North America

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A sprawling, privately run detention center in the wind-swept California desert town of Adelanto could house nearly 2,000 migrants facing the prospect of deportation. These days, though, it’s nearly empty.

The Adelanto facility is an extreme example of how the U.S. government’s use of guaranteed minimum payments in contracts with private companies to house immigrant detainees might have a potential financial downside. In these contracts, the government commits to pay for a certain number of beds, whether they’re used or not.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Amber Heard’s lawyers have asked a judge to throw out the $10.35 million verdict against her in the defamation case filed by ex-husband Johnny Depp, arguing that the verdict was not supported by the evidence and that one of the jurors may not have been properly vetted by the court.

WASHINGTON (AP) — More witnesses are coming forward with new details on the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot following former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s devastating testimony last week against former President Donald Trump, says a member of a House committee investigating the insurrection.

The panel already has subpoenaed former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who investigators remain hopeful will appear Wednesday for a deposition, and said it would also welcome follow-up details from Secret Service members with Trump that day.

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A Black man was unarmed when Akron police chased him on foot and killed him in a hail of gunfire, but officers believed he had shot at them earlier from a vehicle and feared he was preparing to fire again, authorities said Sunday at a news conference.

Akron police released video of the shooting of Jayland Walker, 25, who was killed June 27 in a pursuit that had started with an attempted traffic stop. The mayor called the shooting “heartbreaking” while asking for patience from the community.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials said Monday the bullet that killed veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh was likely fired from an Israeli position. But they said it was too badly damaged to reach an absolute determination, and that there is “no reason to believe” she was deliberately targeted.

State Department spokesman Ned Price, announcing the results of the probe, said “independent, third-party examiners” had undertaken an “extremely detailed forensic analysis” of the bullet that killed her after the Palestinian Authority handed it over to them.

CHICAGO (AP) — Police are responding to a shooting at a July Fourth parade in a Chicago suburb, authorities said Monday. Authorities have not officially reported any casualties, but witnesses described seeing bloodied bodies apparently covered with blankets.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the parade began around 10 a.m. but was suddenly halted 10 minutes later after shots were fired. Several witnesses told the newspaper that they heard gunfire.

UNITED NATIONS Jul 02 (APP): UN High Commissioner for Human rights, Michelle Bachelet, has voiced serious concern that since the Taliban took power, women and girls in Afghanistan were experiencing the most significant and rapid roll-back in enjoyment of their rights across the board in decades.

Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council’s session in Geneva on the rights of Afghan women, she condemned the massive unemployment of women, the restrictions placed on the way they dress, and their access on basic services.

FERNLEY, the United States, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The latest data released by the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) showed that California remained mired in extreme drought conditions when the most populous state in the United States entered its tenth month of the 2022 water year.

In total, 97.5 percent of the state's land area is in at least "severe" drought status, 59.8 percent in at least "extreme" drought and the driest 11.6 percent in "exceptional" drought, according to the USDM's weekly report update released on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Last Fourth of July, President Joe Biden gathered hundreds of people outside the White House for an event that would have been unthinkable for many Americans the previous year. With the coronavirus in retreat, they ate hamburgers and watched fireworks over the National Mall.

Although the pandemic wasn’t over yet, Biden said, “we’re closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus.” Across the country, indoor masking requirements were falling as the number of infections and deaths plummeted.

MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Colin formed along the South Carolina coast on Saturday morning, bringing rain and winds, though the storm later weakened and conditions are expected to improve by Monday’s July Fourth celebrations.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned of the possibility of localized flash flooding along the Carolinas coast through Sunday morning.

By late Saturday night, Colin had weakened into a tropical depression and forecasters discontinued the tropical storm warning that had been in effect for parts of the North Carolina coast.