North America

CHICAGO, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Robert Crimo III, the 22-year-old suspect of a mass shooting during an Independence Day parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park on Monday, has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder.

Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart announced the charge at a news conference on Tuesday. If convicted, the suspect will face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

More charges against Crimo III will be issued, Rinehart said.

JACKSON, Calif. (AP) — Favorable weather early Wednesday aided the fight against a wildfire in California’s Gold Country that has forced evacuations in two counties.

The size of the Electra Fire remained unchanged at about 6.1 square miles (15.8 square kilometers) and containment doubled to 10%, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in a daily report.

“Humidity recovery in the early morning hours moderated fire activity,” Cal Fire said.

NEW YORK (AP) — A company that has performed hundreds of property appraisals for Donald Trump has been held in contempt of court for missing a deadline to turn over documents in the New York attorney general’s civil investigation into the former president’s business practices.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jurors found a 32-year-old man guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday for the 2019 fatal shooting of rapper Nipsey Hussle.

The Los Angeles County jury also found Eric R. Holder Jr. guilty of two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter instead of two attempted murder counts as prosecutors had sought for two other men who were hit by gunfire at the scene.

Holder, wearing a blue suit and face mask, stood up in the small court room next to his lawyer as the verdict was read. He had no visible reaction.

REMINGTON, Va. (AP) — For years, there’s been a cardinal rule for flying civilian drones: Keep them within your line of sight. Not just because it’s a good idea — it’s also the law.

But some drones have recently gotten permission to soar out of their pilots’ sight. They can now inspect high-voltage power lines across the forested Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia. They’re tracking endangered sea turtles off Florida’s coast and monitoring seaports in the Netherlands and railroads from New Jersey to the rural West.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden spoke Wednesday with the wife of detained WNBA player Brittney Griner, who is on trial in Russia, to reassure her that he is working to win Griner’s freedom as soon as possible, the White House said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pat Cipollone, Donald Trump’s former White House counsel, is scheduled to testify Friday before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Cipollone, whose reported resistance to Trump’s schemes to overturn his 2020 election defeat has made him a long-sought and potentially revelatory witness, was subpoenaed by the select committee last week after weeks of public pressure to provide testimony to the panel.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Foreign ministers from the world’s largest nations are looking to address Russia’s war in Ukraine and its impact on global energy and food security when they meet in Indonesia this week. Yet instead of providing unity, the talks may well exacerbate existing divides over the Ukraine conflict.

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) — The man charged with killing seven people at an Independence Day parade confessed to police that he unleashed a hail of bullets from a rooftop in suburban Chicago and then fled to the Madison, Wisconsin, area, where he contemplated shooting up an event there, authorities said Wednesday.

The gunman turned back to Illinois, where he was later arrested, after deciding he was not prepared to pull off a shooting in Wisconsin, Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said at a news conference following a bond hearing.

07 July 2022; MEMO: Ben & Jerry's, on Tuesday, sued its parent Unilever Plc to block the sale of its Israeli business to a local licensee, saying it was inconsistent with its values to sell its ice cream in the occupied West Bank, Reuters reports.