Good news for 4th of July road trippers: A gallon of regular gas will cost 34 cents less than it did last year.
GasBuddy says the nationwide average price will be $3.15 per gallon, the cheapest since 2021.
Southern states offer the best fuel prices right now, according to AAA, with prices ringing in at less than $3. Gas is currently most expensive on the West Coast, where a gallon of regular in Washington State will cost more than $4.
The relatively low prices are expected to contribute to a glut of on-road travel for the long holiday weekend: some 62 million Americans are forecasted to make a road trip this July 4th.
David Bennett, senior automotive manager at AAA, spoke to Scripps News about preparing for a busier-than-usual road trip season.
Bennett recommends that drivers take their vehicles in for routine maintenance before hitting the road. For those short on time or money, he suggests at least checking tire tread and topping off essential fluids.
Once on the road, Bennett advises travelers to pack water and nonperishable food in case of an emergency. He also recommends carrying a first aid kit and basic tools.
President Trump on Tuesday threatened New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani with arrest, should he be elected and follow through with a campaign promise to "stop masked ICE agents from deporting our neighbors."
Speaking on Tuesday during a visit to a new migrant detention facility just opened in Florida, President Trump said the Justice Department would react swiftly to any such obstruction to ICE's operations.
"Well then, we'll have to arrest him," President Trump said.
"Look, we don't need a communist in this country, but if we have one, I'm going to be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation," he said.
The comments are President Trump's latest attack on Mamdani, who he called a "total nut job" earlier on Tuesday.
"A lot of people are saying he's here illegally," Trump said, without evidence, on Tuesday.
On Sunday, President Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from New York if, should Mamdani be elected mayor, he didn't "behave himself."
"If he does get in, Im going to be president, and hes going to have to do the right thing, or theyre not getting any money. Hes got to do the right thing or theyre not getting any money," President Trump said in an interview with Fox News.
Mamdani, who formally clinched a win over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the state's Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday, has called President Trump's latest comments "intimidation."
"His statements don't just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you," Mamdani said. "We will not accept this intimidation."
The U.S. will temporarily halt shipments of certain weapons systems to Ukraine, according to White House officials.
Scripps News confirmed the development with the White House on Tuesday.
"This decision was made to put Americas interests first following a DOD review of our nations military support and assistance to other countries across the globe," White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told Scripps News in a statement. "The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned just ask Iran."
According to reporting from multiple outlets, weapons being halted include munitions for Patriot air defense batteries, artillery rounds and Stinger, Hellfire and AIM-7 missiles. According to the reporting, the Pentagon has paused shipments while it reviews stockpiles of munitions, and may keep shipments paused if levels are found to be too low or if munitions are needed elsewhere.
Have you ever dreamed of living the lavish life of a celebrity? Well, now you can.
A Chicago-area mansion once owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan can now be rented on Airbnb. According to the listing, the 7.39-acre estate called Champions Point is located in Highland Park, Illinois, and boasts 12 bedrooms, 17.5 bathrooms, and can accommodate up to 12 guests.
Airbnb describes the estate as a "private oasis," featuring a movie theater, commercial gym, cigar lounge, wine cellar, pool tables, bars, and salt water aquariums. The property also comes with a professional grade golf putting green, a private pond stocked with fish, a zero-entry infinity pool, and of course a full basketball court.
The gated property, which is now owned by real estate investor John Cooper, was purchased for $9.5 million in 2024 after it spent years on the market and saw numerous price reductions.
"Champions Point has always been a legendary estate," Cooper said in a statement. "Now, we're making it possible for more people to experience that magic firsthand through our partnership with Airbnb Luxe. Whether it's a family retreat, milestone celebration, or unforgettable getaway with friends, this estate offers an unparalleled experience in luxury living."
The massive property is available to rent through Airbnb Luxe the company's ultra-premium service or it can be reserved directly at championspointe.com. However, if you're hoping to stay in a house where a six-time NBA champion once lived, it's going cost you.
The listing not only requires a minimum seven-night stay, but a weeklong vacation over Labor Day weekend, for example, would reportedly cost just over $120,000 about $17,000 per night.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Israel has agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and warned Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen.
Trump announced the development as he prepares to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks at the White House on Monday. The U.S. leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire and hostage agreement and bring about an end to the war in Gaza.
My Representatives had a long and productive meeting with the Israelis today on Gaza. Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War, Trump wrote, saying the Qataris and Egyptians would deliver the final proposal.
I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE, he said.
Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer was in Washington on Tuesday for talks with senior administration officials to discuss a potential Gaza ceasefire, Iran and other matters. Dermer was expected to meet with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
The development came as over 150 international charities and humanitarian groups called Tuesday for disbanding a controversial Israeli- and U.S.-backed system to distribute aid in Gaza because of chaos and deadly violence against Palestinians seeking food at its sites.
