U.S. and world news for June 16

Suspect in Minnesota shootings captured

The largest manhunt in Minnesota’s history has ended. Vance Boelter, age 57, has been arrested for allegedly killing Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and shooting State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, over the weekend. The manhunt involved “hundreds of detectives” and 20 different SWAT teams as well as cooperation from a host of local, state and federal agencies. Law enforcement also used helicopters, surveillance drones and infrared technology to locate and capture the suspect in the woods of rural Sibley County. Boelter was wearing a mask and dressed like a police officer during the attacks. Inside his vehicle, police discovered survival gear and a hit list of nearly 70 names, including Democrats and people with ties to abortion rights. He has been charged with two counts of murder in the second degree and two counts of attempted murder in the second degree.

Israel and Iran continue their attacks on each other

For the fourth day in a row, Israel and Iran have continued to launch waves of attacks at each other. Israel’s strikes have hit numerous military targets, the foreign ministry building and residential areas in Tehran. Iran’s retaliatory strikes have damaged or destroyed residential buildings and infrastructure, including an Israeli oil refinery and part of the power grid. Search and rescue teams are digging through the rubble left by the bombardments to find victims buried underneath the debris. Amid international pleas for diplomacy and de-escalation, death tolls on both sides continue to climb due to the rapidly escalating hostilities. Officials say Israel’s operation against Iran is expected to take “weeks, not days.”

Russia steps up large scale drone attacks against Ukraine

Russia has initiated a new tactic in its war on Ukraine: large-scale drone attacks. According to CNN, seven of Moscow’s largest drone attacks in its war on Ukraine occurred in the past four weeks. Last fall, Russia ramped up production of the Iranian-designed Shahed drone and is now building hundreds of them every day. It has also boosted production of decoy drones, which are difficult to distinguish from the real thing. In recent weeks, Russia has used these drones to engage in bigger and more frequent assaults on Ukrainian cities, sometimes firing as many as 479 drones and missiles at targets in a single night.

G7 summit taking place in Canada

Donald Trump is in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, today for a G7 meeting, the first international summit of his second administration. Leaders at the gathering are expected to discuss Trump’s trade war and international security, such as Israel’s unprecedented strike on Iran, Russia’s war on Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war. Trump also plans to meet individually with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Kennedy’s CDC sends false information to Congress

A document the Department of Health and Human Services sent to members of Congress to support Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to change U.S. policy on Covid vaccines cited scientific studies that were unpublished or under dispute and mischaracterized others, KFF Health News reported. Kennedy announced last month that the CDC would no longer recommend Covid vaccines for pregnant women or healthy children. The move was denounced by many major medical groups and questioned by some lawmakers. One health expert called the document the CDC sent to Congress “willful medical disinformation.”

Death toll from flooding

The San Antonio, Texas, fire department reported over the weekend that at least 13 people died in severe flooding due to heavy rainfall late last week. The area received more than six inches of rain with more than four inches falling in less than an hour. In West Virginia, at least five people were killed yesterday due to flash floods caused by heavy rain. The National Weather Service (NWS) said parts of North Dakota and South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming could see severe thunderstorms today, along with parts of Virginia and North Carolina. .The NWS said it is hiring about 100 people to stabilize its operations after the Trump Administration fired 600 of its employees, hurting its ability to accurately forecast the weather and issue warnings.