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Two Chicago police officers were shot during a holiday-weekend traffic stop after suspect Malik Wrightsell opened fire; he now faces attempted first-degree murder and a string of weapons charges. Citywide, the July 4 weekend produced three deaths and 16 other shooting victims across 11 incidents. Preliminary figures show a notable drop from the same weekend in 2025, though police officials say any number above zero is unacceptable.
A federal grand jury has indicted three-time U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn on one felony count of destruction of federal property after he allegedly reached into the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and pulled up part of its multi-million-dollar liner. Hearn maintains he only briefly touched a loose piece out of curiosity; National Park Service employees say they watched him tear it up with both hands. He faces up to ten years in prison and is due in D.C. Superior Court on July 9.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer fired back Monday after House Democrats released a 55-page report accusing President Trump of transforming the America 250 bicentennial celebration into a partisan spectacle. Rep. Jared Huffman led the effort, claiming Trump hijacked federal resources for political and religious messaging. Comer responded that the attacks reflect "hatred for the president rather than love of country" and called the probe a political stunt.
President Trump is traveling to Ankara, Turkey for the NATO summit on July 7 and 8, where he plans to press European allies hard on defense spending shortfalls. Trump cited his personal rapport with Turkish President Erdogan as a key reason for attending in person, and a crucial face-to-face sit-down with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is scheduled on the summit sidelines. Both Trump and Putin held separate phone calls with Zelenskyy over the weekend ahead of the in-person session.
Russia launched one of its largest overnight attacks on Kyiv in months just hours before NATO leaders convened in Ankara — firing 351 drones and 68 missiles at the Ukrainian capital and killing at least 18 people while wounding more than 90. Every single one of Russia's 29 ballistic missiles struck its target, with none intercepted, exposing Ukraine's critically depleted air defenses. Zelenskyy called the timing deliberate and said it underscores exactly why he is demanding emergency air defense transfers at the summit.
The state funeral procession for assassinated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran turned into a publicly sanctioned call for murder Monday, as government-authorized poet Mohammad Rasouli declared from the stage: "Trump's murder is our responsibility." A large red banner proclaiming a $100 million bounty on Trump's head was unfurled before the crowd, and a separate Iranian "Blood Covenant" crowdfunding campaign claims to have raised over $40 million for the assassination of the U.S. president. U.S.-Iran peace talks remain paused during a six-day mourning period.
The NATO summit opened in Ankara Monday with Ukraine's president issuing a pointed demand: member nations must stop hoarding air defense interceptor missiles in their own national stockpiles and ship them to Ukraine. Zelenskyy pointed to the overnight Kyiv attack — where zero ballistic missiles were stopped — as direct evidence of what that shortage means on the ground. His scheduled one-on-one meeting with President Trump on Tuesday is being watched as one of the summit's defining moments.
The United States has done something no country in history has ever done: brought three distinct advanced nuclear microreactor designs to criticality in a single month. The third milestone came when Deployable Energy's Unity reactor completed its zero-power criticality demonstration at Idaho National Laboratory on June 30, joining Antares Nuclear's Mark-0 and Valar Atomics' Ward 250. The achievement met President Trump's July 4 deadline set by executive order and signals a genuine opening of the American nuclear renaissance.
Defense analysts and manufacturers are warning that AI-coordinated drone swarms — vast fleets of unmanned aircraft operating as a single weapon system — are moving from the drawing board to the battlefield faster than most military planners anticipated. Companies like Swarm Defense are developing systems designed to launch what they describe as a tidal wave of drones at targets, while others like XCaliber Technologies race to build defensive counter-swarm walls. Analysts say the technology could make conventional air defense architecture obsolete within years.
Bryan Johnson — the tech mogul spending millions on radical longevity protocols with a stated goal of living to 160 — has been diagnosed with autoimmune gastritis, a condition in which his own immune system is systematically attacking and destroying his stomach's acid-producing cells. Doctors took five biopsies and found clear signs his stomach lining is already deteriorating; he has described the diagnosis as his stomach eating itself. The cruel twist: the condition blocks absorption of iron and vitamin B12 — the exact nutrients his extreme health regimen demands most.
