Russian diplomats depart Bulgaria amid soaring tensions

Two Russian airplanes departed Bulgaria on Sunday with scores of Russian diplomatic staff and their families amid a mass expulsion that has sent tensions soaring between the historically close nations, a Russian diplomat said. Filip Voskresenski, a high-ranking Russian diplomat, told journalists at the airport in Bulgaria's capital Sofia before the flights left that he was among the 70 Russian diplomatic staff declared “persona non grata” last week and ordered to leave the country by the end of Sunday. Bulgaria's expulsion decision was announced by acting Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, who took a strong stance against Russia after it invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

A rustic private island in Maine is on the market, but the owner will only sell to someone willing to stay overnight—despite perilous weather

Duck Ledges Island is owned by realtor Billy Milliken, who has conditions for the new owner. Milliken told Insider anyone interested in buying the private island needs to spend a night there alone. Ducks Ledges, a private island just a 10-minute boat ride from the coast of Maine, is on the market for $339,000.

Housing correction is 'dead ahead,' warns Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi — here’s how he sees things playing out over the next several months

Don't miss Mitt Romney says a billionaire tax will trigger demand for these two physical assets — get in now before the super-rich swarm Stocks are down, but “cash is not a safe investment,” says Ray Dalio — get creative to find strong returns Warren Buffett likes these 2 investment opportunities outside of the stock market Spiking mortgage rates Mortgage rates continue to climb as interest rates rise further, with some forecasting in the short-term a rise of 3.25%. On a 30-year fixed-rate loan, mortgage rates are now sitting at about 6%. As these rates rise, mortgage payments can be several thousand dollars higher than they were a year ago, Zandi says.

Ricky Martin faces restraining order in Puerto Rico

A judge has issued a restraining order against Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin, police said Saturday. The order was signed Friday, and authorities visited an upscale neighborhood in the north coastal town of Dorado where the singer lives to try to serve the order, police spokesman Axel Valencia told The Associated Press. “Up until now, police haven't been able to find him,” Valencia said.

• 
  Ricky Martin Hit With Restraining Order in Puerto Rico

  The Wrap
• 
  Ricky Martin Denies Restraining Order Allegations in Puerto Rico

  Billboard

Trump: Jan. 6 Panel 'Thugs' Should 'Go After' Americans 'Burning Down Cities'

In a strange series of Fourth of July messages, Donald Trump insisted on Monday that the “Unselect Committee of political Thugs” on the Jan. 6 House panel should “go after” people “burning down cities.” The major current crime crisis in America is a deadly series of mass shootings, many involving assault-style weapons — access to which Trump champions. There have been at least 308 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2022, according to the nonprofit data-tracking organization Gun Violence Archive.

Portland man charged with hate crimes for punching 5-year-old and her father because they’re ‘Japanese’

A man has been charged with bias crimes in Portland, Oregon, after allegedly attacking a man and his 5-year-old daughter because he thought they were Japanese. The victims, who came from California, were riding bikes along the Eastbank Esplanade on Saturday at around 3:45 p.m. when Dylan J. Kesterson, 34, approached them and “made comments about his perception that they were of Japanese descent,” Portland police said. After making the remark, Kesterson allegedly began hitting the 36-year-old man in the head.

'Hell on earth': Ukrainian soldiers describe eastern front

Ukrainian soldiers returning from the front lines in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region — where Russia is waging a fierce offensive — describe life during what has turned into a grueling war of attrition as apocalyptic. In interviews with The Associated Press, some complained of chaotic organization, desertions and mental health problems caused by relentless shelling. Lt. Volodymyr Nazarenko, 30, second-in-command of the Ukrainian National Guard's Svoboda Battalion, was with troops who retreated from Sievierodonetsk under orders from military leaders.

• 
  Russia takes key Ukrainian city of Lysychansk

  ABC News Videos
• 
  Russia tries to press its offensive into Ukraine's east

  The Independent

After 3 1/2 decades of thrilling crowds, a jet-powered semi-truck meets a tragic end

Three jet engines made it the fastest thing on wheels at most drag racing events, while at air shows it was often the only jet that never left the ground when it barreled down the runway at 300 mph or more. The truck was racing two airplanes at the Battle Creek Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival in Michigan on Saturday when it crashed. The driver, Chris Darnell, 40, of Springfield, Missouri, was killed.

