Police tape blocks off an area as investigators collect evidence after a man crashed his vehicle after being fatally shot during a confrontation with ICE officers on September 12, 2025, in Franklin Park, Illinois. The Chicago area has seen a surge in ICE activity recently, part of the Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants in the area dubbed "Operation Midway Blitz". (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
(MECHANICVILLE, N.Y.) -- Police in an upstate New York town said Thursday that a grandmother is suspected in the deaths of four of her grandchildren, her daughter and herself inside their apartment building.
Officers in Mechanicville, New York, said they discovered the victims' bodies inside an apartment on Tuesday after neighbors reported not seeing them for days.
The grandmother was identified as Amy Steadman, 64. Police identified the victims as her daughter Sarah Myers, 44, and Myers' four children: Harper Harmon, 13, Hudson Harmon, 11, Gavin Harmon, 10, and Gracelynn Harmon, 10, according to police.
While the investigation into the deaths and motive is ongoing, Mechanicville Police Department Chief William Rabbitt told reporters Thursday that the evidence so far indicates that Steadman may have been involved.
Rabbitt said that investigators recovered evidence inside the apartment "to indicate intentional poisoning," including "numerous prescription and over-the-counter medications."
"Evidence recovered during the investigation, including a handwritten note and other circumstantial evidence, strongly suggests that Amy Steadman was involved in the deaths," he added.
The chief said there was no evidence that an outside individual was involved.
Toxicology tests are still ongoing, according to Rabbitt.
While the chief declined to provide more details into the ongoing investigation, he noted that one of the children "suffered fatal sharp force injuries."
Rabbitt said Steadman and Myers and her family all lived in the same apartment complex in Mechanicville, which is roughly 18 miles north of Albany.
The children's father lives in Utah, the chief said.
CANTON – As a contractor works to repair a sewer main over the next two weeks, the City of Canton is advising drivers to be wary while traveling along Highway 19 and Dealers Row.
According to our news partner KETK and the city, while traveling through Highway 19, drivers should expect traffic devices set up through the work zone as repair crews work along the east shoulder and the west side of Highway 19. The work will also cause brief delays as drivers pass, an estimated one to five minutes.
Construction is expected to last one to two weeks, but it should not affect First Monday as all work and equipment will be cleared during the event.
OVERTON — A crash on Hwy 323 in Overton has left a 26-year-old woman dead, according to Overton police, and our news partner, KETK. The crash happened on Thursday morning near the overpass. Kameron Smiley, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene of the single-vehicle crash. Officers working the crash advised drivers to avoid the area and use an alternate route. Continue reading Fatal highway crash reported
LONGVIEW – On Thursday afternoon, Longview police and federal agents are investigating in south Longview. LaDarian Brown, a spokesperson for the Longview Police Department, stated that the department is supporting an ongoing investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Officials are reportedly in the 200 block of Michael Street at an automotive business. It is unclear if any arrests have been made, and no further details have been made public.
So, here we go. Four of the largest American cities have, or are about to have, open, avowed, loud & proud socialist mayors. Not long ago, those on the Left who harbored socialist predilections, like those who harbor indelicate sexual predilections, went to some trouble to hide them. (You’ll recall that the Grand Poobahs of the Democratic Party pushed Bernie Sanders off their presidential ticket in 2008 because he dared say the “S” word out loud.)
No longer.
In today’s ever-more-radical Democratic Party, being a socialist is a feature, not a bug.
Today, the leading lights of the Democratic Party are unapologetically socialist and the one-time “moderate” leaders of the party – think Pelosi and Schumer (and please note the air quotes around “moderate”) – increasingly find themselves on the outside looking in.
New York led the Dems’ leftward lurch in 2018 by electing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – a.k.a. AOC – to represent New York’s 14thCongressional District. But she now looks positively Churchillian compared to New York City’s new socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani. Just this week, Democratic primary voters in New York nominated four more avowed socialists to represent the state in the U.S. Congress. There is little doubt that all four will win in the general election in November.
Moving across the country, Seattle mayor Katie Wilson is an avowed socialist. Los Angeles recently nominated avowed socialist Nithya Raman for mayor. She, too, is expected to win in the general.
The same for Washington, D.C.’s Janeese Lewis George, now the Democratic nominee for mayor, and also expected to easily win in November.
Those of us old enough to remember the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union are shaking our heads in dismay as we realize that we’ve learned nothing from the failures of prior attempts at socialism. The lessons that followed from the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 apparently didn’t stick. Ditto the more recent story of Venezuela.
Socialism succeeds at little other than creating shared unhappiness. To the extent that China’s economy works, it’s because the 1978 reforms of Deng Xiaoping created a socialist/capitalist hybrid that made it possible – on a limited basis — for private citizens to own property (sort of) and accumulate personal wealth (sort of).
Socialists are misguided at best – believing that a small cabal of government “experts” can better direct the economy than millions of free individuals acting independently while risking their own capital.
They’re evil at worst because for socialism to work, it must steal the fruits of labor from the productive to give to the non-productive. That theft ultimately takes place at gunpoint.
But socialism’s dismal and bloody record notwithstanding, according to recent polls, as many as two thirds of Democrats now think it’s a good idea. They conveniently ignore socialism’s indisputable record of mass murder, mass misery and ultimate bankruptcy.
The lesson of 2026 is that the center of gravity in the Democratic Party is now socialist. We’re in uncharted waters. And I’d be a fool if I started predicting how it will all turn out.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as Man in director Robert Eggers’ 'Werwulf.' (Rory Mulvey)
We now have our first look at Robert Eggers' Werwulf.
