NEW YORK – The family of a Mississippi 18-year-old who was found dead after a July 4 boat trip with friends to an island off the Gulf Coast was expected to call for greater transparency at a news conference Friday with the Rev. Al Sharpton and noted civil rights attorney Ben Crump. The body of Nolan Xavier Wells was found Monday off Horn Island, Mississippi. That’s where he was last seen with friends on Saturday. Crump says the family is seeking answers about the death. Sheriff John Ledbetter says investigators have been told Wells chose to stay on the island when his friends left and was apparently going to return with someone else.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has chosen not to sign a sweeping housing affordability bill on Friday, in protest of Congress not approving a strict voter ID bill that does not have enough support to pass. Still, the housing measure could become law on Friday without Trump’s signature, as he had 10 days to issue a veto and stop the measure. Trump’s post simply says that he will not sign it.
KYIV, Ukraine – U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge to give Ukraine a license to produce Patriot air-defense systems could mark a major breakthrough for Kyiv. But experts and Ukrainian officials warn that turning the idea into real weapons would likely take years. Speaking Wednesday alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Trump said the United States would allow Ukraine to make the U.S.-designed systems that Kyiv has long sought to shield its cities from Russian missiles and drones. A production license would not automatically allow Ukraine to manufacture complete Patriot batteries. It could instead cover a narrower part of the system, such as interceptor missiles or selected components.
HOUSTON – Federal officials are refusing to release the name of the ICE officer who fatally shot a Mexican man during a Houston traffic stop. Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia says Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was not the person ICE officers were seeking when they chased his van Tuesday, The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, is under renewed scrutiny because of the shooting. The department has released no evidence to back its version of events that Salgado Araujo rammed an ICE vehicle and that the officer fired in self-defense. Salgado Araujo was a homebuilder who lived in the U.S. for over 35 years and had no criminal record.
– The Associated Press
