56.

    The four wounded included a 2-year-old boy, who was in satisfactory condition Monday. The others — two men, ages 23 and 27, and a woman, 39 — were discharged, a hospital spokesperson said.

    One of the victims was walking a bicycle when struck, the court document said. The toddler was with his mother.

    Vendors were allowed to clean up Monday

    Vendors were allowed to return to the sprawling campus Monday morning to collect their equipment and merchandise. Skewered squid on grills, roasted ducks in ovens and plates full of food were among the items left behind as people fled the gunfire.

    Near the spot of the shooting, a stain of what appeared to be blood was still visible in the morning. A candlelight vigil was planned Monday night at the center’s International Fountain.

    Dozens of officers were providing security at the event and some saw one of the suspects firing, authorities said. A large number of police and emergency crews responded and began evacuating the area. Police then searched an IMAX theater on the grounds where they initially believed a second shooter had fled.

    Adam Lombardo, who had a Burmese food stand at the festival with his spouse, described the panic of fleeing people as a “stampede.” As he gathered his equipment Monday, he described how police escorted them into the crime scene to turn off their ovens and stoves.

    “It’s really sad because you think that three innocent people aren’t getting up with their families,” he said. “They just came to enjoy a food festival with people, with friends, with new friends, and they lost their lives in just what sounds like meaningless bloodshed.”

    Attendees describe chaos at a joyful event

    Festival attendee Faith Adia Hunter said she and her friends had just gotten food from a crepe vendor when gunfire broke out nearby. In the scramble to find safety, she and others ran into the nearby Seattle Children’s Museum.

    “We were about to start eating, then heard someone yell something, then we saw people start to run,” Hunter said. “So we took off running, too.”

    Estan Wakonabo said he and his girlfriend were waiting in line for a photo booth when he was shoved from behind and turned to see a rush of people fleeing.

    “People were hiding, were pushing, people were falling on the ground, baby strollers were falling,” Wakonabo said.

    The festival started in 1982 and draws 350,000 attendees, according to its website.