News of the World

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USA

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Crooks' Dreamland

Suspect in Murder of CEO’s Wife Out on Suspended Sentence in Gascon’s L.A.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón is being criticized for his radical criminal justice “reform” policies after a convicted robber out of jail on a suspended sentence murdered the wife of a New Zealand CEO.

CBS News reported that Patricia McKay, 68, was killed when she and her husband, visiting from abroad, were robbed at gunpoint, and she was struck and killed by a car during the ensuring struggle, during which shots were fired:

A 68-year-old woman visiting from New Zealand was walking with her husband just outside a Newport Beach mall when she was robbed and killed by three men, police said.

Patricia McKay was outside the Fashion Island mall shopping center, near Santa Rosa Drive and Newport Center Drive, around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday when two men approached her and her husband and tried to rob them — one of the suspects allegedly armed with a handgun, according to the Newport Beach Police Department.

…

McKay was pronounced dead at the scene. Her body was found in the parking lot just outside the Barnes and Noble bookstore.

The Los Angeles Times reported that one suspect, Leroyernest Joseph McCrary, 26, of Compton, was waking the streets freely despite a long criminal record and a conviction for robbery, due to probation and a suspended prison sentence:
McCrary, who also goes by the name LeRoy Ernest McCrary, has a history of crimes in L.A. County. He was arrested and charged in October 2022 with being a narcotics addict in possession of a firearm, a felony. He pleaded no contest to that felony charge the October of the following year.

McCrary also was charged in a robbery case in September 2023 and pleaded no contest. He received a concurrent sentence for both convictions and got two years of probation and three years in state prison, with the sentence suspended.

McCrary also was arrested on suspicion of driving with a suspended license in both 2018 and 2021.

The Daily Mail reported that blame lay with Gascón, noting that he is “a progressive prosecutor who has been vocal about his belief that the criminal justice system needs to focus more on intervention and rehabilitation, blasting ‘tough on crime’ policies as racist and a failure.”

Gascón benefited in his 2020 election race from millions of dollars in spending by left-wing billionaire George Soros. He boasts of his record of reducing prison sentences for crimes.

Nungaray's Murder Case

Report: Mother of Illegal Alien Arrested for Jocelyn Nungaray’s Murder Served Venezuelan Socialist Regime

The mother of Johan José Martínez Rangel — one of the two Venezuelan illegal immigrants accused of sexually assaulting and murdering 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in June — was an official under Venezuela’s socialist regime, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday.

Martínez Rangel, 22, stands accused, alongside 26-year-old Franklin José Peña Ramos, of sexually assaulting and strangling Nungaray before leaving her for dead in a creek in Houston, Texas, in the early hours of June 17.

The Daily Mail reported that Venezuelans from Martínez Rangel’s home state of Guárico responded to the news of Nungaray’s death by sharing on social media that his mother, Nazareth Rangel Palacios, is a “staunch supporter” of the socialist regime that dictator Nicolás Maduro leads and served as a councilwoman for the Venezuelan government in the past.

The Mail reviewed the public electoral registry data of both Martínez Rangel and Rangel Palacios and found that both are registered at the same voting center in San Juan de Los Morros, the capital city of Guárico. Venezuela’s National Electoral Center (CNE) maintains a public registry of each voter’s name and corresponding voting center that can be freely accessed by typing a Venezuelan citizen’s identification card number on the CNE’s website.

“Rangel Palacios was a vocal militant for the ruling party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela [PSUV], and was photographed with her son in pro-government events until he left the country in about 2018,” the Mail found.

Pictures that the Daily Mail published appear to show Nazareth Rangel in the company of her son. The mother is seen sporting a red shirt with a stylized black and white silhouette of the eyes of late socialist dictator Hugo Chávez. The “eyes” are one of the main symbols of the PSUV and have been extensively utilized in propaganda, state events, murals, socialist paraphernalia, and plastered on the buildings of government institutions since 2012, when they were first used as part of Chávez’s 2012 presidential campaign.

