Chicago mass shooting leaves four dead, 14 injured outside downtown lounge
The police said gunmen opened fire in the River North neighbourhood. At least three victims are in critical condition. Four people in the United States have been killed and at least 14 others wounded when gunmen opened fire on a crowd outside a lounge in downtown Chicago, according to police. According to authorities, the mass shooting took place around 11:00pm (04:00 GMT) on Wednesday, when shots were fired from a vehicle travelling along Chicago Avenue in the city’s River North neighbourhood. Chicago police reported that 13 women and five men, all between the ages of 21 and 32, were struck by the gunfire. Among the dead were two men and two women. As of Thursday, at least three victims remained in critical condition. The injured were transported to local hospitals. Police said the driver fled the scene immediately, and no arrests have been made. Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling urged the public to submit anonymous tips to help detectives identify the suspects. Local media reported that rapper Mello Buckzz, also known as Melanie Doyle, was hosting a private event at the lounge Wednesday evening to celebrate the release of her new album. Snelling said police were trying to determine a motive and that the venue, Artis Lounge, is closed “until we get to the bottom of this”. He did not identify the number of attackers involved in the incident but said police found two different calibres of casings and were still reviewing footage. “Clearly, there was some target in some way,” Snelling said. “This wasn’t some random shooting.” Artis Lounge confirmed they were working with authorities as the investigation continued. Advertisement ‘I can only describe it as a warzone’ In the hours after the shooting, Buckzz asked for prayers and expressed her anger and sadness on social media. “My heart broke into so many pieces,” the artist wrote on Instagram Stories. In her posts, the rapper revealed that many of those injured were her friends, and that she had been in a relationship with one of the men who was killed. “Prayers up for all my sisters god please wrap yo arms around every last one of them,” Buckzz wrote across several Instagram Story slides. “Feel like everything just weighing down on me … all I can do is talk to god and pray.” Chicago pastor Donovan Price, who works with communities affected by violence, described the scene as a “warzone”. “Just mayhem and blood and screaming and confusion as people tried to find their friends and phones. It was a horrendous, tragic, dramatic scene,” he told The Associated Press. The shooting took place days before the Fourth of July weekend, when Chicago and other major cities often see a surge in gun crimes. In recent years, however, Chicago has seen an overall decrease in gun violence. During the last Fourth of July weekend in Chicago, more than 100 people were shot, resulting in at least 19 deaths. Mayor Brandon Johnson said at the time that the violence “has left our city in a state of grief”. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel attacks car near Beirut during rush hour
NewsFeed An Israeli drone attack on a car killed at least one person and injured three others near the Lebanese capital Beirut on Thursday during rush hour, according to local authorities. Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr was at the scene as officials inspected the wreckage. Published On 3 Jul 20253 Jul 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Football world mourns Diogo Jota following deadly car crash
NewsFeed The football world has paid tribute to Diogo Jota and his brother, who died in a car crash in Spain on Thursday. Liverpool FC fans gathered outside Anfield to mourn his death. The 28-year-old had recently married and was the father of three children. Published On 3 Jul 20253 Jul 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Israel kills more than 300 in Gaza in 48 hours as possible truce in balance
More than 300 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the last 48 hours, according to the Gaza Government Media Office, which says Israel has “committed 26 bloody massacres” in that period. At least 73 people have been killed by Israel since dawn on Thursday, including 33 desperate aid seekers at the controversial Israeli and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid sites. Thirteen people were killed when Israeli forces attacked a tent in al-Mawasi in the south, while 11 were killed and many wounded in an attack on Mustafa Hafez School, sheltering displaced people west of Gaza City, medical sources told Al Jazeera. The Government Media Office statement on Thursday said the attacks over the last 48 hours had targeted civilians in shelters and displacement centres overcrowded with tens of thousands of displaced people, public rest areas, Palestinian families inside their homes, popular markets and vital civilian facilities, and starving civilians searching for food. Reporting from Deir el-Balah on the latest killings of Palestinians who were trying to get aid from centres run by GHF, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said, “People described scenes of horror as they wait for hours just hoping to get their hands on basic food supplies, only to be met with sudden and unprovoked gunfire … I’ve been speaking to a number of survivors this morning, and they told me such heartbreaking testimonies and they shared the horrific scenes that unfolded near the GHF-run aid centres.” Advertisement “They told me that there was no prior warning, no prior indication – just gunfire ripping through the crowd, desperate Palestinians scattered for cover as bullets flew. They told me that emergency services and medical teams were not able to access the area due to the intensity of the gunfire … This absolutely reflects the collapse of the humanitarian landscape here in Gaza,” he added. US contractors ostensibly guarding aid distribution sites in Gaza have been