Richmond man crashes stolen truck into Brazos River, arrested

Foreign ministers from the Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations are gathering in Indonesia’s resort island of Bali for talks bound to be dominated by the conflict in Ukraine despite an agenda focused on global cooperation and food and energy security. The one-day gathering will take place on Friday on the mostly Hindu “island of the gods” in the majority Muslim archipelago nation. Underscoring the backdrop of tensions hanging over the meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov stopped in various Asian capitals on their way to Bali, drumming up support and fortifying their ties in the region ahead of the talks.

Australia’s new government has dropped the 4-year-old prosecution of a lawyer over his alleged attempt to help East Timor prove Australia spied on it during multibillion-dollar oil and gas negotiations. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said Thursday the decision was in the interests of justice, national security and Australia's relations with its neighbors. Australia has long refused to confirm or deny whether Australian spies bugged East Timor offices for an advantage in negotiations on undersea energy resources. East Timor had lobbied for the charge to be dropped. The East Timorese argued the 2006 treaty was invalid because Australia failed to negotiate in good faith. They agreed on a new maritime border treaty in 2018.

Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. June 30, 2022.

Two southern Arizona women are set to be sentenced for illegally collecting four early ballots during the 2020 primary election. Authorities say Guillermina Fuentes and Alma Juarez participated in “ballot harvesting" in the border community of San Luis. Both pleaded guilty to ballot abuse. Ballot collection efforts were once used by both parties but was made illegal by a 2016 law barring anyone but family members or caregivers from returning ballots for another person. Authorities say Fuentes used her status as a Democratic operative to persuade voters to let her gather and sometimes even fill out their ballots. But the crime she acknowledge acknowledged didn't involve filling out any ballots.

News outlets are reporting that several law enforcement authorities shot a man on a federal highway in West Virginia. Video of Wednesday's shooting is circulating on social media. Authorities have not released any details or responded to requests for more information. The footage shows the man walking onto the four-lane freeway near the city of Beckley while holding what looks like a handgun. At least a half-dozen law enforcement officers are in pursuit with their guns drawn. The man alternately points the object in his hand at his head and raises it in the air several times before he is shot.

Some weather experts say the recent flooding that devastated Yellowstone National Park underscores an urgent need to update how the government issues forecasts as extreme weather becomes more frequent. The National Weather Service had warned of rising rivers but failed to predict the calamitous June flooding that occurred in the park and neighboring areas of Montana. Weather experts say forecasting models based on historical records have become inadequate as climate change bakes the planet and massive rain events and heat waves become more common. No lives were lost in the Yellowstone floods but hundreds of homes were damaged and more than 10,000 people had to be evacuated.

Britain's Boris Johnson battles to stay as PM amid revolt

The oldest Magellanic penguin at the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens has died at the age of 40. The zoo said the male, called Captain Eo, died Wednesday. He was one of the oldest penguins living under human care. Captain Eo arrived at the zoo in 1984 when 52 wild Magellanic penguins were brought in to found a colony on Penguin Island. Captain Eo had 26 children, 31 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. The zoo's assistant curator for birds, Quinn Brown, says Captain Eo “represented a part of San Francisco Zoo history and the penguin world that cannot ever be forgotten.”