Focus Features posted the first photo and official description for the upcoming film to Instagram on Thursday. Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as a character called Man in the movie. The photo features him in the forest surrounded by dogs and holding a large spear.
Lily-Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe also make up the film's cast. All three actors previously worked with Eggers in his film Nosferatu.
Focus Features' first-look post describes Taylor-Johnson's Man as "a 13th-century man haunted by his bestial metamorphosis."
The film's tagline has also been released. It reads, "Werwulf is a harrowing tale of devotion, damnation, and the devil within.”
Werwulf is set to release on Christmas Day. This is similar to Nosferatu, which released on Christmas Day in 2024.
Nosferatu became Focus Features' second-highest-grossing movie in the U.S. It made $90.5 million in theaters after its December 2024 release.
KAUFMAN COUNTY – The truck driver who was charged with five fatalities in a 2025 crash on Interstate 20 in Kaufman County entered a guilty plea and was given a 20-year prison sentence. In court, Alexis Osmani Gonzalez-Companioni entered a plea, ending a case that garnered statewide attention after investigators claimed he fell asleep while operating an 18-wheeler and crashed into stopped traffic close to Terrell.
Following the collision on June 28, 2025, a number of cars and commercial trucks were involved in a chain reaction pileup. Gonzalez-Companioni, a Florida resident, admitted to investigators that he had dozed off prior to the collision. A truck carrying three generations of the Fort Worth McKellar family was struck first. Grandfather Billy McKellar, parents Zabar and Shawn, and their 15-year-old son Kason were all instantly killed in the collision. Continue reading Truck driver sentenced in fatal pileup
HOUSTON COUNTY – In federal court, a former Houston County deputy has elected to enter a guilty plea to charges of child pornography and sexual abuse of a child. Former Houston County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Skyler Laza has agreed to enter into a written plea agreement to the federal charge of sexual exploitation of a child, also known as production of child pornography, according to court documents filed on Tuesday. According to related documents, Skyler Laza forced the child to engage in sexual activity, recorded it, and sent the footage. Continue reading Former deputy pleads guilty to child sex crimes, child pornography
Eddie Murphy attends the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute To Eddie Murphy at Dolby Theatre on April 18, 2026, in Hollywood, California. (Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AFI)
Somebody once told me Donkey is getting his own movie.
DreamWorks Animation has officially announced that a Shrek spinoff film centered on the character of Donkey is headed to movie theaters. It will arrive on big screens on June 30, 2028.
The studio announced the news on Instagram Thursday.
"Start heating up those waffle irons. DONKEY is setting out on his very own adventure June 30, 2028," the post's caption reads.
The new movie will be an origin story following how Donkey came to be, according to Deadline, which broke the story. Eddie Murphy will once again voice the animated talking animal.
The Lego Batman Movie's Charlie Bean is set to direct Donkey, while Matt Flynn will co-direct. Rebecca Huntley will produce it.
Murphy previously spoke about this upcoming Donkey spinoff in an interview with Screen Rant in July 2025.
"We’re doing a Donkey one, and that’ll [be released] three years from now," Murphy said at the time. “Donkey‘s going to be like how Puss in Boots had his own movie, Donkey’s going to have his own movie — [his] own little story with his dragon wife and his kids that are half-dragon and half-donkeys. They’ve written this funny story."
A fifth Shrek film is set to release in theaters a year ahead of the Donkey movie on June 30, 2027.
DreamWorks previously made two other Shrek spinoff films. Puss in Boots was released in 2011, while its sequel, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, debuted in 2022.
SMITH COUNTY – On June 11, Deputies with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office responded to County Road 390, near the Old Kilgore Highway in Tyler, after receiving reports of a deceased dog found inside a metal crate on the property.
Upon arrival, deputies made contact with one of the residents, who reported that two deceased dogs and two living dogs were inside dog crates. Deputies were guided to the location of the crates, where they confirmed two deceased dogs and one severely malnourished, maggot infested dog.
The resident stated that the dogs were strays she and her mother had cared for over the past year but had recently stopped caring for. She admitted the dogs had been confined without reasonable access to food or water.
When investigators arrived on scene, met with deputies, and contacted Animal Control. Animal Control took custody of the two surviving dogs and transported them for emergency medical treatment. Unfortunately, one of the rescued dogs later died due to the severity of the neglect. Continue reading Two arrested for animal cruelty
Chris Evert attends "Chris & Martina: The Final Set" Premiere during the 2026 Tribeca Festival at SVA Theater on June 10, 2026 in New York City. (Jamie Mccarthy/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) -- Tennis legend Chris Evert announced on social media Thursday that she will not be commentating at Wimbledon next week after learning over the weekend that her ovarian cancer had returned.
"I have always believed in being open and honest about my health journey," Evert wrote in a statement shared on Instagram and X. "This past weekend, after undergoing CT and PET scans, I learned that my ovarian cancer has returned. I have already undergone surgery as the first step in my treatment and recovery, and will begin chemotherapy in the coming weeks."
Evert, a tennis analyst for ESPN, had been scheduled to work as a commentator at this year's Wimbledon tournament in London, which runs from June 29 to July 12. In her statement Thursday, she said she would be stepping back from her professional commitments for the next several months "to focus on my health."
"Ovarian cancer is relentless, but I will stay optimistic and determined in continuing to fight this battle," she wrote. "I am deeply grateful to my medical team, my family, friends, and everyone who has reached out with kindness and encouragement. I look forward to seeing everyone again soon."
