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Emergency dispatch recordings surfaced by The Daily Caller show Sen. Mitch McConnell went into cardiac arrest at his Washington DC home on June 14 and required CPR from an Advanced Life Support crew. His office had withheld details for weeks, saying only he was hospitalized and receiving "excellent care." At 84, the Kentucky Republican remains hospitalized with the extent of his condition still unclear.
The Labor Department reported just 57,000 jobs added in June, barely half the 114,000 economists expected, with prior months revised down by a combined 74,000. The unemployment rate ticked to 4.2% only because workers left the labor force entirely, not from actual job gains. The weak report lands on the holiday weekend just as the Big Beautiful Bill heads to the president's desk.
Governors Newsom, Walz, and Pritzker are leading a Democratic coalition urging Congress to block legislation that would bar state and federal climate lawsuits against energy producers and nullify existing emissions penalty laws. Republican sponsors including Senators Cruz, Cotton, and Budd call it a necessary defense against "climate lawfare" threatening American energy jobs. The fight arrives as the Big Beautiful Bill's energy provisions are set for today's signing ceremony.
Vinton County, Ohio authorities executed a search warrant and found 16 children — ages 18 months to 18 years — living in conditions the state attorney general called "pure evil," with some reportedly unable to speak. Four members of the Siders family were charged with 16 counts of child endangering each and held on $300,000 bond apiece. All 16 children are now in protective custody.
British PM Starmer and French President Macron announced a formal agreement with Oman to restore safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, saying a multinational defensive naval mission — anchored by France's Charles de Gaulle carrier group — could deploy within two to three days of a sustainable ceasefire. The announcement came as the US paused Iran talks for the week-long Khamenei state funeral.
European prosecutors raided multiple companies linked to Marine Le Pen's National Rally party just days before Le Pen receives her final appeal ruling on a five-year election ban that would determine whether she can run for the French presidency in 2027. Critics are calling the raids "Lawfare 2.0" — timed to damage both Le Pen and her deputy and potential successor, Jordan Bardella, before the verdict lands.
Pope Leo XIV, America's first pope, appointed Italian economist Sister Alessandra Smerilli as Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, making her the highest-ranking woman in Vatican governance to date. He simultaneously named Cardinal Fabio Baggio as co-prefect, a move observers see as threading the needle between meaningful reform and institutional tradition.
The Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range, designed to give carrier aircraft a 120-mile standoff capability against enemy air defenses, has missed multiple milestones due to software, hardware, and testing failures. Deliveries originally planned for late 2023 are now expected no earlier than mid-to-late 2026, and the GAO warns that beginning production before testing is complete will drive costly rework.
A retired insurance executive discovered one of only 11 known "Exeter printing" copies of the Declaration of Independence tucked inside a Royal Navy captain's correspondence dated 1776 at the UK National Archives. The document went on public display July 2 to mark America's 250th anniversary — the only copy of this printing ever identified outside the United States.
The Trump administration, through Special Presidential Envoy for American Tourism Nick Adams, extended a White House invitation to "Freddy" — the German soccer fan whose relentlessly joyful crowd presence made him one of the World Cup's most beloved viral figures. The invite is part of the America 250 celebrations and a broader soft-power push to brand the US as a warm and welcoming World Cup host nation.