The joint statement by groups including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty International followed the killings of at least 10 Palestinians who were seeking desperately needed food, witnesses and health officials said. Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 37 in southern Gazas Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital.
Tents, tents they are hitting with two missiles? asked Um Seif Abu Leda, whose son was killed in the strikes. Mourners threw flowers on the body bags.
Before Trump's announcement, Israels defense minister, Israel Katz, had warned that his country would respond forcefully to the firing of a missile the military said originated from Yemen. Sirens sounded across parts of Israel, alerting residents to the attack and the launch of two projectiles from Gaza. All were intercepted by Israeli defense systems.
The missile launch marked the first attack by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels since the end of the 12-day war initiated by Israel with Iran. Katz said Yemen could face the same fate as Tehran.
Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media office, vowed on social media that Yemen will not stop its support for Gaza ... unless the aggression stops and the siege on Gaza is lifted.
Speaking to his Cabinet, Netanyahu did not elaborate on plans for his visit to Washington next week, except to say he will discuss a trade deal. Iran is also expected to be a main topic of discussion in Washington after Trump brokered a ceasefire between it and Israel.
The University of Pennsylvania has agreed to ban transgender women from its womens sports teams to resolve a federal civil rights case that found the school violated the rights of female athletes.
The U.S. Education Department announced the voluntary agreement Tuesday. The case focused on Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who last competed for the Ivy League school in Philadelphia in 2022, when she became the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title.
Its part of the Trump administrations broader attempt to remove transgender athletes from girls and womens sports.
Under the agreement, Penn agreed to restore all individual Division I swimming records and titles to female athletes who lost out to Thomas, the Education Department said. Penn also agreed to send a personalized apology letter to each of those swimmers.
It wasnt immediately clear whether Thomas would be stripped of her awards and honors at Penn.
The university must also announce that it will not allow males to compete in female athletic programs and it must adopt biology-based definitions of male and female, the department said.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon called it a victory for women and girls.
The Department commends UPenn for rectifying its past harms against women and girls, and we will continue to fight relentlessly to restore Title IXs proper application and enforce it to the fullest extent of the law, McMahon said in a statement.
The Education Department opened its investigation in February and concluded in April that Penn had violated Title IX, a 1972 law forbidding sex discrimination in education. Such findings have almost always been resolved through voluntary agreements. If Penn had fought the finding, the department could have moved to refer the case to the Justice Department or pursued a separate process to cut the schools federal funding.
In February, the Education Department asked the NCAA and the National Federation of State High School Associations, or NFSHSA, to restore titles, awards and records it says have been misappropriated by biological males competing in female categories.
The most obvious target at the college level was in womens swimming, where Thomas won the national title in the 500-yard freestyle in 2022.
The NCAA has updated its record books when recruiting and other violations have stripped titles from certain schools, but the organization, like the NFSHSA, has not responded to the federal government's request. Determining which events had a transgender athlete participating years later would be challenging.
A 20-year-old mans life appeared to have begun to unravel in the months before authorities say he fatally shot two firefighters and severely wounded a third as they responded to a wildfire near Coeur dAlene, Idaho.
Wess Roley was living out of his vehicle and his former roommate, T.J. Franks Jr., said he shaved off his long hair and started to "kind of go downhill. The two lived together for about six months in Sandpoint, Idaho, until Roley moved out in January, Franks said Monday.
Roley, who authorities say took his own life after Sunday's shootings, is suspected of killing two battalion chiefs whose firefighting careers in Idaho spanned nearly half a century combined. The deaths of Frank Harwood, 42, with Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, and John Morrison, 52, with the Coeur dAlene Fire Department, have left their colleagues reeling, resulting in their departments adding law enforcement to every call, no matter how routine.
I dont know that were ever going to be able to guarantee peoples peace of mind, at least for a while after an incident like this, Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Chief Christopher Way said. But we are taking every measure we can to ensure safety of our responders.
Roley had set a fire using flint at Canfield Mountain, a popular recreation area, according to authorities. The firefighters who rushed to the scene found themselves under fire and took cover behind fire trucks.
There was an interaction with the firefighters, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said. It has something to do with his vehicle being parked where it was.
Two helicopters converged on the area, armed with snipers ready to take out the suspect if needed, while the FBI used his cellphone data to track him and the sheriff ordered residents to shelter in place. They eventually found Roley's body in the mountains, his firearm beside him. He had killed himself, the sheriff said.
Roley had once aspired to be a firefighter and had only a handful of minor contacts with area police, Norris said. A motive was still unknown, he said.
