This morning's top headlines: Wagner chief in Russia; Meta's Threads; Coco Lee dies
Wagner chief in Russia; Meta's Threads; Coco Lee dies; and more morning headlines:
(14) updates to this series since Updated
The president of Belarus says Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is in St. Petersburg and his Wagner troops have remained at the camps they stayed in before an attempted mutiny against Moscow. President Alexander Lukashenko helped broker a deal under which Prigozhin ended his abortive mutiny on June 24 in exchange for security guarantees for himself and his soldiers. The deal allowed Prigozhin and his troops to move to Belarus. Lukashenko said last week that Prigozhin was in Belarus. He told international reporters Thursday that the mercenary chief is in St. Petersburg and Wagner troops still were at their camps. The Kremlin has refused to comment on Prigozhin’s location or movements since the abortive revolt.
Russia has fired cruise missiles at a western Ukraine city far from the front line of the war, killing at least four people in an apartment building. On Thursday, Ukrainian officials said it was the heaviest attack on civilian areas of Lviv since the Kremlin’s forces invaded Ukraine last year. The nighttime attack destroyed the roof and the top two floors of a residential building, injuring 34 people as emergency crews with search dogs went through the rubble. Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said around 60 apartments and 50 cars in the area of strike were damaged. The U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, described the attack as vicious.
Tens of millions of people have quickly signed up to Meta’s new app, Threads, as it aims to compete with Twitter. It's a sign that users are looking for an alternative to the social media platform that's undergone a series of unpopular changes since Elon Musk bought it. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that 30 million people had registered for Threads in its first day. There's plenty of excitement about the opportunity to make a fresh start on a new social media app. There also have been glitches, annoyance about the lack of a chronological feed and gripes about missing features. That raises the question of whether it could pose a meaningful challenge to Twitter.
Donald Trump’s valet, Walt Nauta, has entered a not guilty plea to charges that he helped the former president hide classified documents from federal authorities. He also hired a new Florida-based lawyer to represent him as the case moves forward. Nauta was charged alongside Trump in June in a 38-count indictment alleging the mishandling of classified documents. Nauta hired Sasha Dadan, a criminal defense attorney and former public defender whose main law office is in Fort Pierce, where the judge who would be handling the trial is based.
President Joe Biden visited South Carolina on Thursday to make the argument that even Republican-led states are gaining factory jobs under economic measures he pushed through Congress despite stiff GOP opposition. With an eye toward 2024, Biden made his case that government investments in computer chips, batteries and electric vehicles will help the U.S. out-compete China and that his agenda has delivered in ways that former President Donald Trump could not. The president says, “I didn’t get much help from the other team, but that didn’t stop us from getting it done."
As Israel ends 2-day West Bank offensive, Palestinian residents emerge to scenes of vast destruction
Palestinian residents of the Jenin refugee camp encountered scenes of widespread destruction as they emerged from their homes and returned from nearby shelters following the most intense Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank in nearly two decades. The two-day offensive destroyed the camp’s narrow roads and alleyways, sent thousands of people fleeing their homes and killed 12 Palestinians. One Israeli soldier was also killed. While Israel claimed the operation inflicted a tough blow on the militants, it remained unclear whether there would be any lasting effect on reducing more than a year of Israeli-Palestinian violence. The offensive also further weakened the Palestinian Authority, which already had little control in the camp to begin with.
Sweltering heat is blanketing much of the planet, and the past seven days have been the hottest week on record. It's the latest grim milestone in a series of climate-change-driven extremes. Earth’s average temperature on Wednesday remained at an unofficial record high set the day before. And for the seven-day period ending Wednesday, the daily average temperature was .08 degrees Fahrenheit higher than any week in 44 years of record-keeping. That's according to data from the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer. It's a tool that uses satellite data and computer simulations to measure the world’s condition. The Climate Reanalyzer figures are an unofficial but significant data point, and an indication that climate change is reaching uncharted territory.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans to tell Chinese officials that Washington wants healthy economic competition but will defend trade curbs imposed by the U.S. on security grounds. She also will express concerns about Beijing’s export controls on metals used in semiconductors and solar panels, according to a senior Treasury official who briefed reporters after Yellen arrived in Beijing as part of efforts to revive strained relations. Treasury officials said earlier she wouldn’t meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Yellen has warned against economic decoupling, or disconnecting U.S. and Chinese industries and markets. Businesspeople say that might harm innovation and growth as both governments tighten controls on trade in technology and strategically important goods.
