Salem News Channel

WASHINGTON (AP) — Staff for Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell said last week that the senator is “continuing his recovery” in a hospital while the Senate is out of session. But his office has released no details about the former Republican leader’s condition during his weekslong hospitalization or whether he will be at the Capitol when the Senate returns next week. McConnell was admitted to the hospital on June 14, according to a statement from his office that only said he was “receiving excellent care.” A statement a week later said that he would not be voting that week. And on Thursday, a new statement said that he “continues to improve” and ”appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital.” His office has not released any updates since then, and a spokeswoman did not return a request for comment on Monday. The senator’s unspecified health issues come after several hospitalizations in recent years, and as Senate Republicans are already navigating a narrow majority in the final months before the midterm elections. McConnell, 84, was the longest serving Senate leader in history before stepping aside from that role. He is serving out his final term, which ends in January. While he was still Republican leader, McConnell was hospitalized with a concussion in March 2023 and missed several weeks of work after falling in a Washington hotel. After he returned, he twice froze up during news conferences that summer, staring vacantly ahead before colleagues and staff came to his assistance. A year later, he fell and sprained his wrist while walking out of a GOP luncheon. McConnell had polio in his early childhood and he has long acknowledged some difficulty as an adult in walking and climbing stairs. He also tripped and fell in 2019 at his home in Kentucky and underwent surgery for a fractured shoulder. McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and was the Republican leader from 2007 until last year, serving as both majority and minority leader during that period. He has remained active as a rank-and-file senator, showing up for work when the chamber is in session, often using a wheelchair to get around.

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Will USA Beat Belgium? 

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Mark digs into the 14th Amendment—the original intent behind Birthright Citizenship versus the modern exploitation through birth tourism. It's a conversation about the law and the loopholes.

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Communism Is On the Rise in America

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U.S. Senator Mark Kelly Seen Wearing Mexico Jersey For the World Cup

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We listened to President Trump’s July 4th address, and he didn't mince words. He stood up for this nation, denounced communism, and declared that America will always prevail over tyranny—a fitting tribute to 250 years of freedom.

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The Socialists Want to "Take Down The American Empire"

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday rang the opening bells for the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq from the golden confines of the Oval Office, a symbolic act that reflects how he has increasingly tied his presidency to the stock market. With high inflation hurting Trump's popularity, the Republican president has tried to get more Americans to focus on their 401(k) investments, claiming that his policies should get the credit for any gains, particularly as the November midterm elections draw closer. “It’s going to go up — I think the market’s going to go through the roof,” said Trump after formally launching the start of trading. Only 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s economic leadership, according to a June survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Still, the act of ringing the opening bell suggests why the president’s emphasis on the stock market might not help his party much with voters this fall. The Oval Office event was promoting the launch of Trump Accounts, which were created as a vehicle for children to have investments in stock indexes as part of Republicans' big 2025 tax and spending cuts bill. In championing the accounts, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has emphasized that many Americans have no direct exposure to stocks. This means that millions of people are not benefiting from investments that largely accrue to more affluent households or that the benefits they’re receiving are for retirements decades away. Bessent declared before the bell ringing that “38% of American families do not have any exposure to our great equity markets.” The S&P 500 stock index posted gains of 17.9% in 2025, but that came after annual returns of 25% in 2024 and 26.3% in 2023, during the presidency of Democrat Joe Biden. The benchmark stock index has risen roughly 10% so far this year. But just as inflation crushed public support for Biden, Trump has also seen his approval fall prey to a cycle of rising prices. Trump won the 2024 election by promising to bring down costs, but his tariffs and the start of the war in Iran created new inflationary pressures. The consumer price index has climbed 4.2% over the past 12 months, up from 3% when Trump started his second term in January 2025. Trump, however, is betting that the stock investments that are being seeded by the government and by some prominent companies and billionaires will give future generations a deeper stake in the U.S. economy. The accounts already have gotten a boost from billionaires beyond the $1,000 from the government. Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Technologies, and his wife, Susan, appeared by Trump on Monday as they have pledged $6.25 billion for the accounts, while there have been separate pledges by billionaires including investor Ray Dalio and SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, who said Monday that she would donate stock in the Elon Musk-led company to the accounts. Trump jokingly acknowledged that children had missed the stock market gains that have occurred so far because of the delay in launching the Trump Accounts. “We should have acted faster,” Trump said.

