A 40-year-old suspect is in custody after a shooting in southwestern Philadelphia killed five people and injured two boys, ages 2 and 13, Monday evening, police said.
The latest: Police said at a briefing Tuesday afternoon the injured children were in stable condition in a local hospital following the shooting, which Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney noted involved the suspect "with an AR-style rifle and shooting randomly at people while wearing a bulletproof vest with multiple magazines."
President Biden urged congressional Republicans to enact "commonsense reforms" of gun laws after a series of mass shootings over the extended Fourth of July holiday weekend left at least 10 people dead.
Driving the news: A mass shooting in Fort Worth, Texas, late Monday left three people dead and eight others wounded, police said Tuesday. Hours earlier, five people were killed and two children injured in a shooting in Philadelphia. On Sunday, a shooting at a Baltimore block party left two people dead and at least 28 others with gunshot wounds.
A federal judge restricted Biden administration officials and agencies from communicating with social media companies on content moderation in a preliminary injunction Tuesday.
Why it matters: The decision in an ongoing lawsuit from Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, who allege the Biden administration's efforts to encourage social media companies to crack down on COVID disinformation and other matters is "sprawling federal 'Censorship Enterprise,'" could have major First Amendment implications.
Why it matters: The messaging from the challengers is clear: They're young, they're energetic and in better physical — and perhaps mental — shape to do the job.
As the nation celebrates its 247th birthday, some Native Americans will use social media posts, T-shirts and other messaging to draw attention to three words written in the Declaration of Independence to describe their ancestors: "merciless Indian savages."
Why it matters: Indigenous activists and scholars say the phrase — which Thomas Jefferson used in airing a grievance against King George III — shows how racism and Indigenous removal were baked into the nation's founding document.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) asked President Biden Monday to declare a major disaster in response to February's toxic train derailment in East Palestine that led to the release of hazardous chemicals from several rail cars.
The big picture: Officials are still responding to the fallout from the disaster that saw nearby residents raise health concerns from the controlled release amid reports that some had been diagnosed with conditions including chemical bronchitis.
Recent polling reveals three startling trends shaping American families and their views on national pride and morality.
Why it matters: American identity is in a time of transition.With the July 4 holiday, Axios is diving deeper than everyday headlines to examine some of the broader social trends driving politics.
The U.S. ambassador to Russia met with detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Moscow on Monday, the State Department said.
Driving the news: Lynne Tracy's second-only prison meeting with the journalist comes after U.S. officials repeatedly requested to visit Gershkovich, who is the first American journalist to be detained in an espionage case since the Cold War, per the Wall Street Journal. U.S. officials say Gershkovich is being "wrongfully detained."
The Supreme Court continued to lean conservative during its most recent term, according to preliminary data.
Why it matters: After overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, the court continued to push American law toward the right — including in its historic decisions last week on affirmative action and gay rights.
Historic sites linked to essential moments in LGBTQ history are finally seeing preservation efforts after decades of being forgotten or dismissed.
Why it matters: Few databases exist mapping LGBTQ sites, and cities rarely do anything to mark places related to gay and lesbian history, putting these places at risk of being erased from memory.
Justice Samuel Alito narrowly overtook Justice Clarence Thomas as the Supreme Court's most conservative member this term, according to preliminary data that measures judicial ideology.
How to read the chart: An analysis by political scientists Andrew Martin and Kevin Quinn, known as the Martin-Quinn Score, places judges on an ideological spectrum. A lower score indicates a more liberal justice, whereas a higher score indicates a more conservative justice.
On the heels of the Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action, civil rights groups are going after legacy and donation-based admissions at Harvard College.
Driving the news: Boston nonprofit Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a complaint Monday to the U.S. Department of Education alleging Harvard’s legacy and donor-based admissions process violates federal law by systematically helping white applicants at the expense of their nonwhite counterparts.
Thousands of hotel workers in Southern California walked off the job Sunday in what the Unite Here Local 11 union is calling the "largest" strike in the industry in U.S history.
Driving the news: Members of the union last month voted 96% in favor of strike action during the extended Fourth of July holiday weekend to demand higher pay and better benefits.
