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Monday, July 10, 2023

7/10 WAKE-UP CALL: Zelensky Dismisses Trump's End War Claim

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday dismissed claims by Donald Trump that he could end the war in 24 hours, saying the current GOP presidential front-runner failed to do so while president. Zelenskyy, speaking through a translator on ABC’s “This Week," noted that Ukraine has been battling Russian proxies in the Donbas region since Russia seized Crimea in 2014. Trump served as president from 2016 to 2020. "The sole desire to bring the war to an end is beautiful, but this desire should be based on some real-life experience," Zelenskyy said. "Donald Trump had already these 24 hours once in his time. We were at war, not a full-scale war. ... (Trump) had that time at his disposal, but he must have had some other priorities."

Other Developments:

∎ Biden said he was "optimistic" Sweden would soon get the green light to join NATO. He said Sweden is making some adjustments to its laws at the behest of Turkey, the holdout against Swedish membership, and that a deal could include strengthening Turkey's air defenses.

∎ On his way to a NATO summit this week, Biden arrived Sunday in London for meetings with King Charles and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, which present a chance to bolster the relationship with Britain and solidify the continued opposition to Russian aggression in Ukraine.

∎ Two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus was booed after losing Sunday in Wimbledon and not shaking hands with Ukrainian rival Elina Svitolina, even though Svitolina does not meet Russian and Belarusian players for the traditional post-match exchange in protest of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Azarenka said the crowd's reaction "wasn't fair.''

➤PUTIN OUT TO DESTROY NATO: A primary goal of Putin's ambitious invasion of Ukraine was to destroy NATO, and keeping the alliance together is critical for the security of the U.S. and the West, Biden told CNN in an interview released Sunday. Biden and other NATO leaders will meet in Vilnius, Lithuania, starting Tuesday. Talks will be centered around providing Ukraine military support and a possible path to membership in the alliance.


➤DRONE TAKES OUT ISIS LEADER: A drone strike by the American military killed an ISIS leader in eastern Syria on Friday, US Central Command revealed Sunday. The same three US MQ-9 Reaper drones that were being harassed by Russian aircraft last week were deployed in the attack against Usamah al-Muhajir, a senior leader of the terrorist organization, Central Command said. “We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region,” Gen. Michael Kurilla, a Central Command commander, said in a statement. It remains unclear where in Syria Al-Muhajir was killed, and Central Command did not give further details about the mission. Al-Muhajir’s death comes after the US stepped up its strikes against ISIS leaders and operatives, killing and arresting officials who have fled across the Middle East when the terrorist group lost its hold on Syria in 2019.

➤GUNMAN IN CLEVELAND: A gunman opened fire on a crowd of people in Cleveland early Sunday, wounding nine before fleeing the scene. Officers on duty in the city's historic Warehouse District responded at about 2:30 a.m. and provided medical aid, Police Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said in a Facebook post. The victims were rushed to a local hospital. Police Chief Wayne Drummond said seven men and two women ages 23 to 38 were struck. One person was seriously wounded and the rest had minor injuries, he said. No fatalities were immediately reported. At an early-afternoon news conference Sunday, Drummond said officers were patrolling the area before the incident occurred but have not ascertained what led to it.

➤6 DEAD IN CHINA STABBINGS: Six people including three children have been killed in a kindergarten stabbing in China's south-eastern Guangdong province. Police said they have arrested a 25-year-old man with the surname Wu in Lianjiang town. The other victims are a teacher and two parents, AFP reported, quoting a local city official. One person is also injured. The attack happened on Monday at 07:40 local time (23:40 Sunday GMT). The man was arrested at 08:00 and police have called this a case of "intentional assault".

➤SCOOTER SHOOTER IN NYC: The 86-year-old man gunned down in New York City by a crazed 25-year-old shooter firing around on a moped was on his way to pray at his local mosque when he was killed. Homod Ali Saeidi (right) was on his way to services in Queens Saturday morning when he was shot on Jamaica Avenue by a gunman since identified as Thomas Abreu with a 9mm pistol with an extended magazine, police said. Abreu now faces one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and six other gun charges.


➤WE NOW KNOW WHY DEMOCRAT MAYOR WAS ARRESTED SATURDAY: The mayor of South Fulton in Georegia, Khalod Kamau, has been released from jail after being arrested Saturday morning. Kamau was charged with criminal trespass and first-degree burglary after being seen walking on private property on Cascade Palmetto Highway. Officials said the homeowner confronted Kamau, pulled his firearm and commanded him to “stay put” until police arrived. According to the report, Kamau’s reasoning for wandering onto the property was that he was interested in purchasing the home. Kamau told police he thought the house was abandoned so he decided to look.

