Millions in jewels stolen from armored truck in California
Officials say millions of dollars worth of gems and jewelry were stolen from an armored truck last week in Southern California. Brink’s says one of its trucks was robbed in the early morning on July 11 near Los Angeles. The director of the traveling International Gem and Jewelry Show says the merchandise had been loaded onto the truck late on July 10 following an exhibit near San Francisco. It was going to an event near LA. The jewelry show official says 18 victims are reporting more than $100 million in losses. Brink’s says it was less than $10 million.
4 killed in Indiana mall shooting, officials say
Three people were killed at a mall Sunday in Greenwood, Indiana, in a shooting that ended when another armed individual fatally shot the gunman, authorities said. Two additional people were hospitalized, Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison said. Authorities did not indicate a motive for the shooting and did not identify the gunman, except as an adult male. Ison said the local emergency call center began to receive calls about the shooting in the food court around 6 p.m. He said the shooting ended when an armed civilian stopped the gunman. “It appears that a good Samaritan that was armed observed the shooting in progress and shot the shooter,” he said.
As Russia runs low on drones, Iran plans to step in, US officials say
The White House disclosure last week that Russia is seeking hundreds of armed and unarmed surveillance drones from Iran to use in the war in Ukraine reflects Moscow’s need to fill a critical battlefield gap and find a long-term supplier of a crucial combat technology, U.S. intelligence, military and independent analysts say. Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, offered few details about the intelligence assessment he revealed, including whether the shipments had started. But other U.S. officials said Iran would provide as many as 300 remotely piloted aircraft and would start training Russian troops on how to use them as early as this month.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy fires top security chief and prosecutor
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired the head of the country’s security service and its prosecutor general. He cited hundreds of criminal proceedings into treason and collaboration by people within their departments. He said Sunday that “more than 60 employees of the prosecutor’s office and the SBU have remained in the occupied territory and work against our state.” He also says some “links recorded between Ukrainian security forces and Russian special services raise very serious questions about their respective leaders.” Earlier Sunday, Russian missiles hit industrial facilities in the strategic city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine.
Fires scorch Spain and France, where flames reach the beach
Firefighters battled wildfires raging out of control in Spain and France, including one whose flames reached two popular Atlantic beaches. Europe wilted under an unusually extreme heat wave Sunday. So far, there have been no fire-related deaths in France or Spain, but authorities in Madrid have blamed soaring temperatures for hundreds of deaths. Two huge blazes in southwestern France have forced the evacuation of some 16,200 people. In dramatic images posted online, a wall of black smoke could be seen rolling toward the Atlantic on a stretch of Bordeaux’s coast that is prized by surfers from around the world. In Spain, firefighters supported by military brigades tried to stamp out over 30 fires consuming forests spread across the country.
4 dead after small planes collide at North Las Vegas Airport
Authorities say four people are dead after two small planes collided at North Las Vegas Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration says a single-engine Piper PA-46 and a single-engine Cessna 172 collided around noon Sunday. They say the Piper was preparing to land when it collided with the Cessna. The FAA says the Piper crashed into a field east of a runway and the Cessna fell into a water retention pond. Two people were in each plane and city fire department officials say all four died. Their names, ages and hometowns were not immediately released. The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA will investigate the cause of the crash.
Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck wed in Las Vegas drive-through
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were wed in a small ceremony Saturday in Las Vegas, culminating a relationship that stretched over two decades in two separate romances and countless tabloid covers. Lopez announced their marriage Sunday in her newsletter for fans with the headline “We did it.” Lopez initially made their engagement public in April on the same newsletter, “On the J Lo.” A marriage license filing showed that Lopez plans to take the name Jennifer Affleck. The two were both previously married. Affleck has three children with Jennifer Garner. Lopez has two kids with Marc Anthony.
By wire sources