He had ties to California and Arizona and was living in Idaho for the better part of 2024, although it was unclear why he was there, Norris said.
When Roley was living with Franks, his apartment cameras caught Roley throwing gang signs at them, which worried Franks to the point that he called police.
The landlord also called Franks one morning because neighbors reported that Roleys vehicle had been left running for about 12 hours. Franks said Roley was asleep in his room and said he forgot about the vehicle.
Hours after Sunday's shooting, people gathered along Interstate 90 holding American flags to pay their respects as the two fallen firefighters bodies were taken to the medical examiners office in Spokane, Washington, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) from Coeur dAlene.
On Tuesday, a procession of police and fire vehicles accompanied a hearse as onlookers along a quiet street held flags and in some cases saluted as the vehicles got underway. People dotted an overpass, where a fire truck bearing a large U.S. flag stood, as the procession passed on the interstate below.
Gov. Brad Little ordered U.S. and Idaho state flags to be lowered to half-staff to honor the firefighters until the day after their memorial service.
All our public safety officers, especially our firefighters, bravely confront danger on a daily basis but we have never seen a heinous act of violence like this on our firefighters before, he said in a statement.
Harwood, one of the victims of the shooting, had been with the county fire department for 17 years, Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Chief Christopher Way said during a news conference Monday. Harwood was married and had two children, and he also was a veteran of the Army National Guard.
Morrison, who was also killed, started his career with the Coeur dAlene Fire Department in 1996 and had also worked as a paramedic.
Coeur dAlene Fire Department Fire Engineer David Tysdal, 47, sustained gunshot wounds and was in critical condition. Authorities said he had two successful surgeries.
We still are in shock and are struggling to understand why someone would target unarmed, selfless public servants, Coeur dAlene Mayor Woody McEvers said.
By Monday afternoon, the fire was reasonably contained, and responders had stopped significant forward progress," Way said. The Idaho Department of Lands said it had burned about 26 acres.
After a little over 13 hours of deliberation, a jury reached a partial verdict in the federal criminal trial for Sean "Diddy" Combs in New York City, but will continue deliberating one of the charges in question on Wednesday.
The 55-year-old music mogul had been accused of two counts of sex trafficking, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy. He pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
The jury told the court it had reached a verdict on four of the five charges, but that they were unable to reach a decision on the racketeering count.
The jury note said, in part, "We have jurors with unpersuadable opinions on both sides."
If the jury were to find Combs guilty of racketeering conspiracy, they would also have to distinguish which predicate acts under the charge he was guilty of. Those acts, per the jury's verdict form, include kidnapping, arson, bribery, witness tampering and forced labor.
He could face life in prison if the jury finds him guilty on the most serious charge.
Throughout the months-long trial, 34 witnesses were called to stand by the prosecution to paint a picture of a man they said "used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted."
The multiple counts Combs faced for sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution were on behalf of both women.
Prosecutors insisted during the trial that Combs used violence and threats to coerce the women into these sex acts, as well as control their daily lives.
Over the last several weeks, youve learned a lot about Sean Combs. Hes the leader of a criminal enterprise. He doesnt take no for an answer. And now you know about many crimes the defendant committed with members of his enterprise: Kidnapping of one of the defendants employees; arson by trying to blow up a car; forced labor, including of an employee the defendant repeatedly sexually assaulted; bribery of a security officer to keep damning evidence against the defendant buried; and of course, the brutal crimes at the heart of this case sex trafficking, she said.
Although no charges were filed, the prosecution accused Combs of setting fire to rapper Scott Mescudi's, known as Kid Cudi, car in retaliation for his relationship with Cassie at the time.
In addition to testimony, jurors saw photos inside Combs' homes in Miami and Los Angeles following law enforcement raids, as well as videos of his sexual encounters and the notorious security camera video of him beating Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel as she tried to leave.
The defense acknowledged that Combs had a violent side, but they insisted all of the sex acts were consensual.
Combs' attorneys did not call any witnesses, and he did not take the stand to defend himself.
They go into the mans bedroom. They go into the mans most private life. Where is the crime scene? The crime scene is your private sex life. Thats the crime scene, Agnifilo said.
Coco Gauff couldnt escape the wave of upsets sweeping through Wimbledon this year.
The French Open champion was eliminated in the first round Tuesday, falling in straight sets to Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, 7-6 (3), 6-1.
Yastremska proved the steadier player, particularly after winning a tiebreak in the opening set. She cruised through the second to complete the upset.
Gauff, ranked No. 2 in the world, struggled throughout the match, finishing with 29 unforced errors and just nine winners. Yastremska tallied 16 winners and 25 unforced errors.
Gauff has never advanced past the fourth round at Wimbledon, making it her least successful Grand Slam. She also lost her only other match on grass this season in Berlin.