Martínez Rangel is believed to have entered Colombia before illegally entering the United States through the southern border in March. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, Border Patrol agents apprehended Martínez Rangel at the border near El Paso, Texas, on March 14. The same day, he was released into the U.S. interior on an order of recognizance with a Notice to Appear (NTA) at a later date before a federal immigration judge.

Democrat on Biden's Age

Dem Rep. Nickel: Biden Has to Answer Questions About His Age, He’s Hidden Since Day After Debate

On Wednesday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “The Hill,” Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-NC) stated that while he thinks President Joe Biden is fit, there are “legitimate questions about whether Joe Biden can do the job. And I want to see him answer those tough questions.” And Biden hasn’t really been visible since the day after the debate.

Nickel said, “I think what he needs to do is he needs to get out there in front of the American public, he needs to answer the tough questions, no holds barred from reporters, he needs to come to places like North Carolina’s 13th district and talk to Democrats, Republicans, Independents so they know that he’s up for the job. That’s the first thing he needs to do and he needs to do it soon.”

Nickel added that he thinks Biden is up for the job, but “he needs to get out there and make the case himself.”

Nickel further stated, “[W]e’ve got to do everything we can to stop Donald Trump. I’m very hopeful that Joe Biden’s up to the task, but it was a bad debate, and he’s got to prove to the American public that he can do the job. And that’s, I think, where we are right now.”

He further stated, “I think, again, the place I keep coming back to is legitimate questions about whether Joe Biden can do the job. And I want to see him answer those tough questions.” And that we “haven’t seen him really since” he did a rally in North Carolina the day after the debate.

Nickel concluded that the concerns about Biden’s fitness are a “distraction from what a disaster Donald Trump would be.”

An Explosive 4th

Police: Chicago Man Killed by Exploding Firework Mortar on July Fourth

A man was killed Thursday evening in a Chicago alleyway while handling a large firework during Fourth of July celebrations.

The firework hit the 34-year-old man in the head while he was handling it around 10:00 p.m. in the 3000 block of North Kostner, CWB Chicago reported on Friday, noting he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Law enforcement said he suffered “trauma to the body” after lighting a mortar that failed to detonate. The man was standing over it when he tried to light it again. However, it exploded and killed him instantly.

“Records from the Cook County Medical Examiner reveal that fireworks have killed at least two other people in recent years,” the outlet said.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as Earl Lory, ABC 7 reported Friday. The outlet noted that officials are still investigating the case.

The article also said that “Chicago firefighters have been battling blazes likely due to the use of illegal fireworks on the Fourth of July.”

Video footage shows officials at the scene of the man’s death and clips of fireworks going off in the middle of the city’s streets:

Wisconsin & Ballot Drop Boxes

Wisconsin Supreme Court changes course, will allow expanded use of ballot drop boxes this fall

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Friday that officials can place ballot drop boxes around their communities in this fall’s elections, overturning its own ruling two years ago limiting their use in the presidential swing state.

The court limited the use of drop boxes in July 2022, ruling then that they could be placed only in local election clerks’ offices and no one other than the voter could return a ballot in person.

Conservatives controlled the court at that time, but Janet Protasiewicz’s election victory in April 2023 flipped the court to liberal control. Seeing an opening, Priorities USA, a progressive voter mobilization group, asked the court in February to revisit the decision.

At least 29 other states allow for absentee ballot drop boxes, according to the U.S. Vote Foundation, and expanded use in Wisconsin could have major implications in the presidential race.

Wisconsin again figures to be a crucial swing state after President Joe Biden barely won it in 2020 and Donald Trump narrowly took it in 2016. Democrats believe that making it easier to vote absentee will boost turnout for their side.

The justices announced in March they would review the ban on drop boxes but wouldn’t consider any other parts of the case. The move drew the ire of the court’s conservatives, who accused the liberals of trying to give Democrats an advantage this fall. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in April urged the court to again allow drop boxes.

The court ruled 4-3 on Friday that drop boxes can be utilized in any location.

Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, one of the court’s four liberal justices, wrote for the majority that placing a ballot in a drop box set up and maintained by a local election clerk is no different than giving the ballot to the clerk, regardless of the box’s location. Local clerks have great discretion in how they administer elections and that extends to using and locating drop boxes, she added.

“Our decision today does not force or require that any municipal clerks use drop boxes,” Bradley wrote. “It merely acknowledges what (state law) has always meant: that clerks may lawfully utilize secure drop boxes in an exercise of their statutorily-conferred discretion.”

All three conservative justices dissented. Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote that the liberals are simply trying to advance their political agenda and criticized them for ignoring the precedent set by the 2022 ruling.

More Money For Ukraine

Forever War: U.S. Pledges ‘Significant’ $2.2B Package of Air Defense Systems for Ukraine

The Pentagon chose the eve of the Fourth of July holiday to quietly announce a “significant” package of air defense interceptors valued at some $2.2 billion is destined for Ukraine.

The announcement came just days before the U.S. hosts the NATO summit in Washington and as Ukraine has continued to lobby for military support and acceptance into the alliance.

UPI reports the funding originates from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which sees the U.S. secure the weaponry and training from partners and companies rather than from presidential drawdowns taken from U.S. stockpiles.

The funding will be used to purchase interceptors for PATRIOT and NASAMS air defense systems for Ukraine, the Department of Defense said.

“The Biden Administration plans to accelerate delivery of these munitions by re-sequencing upcoming Foreign Military Sales deliveries for Ukraine,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

“As a result, Ukraine will be provided with the interceptors it urgently needs to protect its people and critical infrastructure against Russia’s aerial attacks.”

The Biden administration also announced an additional $150 million package under the presidential drawdown authority that includes missiles for HAWK air defense systems, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems as well as ammunition and artillery rounds, among other lethal items, the UPI report notes.

“This support will also help strengthen Ukraine’s air defense against Russian attacks and reinforce Ukraine’s capabilities across the front lines,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

EUROPE

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Putin the Warmonger...

Putin Rejects Offer from Turkey’s Erdogan to Mediate Ukraine Ceasefire Talks

The Russian government on Wednesday curtly rejected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s offer to mediate ceasefire talks in the Ukraine war.

According to the Kremlin, Erdogan sidled up to Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, told the Russian dictator that he thinks peace in Ukraine is possible, and offered himself as mediator. The regime of Russian strongman Vladimir Putin turned him down cold.

“No, it’s not possible,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of Erdogan’s offer to Russian reporters.

Erdogan has been trying to insert himself into the Ukraine conflict for quite some time. In March, he tried to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky interested in Turkish-hosted peace talks while Zelensky was visiting Istanbul.

“Since the beginning, we have contributed as much as we could toward ending the war through negotiations. We are also ready to host a peace summit in which Russia will also be included,” Erdogan told reporters, indicating he would also pitch his peace summit idea to Putin.

Zelensky turned Erdogan down, much more politely than Putin would four months later, saying that Ukraine was not interested in any summits with Russia until the Russians agreed to a ten-point plan that included restoring all of Ukraine’s territory and withdrawing all of its troops.

Orbán Travels to Russia

Hungary’s Viktor Orbán Arrives for ‘Peace Mission’ in Russia

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Moscow, days after a similar visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, to discuss the ongoing Russian invasion with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Kremlin offered Orbán a cordial reception, just as Kyiv did less than a week ago, but leaders in the European Union issued statements appearing to indicate disapproval of Orbán’s travels. Orbán, who currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, has described his travel as a “peace mission” intended to “clarify the facts” between Zelensky and Putin, hoping to carve out space for direct talks between the two countries.

In his public remarks alongside Orbán, Putin described his decision to invade Ukraine as “the largest European crisis” and declared himself at Orbán’s “disposal” to help him in his capacity leading the European Council.

He offered some criticism independent of Ukraine, however, lamenting that direct trade between Hungary and Russia had declined – likely a product of Orbán courting a massive amount of Chinese investment.