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Two Tennessee National Guard members assigned to a crime-fighting patrol in Memphis fatally shot a man Sunday who turned toward the soldiers with a gun during a downtown pursuit, authorities said. The Guard members are part of a federal task force in Memphis created by President Donald Trump, who last year sent troops and federal agents to Democrat-run cities that he described as overrun with crime. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, had deployed the Guard to support the effort. Authorities said the soldiers in Memphis were responding with local police to reports of gunshots around 4 a.m. when they began pursuing an armed man fleeing on foot. The guardsmen opened fire after the man turned toward them with his weapon, according to the city's police department. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation identified the man as Tyrin Johnson, 20, and said it is investigating the circumstances of the shooting. No law enforcement officers were injured, the agency added. Johnson died at the scene after two National Guard medical specialists attempted first aid, Guard spokesperson Lt. Col Darrin Haas said in a statement. Johnson’s older cousin, Terracle Nelson, 46, said authorities told family members that he had been shot twice in the chest. Authorities on Sunday did not immediately respond to questions about the number of shots fired and TBI declined to comment on Nelson's account of the shooting. Evaniel Johnson said his grandson had taken classes at Tennessee State University, was the father of a young child and was preparing to help lead the family construction business. He said his grandson was also passionate about making music. He said he wanted to review findings from investigators and any video of the shooting before making judgment. “I believed in him, and I know he still had so much life ahead of him,” Johnson said. “The heartbreaking reality is that he will never have the chance to enjoy what we were building together. That is a pain no grandparent should ever have to endure.” Mayor Paul Young called the shooting an “unfortunate incident” and said he was waiting to see the results of the TBI investigation before commenting further, according to a statement provided by spokesperson Penelope Huston. A search of online records in federal and state courts Sunday did not immediately show any cases related to Johnson. In Memphis and in Nashville, local court records showed he had a handful of minor traffic violations. Federal troops have been patrolling the city since October over the objections of Young, a Democrat. The troops are part of the Memphis Safe Task Force, convened by Trump and comprised of federal and local agencies. The task force has led to more than 10,000 arrests, the U.S. Marshals Service reported in June. There have been at least four officer-involved shootings tied to the task force, according to TBI data. Two of those shootings occurred in May and did not involve National Guard members discharging their weapons. The TBI also tied the task force to an October shooting, but did not specify which law enforcement agencies were involved. The TBI and the National Guard did not respond to questions about whether Sunday's shooting was the first instance troops had fired their weapons since they were deployed to the city. For years, Memphis, whose population exceeds 600,000, has dealt with high violent crime, including assaults, carjackings and homicides. Both Democratic and Republican officials have noted decreases last year in some crime categories, preceding the deployment and paralleling trends across U.S. cities. In April, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that state and local Democratic officials lacked standing to block the deployment of federal troops in Memphis.

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A police sergeant responding to a 911 call about a break-in and gunshots at an Ohio home was fatally shot, and the suspect and two other people also died, authorities said. Four other officers and a police dog were hurt following the shooting Sunday night in Rittman, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Cleveland, authorities said. “Upon arrival at the scene, officers came under immediate gunfire,” a joint statement from Rittman Police Chief Robert Shows and the sheriffs in Wayne and Medina counties said. Sgt. Scott Ries, a 10-year veteran of the Rittman Police Department, was killed, the statement said. Three of the wounded officers were with the Medina County Sheriff's Office and the fourth was with the Hinckley Police Department. Two of the group were taken to a hospital and were in stable condition. The others were treated at the scene. The dog was in serious condition. The names of the suspect and the others who died, as well as the circumstances of their deaths, were not released. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives posted online that the suspect's former partner and her child died. Before the 54-year-old Ries joined the department, he was a deputy sheriff for the Wayne County Sheriff's Office and an officer for the Sugar Grove Police Department. In honor of Ries, Rittman Mayor Rudy Arnold on Monday ordered that flags at city facilities be lowered to half-staff until he is buried. “We ask all Ohioans to keep the family, friends, and fellow officers of our fallen hero in their thoughts and prayers as they endure this unimaginable loss,” the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio posted online.

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NEW YORK (AP) — A seaplane made a rough landing in New York City's East River Sunday, alarming bystanders and resulting in two minor injuries, according to city authorities. The sea plane carrying eight people made a “hard landing” around noon, according to the New York City Fire Department. The plane made it upright and was towed back to dock, the department said. Images shared on social media show a white plane appearing to lean over on its side with the tip of its left wing in the water as a helicopter circled overhead.

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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas says it has dissolved its government in Gaza and is preparing to transfer power to a U.N.-backed technical committee. The decision announced Monday is part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal. Hamas did not clarify if it would disarm or hand over security to an international force. The Board of Peace, led by U.S. President Donald Trump, says it will assess the impact based on actions. Israel dismissed the announcement as a ploy by Hamas to avoid disarmament. The technocratic committee is tasked with restoring services and overseeing civilian affairs in Gaza. Israeli strikes have lessened since the ceasefire but continue almost daily, targeting Hamas and other militants, and also killing civilians.