Evert was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2022, announcing the following year that she was cancer-free.
She received a second diagnosis just under a year later and revealed she was cancer-free again in July 2024.
Evert recently sat down with "Good Morning America" alongside longtime tennis rival turned friend Martina Navratilova and said their shared post-retirement cancer battles -- Navratilova was diagnosed twice, in 2010 and 2023, and is now cancer-free -- had "brought our relationship, our friendship, to another level because of the support and the care that we had for each other."
Evert made her major tournament debut at just 16 years old in the 1971 U.S. Open at Forest Hills, becoming the youngest semifinalist in the tournament's history, according to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She lost the match to eventual champion Billie Jean King.
Evert notched 18 Grand Slam titles over the course of her playing career. The former world No. 1 player also held that top ranking for 260 weeks, which according to the Women's Tennis Association is the fourth all-time record behind Steffi Graf (377 weeks), Navratilova (332 weeks) and Serena Williams (319 weeks).
Evert retired from professional tennis in 1989 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1995.
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Daisy Edgar-Jones as Elinor Dashwood and George MacKay as Edward Ferrars in 'Sense and Sensibility.' (Focus Features)
The official trailer for the upcoming Sense and Sensibility film has arrived.
Daisy Edgar-Jones will star as Elinor in the adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel, which arrives to theaters on Oct. 16.
Also starring are Esmé Creed-Miles as Marianne Dashwood, Caitríona Balfe as Mrs. Dashwood, Frank Dillane as John Willoughby, George MacKay as Edward Ferrars, Herbert Nordrum as Colonel Brandon, Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Margaret Dashwood and Fiona Shaw as Mrs. Jennings.
Georgia Oakley directs the movie for Focus Features and Working Title. Bestselling author Diana Reid adapted Austen's book for the film's screenplay. This adaptation is "an irresistible new take on Jane Austen’s iconic Sense and Sensibility: a charming, witty, and deeply relatable story of love and sisterhood," according to an official description.
Sense and Sensibility, of course, follows sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. It shows the journey of their love lives, losses and financial uncertainty, all of which they navigate as complete opposites in emotional approach.
The new trailer shows off this take on the classic story, with sisters Elinor and Marianne navigating their lives and considering the possibility of romantic love.
"The man who loves me must burn with it, with all his passions, without the lightest restraint or hesitation," Creed-Miles' Marianne says in the trailer.
The trailer ends with Marianne saying, "I think a man ought to be at least artificially passionate or he'd be sincerely dull," before admitting to her sister, "I require so much."
The film marks the third Austen adaptation for Focus Features and Working Title after the 2005 Pride & Prejudice film and 2020's Emma. Sense and Sensibility was previously brought to the screen by Ang Lee in his 1995 film starring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant.
National Park Service employees and contractors use vacuums to remove green algae from the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 18, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) -- U.S. Park Police are seeking assistance in identifying a person wanted in connection to a "destruction of government property" investigation related to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Park Police posted on social media Wednesday a video of the alleged incident that shows a person reaching into the Reflecting Pool and appearing to pull something from the water. The video is somewhat blurry and shot from a distance. ABC News has reached out to National Park Service and Park Police about the source of the video.
The incident allegedly occurred at 3:36 p.m. ET on Friday, June 19. Park Police said anyone with information on the identity of the individual should contact their tip line.
The bulletin comes as President Donald Trump continues to blame vandals for alleged damage at the Reflecting Pool after his administration's $16 million renovation.
The White House has yet to provide evidence that shows the alleged vandalism to the site.
"The Reflecting Pool that you've heard so much about, which is so incredible, it's been gruesomely vandalized by thugs, bad people, but soon will be looking as beautiful as it looked just two weeks ago," Trump said on Wednesday night as he kicked off Freedom 250’s Great American State Fair with remarks on the National Mall.
"In fact, I looked at it just a little while ago, it looks perfect already," the president continued. "But we’re fixing it. The vandals got to it, they’ve largely been caught and are being prosecuted. We can't let that happen to our country."
The Interior Department and the U.S. Park Police, though a spokesperson earlier this week, confirmed there had been several arrests and federal citations for alleged vandalism. Trump said on Tuesday that six people had been arrested.
Trump also said earlier this week that the Reflecting Pool will be drained again for "permanent repair" around the Fourth of July.
A drone is seen carrying a payload as photographed by the Georgia Department of Corrections. (Georgia Department of Corrections)
(NEW YORK) -- Twelve individuals have been charged in what the Justice Department is calling a vast conspiracy to smuggle contraband into 10 federal prisons across the country through a coordinated drone operation.
The 17-count indictment, unsealed Wednesday, alleges that starting in September 2023, those charged allegedly used six drones to drop contraband at least 38 times into 10 federal prisons from Atlanta to Mississippi.
The Bureau of Prisons has a drone alert system that notifies prison staff when a drone is nearby, according to court documents.
Some of the individuals charged in the indictment unsealed Wednesday were inmates at prisons around the country and used cellphones to schedule drops at various prisons.
The contraband was allegedly stored at what is referred to in court records as "The Lab."
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PANOLA COUNTY – Authorities confirmed that an 18-wheeler crashed in Panola County on Thursday morning, killing two people. Around 4:20 a.m., the collision occurred in Panola County at the intersection of Highway 79 and FM 31. The driver and passenger in the 18-wheeler were confirmed dead by the Texas Department of Public Safety. They are both from Missouri. According to the Panola County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Department of Transportation is present and attempting to reopen the road. An investigation is ongoing.
