🔻Security cameras at a Des Moines, Iowa, gas station show what police say is Jonathan Cruz just moments before he stole a car, which was left running with a 16-month-old baby inside. The theft occurred on July 24 at a gas station off Pacific Highway South. The car was found an hour later, not far away.

“That hour must have been the longest hour of that mother's life,” said Casey McNerthney, the director of communications with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. “It sounds like an absolute nightmare.”

Police were able to track down and arrest Cruz this Monday in Des Moines. He’s in jail, and at his first court appearance on Tuesday, prosecutors asked for his bail to be $300,000. The bail was later approved.

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⏳Democrats displayed a newfound optimism about the election-year political climate Wednesday after voters in traditionally conservative Kansas overwhelmingly backed a measure protecting abortion rights.

Republicans and the high court “don’t have a clue about the power of American women,” Biden said. “Last night in Kansas, they found out.” On Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., boasted of the political winds “blowing at Democrats.”

At the White House, President Joe Biden hailed the vote in Kansas as the direct result of outrage at the Supreme Court’s decision to repeal a woman’s constitutional right to obtain an abortion in June.

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😧 A McDonald’s employee was left battling for his life after he was shot in the neck by a customer during an argument over cold french fries in New York.

▪️ Matthew Webb, 23, was working at the fast-food joint on Fulton Street on Monday evening when a woman, in her 40s, said the fries served to her were cold.

▪️ The customer was reportedly on a video call with her 20-year-old son during the altercation. The son subsequently reached the McDonald's outlet and started arguing with the employee.

▪️ The dispute escalated and soon turned into an altercation outside the eatery, after which the customer's son shot Mr. Webb in the neck with a 9mm handgun, police said.

▪️ The employee was rushed to the Brookdale hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

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⚡️ US plans to contain China with the help of Taiwan will fail and will not prevent the inevitable return of the island to its homeland - head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry

⚡️ Chinese armed forces conduct long-range live firing and strikes on targets in eastern Taiwan Strait during exercises off Taiwan - Army

🧙‍♂️ 🪄 In the Harry Potter world, there are several reasons why someone might be added to one house over another in the magic academy.

▪️ USDish, an authorized reseller of DISH Network, decided to see which house each US state would likely belong to. “Whether you’re a Gryffindor gal, a Slytherin stan, a Hufflepuff homie, or a radical Ravenclaw, you are sure of one thing—your house is better than the others,” USDish admits.

▪️ To do this, they used Google Trends to see which of the four houses was searched for the most in each state over the past five years. In addition, USDish also polled 1,000 people who had been sorted into a house through the Wizarding World quiz.

And here we go☺️

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⚡️ The Ukrainian army carried out a missile attack on Kherson, triggering the air defense system, authorities say

📹 A Chinese military blogger has published a video of alleged missile launches as part of PLA exercises.

Earlier, several videos appeared on Weibo showing rocket launches, allegedly as part of the exercises.

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🇨🇳 🇹🇼 🇺🇸 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned that the US’ plans to deter China will not prevent Taiwan's imminent reunification with the mainland.

🗯 “The US’ plans to use Taiwan to deter China will never succeed and will not change the historical trend of Taiwan's imminent reunification”, he told reporters on Thursday.

▪️ According to him, US provocations will only inspire the 1.4 billion Chinese to unify and accelerate the creation of a modern-day socialist state with Chinese characteristics.

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⚡️ There are no active hostilities on line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh, but situation is tense - Pashinyan

❗️ Beijing cancels meeting between Chinese, Japanese foreign ministers due to G7 statements on Taiwan situation - foreign ministry

⚡️ If G7 countries do not change their stance on Taiwan, then China may reconsider its attitude towards dialogue with them - Chinese Foreign Ministry

⚡️ CSTO calls on Baku, Yerevan to refrain from using force amid escalation in Karabakh - Secretary General

❗️ Russian former president Dmitry Medvedev on Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan:

▪️ There was no controversy between the White House and Congress over Pelosi's visit to Taiwan; this is a coordinated game of the US establishment.

▪️ The United States did everything to provoke China into taking reckless steps, but China did not succumb.

▪️ No one planned to shoot down Pelosi’s plane; such drastic measures do not correspond to the peace-loving attitudes of Beijing.

▪️ China's patience is not unlimited; the situation has escalated.

▪️ The United States will experience global consequences following the wake of Pelosi's visit - markets will continue to fall, and gasoline and food prices will rise.

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🇷🇺🇰🇭Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with Cambodia's Foreign Minister after arriving in the country's capital Phnom Penh to participate in an ASEAN summit.

Prior to that, he met with Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu; Sergey Lavrov is going to have several more bilateral talks on the sidelines of Russia-ASEAN talks.

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📹 The first footage from the center of Donetsk, where Ukrainian strikes are being carried out.

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⚡️⚡️ Russia tells Norwegian ambassador that consul general must leave after 'I Hate Russians' rant

CORRECTION | Russia tells Norwegian ambassador that Consul must leave after 'I Hate Russians' rant

🎥 “We got the order — when you leave, raze everything to the ground”: evacuated residents of a village in the LPR reveal how Ukrainian neo-Nazis explained their atrocities.

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❗️The 2014 coup in Ukraine, carefully staged by NATO, was the real threat to the world and Europe - Kremlin

❗️ 🎥 Footage from the center of Donetsk, where first aid is provided to those wounded during Ukrainian strikes

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