⚾MLB DRAFT: Top pitching prospect Paul Skenes was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB Amateur Draft Sunday night as he and LSU teammate Drew Crews made history as 1-2 picks. Skenes spent the last six months lighting radar guns with impressive fastballs, making a compelling case that he's the most major-league-ready college pitcher since Stephen Strasburg more than a decade ago.  The Pittsburgh Pirates won baseball's first draft lottery in December, granting them the first pick of the eligible amateurs Sunday night.  He was named National Player of the Year and National Pitcher of the Year before helping LSU prevail at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., where he earned CWS Most Outstanding Player honors.

⚾MLB RAYS 10 BRAVES 4: The Tampa Bay Rays managed to finally put an end to their losing streak with a thumping 10-4 win over the majors best Atlanta Braves Sunday. The Rays, who have slumped in recent weeks after a thunderous 13-0 start to the season, lost the battle of the top teams Saturday against Atlanta but bounced back the following day.   Isaac Paredes and Yandy Díaz homered as Tampa snapped a season-high, seven-game skid in another matchup of teams with the best records in baseball.

⚾MLB ORIOLES 15, TWINS 2 :Anthony Santander hit two of Baltimore´s six homers and the Orioles completed a series sweep of Minnesota. Aaron Hicks added a three-run homer against his former team in the Orioles´ seven-run fifth. Austin Hays, Ramón Urías and Adley Rutschman also went deep for Baltimore. It´s the second time in four games Baltimore scored at least 14 runs. They scored 14 against the Yankees in the series finale Thursday.

⚾MLB CUBS 7, YANKEES 4: Yan Gomes hit a tying pinch-hit two-run single in the seventh inning following a fielding error by second baseman Gleyber Torres, and Seiya Suzuki homered and hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth in Chicago's win over New York. The Cubs (42-47) won for the fifth time in 14 games since getting to within a game of .500 following a 9-1 win over St. Louis June 24 in London. Chicago´s Julian Merryweather (2-0) earned the win. Ron Marinaccio (4-4) took the loss. Rookie Anthony Volpe hit a two-run homer and Kyle Higashioka added a solo shot for the Yankees. Cubs manager David Ross launched into an expletive rant at the home plate umpire after he was ejected for the fourth time this season. Following the game, the Yankees announced that batting coach Dillon Lawson had been fired after the franchise's woeful offensive first half of the season. 

⚾MLB SCORES:

  • Marlins 7 Phillies 3
  • Nationals 7 Rangers 2
  • Red Sox 4 Athletics 3
  • Royals 4 Guardians 1
  • Blue Jays 4 Tigers 3
  • Cardinald 4 White Sox 3
  • Brewers 1 Red 0
  • Mariners 3 Astros 1
  • Giants 1 Rockies 0
  • Padres 6 Mets 2
  • Pirates 4 D-Backs 2


🏀GREGG POPOVICH RENEWS WITH SAN ANTONIO SPURS FOR 5 YEARS, $80 MILLION: Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich signed a five-year contract with the San Antonio Spurs, extending a tenure with the team that has spanned nearly three decades. The contract is worth more than $80 million, resetting the coaching market. Monty Williams earlier this summer agreed to a six-year, $78.5 million contract with the Detroit Pistons .


☔NORTHEAST FLOODING: Heavy rainstorms poured over parts of New York and Pennsylvania on Sunday, with first responders rescuing people stuck in vehicles along flooded roadways and with more wet weather on the way for the U.S. Northeast. U.S. Representative Mike Lawler, who represents New York's Hudson Valley area north of New York City, posted several videos and photographs on Twitter showing rushing flood waters in Stony Point, a small town on the Hudson River about 40 miles north of Manhattan. "Significant flooding in Stony Point - homes and cars - and many people evacuated," he wrote.

Similar flooding occurred in Pennsylvania. The Weather Channel showed video of flooded-out roads in Quakertown, located about 15 miles southeast of Allentown, where at least one stranded driver needed to be rescued by the fire department. Bryan Jackson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center, said a weather pattern more typical of cooler months had built over the Canadian province of Ontario and was interacting with the regular summer moisture.

🌞SOCAL EXPECTED TO BAKE: Summer is only just beginning and with it, another heat wave is on the way for parts of Southern California this week, with inland cities facing temperatures in the triple digits, forecasters said. A high-pressure system is expected to start building over the region on Monday, with temperatures slowly climbing throughout the week and peaking by Thursday or Friday, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Rich Thompson. Temperatures will start to creep from the low 80s into the mid to high 80s on Monday and continue to rise into the high 90s and low 100s by Friday around inland Los Angeles County cities, including Woodland Hills and Pasadena.



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