S. President Donald Trump attends a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House on June 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) -- The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration can cancel the temporary protected status (TPS) for thousands of Haitians and Syrians, concluding that the Department of Homeland Security has broad discretion with little-to-no judicial oversight to decide when they must return home.
The ruling is likely to have a sweeping impact on the approximately 1.3 million people who rely on TPS to live and work in the United States legally, and advocates said they fear it will have devastating and possibly deadly long term costs for those refugees.
Writing for the 6-3 majority, Justice Samuel Alito said that courts cannot override the federal government's determination about TPS status in most cases.
TPS status, established by the Immigration and Nationality Act, provides work authorization and protection from deportation -- as long as the Homeland Security Secretary certifies that a foreign country is unsafe because of armed conflict, natural disaster, or "extraordinary and temporary conditions."
Alito concluded that the law establishing the TPS program did not give courts the authority to second guess the DHS's determinations about which countries merit the protected status, which was created to shield immigrants from countries ravaged by war or national disasters.
"The TPS statute plainly bars consideration of respondents' non-constitutional claims. It allows 'no judicial review of any determination ... with respect to the ... termination of a TPS designation," Alito wrote.
Though the ruling centered on the TPS of Haitians and Syrians, the ruling effectively gives the Trump administration the green light to carry out similar terminations, which they have already done for 13 countries.
James Percival, the Department of Homeland Security's General Counsel, praised Thursday's ruling.
"The T in TPS stands for TEMPORARY, yet many of these designations became de facto amnesty. This is a win for the rule of law and common sense," he said in a statement.
Attorneys for the Haitian plaintiffs said in a statement Thursday that the ruling "will directly result in thousands of innocent people dying violent, needless deaths."
"This decision will endanger Haitian TPS holders who fled their homeland in pursuit of what generations of immigrants yearned for when they made the painful decision to leave all they have known. to live in safety," Geoffrey Pipoly and Andrew Tauber told ABC News in a statement.
"It's a very sad day, not only for Haitian TPS holders but for anyone who believes, as we do, that immigrants are one of America's greatest strengths," they added. "The responsibility to save these lives is now with Congress--and we urge the Senate to pass the extension of TPS now pending in that chamber. "
It is unclear if Congress will vote on an extension, however, Trump has repeatedly called for the end of TPS protections and would not likely sign off.
The court's liberals also lambasted the decision, arguing that the statements made by President Donald Trump about some of the countries whose status was cancelled -- including making baseless claims that Haitians eat dogs and cats during the 2024 presidential race -- demonstrate that race played a role in the decisions.
"The evidence they have offered includes statements by the President so repellent and racially inflected that the majority declines to put them in print," wrote Justice Kagan. "The references--of filth, disease, and primitiveness--are shot through with racial stereotypes and tropes."
The court's liberals also argued that the statute creating TPS does allow courts to review if DHS carried out legally-required procedures to cancel the status -- something the plaintiffs allege did not happen.
"It does nothing to stop courts from reviewing things other than the Secretary's 'determination[s]' concerning TPS designations," Kagan wrote.
Immigrant advocacy groups have warned about the possible sweeping consequences of this ruling, saying it will open the door for an "astonishing human tragedy."
Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake in 2010 and has since been hit by subsequent natural disasters, political unrest following a presidential assassination, and waves of rampant gang violence.
More than 113,000 Haitian TPS holders work in Florida alone, which is home to a high proportion of America's seniors, according to the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
Syria devolved into civil war around 2011 and has been considered by the U.S. government a hotbed of terrorism and extremism for nearly two decades. A major earthquake in 2023 plunged the country into a deeper economic and humanitarian crisis.
"This is an awful harbinger for what we expect this administration to try to do for other TPS designations. Hundreds of thousands of people who have lived here for decades now see heartbreaking chaos ahead," FWD.us President Todd Schulte said in a statement Thursday.
Then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, in separate acts last year, moved to terminate TPS status for Haiti and Syria by certifying that, in her estimation, conditions on the ground in those countries were sufficiently safe for immigrants to return.
Those decisions were blocked by lower courts, which concluded that Noem did not follow proper procedures for cancelling TPS and may have also unlawfully discriminated against the immigrants on the basis of race.
Pastor Carl Ruby, a prominent community leader in Springfield, Ohio, who has sought to stand up for Haitians there after Trump's false comments about them eating pets rattled the community and preceded numerous bomb threats.
"This is the worst possible outcome," Ruby told ABC News through tears. "I had always held out hope that we would get a good decision and can't believe that we're here now."
Ruby contended that there was racial motivation behind the administration's actions.
"If you look at the history of the president's comments about Haiti and Haitians, it's clear that this wouldn't be happening if these were refugees from Norway. I just feel like we have failed as a country and I don't think I've ever been as disappointed in our country as I am right now," he said.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who has defended the Springfield community, said deporting Haitians "is a mistake."
"As a result of today's ruling, the over 10,000 Haitians who have been living in Ohio (mostly in the Springfield area) legally through TPS will now be here illegally and will be subject to immediate deportation," the governor said in a statement.
"This also means that while these Haitians were working and contributing to our community and economy yesterday, today it is now illegal to employ them," he added.
"The situation in Haiti could hardly be much worse. The violent gangs run most of the country. The government barely functions. And, the economy is in shambles," DeWine said.
-ABC News' Laura Romero, Armando Garcia and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
The FBI said it is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest of Oscar Sanchez-Munoz. (FBI)
The man wanted by the FBI in a string of shootings in the Kansas City, Missouri, area is believed to have been found dead, according to police.
