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Good evening. Here’s the last one at the end of Wednesday.
1. Questions keep piling up on why the gunman during a Fourth of July parade at Highland Park, Illinois, was allowed to buy weapons despite alarming police encounters.
Police said Robert Crimo III, 21, legally bought a gun after authorities received two disturbing reports about him. Months later, Crimo was licensed and soon purchased several weapons, including at least two rifles. The sequence of events called into question the application and strength of Illinois’ firearms laws, which are among the strictest in the country and include a “red flag” provision that allows law enforcement to seize weapons from people identified as dangerous. are considered.
Investigators believe Crimo fled to Madison, Wisconsin after Monday’s attack and considered committing another shooting there, but returned to Illinois, where he was arrested.
Crimo, who is charged with the murder of seven people during the parade, was ordered to be held in prison without bail. Among the victims were the parents of a 2-year-old†
2. Donald Trump’s White House CounselPat Cipollone, has agreed to be interviewed by the committee on Jan. 6.
Cipollone pushed back on the former president’s efforts to reverse the 2020 election and was in the West Wing to see his actions on January 6, 2021. The upcoming interview is a breakthrough for the panel, which pressured Cipollone for weeks to cooperate. He is not expected to testify publicly.
Numerous federal agencies agree that widespread falsehoods can pose a threat to national security. But tackling them has become a highly partisan issue, and nearly impossible. A disinformation sign at the Department of Homeland Security was… dismantled within weeks of its creation†
Johnson has vowed to fight on and shift focus to new tax cuts. But in backrooms in Westminster, lawmakers have held meetings over ways to get him out, possibly within days. This is what happens when he resigns†
4. The Russian invasion has forced more than 10 million Ukrainians – about a third of the population – have moved out of their homes.
That number includes more than six million people displaced in the country – mostly women and children, many of whom face a lack of basic necessities. Now, Ukraine faces the enormous challenge of helping them while trying to fend off a formidable aggressor.
Individual, President Biden told Cherelle Griner, the wife of WNBA star Brittney Griner, that he would pursue “any way” to bring the basketball player home from Russia, where she has been detained since February. The conversation came as the Russian Foreign Ministry said Griner could appeal her sentence or ask for a pardon. once the court has rendered its decision†
5. State Supreme Courts Are Next Front Line in the fight for access to abortion.
Court challenges radical rollback of abortion rights must go through the highest courts of the state, many of which have been shaped by years of conservative activism. Growing political pressure on judges suggests options may be limited for abortion rights advocates in hopes of mitigating the impact of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
In other political news, the Trump era has spawned a new brand of Texas Republicans, one of whom is already running through the halls of Congress: the extreme right Latina†
6. A jury has selected Eric R. Holder Jr. found guilty of first degree murder in the murder of Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle in 2019.
During the murder trialwitnesses described a murder that echoed far beyond the world of West Coast hip-hop and caused a nationwide outpouring of grief. Hussle, whose real name was Ermias Asghedom, was shot and killed at age 33 outside a clothing store he owned in South Los Angeles. Prosecutors described Holder as an embittered acquaintance who had belonged to the same street gang as Hussle.
Hussle was a skilled rapper with underground credentials and an A-list network of supporters. His music career seemed to reach new heights when he was murdered. Hussle won two posthumous Grammy Awards in 2020.
7. An art collector paid $90,000 for a Marc Chagall painting. But an expert panel in France called it fake and wants to destroy it.
Stephanie Clegg bought the painting at a Sotheby’s auction in 1994, just nine years after the artist’s death. It was later appraised at $100,000. Two years ago, when she wanted to sell works from her collection, Sotheby’s suggested auctioning her Chagall. First she had to send the work to France for authentication by a panel of Chagall experts — what Sotheby’s described as a formality, she said.
But the expert panel in Paris declared her Chagall fake and held it, and now wants to destroy it. Sotheby’s has offered Clegg an $18,500 credit for the future sale of artwork she owns, but Clegg says the amount is insufficient. She has asked Sotheby’s for $175,000, a request that the auction house says has no legal basis.
8. Nick Kyrgios has taken over Wimbledon with his antics and psychological warfare. It functions.
Kyrgios, the outspoken and powerful Australian tennis player, advanced to the semi-finals on Wednesday after beating Christian Garin in straight sets† His trick shots and temperament have forced his opponents to defeat not only Kyrgios, but also the thousands of spectators who were looking for a new episode of the most unpredictable show in tennis† But Kyrgios has been back to Australia charged with one count of common assault related to an incident with an ex-girlfriend.
On Friday, Kyrgios will play against Rafael Nadal, who defeated Taylor Fritz in a quarterfinal thriller† Nadal won in a tiebreak after a game of five sets and four hours.
Also at Wimbledon: Simona Halep and Elena Rybakina advanced to the semifinals. Tomorrow, Tatyana Maria and Ons Jabeur, who are close friends, will compete with each other for a place in the final. They hope it won’t make family barbecues uncomfortable.
10. And finally, a group of unlikely roommates.
If you can’t find a suitable place to live, you may be sharing a space with others. That’s what happened a gecko and a family of pygmy possums in Australia. A land conservation manager at the Monjebup Nature Reserve discovered the scheme when he opened the lid of a small nesting box, which replicates the kind of natural cavities many native Australian mammals and birds depend on for shelter.
The arrangement came about because the housemates fit together (they won’t eat each other) and because there are no tree hollows in the former farmland yet. “Animals that wouldn’t normally live together are actually being pushed together because there is so little habitat,” said one ecologist.
Make it a friendly night.
Brent Lewis collected photos for this briefing.