Gauff wasnt the only top American to exit early. Jessica Pegula, ranked No. 3, also lost in the first round Tuesday.
Other notable upsets included 2024 Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng and, on the mens side, world No. 3 Alexander Zverev.
Many state legislators pass new laws that go into effect on July 1. The significance of the date varies state-by-state, but for some, it is as simple as it coincides with the start of a new fiscal year. Other states opt for Jan. 1 to implement newly passed laws.
Nevertheless, there are many interesting new laws that will now be enforced in states across the country. Whether you live in these states, are planning to travel to them or thinking about your next move, it's good to know what laws may impact you along the way.
This list only highlights some of the new laws passed in these individual states and should not be considered a comprehensive list.
California
The Golden State is raising the minimum wage across multiple cities and counties.
In an effort to eliminate junk fees, the state will now require short-term rental services like AirBnB to disclose any additional charges up front. The state is also requiring companies that offer online subscriptions to make it easier for subscribers to cancel.
California Assembly Bill 2375 requires bars to provide a lid for drinks when a customer requests one, aimed at preventing spiking.
The state will require employers with 100 or more employees to offer health insurance that covers infertility diagnosis and fertility treatments.
Colorado
The state will now require eight hours of in-person training, including live fire training, and education on things like safe storage and handling of weapons in order to obtain a concealed carry permit, thanks to Colorado House Bill 24-1174.
Florida
The "Tristan Murphy Act" focuses on helping counties and municipalities in Florida establish mental health diversion programs to prevent people who are mentally ill from being put in prison.
Florida Senate Bill 150, known as "Trooper's Law," states that anyone who abandons any animal during a natural disaster without providing care is guilty of a first-degree misdemeanor, resulting in a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment or both. It states that those who restrain a dog outside during a natural disaster and then abandon the dog are guilty of a third-degree felony, which can result in a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment or both. The new law was inspired by a dog who was found tied up and abandoned in belly-high water on Interstate 75 during the chaos of Hurricane Milton evacuations in Tampa.
Senate Bill 612 will allow minors who distribute narcotics that cause a fatal overdose to be prosecuted for murder.
Florida House Bill 549 states that instructional materials and library media center collection materials in schools must reflect the name change from the "Gulf of Mexico" to the "Gulf of America."
The state has banned cellphones in classrooms, added more recess time for elementary-aged students, and increased penalties for threats of mass violence to schools and other buildings or events.
Another new law allows a judge to revoke the license of a child who is found guilty of bullying or cyberbullying. If the child hasn't obtained a license yet, the judge could ban them from getting one for up to a year.
The state has now made it possible for wrongful death claims to be filed if someone has an abortion induced by abortion pills.
There's also a new ban in Tennessee on laser pointers.
Cocktails to-go, something made possible during the pandemic, are here to stay in Virginia.
Thanks to Virginia Senate Bill 998, parents or guardians who are making money off content online that involves kids will have to set earnings aside for those children in a trust account.
Virginia House Bill 2783 increases the penalty for defacing property with a Nazi symbol.
More than 140,000 pounds of ready-to-eat bologna have been recalled because the products were mislabeled, according to the U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service.
The bologna, made by Gaisers European Style Provisions Inc., contains meat or poultry ingredients that are not declared on the packaging.
The recall includes products sold under various brand names, including:
Vacuum-packed Family Tree Bologna Veal, which contains undeclared pork Plastic-wrapped Babushkas Recipe Chicken Bologna, which contains undeclared pork Plastic-wrapped Fancy Bologna, labeled as containing pork but also containing undeclared beef and chicken Vacuum-packed Gaisers Russian Brand Doktorskaya Bologna, which contains undeclared beef Plastic-wrapped Gaisers Bologna Veal, which contains undeclared chicken and pork Plastic-wrapped Gaisers Turkey Bologna, which contains undeclared chicken and pork Plastic-wrapped Chicken Bologna Kypoyka Paba, which contains undeclared pork
The USDA said the products were shipped to both retail and wholesale outlets across the country.
Although no illnesses have been reported, officials advise consumers not to eat the recalled bologna. The products may still be in refrigerators or freezers, and should be thrown away or returned to the store.
About 150 members of the National Guard who were deployed to address protests in California will be released to return to wildland firefighting duties in the state, Department of Defense officials said Tuesday.
Scripps News has confirmed that NORTHCOM commander Gen. Gregory Guillot - who's overseeing the deployment of the National Guard and the U.S. Marines to California - requested 200 troops be reassigned from their current task of immigration protection duties.