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President Trump Celebrating America Will Never Get Old

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MIAMI, July 6 (Reuters) - FIFA dismissed Belgium's challenge to United States striker Folarin Balogun's eligibility for Monday's World Cup last-16 showdown as 'inadmissible', leaving the European side to approach the U.S. Soccer Federation to contest his inclusion. FIFA suspended Balogun's red-card ban and cleared him to play in the last-16 tie after U.S. President Donald Trump personally urged FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to review the case. Infantino denied being involved in the final decision. "The FIFA Appeal Committee has rendered a request submitted by the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) as inadmissible," FIFA said in a statement. "The request was rendered inadmissible on the grounds that the RBFA is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision." The RBFA said it had still not received any decision or any explanation from FIFA regarding Balogun's eligibility and had no alternative but to challenge his eligibility. The Appeal Committee is chaired by American Neil Eggleston but FIFA said he was not involved in the decision. However, the RBFA said it has informed the U.S. Soccer Federation that it contests Balogun's eligibility, should the player be listed on the referee's team sheet ahead of kickoff. "This leaves all further actions open," the RBFA added. "To date, the RBFA has still not received any grounds for this decision, nor has it received the information it has been requesting since the start of this procedure." Belgium had requested a copy of the decision and the motivation declaring Balogun eligible as well as the referee's report. REJECTED ON TECHNICAL GROUNDS Earlier on Monday, the RBFA said FIFA considered its correspondence requesting information to constitute an appeal and rejected it on technical grounds. "For an appeal to be admissible, FIFA's own regulations state that the reasoned decision must first have been communicated to the appellant," the RBFA said. "While the RBFA was merely seeking legitimate explanations, FIFA itself created an appeal and immediately ensured that it would be declared inadmissible. "All of this occurred while FIFA simultaneously refused to respond to the RBFA's legitimate requests." The RBFA also said FIFA removed the automatic player suspension section from a pre-match coordination meeting presentation and failed to explain the change despite repeated oral and written requests. "Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply concerned by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole," the RBFA added.

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A five-day preliminary hearing for the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk is underway in Utah. Prosecutors are seeking to convince a state judge that they have enough evidence against 23-year-old Tyler Robinson to proceed to a trial. Robinson is charged with aggravated murder in the assassination of Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus last September. Kirk’s parents and widow, Erika Kirk, were in the courtroom for the first time, along with Donald Trump Jr., President Donald Trump’s son. The hearing marks the most significant presentation of evidence in the case so far. After the hearing concludes, the judge must determine if the case should proceed.

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WASHINGTON, July 6 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States would either reach a deal with Iran or "finish the job," renewing his threat of military action as Tehran projects defiance following the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Indirect U.S.-Iran talks ended last week without any public sign of headway toward a lasting peace, despite a 60-day ceasefire intended to create space for diplomacy following the U.S. and Israeli strikes that triggered the conflict. "We're either going to make a deal or we're going to finish the job. OK. And it won't be tough to finish the job. I'd rather make a deal, because I don't want to affect 91 million people," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "We can knock down their bridges in one hour, we can knock out their energy supply.... They don't have any money now. We haven't given them any money." Trump spoke after Khamenei's weekend funeral where, rather than looking weakened by the war that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on February 28, Iranians appeared to be defiant, united and determined ?to shape what comes next. The 60-day ceasefire was intended by Washington to revive ?diplomacy on stopping Iran developing a nuclear arsenal.

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July 6 (Reuters) - More than 485,000 homes and businesses were without power as of late Sunday due to extreme weather conditions across several areas of the United States, according to data from PowerOutage.us. Michigan was the hardest hit, with about 100,378 outages, roughly 2% of the state's 5.1 million customers, according to the data. The hardest-hit utility was a unit of DTE Energy in Michigan, where around 82,472 homes and businesses were without service. "Our Storm Response Team is working as quickly and safely as possible to restore service and is on track to restore 95% of impacted customers by the end of day today, Monday, July 6," DTE Energy said on its website. Pennsylvania had the second-highest number of outages by state, with about 95,732 customers without power. A unit of PPL Electric Utilities in Pennsylvania had around 65,401 customers without power, which is about 3.3% of its customers in the state. "Crews restored power to more than 196,000 customers since Friday," PPL Electric Utilities said on its website. New York-based energy company Con Edison said on Sunday it had restored power to more than 166,800 of the approximately 173,700 customers whose service was impacted by extreme weather. Con Edison said the cities of Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Rye and New Rochelle in Westchester County, which is north of New York City, experienced the greatest number of storm-related outages, and 95% of its Westchester customers affected by the July 4 storms are expected to be restored by Monday at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT). Here are the eight biggest outages by state: State Outages Michigan 100,378 Pennsylvania 95,732 New Jersey 56,616 New York 45,863 Connecticut 32,140 Maryland 29,854 Ohio 16,553 Texas 13,977 Total 485,890

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HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — An island-wide blackout hit Cuba on Monday as fuel reserves dwindle and its electric grid continues to crumble. The blackout was reported by Cuba’s Electric Union, which said on X that the cause was under investigation. Fuel has been running out across Cuba since January when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to the island, deepening the island's ongoing economic and financial crisis. Public transportation has largely been halted, and officials have canceled tens of thousands of surgeries.

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Real Life with Jack Hibbs, July 12, 2026

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Harvest with Greg Laurie, July 12, 2026

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