using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scramble for food, according to accounts and videos obtained by The Associated Press news agency. Two US contractors, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity, said they were speaking out because they were disturbed by what they considered dangerous practices. They said the security staff hired were often unqualified, unvetted, heavily armed and seemed to have an open licence to do whatever they wished. More than 130 humanitarian organisations, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty International, on Tuesday demanded the immediate closure of the GHF, accusing it of facilitating attacks on starving Palestinians. The NGOs said Israeli forces and armed groups “routinely” open fire on civilians attempting to access food. Since the GHF began operations in late May, more than 600 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid, and nearly 4,000 have been wounded. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 56,647 people and wounded 134,105, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive. Possible ceasefire in the balance Meanwhile, Hamas has said it is studying a new proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, but insisted it is seeking an agreement that would bring an end to Israel’s devastating war. Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday that it had received proposals from the mediators and is holding talks with them to “bridge gaps” to return to the negotiating table and try to reach a ceasefire agreement. The Palestinian group said it was aiming for an agreement that would end the Gaza war and ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave. The announcement came a day after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed to the ceasefire proposal and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. Trump has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire and an agreement for the group to release the Israeli captives held in Gaza. Advertisement Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, said, “For the first time since the beginning of the war, the Israelis are signalling a potential end to the war on Gaza.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been holding consultations with his security team, according to media reports, and is showing flexibility, Salhut added, due to pressure from Trump. Adblock test (Why?)
China’s north and west on red alert for heavy rains after deadly floods
Weather warnings come as Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing urges officials in Hebei province to up their evacuation efforts. Northern and western China remain on high alert as torrential rain threatens to bring more flash flooding and landslides, following weather-related deaths in other parts of the country. Red alerts were in force on Thursday as rains made their way to Gansu province in the northwest and then up to Liaoning province in the northeast. The weather warnings came as more than 1,000 rescue workers were sent on Wednesday to Taiping, a town in the central Henan province, where five people died and three were declared missing after a river burst its banks, according to state media. Another state media report confirmed that two people were killed by a landslide at a construction site in Gansu after heavy rain on Wednesday and Thursday. Meanwhile, a record summer downpour hit the city of Xianfeng in China’s central province of Hubei, bringing more than a month’s rain in just 12 hours, with local videos showing torrents washing away cars. Workers clean up mud after floodwater subsided in Liuzhou, in China’s southwest Guangxi region on June 25, 2025 [AFP] On Tuesday, the authorities there evacuated 18,000 people, closed schools and suspended bus services. During a two-day trip to the northern province of Hebei, China’s Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing urged local officials to ramp up the scale of evacuations. Although China has a nationwide system to forecast and monitor severe weather, scientists say it is hard to make localised predictions, especially in rural communities that lack forecasting capabilities. “Accurately forecasting the intensity and exact location of heavy rain remains challenging, especially with climate change and the complex terrain of rural areas,” Meng Gao, a climate modelling specialist at Hong Kong Baptist University, told the Reuters news agency earlier this week. Last July, the “plum rains”, which coincide with the plum-ripening season, caused more than $10bn in economic losses in China. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Trump rages as rebel House Republicans baulk at backing Big Beautiful Bill
Efforts to win over holdout House Republicans extend into early hours as Trump’s tax and spending bill hits hurdles. Republicans in the United States House of Representatives have been locked in a dramatic impasse over President Donald Trump’s signature tax and spending package, as a rebel group of lawmakers failed to support the bill that all Democratic representatives oppose. The standoff over the Trump administration’s flagship domestic policy package, dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill, stretched into the early hours of Thursday, as the Republican leadership worked furiously to try to persuade holdouts to send the bill to Trump’s desk by a Friday, July 4 deadline, US Independence Day, while Trump railed against the rebels on social media. “For Republicans, this should be an easy yes vote. Ridiculous!” he posted on his Truth Social platform. “Largest Tax Cuts in History and a Booming Economy vs. Biggest Tax Increase in History, and a Failed Economy. What are the Republicans waiting for?” he added, threatening that “MAGA is not happy, and it’s costing you votes.” Five Republicans voted “no” in the procedural vote to advance the legislation, while eight have yet to cast a vote. Assuming all Democratic members cast a vote against the bill, Trump can afford to lose