• 
  Jet truck driver Chris Darnell killed in fiery crash during Battle Creek air show

  The Battle Creek Enquirer
• 
  One Killed in Truck Incident at Michigan Air Show

  Storyful

3 men missing in California after jumping into water to help 8-year-old, officials say

California authorities are leading a recovery mission for three men who jumped in the water to save a child and never resurfaced. The three men — Edwin Rivas, Edwin Perez and Danilo Solorzano — were among a group of five men who jumped into the water near the Three Mile Slough Bridge to assist an 8-year-old child, who began struggling in the water while the group was fishing, according to NBC affiliate KCRA of Sacramento. The other two men who jumped into the water made it back to shore and pulled the child to safety, the news station reported, adding that the child did not require medical attention.

• 
  Three men missing after they tried to save child drowning in Sacramento river

  The Independent
• 
  Child rescued, 3 adults missing near Brannan Island, authorities say

  KCRA - Sacramento Videos

Ousters, upsets halfway through 2022 primary election season

More than halfway through a tumultuous primary season, voters have rendered verdicts in a number of contests, many of which featured candidates arguing they best represented a continuation of policies favored by former President Donald Trump. While not on the ballot himself, Trump has played a role in several races, with candidates bearing his endorsement meeting a variety of electoral outcomes. Eight incumbents — three Democrats and five Republicans — lost their U.S. House seats already this year after being defeated in their primary elections.

Jan. 6 panel member ‘surprised’ by prosecutors’ reaction to Hutchinson testimony

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), who sits on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, said she is “surprised” by federal prosecutors' reactions to testimony given before the panel this week by Cassidy Hutchinson, who previously served as an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. During an appearance on NBC's “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday, host Chuck Todd asked Lofgren to react to a story published last week in The New York Times that reported federal prosecutors working on the Justice Department's Jan. 6 investigation felt blindsided after watching Hutchinson's testimony and were as surprised by her remarks as those watching it.

• 
  Jan. 6 panel: More turning up with evidence against Trump

  Associated Press
• 
  Rep. Zoe Lofgren Says She Was 'Surprised' DOJ Did Not Subpoena Cassidy Hutchinson

  HuffPost

Alpine glacier chunk detaches, killing at least 6 hikers

A large chunk of an Alpine glacier broke loose Sunday and roared down a mountain in Italy, sending ice, snow and rock slamming into hikers on a popular trail on the peak and killing at least six and injuring nine, authorities said, warning that the toll might climb. A local Civil Protection official, Gianpaolo Bottacin, was quoted by the Italian news agency ANSA as providing the toll, but stressing that the situation was “evolving” and that there could be perhaps 15 people missing. In late evening, the National Alpine and Cave Rescue Corps tweeted a phone number to call for family or friends in case of "failure to return from possible excursions” to the glacier.

• 
  Hikers killed in Italian glacier avalanche

  Associated Press Videos
• 
  Alpine avalanche leaves 7 known dead, 13 missing in Italy

  Associated Press

Former GOP House aide says Trump is likely to announce his 2024 presidential run soon because he 'has the impulse control of a freaking toddler'

Kurt Bardella, a former House GOP staffer, says Trump is likely to announce his 2024 campaign soon. "This guy has the impulse control of a freaking toddler," Bardella told MSNBC. A former House GOP aide said former President Donald Trump will likely announce his 2024 presidential run soon, despite the mounting criticism he's been facing over the House committee's hearings on the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

Blue Jays Coach Mark Budzinski's Daughter Dies at 17

The 17-year-old daughter of Toronto Blue Jays' first base coach Mark “Bud” Budzinski died Saturday, reportedly following a boating accident in Virginia. The team released a statement on Sunday confirming the death of Julia Budzinski, the eldest daughter of Budzinski and his wife, Monica. “This devastating loss is felt by our entire organization and we grieve alongside Bud and his family,” said Ross Atkins, executive vice president of baseball operations and Blue Jays general manager.