On Tuesday NORTHCOM confirmed "approximately 150" members of the National Guard would be released from federal protection duties, where more than 4,000 members of the National Guard have been guarding federal buildings and providing security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while they perform immigration raids.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has for weeks criticized President Donald Trump's federalization of National Guard forces, particularly because of how it has depleted firefighting crews in the state. Newsom says President Trump's orders retasked eight of 14 National Guard firefighting crews at a time when wildfire risks in the state are near their highest.
In a statement on Monday, Gov. Newsom welcomed the change.
"Were glad to see the top military commander overseeing Trump's illegal militarization of Los Angeles agree: its time to pull back National Guard troops and get them back to their critical firefighting duties. President Trump: listen to your military leaders, and stop the political theater.
Starting today, expect to see more commercials before movies at AMC theaters nationwide.
This idea was announced in early June. AMC will run ads in the "platinum spot"immediately ahead of a movie's startand says the pre-show material, which includes trailers and other promotions, can last up to 30 minutes.
The theater chain hopes this will boost its bottom line after experiencing its worst first quarter since 1996, excluding the pandemic.
AMC also recently extended its partnership with National CineMedia through 2042 to continue advertising in theater lobbies.
At a time when the movie industry is beginning to hit its stride, we believe AMC is doing the same, backed by an increasingly stronger balance sheet, and the confidence of our financial partners. We are laser-focused on taking bold steps which in our view will work to drive long-term shareholder value," Adam Aron, AMC CEO, said.
AMC said that its AMC Stubs members will get a price reduction of 50% off adult-evening base ticket prices all day long on Wednesdays.
"Realistically, we could not afford to have made this change to our ticket pricing strategy until the box office showed true signs of sustained recovery. But in April and now in May, the box office has been booming, and the remainder of 2025 appears poised to continue that upward box office trend," Aron said.
New research published in the journal The Lancet warns that cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development could result in 14 million deaths over the next five years.
USAID funding has played a crucial role in reducing preventable deaths among both children and adults across low and middle-income countries.
Researchers analyzed two decades of the organization's successes to determine what would be lost due to these cuts.
The USAID-funded programs prevented more than 91 million deaths globally, including 30 million children under five years old, according to the study.
The various programs were associated with a reduction in mortality from HIV and AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, nutritional deficiencies and neglected tropical diseases, the study said.
For the past 20 years, the United States has been the leading government donor to humanitarian response plans, development aid and multilateral development banks particularly in African countries.
The Trump administration has cut more than 80% of USAID programs since January.
"To our knowledge, this study is the first comprehensive analysis to assess the impact of total USAID fundingincluding support for health care, nutrition, humanitarian aid, development, education, and related sectors," the researchers wrote.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Lululemon has filed a lawsuit against Costco that accuses the wholesale club operator of selling lower-priced duplicates of some of its popular athleisure clothing.
Lululemon Athletica claims in its lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California that Costco has unlawfully traded on its reputation, goodwill and sweat equity by selling unauthorized and unlicensed apparel that uses knockoff, infringing versions of its patents.
Lululemon alleges that Costco is known to use manufacturers of popular branded products for its private label Kirkland brand, but that the company and the manufacturers don't tell consumers of the connection between them for many of the Kirkland-branded products. Because of this, Lululemon claims this leads at least some shoppers to believe that Kirkland-branded products are made by the authentic supplier of the original products. Lululemon claims Costco doesn't try to dispel the ambiguity.
As an innovation-led company that invests significantly in the research, development, and design of our products, we take the responsibility of protecting and enforcing our intellectual property rights very seriously and pursue the appropriate legal action when necessary," a Lululemon company spokesperson said in a statement.
Some of the products Lululemon says Costco is making duplicates of include its popular Scuba hoodies, Define jackets, and ABC pants.
Lululemon claims one of the duplicates that Costco sells is the Hi-Tec Men's Scuba Full Zip, with the lawsuit showing a screenshot image of Costco's website showing the item priced at $19.97. Lululemon sells several men's jackets that cost more than $100 each.
Costco, based in Issaquah, Washington, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Lululemon is requesting a jury trial and wants Costco to stop selling the products that it considers to be duplicates. It is also seeking an unspecified amount in monetary damages.
Lulemon was in a similar legal dispute with Peloton in 2021. Two years later the companies announced a five-year partnership that included Lululemon becoming the primary athletic apparel partner to Peloton.
Zohran Mamdani has won New York Citys Democratic mayoral primary, a new vote count confirmed Tuesday, cementing his stunning upset of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and sending him to the general election.
The Associated Press called the race after the results of the citys ranked choice voting tabulation were released and showed Mamdani beating Cuomo by 12 percentage points.
Mamdanis win had been widely expected since he took a commanding lead after the polls closed a week ago, falling just short of the 50% of the vote needed to avoid another count under the citys ranked choice voting model. The system allows voters other preferences to be counted if their top candidate falls out of the running.