only three Republican votes if it is to advance to a final vote. Centrepiece legislation The hefty 800-page bill, the centrepiece of the president’s domestic agenda, combines sweeping tax cuts, spending hikes on defence and border security, and cuts to social safety nets into one giant package. But it faces opposition within Trump’s Republican Party, with moderate critics expressing concern about its cuts to social safety-net programmes like Medicaid, and conservatives baulking at the trillions it is likely to add to the national debt. Advertisement Five Republicans voted against the bill: representatives Victoria Spartz of Indiana, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Keith Self of Texas, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky. House Speaker Mike Johnson had summoned lawmakers to Washington for a roll call vote, in a bid to capitalise on the momentum of the bill’s passage a day earlier in the Senate and win House approval ahead of the July 4 national holiday. Lawmakers had passed the bill by a 51 to 50 vote in the Republican-controlled chamber on Tuesday, after Vice President JD Vance broke the tie. But the risky gambit to hold the roll call vote swiftly hit hurdles, with some Republican lawmakers resisting the request to rubber stamp the Senate version of the bill so soon after it passed. ‘Bad bill to enrich those who are already rich’ Johnson said he would keep voting open “as long as it takes”, as senior Republicans attempted to persuade holdouts to support the bill. He said he believed that the Republican holdouts were “going to come on board”, and expected to proceed to a final vote on the legislation in the early hours of Thursday morning, The New York Times reported. As Republicans remain deadlocked, Democrats ramped up their criticisms of the policy package. In a video message posted on social media, Representative Chuy Garcia described the legislation as a “bad bill to enrich those who are already rich”. It’s past midnight in DC and Republicans are still trying to rip healthcare and food from working families to give tax breaks to billionaires. Call your Republican representative and tell them to vote HELL NO pic.twitter.com/IfyXFdSaqs — Congressman Chuy García (@RepChuyGarcia) July 3, 2025 So far, 217 House Representatives have voted against advancing the legislation, including five Republicans, while 207 are in favour. Members can change their vote until voting closes, and eight Republicans have yet to vote. The bill needs 218 votes to advance. Adblock test (Why?)
At least eight people die in record-breaking heatwave across Europe
Scientists say heatwaves and storms are becoming more intense due to human-driven climate change. At least eight people have died across Europe as an early summer heatwave grips much of the continent, triggering health alerts and forest fires and forcing the closure of a nuclear reactor at a Swiss power plant. Authorities in Spain’s Catalonia region said about 14,000 people were ordered to stay indoors due to two wildfires that broke out almost simultaneously in the province of Lleida. In one of the blazes near the city of Cosco, “two people were found lifeless by firefighters,” the fire and emergency service said in a statement on Wednesday. The exact cause of the fire was unclear, but the service said the recent heat, dry conditions and strong winds increased the intensity of the flames. Tuesday’s fire in the Catalonia region burned several farms and affected an area stretching about 40km (25 miles) before being contained, officials said. On Wednesday, Spanish officials reported two more people died due to the heatwave in Extremadura and Cordoba. Spain is in the midst of an intense heatwave with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in many places, and several heat records were set for the month of June. France also experienced its hottest June since 2003. Its energy minister reported two deaths linked to the heat with 300 others taken to hospital on Wednesday. Weather forecaster Meteo France said red alerts remained for several areas of central France, and Catherine Vautrin, the health and families minister, said authorities should remain vigilant. Advertisement “In the coming days, we’ll see the consequences, particularly on the most vulnerable, and I’m thinking particularly of the elderly,” she said. Two men over the age of 60 also died from the heat on beaches in Sardinia in Italy, the ANSA news agency reported. In Germany, temperatures were forecast to peak at 40C (104F) in some areas, making it the hottest day of the year. Fire brigades were also tackling several forest fires in the eastern states of Brandenburg and Saxony on Wednesday. Storm warnings issued Italy, France and Germany have also warned of the risk of powerful storms due to excessive warming in unstable atmospheres. Violent storms in the French Alps late on Monday triggered mudslides, disrupting rail traffic between Paris and Milan. The Swiss utility Axpo shut down one reactor at the Beznau Nuclear Power Plant and halved output at another on Tuesday because of the high temperature of river water. Water is used for cooling and other purposes at nuclear power plants, and restrictions were expected to continue as temperatures are monitored. Scientists said heatwaves have arrived earlier this year, spiking temperatures by up to 10C (50F) in some regions as warming seas encouraged the formation of a heat dome over much of Europe, trapping hot air masses. Greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are a cause of climate change, they said, with deforestation and industrial practices being other contributing factors. Last year was the planet’s hottest on record. “Extreme heat is testing our resilience and putting the health and lives of millions at risk,” Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, told the Reuters news agency. “Our new climate reality means we can no longer be surprised when temperatures reach record highs each year,” she added. Adblock test (Why?)