Oscar Sanchez-Munoz, 22, allegedly shot at a car in Wyandotte County, Kansas, on June 11, authorities said, and then on June 16, he allegedly shot at five cars along Interstate 70 in Kansas City, Missouri. The June 16 shootings killed one person and wounded four, police said.
On the night of June 16, Sanchez-Munoz barricaded himself inside a house in Independence, Missouri, east of Kansas City, and engaged in a standoff with police, authorities said. In the middle of the night, the house went up in flames, and once firefighters put out the blaze and police entered the house, Sanchez-Munoz was not there, authorities said.
The manhunt for Sanchez-Munoz had been underway ever since, with the FBI offering a $25,000 reward.
On Wednesday afternoon, Sanchez-Munoz's relatives, who were going through the damage at the house in Independence, called detectives to say they noticed the smell of decomposition in the basement, and when they moved some items aside, they saw what they thought was a body, police said.
Responding officers found a body in clothes consistent with what Sanchez-Munoz was wearing the night of the shootings, police said.
"Based on clothing description, and last known location, detectives preliminarily believe this deceased person in the residence is Sanchez-Munoz," police said in a statement.
The medical examiner will confirm the identity and determine the cause and manner of death, police said.
Cherry blossoms at the Supreme Court on a windy morning in Washington, D.C. (John Baggaley/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) -- The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a Hawaii law that prohibits the carry of a firearm onto private property that is open to the public unless the property owner gives express consent.
In a 6-3 decision by Justice Samuel Alito, the court's conservative majority said the law imposed "severe restrictions on the daily activities" of lawful gun owners in violation of the Second Amendment.
"Rather than allowing all to enter private property open to the public unless specifically prohibited, these new laws provided that no one carrying a firearm may enter without express authorization," Alito wrote.
"The Hawaii law at issue here violates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms," the opinion said.
The ruling, which likely also invalidates similar laws in California, Maryland, New York and New Jersey, is a setback for gun control advocates that had argued the measures were necessary for public safety in places like shopping malls, bars, restaurants, theaters, farms, arenas and private beaches.
Hawaii had argued that there is no such thing as a right to armed entry onto private property without consent, pointing to a handful of historical examples of similar laws since America's founding.
But the court's conservatives concluded that those analogues were "outlier legal rules adopted in a few locales."
"Overwhelming evidence shows an enduring American tradition permitting public carry," Alito wrote.
While private property owners may still prohibit firearms on their premises, the onus now falls entirely on those owners to post signage banning guns. The default rule, in essence, is that lawful gun owners may carry their weapons unless told otherwise, according to the decision.
Forty-five states presume that it is okay to carry guns on private property open to the public unless property owners make their contrary wishes clear.
In dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, said the ruling "only further binds the hands of modern legislatures attempting to balance and protect their residents' interests."
"Today's decision makes one thing clear: The Court's objective is protecting guns, not consistently preserving any principle of law," Jackson wrote.
The National Rifle Association, which backed the challenge to the Hawaii law, praised the majority decision in a statement on X.
"Law-abiding gun owners will no longer be forced to beg for special permission simply to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms in public places," wrote NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford.
Brady, a gun safety group, slammed the court's decision as "deeply dangerous" and one that "privileges guns over everything and all people in society."
"This common-sense law is what the people of Hawaii wanted, but the court has complete disregard for that community will. Ultimately, the court makes it clear that it cares little about the threat of gun violence posed to the American people," said Kris Brown, the group's president.
(WASHINGTON) -- Hours after President Donald Trump blasted Sen. Bill Cassidy for supporting a war powers resolution that narrowly passed the Senate on Tuesday, Cassidy helped to deliver Trump a victory by voting with the majority of Republicans late Wednesday to block a separate resolution aimed at reining in the president's war powers in Iran from advancing.
The Senate voted 47-50-1 late Wednesday to block a war powers resolution led by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine from moving forward. The resolution, which aims to limit Trump's ability to wage war in Iran but does not have the force of law, had narrowly advanced in a previous procedural vote.
It was a remarkable departure for Louisiana Republican senator who, just hours previously, was in a shouting match with the president during a lunch between Trump and the GOP conference.
Cassidy said he later received a briefing from Vice President JD Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Iran.
"I want to thank Vice President Vance and Special Envoy Witkoff for the thorough briefing this afternoon on Iran. I appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns," Cassidy posted.
Cassidy wasn't the only Republican who changed his vote on the latest war powers vote.
Sen. Rand Paul voted 'present' instead of voting to support the resolution as he had previously been doing.
"Tonight I will vote present on the War Powers resolution. My opinion on the debate over war and executive power has not changed and I have voted that way several times," Paul posted on X ahead of the vote. "But since hostilities seem to be over and the President asked me to give consideration to his negotiating position, I will do so. My vote of present is a way to give the President more space and leverage to negotiate a lasting peace."
Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted in favor of the resolution, as they have in the past. All other Republicans voted against it.
Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against the resolution. All other Democrats voted for it. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Michael Bennet were absent during Wednesday night's vote.
Trump celebrated Wednesday's vote in a post on his social media platform.
"Wow! The Senate just changed its vote on Iran from 50-48 against, to 50-47 for," Trump said in the post. "Rand Paul and Bill Cassidy changed. Thank you to Leader John Thune, Lindsey Graham, Bernie Moreno, and all. This vote puts Iran on notice!
The earlier clash between Trump and Cassidy came as the president met with Republican senators on Capitol Hill.