Mamdani, who declared victory the night of the June 24 primary, will face a general election field that includes incumbent Mayor Eric Adams as well as independent candidate Jim Walden and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Cuomo conceded defeat on the night of the June 24 primary but is contemplating whether to run in the general election on an independent ballot line.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist and member of the state Assembly, was virtually unknown when he launched his candidacy centered on a bold slate of populist ideas. But he built an energetic campaign that ran circles around Cuomo as the older, more moderate Democrat tried to come back from the sexual harassment scandal that led to his resignation four years ago.
The results, even before they were finalized, sent a shockwave through the political world.
Mamdanis campaign, which was focused on lowering the cost of living, claims it has found a new blueprint for Democrats who have at times appeared rudderless during President Donald Trump's climb back to power.
The Democratic establishment has approached Mamdani with caution. Many of its big players applauded his campaign but don't seem ready to throw their full support behind the young progressive, whose past criticisms of law enforcement, use of the word genocide to describe the Israeli governments actions in Gaza and democratic socialist label amount to landmines for some in the party.
If elected, Mamdani would be the city's first Muslim mayor and its first of Indian American decent. He would also be one of its youngest.
For Republicans, Mamdani has already provided a new angle for attack. Trump and others in the GOP have begun to launch broadsides at him, moving to cast Mamdani as the epitome of leftist excess ahead of consequential elections elsewhere this year and next.
If Im a Republican, I want this guy to win, said Grant Reeher, a political science professor at Syracuse University. Because I want to be able to compare and contrast my campaign as a Republican, in a national election, to the idea of, This is where the Democratic party is.
New York City's ranked choice voting model allows voters to list up to five candidates on their ballots in order of preference. If a single candidate is the first choice of more than 50% of voters, then that person wins the race outright. Since no candidate cleared that bar on the night of the primary, the ranked choice voting process kicked in. The board is scheduled to certify the election on July 15.
Mamdani has been a member of the state Assembly since 2021, and has characterized his inexperience as a potential asset. His campaign promised free city buses, free child care, a rent freeze for people living in rent-stabilized apartment, government-run grocery stores and more, all paid for with taxes on the wealthy. Critics have slammed his agenda as politically unrealistic.
Cuomo ran a campaign centered on his extensive experience, casting himself as the only candidate capable of saving a city he said had spun out of control. During the campaign, he focused heavily on combating antisemitism and leaned on his name recognition and juggernaut fundraising operation rather than mingling with voters.
Confronted with the sexual harassment allegations that ended his tenure as governor, he denied wrongdoing, maintaining that the scandal was driven by politics and that voters were ready to move on.
Cuomo did not remove his name from the November ballot last week, ahead of a procedural deadline to do so, and has said he is still considering whether to mount an actual campaign for the office.
Adams, while still a Democrat, is running in the November election as an independent. He dropped out of the Democratic primary in April after he was severely wounded by his now-dismissed federal bribery case. Though he had done little in the way of campaigning since then, he reignited his reelection operation in the days after Mamdani declared victory, calling it a choice between a candidate with a blue collar and one with a silver spoon.
Russia launched its biggest aerial attack against Ukraine overnight, a Ukrainian official said Sunday, part of an escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the 3-year-old war.
Russia fired a total of 537 aerial weapons at Ukraine, including 477 drones and decoys and 60 missiles, Ukraines air force said. Of these, 249 were shot down and 226 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.
The onslaught was the most massive airstrike on the country since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, taking into account both drones and various types of missiles, Yuriy Ihnat, head of communications for Ukraines air force, told The Associated Press. The attack targeted several regions, including western Ukraine, far from the front line.
Poland and allied countries scrambled aircraft to ensure the safety of Polish airspace, the country's air force said.
One person died in a drone strike in the Kherson region, Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said, while another was killed when a drone hit a car in the Kharkiv region, according to its Gov. Oleh Syniehubov. Six people were wounded in Cherkasy, including a child, according to regional Gov. Ihor Taburets.
In the far-western Lviv region, a large fire broke out at an industrial facility in the city of Drohobych following a drone attack that also cut electricity to parts of the city.
Ukraines air force said one of its F-16 warplanes supplied by its Western partners crashed after sustaining damage while shooting down air targets. The pilot died.
Attacks continued during the day. Dnipropetrovsk Gov. Serhii Lysak said a 72-year-old man was killed when a drone hit his car.
Russian troops reportedly advance in Donetsk
Russia's Defense Ministry said it had shot down three Ukrainian drones overnight.
Two people were wounded in another Ukrainian drone attack on the city of Bryansk in western Russia, regional Gov. Alexander Bogomaz said Sunday morning, adding that seven more Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the region.