It was Scotland on parade. Bagpipes, kilts, drums and a Shetland pony named Corporal Cruachan IV marched down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile to honor King Charles III. Two months after his lavish coronation at Westminster Abbey in London, Scotland hosted its own event Wednesday to mark the new monarch’s accession to the throne. While Charles and Queen Camilla weren’t crowned a second time at St. Giles’ Cathedral, the new king was presented with the Honors of Scotland — the crown, scepter and sword of state. The Stone of Destiny, an important symbol of Scottish identity, was moved to the cathedral for the festivities.
A father who was preparing to walk his eldest daughter down the aisle. An aspiring actor who appeared as an extra in the “Creed” movie franchise. A teenager who tried to help a wounded friend. These are the stories of those who were killed in what has been the deadliest among a rash of U.S. shootings that occurred around the July Fourth holiday. Philadelphia authorities say five people in a working-class neighborhood were gunned down Monday. A gunman in a ski mask and body armor appeared to fire on people at random. A suspect was arraigned Wednesday. Meanwhile, five families remain shattered as they try to cope with feelings of loss and senselessness.
Families confront the Texas Walmart gunman in court. Some forgive him, others want the death penalty
Family members of the 23 people killed in a racist attack at a Texas Walmart are confronting the gunman face-to-face in court for the first time since the 2019 massacre. The sentencing hearing for Patrick Crusius continued Thursday in a federal court in the border city of El Paso. The 24-year-old is expected to receive multiple life sentences after pleading guilty in February to 90 federal murder, weapons and hate crime charges. Some who lost loved ones say they forgive Crusius for the shooting, which targeted Hispanic shoppers. But they also want him to understand that he failed. Crusius could still face the death penalty when he faces charges in state court.
An Iowa teenager has been sentenced to life with a possibility of parole after 35 years for the beating death of his high school Spanish teacher. A judge sentenced Willard Miller after a hearing Thursday lasting more than seven hours. Miller and Jeremy Goodale pleaded guilty months ago to the 2021 baseball bat attack on Nohema Grabe. The 66-year-old teacher was attacked while taking an afternoon walk in a Fairfield, Iowa, park. Prosecutors said the teens were 16 at the time and angry Graber had given Miller a bad grade. Miller apologized in court Thursday to Graber's family, saying he accepted responsibility for the killing. Goodale is to be sentenced later.
Hong Kong-born singer and songwriter Coco Lee has died at age 48. Her sisters said Lee suffered from depression for years and died Wednesday by suicide. They credited her for working "tirelessly to open up a new world for Chinese singers in the international music scene." Lee started off as a Mandopop singer and later released albums in Cantonese and English. She was known for her powerful voice and live performances. Her English song “Do You Want My Love” made a Billboard dance chart in 1999. She also was the voice of heroine Fa Mulan in the Mandarin version of Disney’s “Mulan,” and sang the Mandarin version of the movie’s theme song.
Stan Wawrinka has never faced Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. So for that reason, three-time major champion Wawrinka was pleased to see that he’ll meet 23-time major champion Djokovic in the third round at the All England Club on Friday. But don’t think for a second Wawrinka believes he can win this matchup. Wawrinka beat Djokovic in the 2015 French Open final and again in the 2016 U.S. Open final. Wawrinka, now 38, also has defeated Djokovic, 36, at the Australian Open. But overall, Djokovic leads their head-to-head series by a 20-6 count.
Wagner chief's whereabouts; Meta's challenge to Twitter; Wimbledon weather; plus, today's celebrity birthdays and this day in history. Get caught up.
Also, Ricky Martin announces divorce, Britney Spears says Victor Wembanyama's security struck her in Las Vegas, and OceanGate is suspending operations after the deadly implosion of its Titan submersible. Here's a look at trending news for Thursday, July 6.