“Three members of a four-person MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter crew were rescued at sea after an ’emergency water landing’ in the Arabian Sea early Wednesday morning, according to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. A search continues for the fourth and final crew member. There is ‘no indication’ the helicopter was shot down by hostile action, the military said. The helicopter is assigned to the USS George H.W. Bush.” (07/01/26)
“Rescuers pulled a 43-year-old security guard alive from a collapsed basement early Thursday, ending a grueling days-long operation that became a symbol of hope after the devastation of twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela eight days earlier. Hernán Alberto Gil Flores was extracted safely after being trapped since June 24 under the rubble in the basement of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping center in the coastal town in La Guaira. Rescuers initially made contact with him over the weekend. Teams carrying flags from across the world cheered as rescuers carried Gil, wearing an oxygen mask on a stretcher covered in an orange tarp, through throngs of people into a Red Cross ambulance. A group of men in red Costa Rican Red Cross uniforms embraced and laughed in relief, while others broke out into applause. The rescue was considered a small miracle cutting through a week of tragedy.” (07/02/26)
“Attackers targeted the homes of three politicians from Greece’s ruling party with homemade explosives on Wednesday, leaving one person dead and four wounded, police told AFP. The attacks at dawn in the northern city of Thessaloniki targeted figures from the New Democracy party with devices made from gas bottles. … The Kathimerini news website reported that the parents of former party candidate Afroditi Nestora were injured and taken to hospital. It identified the other two targets as the party’s executive committee president Zisis Ioakimovic and former MP Savvas Anastasiades. Nestora’s mother died on Wednesday evening, according to the Thessaloniki hospital where she had been taken for treatment. … Police did not say who might have carried out the attacks or suggest a motive. The anti-terrorist division was investigating. Leftist and anarchist groups often use improvised explosives to target political figures, banks and companies in Greece, causing damage but rarely any casualties.” (07/02/26)
“The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Virginia and state police, accusing them of enacting a law that it said unconstitutionally bans the purchase and sale of ordinary semi-automatic rifles, according to a statement. The department also sued California on Wednesday to halt the state’s newly enacted ‘Glock Ban’, it said in a separate release.” (07/01/26)
“Albanian police clashed with protesters Thursday as an anti-government demonstration — part of protests triggered by plans for a luxury development linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner — turned violent. Police fired tear gas and pepper spray at protesters who were pelting them with rocks, eggs and other objects. Authorities said 12 police officers were injured and 18 protesters were detained. The gathering was part of daily protests, dubbed the ‘flamingo revolution’, that began more than a month ago in opposition to plans for a luxury coastal development project linked to Kushner. While the protests stemmed from environmental issues related to the development project, they have morphed into more general political demonstrations voicing opposition against the government and Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama.” (07/02/26)
“The EU’s top court upheld Thursday a record €4.1 billion ($4.7 billion) fine the bloc slapped on Google for anti-competitive practices related to its Android operating system. The European Court of Justice dismissed the US tech giant’s second attempt to overturn the penalty imposed by the European Commission in 2018 – which remains the EU’s highest ever antitrust fine. … The commission, the 27-nation bloc’s antitrust regulator, had accused Google of abusing the popularity of its Android operating system to restrict competition.” (07/02/26)
“Former CIA Director John Brennan sued the Trump administration Tuesday, seeking a court order requiring officials to preserve records related to investigations into him. If Brennan is later charged, preserved records could be central to any claim that the prosecution amounted to unconstitutional political retaliation. Brennan contends the investigation is part of Trump’s broader push to punish political adversaries — especially critics like Brennan, who has publicly clashed with Trump for years.” (07/01/26)
“Asian supermarket chain 99 Ranch has been hit with a federal lawsuit alleging that the company racially discriminated against non-Chinese employees when it wrongfully terminated staff based on their race. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a complaint on Tuesday alleging that 99 Ranch’s parent company, Tawa Supermarket Inc., started discriminating against non-Chinese employees as early as 2016, when the employees were not promoted or were paid less than their Chinese colleagues. The lawsuit alleges that several non-Chinese employees were terminated without reason while their Chinese colleagues remained employed. Catherine Eschbach, acting general counsel for the EEOC, said in a statement that the chain’s Asian ownership did not give it an excuse to discriminate against non-Chinese workers.” (07/02/26)
“German federal prosecutors have filed charges against a 50-year-old Ukrainian national over a series of explosions that destroyed two Nord Stream underwater gas pipelines linking Russia to Europe in 2022. The federal prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the specifics of the indictment on Wednesday against the accused, who is identified only as Serhii K in court documents under German privacy rules. Serhii K is accused of attacking civilian energy infrastructure, causing an explosion, and destroying structures, according to the German public broadcaster ARD. The underwater explosions damaged both the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines so severely that no gas could be transported through them, knocking out the key routes for Russian gas to Europe for months after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.” (07/02/26)
“Huntsville Police are investigating an early morning shooting on Salem Drive that they believe was an act of self-defense. Officers responded to a home on the 200 block of Salem Drive around 3 a.m. Wednesday, after getting a report of a shooting. When they arrived, they say they found a man with gunshot wounds who was taken to a local hospital, where he remains in critical condition. Detectives with the Violent Crimes Unit believe the injured man broke into the home while carrying a gun. Police say he then threatened the people inside before one of them shot him in self-defense.” (07/01/26)