Meanwhile, Russia claimed Sunday that it had taken control of the village of Novoukrainka in the partially Russian-occupied Donetsk region.
Russian forces have been slowly grinding forward at some points on the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, though their incremental gains have been costly in terms of troop casualties and damaged armor.
In other developments, Russias foreign intelligence chief, Sergei Naryshkin, said he had spoken on the phone with his U.S. counterpart, CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
I had a phone call with my American counterpart and we reserved for each other the possibility to call at any time and discuss issues of interest to us, Naryshkin said in remarks to state TV reporter Pavel Zarubin, who posted them on his Telegram channel on Sunday.
Sunday's attacks follow Russian President Vladimir Putins comments two days ago that Moscow is ready for a fresh round of direct peace talks in Istanbul. Two recent rounds of talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul were brief and yielded no progress on reaching a settlement.
Zelenskyy withdraws Ukraine from an anti-land mine pact
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree to withdraw Ukraine from the Ottawa Convention banning antipersonnel land mines, a Ukrainian lawmaker said Sunday. The move follows similar recent steps by the Baltic states and Poland.
The 1997 treaty prohibits the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of antipersonnel land mines in an effort to protect civilians from explosives that can maim or kill long after fighting ends.
This is a step that the reality of war has long demanded, said Roman Kostenko, secretary of the Ukrainian parliamentary committee on national security, defense and intelligence. He noted that Russia is not a party to the convention "and is massively using mines against our military and civilians.
Democratic former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman was honored for her legislative accomplishments and her humanity during a funeral Saturday, where former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris joined the over 1,000 mourners.
Hortman was shot to death in a pair of attacks two weeks earlier by a man posing as a police officer that Minnesota's chief federal prosecutor has called an assassination. The shootings also left her husband, Mark, dead and a state senator and his wife seriously wounded.
Melissa Hortman will be remembered as the most consequential speaker in Minnesota history. I get to remember her as a close friend, a mentor, and the most talented legislator I have ever known, Gov. Tim Walz said in his eulogy. For seven years, I have had the privilege of signing her agenda into law. I know millions of Minnesotans get to live their lives better because she and Mark chose public service and politics.
The service
Neither Biden nor Harris spoke, but they sat in the front row with the governor, who was Harris' running mate in 2024. Biden was also one of more than 7,500 people who paid their respects Friday as Hortman, her husband, Mark, and their golden retriever, Gilbert, lay in state in the Minnesota Capitol rotunda in St. Paul. Gilbert was seriously wounded in the attack and had to be euthanized. Biden also visited the wounded senator in a hospital.
Dozens of current and former state legislators from both parties and other elected officials who worked with Hortman also attended.
Hortman, who was first elected in 2004, helped pass an expansive agenda of liberal initiatives like free lunches for public school students during the momentous 2023 session as the chambers speaker, along with expanded protections for abortion and trans rights. With the House split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans this year, she yielded the gavel to a Republican under a power-sharing deal, took the title speaker emerita, and helped break a budget impasse that threatened to shut down state government.
The governor's eulogy
Walz said Hortman saw her mission as to get as much good done for as many people as possible. And he said her focus on people was what made her so effective.
She certainly knew how to get her way. No doubt about that, Walz said. But she never made anyone feel that theyd gotten rolled at a negotiating table. That wasnt part of it for her, or a part of who she was. She didnt need somebody else to lose to win for her.
The governor said the best way to honor the Hortmans would be by following their example.
Maybe it is this moment where each of us can examine the way we work together, the way we talk about each other, the way we fight for things we care about," Walz said. "A moment when each of us can recommit to engaging in politics and life the way Mark and Melissa did -- fiercely, enthusiastically, heartily, but without ever losing sight of our common humanity.
The homily
The Rev. Daniel Griffith, pastor and rector of the Basilica, who led the service, said the country is in need of deep healing. He said it seems as if the U.S. is living in the dystopian reality described at the beginning of William Butler Yeats' poem, The Second Coming.
Here in Minnesota, we have been the ground zero place, sadly, for racial injustice," Griffith said. "The killing of George Floyd just miles from our church today. And now we are the ground zero place for political violence and extremism. Both of these must be decried in the strongest possible terms, as they are, respectively, a threat to human dignity and indeed, our democracy.
But the priest also said Minnesota could also be a ground zero place for restoration and justice and healing. He added that the presence of so many people was a sign that the work could succeed.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese offered his condolences to the Hortman family.
A private burial will be held at a later date.
The Hortman family
The Hortmans were proud of their adult children, Sophie and Colin Hortman, and the lawmaker often spoke of them.
