Biden’s focus shifts to this week’s NATO summit. But questions about his campaign may only intensify
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will shift this week from focusing on campaigning for reelection to hosting a NATO summit. But that won’t quiet the increasingly urgent questions about his precarious political situation now threatening to consume his own party. European leaders gather in Washington starting Tuesday to celebrate the alliance’s 75th anniversary. Biden will hold a news conference. Congress is also heading back into session, meaning there will be face-to-face meetings where Democratic lawmakers can discuss concerns about Biden’s ability to stay in the presidential race. Biden say’s he’s staying in, which may only serve to make the internal Democratic Party divisions more bitter.
Biden’s uncertain political future divides Democrats as they return to Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON (AP) — Deeply torn over President Joe Biden’s candidacy, Democratic lawmakers are returning to Washington at a pivotal moment. They are deciding whether to work to revive Biden’s campaign or edge out the party leader after his dismal performance in the debate. As Biden digs in, it’s a make-or-break time for his reelection and the lawmakers’ own political futures. Three top-ranking Democratic lawmakers are joining calls for Biden to step aside. At the same time, some of the president’s most staunch supporters are redoubling the fight for his presidency, insisting there is no one better to beat Republican Donald Trump.
French vote splits among left, center and far-right. With no majority, political paralysis threatens
PARIS (AP) — French voters split their parliament into left, center and far-right, leaving the country with the stunning prospect of a deadlocked parliament and political paralysis. The turmoil in the European Union’s second-largest economy could rattle markets and have far-ranging implications for the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe’s economic stability. It also comes just weeks before Paris hosts the Olympics. President Emmanuel Macron called the election on June 9, after the far right surged in French voting for the European Parliament. He said turning to voters again would provide “clarification.” But the outcome showed the opposite. France’s main share index fell on the vote.
Gaza destruction likely helped push Hamas to soften cease-fire demands, several officials say
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Several officials in the Middle East and the U.S. believe the level of devastation in the Gaza Strip caused by a nine-month Israeli offensive likely has helped push Hamas to soften its demands for a cease-fire agreement. Hamas over the weekend appeared to drop its longstanding demand that Israel promise to end the war as part of any cease-fire deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday boasted that military pressure “is what has led Hamas to enter negotiations.” In recent internal communications seen by The Associated Press, messages signed by several senior Hamas figures in Gaza urged the group’s exiled political leadership to accept the cease-fire proposal pitched by U.S. President Joe Biden.
Beryl regains hurricane strength as it bears down on Texas coast
MATAGORDA, Texas (AP) — Beryl has strengthened and once again become a hurricane as it heads toward southern Texas, where its outer bands have lashed the coast with rain and intensifying winds as residents prepare for the powerful storm that has already cut a deadly path through parts of Mexico and the Caribbean. The National Hurricane Center places the storm about 15 miles southeast of Matagorda, Texas, and about 100 miles northeast of Corpus Christi with top sustained winds of 80 mph. A hurricane warning is in effect from Mesquite Bay north to Port Bolivar. Texas officials say the storm could cause power outages and flooding and are worried not enough residents and beach vacationers are heeding warnings to leave.
June sizzles to 13th straight monthly heat record. String may end soon, but dangerous heat won’t
The European climate service Copernicus says Earth’s more than year-long streak of record-shattering hot months kept on simmering through June. It was the 13th straight month of record warmth. Scientists say there’s hope that record streak will soon end, but not the climate chaos that has come with it. Earth’s June average was 62 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s 1.2 degrees above the 30-year average for the month. A Copernicus scientist said there’s a good chance the record streak will end when the next monthly report comes out. He based that on global averages of the last few weeks being a bit cooler than the same time last year.
Scorched by history: Discriminatory past shapes heat waves in minority and low-income neighborhoods
NEW YORK (AP) — Millions of Americans are facing major heat waves with temperatures consistently exceeding 90 degrees. In big cities, the heat hits hardest for people of color and low-income residents. In New York, Black residents die from heat stress at double the rate of white residents. Advocates and experts trace the phenomenon back to decades of discriminatory housing policy, especially redlining. That was the 1930s government practice of rating neighborhoods’ investment worthiness using race as a determining factor and denying mortgages to minority buyers. The labeling of minority neighborhoods as risky restricted resources for generations. It also starved those areas of parks and trees and affected how residents experience heat today.
Boeing accepts a plea deal to avoid a criminal trial over 737 Max crashes, Justice Department says
The Justice Department says Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two deadly crashes of 737 Max jetliners. Now it’s up to a federal judge whether to accept the plea and a sentence that is part of the aerospace giant’s deal with U.S. prosecutors. Boeing’s decision on Sunday came a week after the Justice Department gave the company the choice of entering a guilty plea or facing a trial. Prosecutors say Boeing violated a 2021 deal that had shielded the company from prosecution earlier. Lawyers for some of the relatives of those who died in the two crashes have said they will ask the judge to reject the agreement. One lawyer called it a “sweetheart deal.”
Fight with Kash: Trump loyalist mythologizes former president while building his own brand
WASHINGTON (AP) — Kash Patel is a trusted aide to Donald Trump and a swaggering campaign surrogate who mythologizes the former president while promoting conspiracy theories and his own brand. Patel is poised to take on an influential role in the federal government if Trump wins a second term. He frequently cites his experience as a public defender and federal prosecutor to lend credibility to his plan to go after the very intelligence community he could one day help oversee. Many who previously worked with Patel said he was an ambitious if not exceptional lawyer whose quick rise and far-right tilt have left them stunned.
Pretrial hearing sets stage for Alec Baldwin’s arrival in court in fatal shooting of cinematographer
A New Mexico judge is considering an array of restrictions on evidence, testimony and arguments ahead of a trial for Alec Baldwin. The Monday pretrial hearing sets the stage for Baldwin to appear in court over a single charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a cinematographer. Halyna Hutchins was killed in October 2021 when a gun Baldwin was holding went off on the set of Western film “Rust.” Baldwin has pleaded not guilty. Defense attorneys want to exclude consideration of Baldwin’s additional role as co-producer amid accusations that the film cut corners on safety precautions. Prosecutors want to prohibit presentations designed to garner sympathy for Baldwin as remorseful.…Read more by AP
