Recalls 7.6m more cars
GM recalls 7.6 million vehicles in the US and a total of 8.4 million vehicles worldwide because of faulty ignition switches. With this most recent announcement, the cost related to recalls increased from 500 million to $1.2 billion this quarter. Attorney Keven Feinberg has been retained by the company to develop a victim compensation plan.
Going it alone on immigration
President Obama says he will go ahead alone with changes to the immigration system. This announcement is a response to Speaker John Boehner telling him that the House will not vote on the overhaul this year. Obama says:
America cannot wait forever for them to act.
He also says he’s launching a new effort to:
Fix as much of our immigration system as I can, on my own, without Congress.
A senior White House official says Obama will first direct the Homeland Security and Justice departments to “move available and appropriate enforcement resources from our interior to the border.” Additionally, the president has directed a team to “identify additional actions and send recommendations to him by the end of the summer on steps he can take without Congress, but within his existing authorities, to fix as much of our broken immigration system as we can.”
Declares Islamic state
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria declare that they have set up a caliphate spanning large areas of the two countries. In recently released audio and written announcements, a person claiming to be the groups official spokesman called on all Muslims to swear allegiance to the caliphate, which means Islamic state. The group says its flag now flies from Aleppo province in northwestern Syria to Diyala province in eastern Iraq, although CNN could not confirm this. The group announced that it was changing its name to just the “Islamic State.”
Manipulated news feeds
In January 2012, for one week, Facebook manipulated the news feeds of more than a half a million users to see how postings that were being shown in the news feed effects the types of posts the users themselves would post after viewing them. The results were published this month in the academic journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The findings show users who saw more negative content were more likely to create their own negative posts. Users who viewed more positive content were more likely to create positive posts. In response to the many upset users of the site, Facebook Data Scientist, Adam Kramer:
The goal of all of our research at Facebook is to learn how to provide a better service. Having written and designed this experiment myself, I can tell you that our goal was never to upset anyone.
Not mentally ill
A psychiatric assessment finds Pistorious was not mentally incapacitated when his girlfriend was shot and killed in their home in February, 2013. The report by a panel of independent doctors states:
Mr Pistorius was capable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his act.
Had he been found to be mentally incapacitated at the time of the incident the trial would have ended with a verdict of not guilty by reason of mental illness.
Trailer released
A new trailer is released:
The new #MazeRunner trailer is up 🙂 check it out!!!! https://t.co/tApmc0UstU
— Dylan O'Brien (@dylanobrien) July 29, 2014
iHeart Radio Pool Party concert
Lopez performs a full concert during the iHeart Radio Pool Party to promote her album Love?
Will not star as Aaliyah
Lifetime tweets that Zendaya will no longer play the role and that the film will be shelved for now. Aaliyah’s family, who are not participating in the project, were reportedly not happy with the decision to cast her.
We are sad Zendaya will no longer portray Aaliyah. Production is currently on hold.
— Lifetime Publicity (@lifetimetvpr) June 29, 2014
Let me just explain something. The reason why I chose not to do the Aaliyah movie had nothing to do with the haters or the people telling me I couldn’t do it, I wasn’t talented enough, or I wasn’t black enough. The main reasons were the production value wasn’t there, there were complications with the music rights, and I just felt like it wasn’t being handled delicately considering the situation. And I tried my best to reach out to the family on my own, and I wrote a letter, but I was unable to do so therefore I felt not morally OK with moving forward with the project.
Because it’s someone that I honor and I respect so much, it has to be 128 percent, especially for all her fans, including myself. I didn’t feel like it [the production] was all the way there, so I didn’t want to do that. And when the time comes when it’s done right and it’s 100 percent, by all means, I will be the first person there ready to go.
‘Iraqi leaders must talk’
During the weekly mass at St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis asks the Iraqi leaders to use dialogue to avoid any further warfare in the region.
The news from Iraq is unfortunately very saddening. I join the bishops from that country in calling on the rulers to preserve national unity and avoid war through dialogue. I express my closeness to the thousands of families, especially the Christian ones, who have had to leave their homes and are in serious danger. Violence generates more violence. Dialogue is the only path to peace. Let’s pray to the Virgin Mary to look after the Iraqi people.
‘Trampling on authority’
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee says President Obama is “trampling upon” the constitutional authority granted to Congress. Rep. Bob Goodlatte tells Fox News Sunday that Obama has:
[A pattern of] not enforcing laws, or changing laws that have been passed, taking power from the Legislative Branch.
However, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier defends the president and argues that he has not crossed any constitutional or legal lines:
The president simply said I’m going to do what I can within the confines of the law to make this work. Absolutely, he’s implementing the law … he’s not rewriting it.
$2 billion request for illegals
The White House will ask Congress for $2 billion to help cut back the number of unaccompanied illegal minors entering the US from Central America. The emergency legislation will help to improve security, allow for more immigration judges and assist in expedited removal of those who enter the country illegally. More than 52,000 unaccompanied children have been apprehended at the southwest border since October, 2013. The majority are from Central American countries like Honduras and Guatemala. Obama warns:
Do not send your children to the borders. If they do make it, they’ll get sent back. More importantly, they may not make it.
Rebels free four
Pro-Russian insurgents release a second team of members from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) who were being held captive since the end of May. The release happened after a EU summit on June 27, 2014. The first OSCE team was released earlier last week. The observers were released and met by organization officials in Donetsk. An OSCE spokesman says:
They’re in good health, they’re in good spirits.
Alexander Borodai, an insurgent leader says:
We have fulfilled our obligations before the Ukrainian side. All eight observers have been released.
Russian fighter jets arrive
Five Russian Sukhoi fighter jets arrive in Iraq, the first of 25 planes to be delivered to Iraq under an agreement between the two countries. When attempts to get fighter jets from the US failed, the country turned to Russia and Belarus for help. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki believes militant advances could have been stopped if fighter jets had been deployed:
God willing, within one week, this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists’ dens.
In response, a State Department spokeswoman tells CNN:
This kind of blame of others on the outside is quite frankly part of what’s gotten Iraq into the situation it’s in today. It’s helped create the crisis. When we left Iraq, we gave the Iraqis the ability to create a better future. And unfortunately, leaders across the spectrum didn’t step up and take the opportunity. They blamed others and didn’t bring the country together.
Pleads not guilty
Khatallah, charged in the 2012 Benghazi attacks, pleads not guilty today in connection to the crime, during an appearance before a U.S. federal judge. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., says in a written statement:
In a courtroom in our nation’s capital, today we took the first step down the road to justice for the four American heroes killed in Benghazi. This prosecution is a reflection of our determination to honor the sacrifice of U.S. citizens who perish on foreign soil in service to our country. We will be steady, deliberate and relentless in seeking to hold accountable all who were responsible for this deadly act of terror.
Reclaims Tikrit
Both state media and a local tribal leader are reporting that Iraq security forces have reclaimed Tikrit from Sunni militants. Sheikh Khamis al-Joubouri, a key tribal leader in Tikrit, tells CNN that Iraqi security forces, along with special forces and fighters from local tribes, entered the city and gained control. Sabah Numan, a Counter Terrorism Unit spokesman, tells CNN that 120 militants have been killed and 20 vehicles destroyed in the large-scale operation that began this morning. Numan says:
We are mainly busy defusing booby-trapped houses and cars on the main roads leading into Tikrit.
Suspect in federal court
A U.S. official confirms that Ahmed Abu Khatallah, the man accused of masterminding the attack will appear in a federal court in Washington, D.C. today. Authorities believe Khatallah is one of the senior leaders of Ansar al Sharia, whose members were among several militias that participated in the attack.
Recalls 430,000 vehicles
General Motors announces four recalls of nearly 430,000 vehicles in the United States, involving the air bag inflators in Chevrolet Cruze sedans in the 2013-2014 model year. GM’s Chief Executive Mary Barra:
We’re going to continue to look at the data that we get, and we’re going to take the action that we need. If we find an issue, we’re going to deal with it.
FIFA: Suarez needs treatment
FIFA’s top World Cup official and the international players’ union are saying that after three biting incidents, Luis Suarez needs treatment. FIFA secretary general, Jerome Valcke, says a third incident in Suarez’s career was “unacceptable.”
I think he should find a way to stop doing it, he should go through a treatment.
‘Chronic systematic failures’
A report prepared by Rob Nabors, who President Obama assigned the task of assessing the situation at the agency, states:
It is clear that there are significant and chronic systemic failures that must be addressed by the leadership at VA.
Nabors and acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson met with Obama to discuss the findings in the report.
Humanoid robot
Google withdraws the humanoid robot it bought from a Japanese design firm, SCHAFT, from the Pentagon’s DARPA Robotics Challenge so they can work on a commercial version. The robot is 4 feet 11 inches tall and uses a capacitor instead of a battery for power, giving it more strength than other robots.