In a voice choked with emotion, Colin said his parents embodied the Golden Rule, and he read the Prayer of St. Francis, which his mother always kept in her wallet. He said it captures her essence. It starts, Lord make me an instrument of your peace.
After the service, Walz presented the children with U.S. and Minnesota flags that flew over the Capitol on the day their parents were killed.
The suspect
The man accused of killing the Hortmans at their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park on June 14, and wounding Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, at their home in nearby Champlin, made a brief court appearance Friday. He's due back in court Thursday.
Vance Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, surrendered near his home the night of June 15 after what authorities called the largest search in Minnesota history.
Boelter remains jailed and has not entered a plea. Prosecutors need to secure a grand jury indictment first. His lawyers have declined to comment on the charges, which could carry the federal death penalty.
Friends have described Boelter as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views. But prosecutors have declined so far to speculate on a motive.
In a shaded section of an old cemetery in South Haven, Michigan, a boulder with a black inscription signifies a mass grave where a number of body parts from those aboard Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 are buried.
The ill-fated flight, at the time the deadliest commercial airline disaster in American history, disappeared when it flew into a storm over Lake Michigan in the early morning hours of June 24, 1950.
None of the souls on the plane 55 passengers and three crew members survived. To this day, the plane's final resting place has not been found, and no complete bodies have ever been recovered from the crash.
"There was nobody famous on this, but each person was so significant to their families," said Valerie van Heest, executive director of the Holland-based Michigan Shipwreck Research Association.
"Their loss was so incomprehensible, especially if you don't have a body, especially if you don't have a reason," she said.
For the past 20 years, van Heest has searched for the wreckage from NWA Flight 2501, scouring nearly 700 square miles of Lake Michigan with sonar technology, moving back and forth over the freshwater expanse as if she were mowing the lawn.
Now, van Heest says she will search no more.
"We have found it's impossible to find," she said. "Maybe someday, some weather incident will churn up the lake bottom and reveal the debris from the plane, but if not, we've done the best we could."
The crash and the search
On the evening of June 23, 1950, Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 departed from New York's LaGuardia Airport en route to Seattle, planning to stop in Minneapolis and Spokane along the way.
As a squall line over Lake Michigan approached the westbound plane, its pilot requested a drop in altitude, but was denied the clearance due to nearby air traffic.
Then, several miles off the shore of Benton Harbor, it flew into the storm and was never heard from again.
"Today, you would never fly under a squall line. That would be lunacy," van Heest said.
"They didn't understand that back then," she said. "The pilot did his best to continue on with that flight, but his decision to continue across the lake is what made this a fatal crossing of Lake Michigan."
WATCH: The Disappearance of Flight 2501 The Disappearance of Flight 2501: Why the search is ending for the plane lost over Lake Michigan
When the DC-4, converted from a WWII-era C-54 into a commercial aircraft, did not respond to radio requests and failed to pass by an airfield in Milwaukee at its scheduled time, a search began for the missing plane.
The U.S Coast Guard patrolled Lake Michigan while bits and pieces of the plane, as well as body parts, began to wash up on West Michigan's shoreline, including in South Haven, where the mayor closed the city's beaches just before the Fourth of July.
"A gruesome accident," van Heest said. "The largest person found was a torso. No arms. No lower half. No head."
In a week's time, according to the historian, authorities deemed finding the wreckage to be an impossible task.
"They gave up," she said.
A half-century later, van Heest and Clive Cussler, a world-renowned shipwreck hunter, picked up where the federal government left off, using side-scan sonar to look for the long-lost plane.
They discovered nine shipwrecks in the search area, but no evidence to pinpoint exactly where or exactly why the plane crashed.
It's likely, van Heest says, the aircraft either blew up when it was struck by lightning or broke into a "thousand pieces" upon impact with the water, the largest of these parts settling into the deep muck of the lake bed over decades.
The two found other things, though, including perhaps a semblance of closure for the families whose loved ones were lost on the fatal flight.
"We really brought this accident back to the public's attention," van Heest said. "People know about this accident. People are curious about it, and our work has made sure this accident would not be forgotten."
During van Heest's search and research, which included writing a book on Flight 2501's disappearance, she discovered the mass grave in South Haven's Lake View Cemetery and another in St. Joseph. At the time, both were unmarked. She's since hosted memorial services and put on display a number of personal artifacts of the victims, including one man's tattered suit coat and his checkbook, complete with an entry for his ticket for the flight: $49.30.
Strangely, these artifacts and the lack of a large-scale discovery are perhaps more significant for the memory of the 58 passengers and crew.
"They've been remembered," van Heest said.
"We really provided the answers to what happened to this plane," she said. "We simply don't know the exact spot on Lake Michigan where it happened."
This article was written by Sam Landstra for the Scripps News Group in Grand Rapids.
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