Now, here we go with Thursday's news. |
Gunman New Zealand kills two people hours ahead of World Cup |
The first games of the World Cup tournament in New Zealand continued on schedule mere hours after a man stormed a high-rise construction site in downtown Auckland early Thursday morning, shooting at terrified workers and killing two people. |
The male shooter, a 24-year-old who is believed to have worked at the building where the shooting took place, is dead, and police have determined there's no threat to national security. | Police interview construction workers in the central business district following a shooting in Auckland, New Zealand, Thursday, July 20, 2023. Jason Oxenham, AP |
First public testimony of two IRS agents assigned to Hunter Biden case |
Two whistleblowers provided Congress with their side of the story from the yearslong investigation into Hunter Biden, who has become a lightning rod for Republican allegations about a two-tiered justice system in the United States. Speaking to leaders of three powerful House committees, who held a joint hearing Wednesday, Internal Revenue Service employees Greg Shapley and Joseph Ziegler − who was previously known as "whistleblower x" − alleged U.S. Justice Department officials slow walked the investigation into President Joe Biden's youngest son. Read more | IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley, left, and IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler, are sworn in at a House Oversight Committee meeting on July 19, 2023 in Washington Jasper Colt, USA TODAY |
Texas women, doctors ask Austin judge to clarify exceptions to state's abortion ban |
Proceedings are expected to continue through Thursday in front of state District Judge Jessica Mangrum in a hearing that represents a major legal test to the state's abortion ban. In the first day of the hearing, Texas women who were denied abortions testified in a court Wednesday of carrying babies they knew would not survive and continuing pregnancies that put their health in worsening danger. Their detailed accounts in a crowded Austin courtroom were often emotional. At one point, the judge called a recess when a woman whose daughter died within hours of birth became ill and overcome on the witness stand. Read more | Amanda Zurawski (C) speaks during a press conference outside the Travis County Courthouse on July 19, 2023 in Austin, Texas. SUZANNE CORDEIRO, AFP via Getty Images |
Israel's president addresses criticism in Congressional address |
Israeli President Isaac Herzog pushed back against criticism of Israel from some progressive Democrats, after the lawmakers vowed to protest his address to Congress and sparked a firestorm in recent days. "I am not oblivious to criticism among friends, including some expressed by respected members of this House," Herzog said during his speech on Wednesday. Republicans − and fellow Democrats − have targeted some members of Congress' left flank over their criticism of Israel's human rights record. Several progressive Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., announced they would boycott Herzog's address over Israel's treatment of Palestinians. Read more | Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. listen as Isaac Herzog, President of Israel, addresses a Joint Meeting of Congress on July 19, 2023. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY |
Advocates, Biden administration spar over new asylum rules |
Immigrant rights groups told a federal judge Wednesday the Biden administration's push to limit the number of migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border is illegal, the latest step in a brewing court battle that has pit those groups against the Democratic president amid a steep decline in border crossings. At issue is a policy Biden unveiled in February that, in part, requires migrants heading to the U.S. border to first seek protection in Mexico before attempting to do so in the United States – a strikingly similar idea to one proposed by President Donald Trump and repeatedly shot down by federal courts in the past. Read more |
Photo of the day: Vingegaard takes huge lead at Tour de France |
Jonas Vingegaard is on course to bring the yellow jersey to Paris for a second straight year after the Danish rider took a huge lead over his main rival at the Tour de France. Vingegaard finished the 17th stage in fourth place and almost six minutes before an exhausted Pogacar crossed the finish line. There's just one tough stage remaining on Saturday in the Alsace region. But with such a big gap between the Tour's main contenders it's unlikely to have a significant impact. See more photos from the race here. | Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, follows teammate Netherlands' Wilco Kelderman as they climb Col de la Loze pass during the seventeenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 Daniel Cole, AP |
Associated Press contributed reporting. | | | |
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