At one point, Trump called Cassidy a "lunatic," according to multiple sources. Cassidy did not dispute that when asked by ABC News.
After the meeting, Cassidy acknowledged that he lost his temper with Trump.
"He asked why would anybody vote for the War Powers Act? As he continued, I said, 'is that a rhetorical question, or would you like to really know?' He said, 'I'd like to know.' I stood and said, 'You have not told the American people what's going on. It was supposed to last four weeks. It's lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved, and I want to know what's going on,'" Cassidy said.
The White House had dismissed the earlier Senate vote on the resolution, saying it was of "no significance."
OVERTON – The Texas Department of Public Safety reports that a single-vehicle collision in Overton on Thursday morning has left one person dead. According to officials, the collision occurred on State Highway 323 close to County Road 125 at around 6:00 a.m. No further information regarding the collision has been made public as of yet. The Overton Police Department is advising people to take a different route and stay away from the area. Additionally, they requested that people offer prayers for the affected individuals and their families.
MARION COUNTY – Following an officer-involved shooting in Marion County on Wednesday night, a man was transported to a hospital in Shreveport. Around 7:15 p.m., deputies responded to a domestic incident in the 2700 block of Highway 49, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. When the deputies arrived, they encountered a man who then fired a rifle, striking a patrol car belonging to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. Continue reading Officer-involved shooting investigated
The search for the new James Bond seems to be shaking (not stirring) up. Deadline reports that Denis Villeneuve, who is set to direct the next James Bond film for Amazon MGM Studios, has started informing the talent who have made it to the next round of auditions. According to the outlet, Villeneuve has been calling the talent directly, with the next round of auditions set for the month of August ...
Invincible is coming back for more. Prime Video has renewed the adult animated TV series for a sixth season. This renewal comes just after season 4 finished its run and months ahead of season 5's debut. The show's official Instagram posted a graphic to announce that season 6 was confirmed. It was captioned, "Mark, this is good news!!!!!!" ...
The trailer for season 15 of King of the Hill has arrived. All 10 episodes of the 15th season are set to stream to Hulu on July 20. This new season finds Hank and Peggy settling "into retirement life on Rainey Street while attempting to keep their neighbors from going off the rails," according to its official synopsis. Its voice cast includes Mike Judge, Kathy Najimy, Pamela Adlon, Stephen Root, Lauren Tom and Toby Huss ... Disney is the parent company of ABC News and Hulu.
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Venezuela and other regions in the Caribbean on June 24, 2026, in Caracas, Venezuela. (Photo by Edilzon Gamez/Getty Images)
(CARACAS, Venezuela) -- When the first of two massive earthquakes hit Venezuela, American tourist Jason Wang said he was on a mountaintop outside Caracas, about to get on a cable car to head down.
It was just after 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday when a 7.2 magnitude jolted the South American country's coastal region, followed 39 seconds later by an even stronger 7.5 magnitude tremor, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
High up on El Ávila mountain, about 7 miles outside the capital city, the 39-year-old Wang of Las Vegas said he was caught in a scene of confusion and panic, unsure what had just occurred.
"I was about to board the cable car. I started recording myself going in, and the whole building just started shaking. The floor under me was shaking, and then all of a sudden everyone started panicking," Wang told ABC News on Thursday morning.
He said he and other tourists charged toward the exit of the cable car building.
"We were just rushing for the door to exit the building, and none of us knew what was going on until a few minutes afterwards," Wang said. "We realized we got hit with a massive earthquake."
Videos that Wang posted on social media showed him and others walking down the mountain back toward Caracas on a road blocked by numerous toppled trees. Wang said that as the sun was setting, he managed to get a ride back to his hotel in Caracas.
"I saw some people like cutting down trees that fell on the road to create a tunnel for us to get past," Wang said.
He said that when he finally reached his hotel and was able to get a WiFi signal, he learned that the twin tremors were the biggest earthquakes to hit Venezuela in a century, causing massive destruction and widespread death across Caracas, a city of more than 2 million people.
"Once I got back on WiFi, I was able to contact my family and friends and tell them I was OK," said Wang, adding that he was traveling out of the city to the jungle on Thursday morning to escape the danger being caused by numerous aftershocks.
Jorge Rodriguez, president of Venezuela's National Assembly, said that at least 188 people were killed in the earthquakes, and nearly 1,520 more were injured.
But the death toll is expected to grow. The USGS said there is a risk of more than 10,000 deaths, though official casualty tolls have been slow to be reported.
President Donald Trump said there could be a "devastating number of deaths," as Secretary of State Marco Rubio added that the U.S. is deploying rescue teams to Venezuela to help search for victims.
In Caracas, the scenes of devastation and desperation were evident in all directions. Online videos showed apartment and commercial buildings lying in heaps of rubble, houses knocked off foundations and thousands of people in the streets, shellshocked and watching as emergency crews searched for survivors.
At one point, more than 25,000 people were unaccounted for, officials said.
During the earthquakes, people ran from swaying buildings in Caracas, many visibly shocked when they turned back to see destroyed walls that left furniture visible from the street.
"It's like a horror movie," one frantic woman who escaped her damaged building said.
One Caracas resident, Armando Nori, posted a video on social media from inside an apartment building that began to shake violently during the earthquakes. The footage showed Nori and others in the building fleeing as walls and shelves collapsed, and items, including what appeared to be a water container, crashing to the floor.
Another Caracas resident, Gabriel Higuera, told ABC News that he lives on the top floor of an apartment building with his girlfriend, and described their harrowing race to escape. He said his girlfriend almost fell from one of the floors due to the violent tremors.