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs convicted on two of five counts in sex abuse trial
A jury in the United States has found musician Sean “Diddy” Combs guilty of prostitution-related offences but cleared him of more serious charges after a federal criminal trial. Combs, a celebrated figures in hip hop music, was convicted on Wednesday of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking. The verdict culminates seven weeks of trial in which two of the music mogul’s former girlfriends – singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and a second woman referred to as “Jane” – testified that Combs physically and sexually abused them. The jury’s decision also represents a partial win for the former billionaire known for elevating hip hop in US culture, through his work with artists like Notorious BIG and Usher. After the jury read its verdict, defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo asked US District Judge Arun Subramanian to release Combs on bail. “This is his first conviction and it’s a prostitution offence, and so he should be released on appropriate conditions,” Agnifilo said. Subramanian will determine Combs’ sentence at a later date. The acquittals on the sex trafficking counts mean he will avoid a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence. He could have faced life in prison if he were convicted of sex trafficking or racketeering conspiracy. Prosecutors say that, for two decades, Combs used his business empire to force his romantic partners to take part in drug-fuelled, days-long sexual performances with male sex workers in hotel rooms. These performances were sometimes referred to as “freak-offs”. Advertisement During raids of Combs’s homes, authorities found drugs and 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant that he would use in the performances, prosecutors said. Combs, 55, had pleaded not guilty to all five counts. His lawyers acknowledged that the Bad Boy Records founder, once famed for hosting lavish parties, was at times violent in his domestic relationships. But they argued the sexual activity described by prosecutors was consensual. The musician has previously faced a number of civil lawsuits accusing him of abuse. Ventura, for example, sued Combs in November 2023 for sex trafficking. Combs, also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, settled with Ventura for $20m. He has denied all wrongdoing. At the trial, jurors saw surveillance footage from 2016 showing Combs kicking and dragging Ventura in the hallway of an InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles, where she said she was trying to leave a “freak-off”. Jane later testified that Combs, in June 2024, attacked her and directed her to perform oral sex on a male entertainer, even though she told him she did not want to. That alleged attack took place a month after Combs apologised on social media for his 2016 attack on Ventura, footage of which had been broadcast on CNN. “The defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” prosecutor Christy Slavik said in her closing argument on June 26. “He doesn’t take no for an answer.” Combs’s defence lawyers argued that, while he may have committed domestic violence in the context of volatile romantic partnerships, his conduct did not amount to sex trafficking. His defence team said Ventura and Jane were strong, independent women who voluntarily took part in the sexual performances because they wanted to please Combs. They also suggested that Ventura and Jane were retrospectively accusing Combs of forcing their participation in the performances because they were jealous he was seeing other women. Both women testified they spent time with Combs and took part in sexual performances after he beat them. “If he was charged with domestic violence, we wouldn’t all be here,” defence lawyer Agnifilo said in his closing argument on June 27. “He did not do the things he’s charged with.” Ventura’s lawyer Doug Wigdor, meanwhile, praised his client’s courage to speak up, saying she “paved the way” for Combs’s conviction. “By coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice,” Wigdor said in a statement. Advertisement Separately, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York published remarks underscoring the lasting impact of sexual violence. “Sex crimes deeply scar victims, and the disturbing reality is that sex crimes are all too present in many aspects of our society,” the statement read. “New Yorkers and all Americans want this scourge stopped and perpetrators brought to justice.” Adblock test (Why?)
Can the DRC-Rwanda deal deliver peace?
The US-brokered peace agreement comes after years of conflict, displacing 7 million people. The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) involving a long history with neighboring Rwanda has created one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. With a United States-brokered agreement between the DRC and Rwanda to end the war, will there be peace? Adblock test (Why?)
Sailing to break the siege on Gaza
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Al Jazeera Mubasher’s Omar Faiad recounts life aboard the Madleen aid ship headed to Gaza.