Mass shootings across the U.S. mar the first weekend of summer
By: John Seewer And Sharon Johnson
(AP) – The first weekend of summer brought a tragic yet familiar pattern for American cities wracked by gun violence as mass shootings left dozens dead or wounded at a party in Alabama, an entertainment district in Ohio and a grocery in Arkansas.
It was the second straight weekend that saw an outbreak of mass shootings across the U.S., prompting mayors in places marred by the violence to plead for help.
In Michigan, a deputy was fatally shot while pursuing a suspected stolen vehicle in what the county sheriff described as an ambush. A Philadelphia police officer was critically wounded Saturday after pulling over a car with four people.
Police in Montgomery, Alabama, said hundreds of rounds were fired at a crowded party early Sunday, leaving nine people wounded. Interim Police Chief John Hall said investigators recovered more than 350 different spent shell casings.
Gunfire also broke out early Sunday on the main street of a popular restaurant and entertainment district near downtown Columbus, Ohio.
Ten people were injured, one in critical condition, leading the city’s mayor to call for more action from state and federal governments to keep guns off the streets and for parents to watch their children. Mayor Andrew Ginther said the gun violence “is outrageous, it’s unacceptable, and it must stop.”
The weekend of mass shootings began Friday in the small city of Fordyce, Arkansas, where four people were killed and another 11 injured — including the alleged gunman. The gunfire sent shoppers and store employees ducking for cover. Among those killed was a 23-year-old new mom.
Netanyahu says he won’t agree to a deal that ends the war in Gaza, testing the latest truce proposal
By: Tia Goldenberg And Samy Magdy
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The viability of a U.S.-backed proposal to wind down the 8-month-long war in Gaza was cast into doubt on Monday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would only be willing to agree to a “partial” cease-fire deal that would not end the war, comments that sparked an uproar from families of hostages held by Hamas.
In an interview broadcast late Sunday on Israeli Channel 14, a conservative, pro-Netanyahu station, the Israeli leader said he was “prepared to make a partial deal — this is no secret — that will return to us some of the people,” referring to the roughly 120 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. “But we are committed to continuing the war after a pause, in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I’m not willing to give up on that.”
Netanyahu’s comments did not deviate dramatically from what he has said previously about his terms for a deal. But they come at a sensitive time as Israel and Hamas appear to be moving further apart over the latest cease-fire proposal, and they could represent another setback for mediators trying to end the war.
Netanyahu’s comments stood in sharp contrast to the outlines of the deal detailed late last month by U.S. President Joe Biden, who framed the plan as an Israeli one and which some in Israel refer to as “Netanyahu’s deal.” His remarks could further strain Israel’s ties to the U.S., its top ally, which launched a major diplomatic push for the latest cease-fire proposal.
Seoul says North Korea has resumed balloon launches likely to drop trash in South Korea
By: Hyung-jin Kim
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea resumed launches of balloons likely carrying trash toward South Korea on Monday night, South Korea’s military said, in the latest round of a Cold War-style campaign on the Korean Peninsula.
The launches came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a major defence deal that observers worry could embolden Kim to direct more provocations at South Korea.
A statement from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North Korean balloons were moving southeast. Earlier Monday it noted that northerly or northwesterly winds, favourable for the balloon launches, were forecast.
The statement asked South Korean citizens not to touch North Korean balloons and report them to military and police authorities. The military didn’t say how it would respond to new balloon launches. Separately, Seoul’s city government sent text messages telling citizens to beware of any falling object as the balloons were flying above the capital, an hour’s drive from the border.
Car dealerships in North America revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
By: Wyatte Grantham-philips
NEW YORK (AP) — Car dealerships in North America continue to wrestle with major disruptions that started last week with cyberattacks on a software company used widely in the auto retail sales sector.
CDK Global, a company that provides software for thousands of auto dealers in the U.S. and Canada, was hit by back-to-back cyberattacks Wednesday. That led to an outage that has continued to impact operations.
For prospective car buyers, that’s meant delays at dealerships or vehicle orders written up by hand. There’s no immediate end in sight, with CDK saying it expects the restoration process to take “several days” to complete.
On Monday, Group 1 Automotive Inc., a $4 billion automotive retailers, said that it continued to use “alternative processes” to sell cars to its customers.
A fire at a lithium battery factory in South Korea kills 22 mostly Chinese migrant workers
By: Hyung-jin Kim
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A fire likely sparked by exploding lithium batteries swept through a manufacturing factory near South Korea’s capital on Monday, killing 22 mostly Chinese migrant workers and injuring eight, officials said.