"The shaking made it impossible to move," Higuera said.
Another video verified by ABC News showed people in an apartment building in Junquito, west of Caracas, falling to the floor and holding onto each other as the building started to collapse around them. The man filming the video was heard in the footage screaming for his mother as he started to run for cover.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said numerous buildings had been brought down in Caracas, and that the cities of Trujillo, Yaracuy, Carabobo, Aragua, and Miranda had also been affected.
There were reports of widespread power outages and cell phone disruptions throughout the country. Gas to many buildings was turned off to prevent fires, officials said.
Rodriguez declared a state of emergency, saying the earthquakes had turned the coastal state of La Guaira into a "disaster zone."
"Dozens of buildings have collapsed there, about 30 kilometers north of Caracas, and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives," Rodriguez said in a televised address to the nation, according to The Associated Press.
She said Metro and rail services are suspended in the city and that the heavily damaged Maiquetía "Simón Bolívar" International Airport is closed.
Video posted online and verified by ABC News showed people at the airport running for their lives as part of its roof collapsed, creating a cloud of dust. In the footage, people could be heard screaming as the sound of crashing glass and chunks of falling concrete echoed in the background.
Amid the devastation came reports of heroic efforts to rescue people trapped in the rubble. Eighteen people were rescued from one of the two buildings that collapsed in the Chacao municipality, about 7 miles east of Caracas, authorities said.
Dozens of aftershocks have been reported following the initial tremors, forcing many people to sleep on the street on Wednesday night out of fear of more buildings collapsing.
Following the quake, a tsunami advisory was issued, with the potential for hazardous tsunami waves possible for coasts within 300 kilometers, or about 186 miles, of the earthquake epicenter. However, the tsunami advisory later expired.
ABC News' Will Gretsky, Shannon Kingston, Victoria Beaule and Aicha El Hammar Castano contributed to this report.
Beachgoers in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Georg Wendt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
(LONDON) -- Countries across Europe were on Thursday in the middle of one of the most brutal heat waves within the last 50 years, with temperatures breaking June records in the United Kingdom and France.
Weather officials in the United Kingdom said temperatures on Wednesday rose in some areas to 35.7 degrees Celsius, or about 96.2 degrees Fahrenheit, topping a June 1976 record of 35.6 C.
The Met Office updated its Red Extreme Heat Warning, spreading the warning along most of the southern and western areas of the United Kingdom.
"This is exceptional heat for June with temperature records expected to be broken this week," Met Office Chief Forecaster Matthew Lehnert said in a statement. "Red warnings are reserved for the most severe events and we’re expecting significant impacts from this heatwave, with health issues likely, even beyond those who are more vulnerable to the heat."
The Met also set Amber Heat Warnings for Friday and Saturday.
Warnings were still under review and constantly being updated, with the Met Office predicting that Friday could be the peak of the heat wave here in the United Kingdom, with temperatures soaring up as high as 100.4 F.
In France the north, west, and half of the southern areas of the country were on Thursday under red heat warnings, under which residents were being told to stay "Absolutely vigilant."
French authorities said on Thursday they expected that the heat to stay in the red for many hours ahead.
The country on Wednesday notched its highest-ever temperature, according to weather officials at Meteo-France, the national weather service. They said the country’s national heat index -- a daily average including regions around the country -- hit 30 C, or about 86 F.
"Another exceptional day is expected in terms of temperatures, with the peak of this historic heatwave anticipated," Meteo-France said in a bulletin on Thursday.
The Louvre and the Eiffel Tower were closing early for a third day in a row.
To stay safe in the heat everyone is being encouraged to stay hydrated, avoid the sun during peak hours, around midday, and staying home to keep cool.
They have recommended keeping curtains, blinds and windows closed during the day and opening windows at night to keep your house as cool as possible.
Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky and chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, during a hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Photographer: Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) -- Under a newly proposed rule, the U.S. Postal Service will refuse to deliver mail-in ballots in states that do not hand over a list of approved voters to the Trump administration, Postmaster General David Steiner told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Democrats lambasted the proposed policy during the hearing, arguing the rule was unconstitutional and "another backdoor way of trying to influence this election."
"Yes or no -- if a state refuses to turn their absentee voter list over to the federal government, will the Postal Service still mail their ballots under this proposed rule?" asked Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.
"Under our proposed regulation, no. We would tell the state that we need the manifest," Steiner said.
The proposed rule puts the Postal Service at the center of President Donald Trump's push to increase federal oversight of elections, though Steiner argued the policy is routine and an attempt to make sure ballots are delivered "securely, efficiently, and accurately."
According to the proposal, states would need to provide to the Postal Service the names, addresses and ballot barcode numbers for individuals to receive a mail-in ballot.
That list of information is less than what's included on a state's voter roll -- which often include voter registration data and other sensitive data -- but in line with an executive order Trump signed in March to increase federal oversight of elections.
At least five lawsuits have challenged that executive order, but some of those cases have stalled because the policy has not yet been enacted. The comment period for that proposed rule is open for the next week.
"It really is trying to help the state make sure that the ballots that they send to the voters actually get there and get to those voters, and so it's strictly a manifest for us to make sure that the right ballots are going to the right people," said Steiner, an attorney who previously served as the CEO of Waste Management.
However, Senate Democrats argued the policy is a veiled attempt to increase federal control over the election.
"Just because President Trump wants to do this does not make it law, doesn't make it right, doesn't make it constitutional. There is certainly a massive difference between general mail requirements and regulating elections," Peters said.