“I know that this time you have come not only as our long-standing partner, but also as the President of the Council of the European Union,” Putin said. “I hope we will have the opportunity to exchange views on building bilateral relations in this difficult situation and, of course, to discuss the possible scenarios for the largest European crisis – I am referring to Ukraine.”

“I hope you will acquaint me with your personal stance and the stance of the European partners,” Putin continued, according to a translation of his remarks by the Kremlin. “As for bilateral relations, unfortunately, we have seen a serious decline in trade, by more than 35 percent. But in general, there is much to work on. We are implementing ambitious projects.”

“In any case, we are delighted to see you and we have much to discuss,” he concluded.

Farage Gets Another MP

Farage Gets Another MP as Close Recount Finds in Reform’s Favour

Long after the other counts in Britain’s General Election closed, James McMurdock has been elected in Essex after the race went down to the wire with three recounts ordered.

“He’s won! He’s an MP! Go on my son!” celebrated Nigel Farage on Friday afternoon after a surprise extra victory for his Reform Party was announced, when a hotly contested seat declared for James McMurdock.

McMurdock was elected for South Basildon and East Thurrock with 12,178 votes, only fractionally ahead of Labour with 12,080 votes. The Conservatives also performed well in this three-way marginal, and were only slightly behind on 10,159.

Responding to the victory, Mr Farage said McMurdock was a “paper candidate” — meaning a candidate standing as a pure formality with no expectation of winning and no money ploughed into a campaign — and that his whole team consisted of just him, and his mother and father. Nevertheless, the “former city boy”, meaning bank or financial services worker, emerged as “absolutely neck-and-neck with Labour” and the vote came down to the wire.

Local newspaper the Basildon Echo reports the council had originally been ready to declare the result by the early hours of this morning, but with a result with just a couple of hundred votes in it and allegations of serious counting errors by the Labour party, a total recount was ordered. Eventually, after each result was challenged, the whole election was recounted three times. On Friday afternoon as the final recount was underway, Mr Farage had said he was biting his nails over the tension of the result.

Sunak Quits

Rishi Sunak Resigns, Announces He Will Quit as Tory Leader

The defeated leader of the Conservative Party, which suffered its worst election result in well over a century overnight, has said he is stepping down from power and will also give up control of what remains of his political faction.

“I have heard your anger, disappointment and I take responsibility for this loss,” said Rishi Sunak on Friday morning at the podium in front of Downing Street. The Prime Minister acknowledged the country has given a clear signal that it wants change, and said he would go to King Charles III to tender his resignation.

The Prime Minister immediately got in his official car to make the short journey from his official residence to the King’s at Buckingham Palace, just a short walk away. The Royal Standard was hastily hauled up at the building shortly before to denote the King’s arrival. During his ongoing cancer treatment, Charles has been living in the countryside.

This event is emblematic of the extraordinary speed and little fuss, by global standards, with which the British government changes. Today, as with most General Elections, the vast majority of seat counts — which are done by hand with paper ballots, often relying on local bank tellers volunteering for their skill at fast counting — and the resignation of the Prime Minister and the appointment of the new one are all done within a single morning.

After Mr Sunak left Buckingham Palace, the United Kingdom is technically briefly left without a government until Sir Keir Starmer, the winner of last night’s vote, arrives by a separate car to meet the King. During this brief period of minutes, the country is under the direct control of the monarch.

Sir Keir won a commanding majority in the commons overnight, taking 412 seats to the Conservatives’ 121. Yet the election is one of the most extraordinary and disproportionate in history: Sir Keir’s Labour appears to have won fewer votes than it did in the last election while doubling its seat count. Meanwhile, Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party got a massive 14 per cent of the vote but was only rewarded with less than one per cent of the seats.

The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, got a close share of the vote at 12 per cent, yet got 11 per cent of the seats, demonstrating how far Mr Farage’s faction has to go to learn to dominate the UK election system’s quirks before the next election.

As well as leaving the post of Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak also said this morning that, unsurprisingly, he would be resigning from the post of party leader as well. There isn’t much of a Conservative Party left to lead at the moment, but nevertheless he said his departure would be delayed slightly so the arrangements to select a successor could be put in place.