The fire began after batteries exploded while workers were examining and packaging them on the second floor of the factory in Hwaseong city, just south of Seoul, at around 10:30 a.m., fire officials said, citing a witness. They said they would investigate the cause of the blaze.
The dead included 18 Chinese, two South Koreans and one Laotian, local fire official Kim Jin-young told a televised briefing. He said the nationality of one of the dead couldn’t be immediately verified.
In the past few decades, many people from China, including ethnic Koreans, have migrated to South Korea to seek jobs. Like other foreign migrants from Southeast Asian nations, they often end up in factories or in physically demanding and low-paying jobs shunned by more affluent South Koreans.
Kim said that one factory worker remained out of contact and rescuers continued to search the site. He said that two of the eight injured were in serious condition.
A predawn operation has rescued 77 migrants from a crippled yacht off Greece’s Aegean Sea islands
(AP) – A group of 77 migrants were rescued off a crippled sailing yacht after a large overnight operation in the southern Aegean Sea, Greek authorities said Monday.
Nobody was reported missing or injured following the rescue between the islands of Amorgos and Astypalaia, Greece’s coast guard said.
Three coast guard vessels, four merchant ships in the area and two smaller private boats took part in the rescue after passengers on the yacht phoned emergency services for assistance.
The nationalities of the migrants were not immediately known. All were taken to Naxos in the Cyclades island group, where they were given temporary shelter.
It was unclear where the migrants had departed from. They were rescued on a route typically used by smuggling gangs to ferry migrants from Turkey to Italy, avoiding tightly patrolled waters around Greece’s eastern Aegean islands.
Millions swelter as temperatures soar across the US, while floodwaters inundate the Midwest
(AP) – Millions of Americans sweated through yet another scorching day as temperatures soared Sunday across the U.S., while residents were rescued from floodwaters that forced evacuations across the Midwest, including in an Iowa town where the flood gauge was submerged. One person was killed during flooding in South Dakota, the governor said.
From the mid-Atlantic to Maine, across the Great Lakes region, and throughout the West to California, public officials cautioned residents about the dangers of excessive heat and humidity. In Oklahoma, the heat index — what the temperature feels like to the human body — was expected to reach 107 degrees (41 degrees Celsius) on Sunday.
In the Midwest where South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota meet, floodwaters rose through the weekend. In northwest Iowa, 13 rivers flooded the area, said Eric Tigges of Clay County emergency management. Entire neighbourhoods — and at least one entire town — were evacuated, and the town of Spencer imposed a curfew Sunday for the second night in a row after flooding that surpassed the record set in 1953.
Aerial drone launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels hits ship in the Red Sea, causing damage and injuries
By: Jon Gambrell
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An aerial drone launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck and damaged a vessel in the Red Sea on Sunday, officials said, the latest attack by the group targeting shipping in the vital maritime corridor.
The attack comes as the U.S. has sent the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower back home after an eight-month deployment in which it lead the American response to the Houthi assaults. Those attacks have reduced shipping drastically through the route crucial to Asian, Middle East and European markets in a campaign the Houthis say will continue as long as the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip rages on.
The drone attack happened around dawn off the coast of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. It said the vessel sustained damage but its mariners on board “were reported safe.” It did not elaborate on the extent of the damage to the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owner bulk carrier, but said an investigation was ongoing.
Hours after the attack, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the attack, saying the rebels targeted the Transworld Navigator. Saree claimed without offering evidence the rebels instead used a drone boat in the attack, something contradicted by every other report on the assault.
The U.S. military’s Central Command also identified the vessel by the same name, saying several mariners on board suffered minor injuries from the attack.
Ukrainian drones and missiles kill 6 in Russia and Crimea, fresh bombing of Kharkiv leaves 1 dead
By: Tom Williams And Elise Morton
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian authorities said six people died and over 100 were wounded in Ukrainian drone and missile attacks on Sunday, while the second day of Russia’s aerial bombing of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine killed at least one person.
Among the dead were five people — including two children — who were hit by falling debris from Ukrainian missiles that were shot down over a coastal area in Sevastopol, a port city in Russia-annexed Crimea, said Mikhail Razvozhayev, the city’s Moscow-installed governor. Another person died in Grayvoron city in Russia’s Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Razvozhayev said 151 people were wounded in Sevastopol. Falling rocket fragments caused a forest fire of over 150 square metres (1,600 square feet) and set a residential building alight, RIA Novosti said, noting that a fifth missile had exploded over the city.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said both Ukraine and the U.S. bore “responsibility for a deliberate missile strike on civilians.” It said that U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles were used in the Ukranian attack.
Razvozhayev declared Monday a day of mourning in Sevastopol, with public events cancelled.