• 
  Blue Jays coach Mark Budzinski leaves team following daughter’s death

  NBC Sports
• 
  Toronto Blue Jays Mourn Death of First Base Coach Mark Budzinski's 17-Year-Old Daughter

  E! News

NASA satellite breaks from orbit around Earth, heads to moon

A satellite the size of a microwave oven successfully broke free from its orbit around Earth on Monday and is headed toward the moon, the latest step in NASA's plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface again. It's been an unusual journey already for the Capstone satellite. It was launched six days ago from New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula by the company Rocket Lab in one of their small Electron rockets.

• 
  NASA's CAPSTONE satellite breaks from Earth's orbit and heads toward the Moon

  Engadget
• 
  Why Nasa’s Capstone satellite is flying a weird path to the Moon

  The Independent

'Karen' Passenger Kicked Off Plane For Refusing To Sit Next To A Baby

An unruly female passenger has been kicked off a plane for refusing to sit next to a baby. The incident occurred in February 2018. The plane was about to take off from JFK Airport in New York.

Who’s most at risk of developing long COVID? Experts think these 6 groups of people might be

It's hard to say who's at risk for a condition that's yet to be well defined, experts tell But just as researchers and practitioners have their theories about long COVID's root causes, they have educated guesses about who might be most at risk. An enigmatic condition Long COVID is, quite possibly, the great enigma of our time. It's “a very big umbrella term,” Dr. Alba Miranda Azola, co-director of the Post-Acute COVID-19 Team Program at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, tells “It's patient defined, patient created,” she says of the condition federal officials say could affect up to 23 million Americans.

Rusting Eiffel Tower in need of full repairs, reports say

The Eiffel Tower is riddled with rust and in need of full repairs, but instead it is being given a cosmetic 60 million euro paint job ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, according to confidential reports cited by French magazine Marianne. The wrought-iron 324-metre (1,063 ft) high tower, built by Gustave Eiffel in the late 19th century, is among the most visited tourist sites in the world, welcoming about six million visitors each year. However confidential reports by experts cited by Marianne suggest the monument is in a poor state and riddled with rust.

The five most damaging allegations against Trump from the Jan. 6 hearings — so far

Ivanka Trump accepted there was no widespread election fraud The first Jan. 6 hearing was carried in prime time on June 9 and drew an audience of around 20 million people. There was plenty of dramatic testimony from the hearing room but the most telling detail — and the one with the most lasting impact — came from a video interview with Ivanka Trump. The president's elder daughter said that she accepted the view of then-Attorney General William Barr that there was no evidence that fraud altered the outcome of the 2020 election.

Second woman killed in shark attack in Egypt's Red Sea

CAIRO (Reuters) -Two women were killed in shark attacks in Egypt's Red Sea, south of the city of Hurghada, the Egyptian Ministry of Environment said on Sunday. It also mentioned that the Governor of the Red Sea Governorate, Major General Amr Hanafi, has issued an order to suspend all activity in the area surrounding the attacks. A security source also added that the Austrian woman had been living in Egypt over the past five years with her Egyptian husband.

• 
  Two women killed in shark attacks in Egypt's Red Sea

  CBS News
• 
  Shark kills second tourist in Egypt’s Red Sea

  The Telegraph

German chancellor says many thought the world moved past countries trying to conquer their neighbors but that 'agreement is now canceled by Putin'

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Putin dismantled many people's views of the modern world. Russia's war in Ukraine has changed the landscape in Europe, with Finland and Sweden joining NATO. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the idea that the world has moved beyond countries invading their neighbors has been dismantled by Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.

• 
  Ukraine security guarantees will not be same as for NATO member - Scholz

  Reuters
• 
  Putin's invasion has shattered dreams of progress, German chancellor says

  Politico

Gov. Kristi Noem says 'every life is precious' when asked if a pregnant 10-year-old girl should be forced to have a baby under abortion laws

Gov. Kristi Noem refused to answer if she'd change the law so a 10-year-old could get an abortion. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem avoided answering whether or not she would change the state's law to allow a 10-year-old rape victim to get an abortion. "The Indianapolis Star" is reporting that a 10-year-old girl in Ohio who was six weeks and three days pregnant now has to travel across state lines to Indiana to receive an abortion," CNN's Dana Bash asked Noem on Sunday.

• 
  Kristi Noem Gets Grilled on Whether South Dakota Would Force 10-Year-Old to Have Baby

  The Daily Beast
• 
  ‘A tragic situation’: Governor discusses pregnant 10-year-old with CNN host

  Politico