"The U.S. Postal Service is now part of this bigger story of this president desperate to federalize our elections. He has tried every which way to say that if he and his party don't win in these November elections, they were rigged," said Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.
When pressed on whether the Postal Service would refuse to send ballots to states that refuse to turn over that information, Steiner repeatedly deflected but acknowledged that under the proposed rule, the Postal Service would withhold the ballots.
"If you don't get Michigan's voter rolls for the general election in November, will you move those ballots in your mailboxes?" asked Slotkin.
"Remember, right now we only have a proposed rule, so there are no new rules," Steiner answered. "We will move those ballots in accordance with whatever rule is in effect at that point in time."
Tom Holland and Zendaya attend the 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' Rome premiere evening photocall at Ponte Sant'Angelo on June 23, 2026, in Rome, Italy. (Franco Origlia/WireImage via Getty Images)
Tom Holland referred to his wife, Zendaya, by an unexpected name at the Spider-Man: Brand New Day premiere in Rome.
While the pair were talking to different reporters on the red carpet at the premiere, Holland called out to Zendaya to ask her a question, as seen in a video shared by People.
"Maree!" Holland shouted, to which Zendaya responded back, "Yeah?"
Holland then asked her where they were going after the premiere, to which she said, "Giolitti's." Zendaya added more context to the reporter she was speaking with, telling them, "That's where I'm going after this."
Zendaya's full name is Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman, meaning Holland used one of her middle names to refer to her on the carpet.
Holland also posted photos of him and Zendaya at the premiere to his Instagram on Tuesday.
The first photo in his carousel is a black-and-white picture of him and Zendaya walking hand-in-hand across the Ponte Sant'Angelo in Rome. Zendaya is dressed in a vintage Giorgio Armani web dress.
The second photo was taken in color and features the couple looking up at the sky as a Spider-Man: Brand New Day graphic is displayed on Castel Sant'Angelo behind them. Many other black-and-white and color photos follow in the rest of Holland's post.
"When in Rome! Spider-Man Brand New Day," Holland captioned the carousel.
People walk past a monitor showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mostly higher Thursday, led by tech-driven gains in Japan and South Korea as major computer chipmakers’ stocks surged following upbeat earnings reports from U.S. giants like Qualcomm and Micron Technology.
Oil prices slipped closer to where they were before the war with Iran began.
Qualcomm’s share price surged nearly 7% in afterhours trading after the company announced it had raised its forecast for revenue this year to $40 billion from $22 billion. It also announced a new computer chip for data centers called Dragonfly C1000 CPU that Meta plans to use.
Micron Technology’s shares jumped 18.5% in afterhours trading after it upgraded its forecast and exceeded analysts’ estimates.
The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.8%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher.
Germany’s DAX advanced 0.5% to 24,859.99. The CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2% to 8,398.21 and Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.1% to 10,473.69.
In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index surged 4.6% to a record close of 72,366.34 as traders snapped up shares in technology companies. Chipmaker Tokyo Electron’s shares gained 7.8%, while chip testing equipment maker Advantest’s shares soared 15%.
South Korea’s benchmark, the Kospi, hit a new record, surging 5.4% to 8,930.30 after briefly topping 9,000. Samsung Electronics’ shares gained 5.3% and SK Hynix leaped 13%.
Elsewhere in Asia, gains were more modest.
Taiwan’s Taiex climbed 0.5% and the Sensex in India was up 0.7%.
The Shanghai Composite index picked up 0.2% to 4,120.28, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.4% to 23,090.27.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.7% to 8,748.70.
On Wednesday, stocks wavered to a mixed close on Wall Street as losses for several tech giants including Microsoft weighed on the market. The S&P 500 fell 0.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is less weighted with tech stocks, rose 10.4%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.4%.
Microsoft lost 2.3% and Oracle slumped 4.6%.
Many large tech companies have been behind Wall Street’s record-setting run throughout the year, but analysts have warned their valuations may have become stretched.
Google’s parent company Alphabet slipped 0.2%. The company is replacing Verizon in the Dow on Monday. Its inclusion in the S&P 500 means more to investors, however, because 401(k) accounts are much more likely to include an S&P 500 index fund than anything tied to the Dow.
Alphabet will become the fifth Magnificent 7 tech company to join the Dow. The others are Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Nvidia.
Oil companies had some of the biggest losses as prices fell while the U.S. and Iran negotiate a possible end to their war. Exxon Mobil fell 2% and Chevron lost 2.6%. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3.8% to $73.87 a barrel. It has been trading below $80 in recent days but is still above the roughly $70 per barrel it was trading at in late February before the war began.
U.S. crude prices fell 3.9% to $70.34 a barrel.
Early Thursday, Brent was down 0.8% at $73.32 a barrel, while U.S. benchmark crude lost 0.5% to $69.88 a barrel.
Some of the bigger winners on Wall Street included homebuilders following approval of legislation beneficial to the industry. KB Home surged 16.7% and D.R. Horton jumped 6.7%.
The Federal Reserve will get an update on inflation later Thursday, when its preferred measure for prices is released. Economists expect the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, or PCE, to show that prices rose 4.1% in May. That would be the highest level in three years.
Inflation has been rising as tariffs raise costs for many goods. It worsened as the war pushed energy and shipping prices higher and that impact is expected to linger even as oil and gasoline prices fall.
In other dealings early Thursday, the U.S. dollar rose to 161.81 Japanese yen from 161.79 yen. The euro rose to $1.1362 from $1.1359.