Michael Marx was shot by authorities multiple times and then taken to a hospital after bystander was wounded

A man accused of firing a gun at law enforcement officers near the Washington monument this week was walking along the path of JD Vance’s motorcade before the shooting and made a vulgar remark about the White House after the confrontation, according to a court filing on Wednesday.

Michael Marx, 45, of Midland, Texas, was shot multiple times during Monday’s confrontation and was in the back of an ambulance on his way to a hospital when he said: “‘F—k the White House’ and ‘Kill me, kill me, kill me’”, a Secret Service agent said in an affidavit.

University of California at Los Angeles says admissions are ‘based on merit’ and it complies with state and federal laws

The US Department of Justice found on Wednesday that the medical school at the University of California, Los Angeles illegally considered race in admissions as the Trump administration ramps up scrutiny of colleges’ processes for selecting students.

The finding escalates the Trump administration’s ongoing standoff with UCLA, which has focused mostly on the main campus’s response to allegations of antisemitic harassment.

Democrats sharply criticize the US commerce secretary’s testimony, saying he was ‘dishonest’ and should resign

The US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, appeared before the House oversight and reform committee on Wednesday to answer questions over his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Lutnick agreed in March to sit for a transcribed interview with the committee after the justice department’s release of millions of documents related to Epstein, which included documents showing that Lutnick continued correspondence with Epstein after the disgraced financier had been convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor. The session is part of the committee’s broader investigation into Epstein.

Police say they arrested 18-year-old man after weekend mass shooting at lake party promoted across social media

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Police announced on Wednesday that an 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting that left one woman dead and 22 other people wounded during a night-time party beside an Oklahoma lake.

Police in Edmond announced that the man was arrested earlier in the day on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon in the wake of Sunday night’s shooting, which erupted following an argument amid a large crowd gathered at Arcadia Lake in that Oklahoma City suburb.

Video shows ‘looksmaxxing’ influencer shooting an apparently already dead alligator in the Everglades

A controversial social media influencer known as Clavicular is facing charges in connection with a video showing him shooting an apparently already dead alligator in the Everglades, local Florida media has reported.

Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Eric Peters and is known for the practice of “looksmaxxing”, faces charges of unlawfully discharging a firearm in a public place or residential property, according to legal files obtained by television station ABC6 in South Florida.

Steve Roth was responding to the announcement by New York’s mayor of tax on second homes worth more than $5m

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The phrase “tax the rich” can be “just as hateful as some disgusting racial slurs”, according to the New York City billionaire Steve Roth, who said that the top 1% should be “praised and thanked”.

Speaking on his company’s quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, Roth, the CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, expressed his support for fellow billionaire and the CEO of Citadel, Ken Griffin, who was singled out in the 15 April announcement by New York’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, of the state’s first “pied-à-terre” tax on second homes valued at more than $5m. In a video, Mamdani announced the policy in front of Griffin’s penthouse, which he said was purchased for $238m.

Almost two-thirds of respondents said US used to be a great place for immigrants but no longer is

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Donald Trump’s aggressive and wide-reaching immigration-enforcement agenda has convinced increasing numbers of adults that the US is no longer a welcoming country for outsiders, a new poll has found.

About six in 10 respondents to the Associated Press-NORC poll, conducted last month, say the country used to be a great place for immigrants, but no longer is.

President tells Iran to accept deal to end war or face new wave of bombing at ‘much higher level and intensity’

The US military fired on an Iranian-flagged oil tanker on Wednesday, shortly after Donald Trump issued a fresh ultimatum to Tehran, telling it to accept a deal to end the war or face a new wave of US bombing “at a much higher level and intensity than it was before”.

The US fighter fired several rounds and “disabled the tanker’s rudder” as it attempted to breach the US’s blockade of Iranian ports, US Central Command said in a social media post.

Utz issues voluntary recall for certain varieties of Zapp’s and Dirty potato chips over contamination linked to seasoning

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Utz has issued a voluntary US recall of two potato chip brands after concerns that they could be contaminated with salmonella, a type of bacteria that can lead to food-borne illness.

Certain varieties of Zapp’s and Dirty potato chips may contain contamination linked to the seasoning used on the products, according to the US Food and Drug Administration in a recall issued on Monday. The recall applies to three flavors of Zapp’s chips sold in various bag sizes, along with three flavors of Dirty chips packaged in 2-ounce bags.

Latest proposal, derided by Tehran as a ‘wishlist’, could yet be a way out – but with 5,000 dead, it comes at an awful price

Another day, another hairpin turn in the world of Donald Trump’s foreign policy.

The weekend was all about war, and Trump insisting Iran had not yet “paid a big enough price”. Tuesday was Project Freedom, styled as a grand “humanitarian gesture” to allow trapped ships and their crews to escape the Gulf, but also aimed at weakening Iran’s chokehold on the strait of Hormuz.

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• Howard Lutnick answers questions from US House over Jeffrey Epstein ties

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It’s worth noting, ahead of Howard Lutnick’s closed-door testimony before House oversight committee members today, that the commerce secretary has refused to answer questions about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein from lawmakers during congressional hearings on Capitol Hill over the last month.

In April, Represenative Madeleine Dean, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, asked whether the president expressed “concerns” about the commerce secretary’s relationship with Epstein. Lutnick refused to comment.

The Trump-backed biotech entrepreneur will face Democrat Amy Acton in a competitive November contest

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Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican former presidential candidate, won his primary race for Ohio governor on Tuesday, setting up a closely watched contest in November’s election.

The biotech entrepreneur, who was endorsed by Donald Trump and briefly co-led Trump’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) with Elon Musk at the start of the president’s second term, beat Casey Putsch, the internet personality, to land the nomination.