AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

Widow of Beau Biden tells jurors in Hunter Biden's gun trial that she threw firearm in a trash can

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The widow of Hunter Biden's brother told jurors in his federal gun trial Thursday about the moment she found the revolver in his truck, describing how she put it into a leather pouch, stuffed it into a shopping bag and tossed it in a trash can outside a market near her home.

"I panicked, and I wanted to get rid of them,” she testified about finding the gun and ammunition in the vehicle's console in October 2018. “I didn’t want him to hurt himself, and I didn’t want my kids to find it and hurt themselves.”

The purchase of the Colt revolver by Hunter Biden — and Hallie Biden's frenzied disposal of it — are the fulcrum of the case against him. Federal prosecutors say the president's son was in the throes of a heavy crack addiction when he bought the gun. He’s been charged with three felonies: lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.

Hunter Biden, who has pleaded not guilty, has said the Justice Department is bending to political pressure from Republicans and that he’s being unfairly targeted.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden said in an interview with ABC he would accept the jury's verdict and ruled out a pardon for his son. And the first lady left France, where she attended D-Day anniversary events with the president, to head back to Delaware. She was expected to attend the trial again Friday before returning to France for a state dinner.

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D-Day anniversary haunted by dwindling number of veterans and shadowed by Europe's new war

OMAHA BEACH, France (AP) — As young soldiers, they waded through breaking waves and gunfire to battle the Nazis. Now bent with age, the dwindling number of World War II veterans joined a new generation of leaders on Thursday to honor the dead, the living and the fight for democracy on the shores where they landed 80 years ago on D-Day.

The war in Ukraine shadowed the ceremonies in Normandy, a grim modern-day example of lives and cities that are again suffering through war in Europe. Ukraine's president was greeted with a standing ovation and cheers. Russia, a crucial World War II ally whose full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbor in 2022 set Europe on a new path of war, was not invited.

The commemorations for the more than 4,400 Allied dead on D-Day and many tens of thousands more, including French civilians, killed in the ensuing Battle of Normandy were tinged with fear that World War II lessons are fading.

“There are things worth fighting for,” said Walter Stitt, who fought in tanks and turns 100 in July, as he visited Omaha Beach this week. “Although I wish there was another way to do it than to try to kill each other.”

“We’ll learn one of these days, but I won’t be around for that,” he said.

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Biden calls for solidarity with Ukraine at D-Day anniversary ceremony near the beaches of Normandy

COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France (AP) — President Joe Biden marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday by pledging “we will not walk away” from Ukraine, drawing a direct line from the fight to liberate Europe from Nazi domination to today's war against Russian aggression.

“To surrender to bullies, to bow down to dictators, is simply unthinkable,” he said during a ceremony at the American cemetery in Normandy. "If we were to do that, it means we'd be forgetting what happened here on these hallowed beaches."

D-Day was the largest amphibious assault in history, and Biden called it a “powerful illustration of how alliances, real alliances make us stronger.” He said that was “a lesson that I pray we Americans never forget."

The comment by the Democratic president was a reminder that American commitments around the globe hang in the balance during this year's U.S. election. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has said he would not defend European allies that are “delinquent” in their own security spending.

The possibility of Trump's return to the White House has left many of the continent's leaders fearful that transatlantic unity, which was sealed in blood on D-Day and strengthened in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, could fray or even rupture.

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Israeli strike kills at least 33 people at a Gaza school the military claims was being used by Hamas

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli strike early Thursday on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in central Gaza killed at least 33 people, including 12 women and children, according to local health officials. The Israeli military said that Hamas militants were operating from within the school.

It was the latest instance of mass casualties among Palestinians trying to find refuge as Israel expands its offensive. A day earlier, the military announced a new ground and air assault in central Gaza, pursuing Hamas militants it says have regrouped there.

Troops repeatedly have swept back into parts of the Gaza Strip they have previously invaded, underscoring the resilience of the militant group despite Israel's nearly eight-month onslaught.

Witnesses and hospital officials said the predawn strike hit the al-Sardi School, run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees known by the acronym UNRWA. The school was filled with Palestinians who had fled Israeli operations and bombardment in northern Gaza, they said.

The hospital initially reported that nine women and 14 children were among those killed in the strike on the school. The hospital morgue later amended those records to show that the dead included three women, nine children and 21 men. It was not immediately clear what caused the discrepancy. An Associated Press reporter had counted the bodies but was unable to look beneath the shrouds.

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Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu set to address the US Congress on July 24

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to address a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, setting the stage for what is expected to be a contentious speech at a crucial moment for the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Congressional leaders confirmed the date of the address late Thursday after formally inviting Netanyahu to come speak before lawmakers last week. It is the most recent show of wartime support for the longtime ally despite mounting political divisions over Israel’s military assault on Hamas in Gaza.

“The existential challenges we face, including the growing partnership between Iran, Russia, and China, threaten the security, peace, and prosperity of our countries and of free people around the world,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, along with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, said in the letter. "To build on our enduring relationship and to highlight America’s solidarity with Israel, we invite you to share the Israeli government’s vision for defending democracy, combatting terror, and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region.”

Netanyahu's appearance before a growingly divided Congress is sure to be controversial and met with plenty of protests both inside the Capitol from lawmakers and outside by pro-Palestinian protesters. And it will put on stark display the growing election-year divisions among Democrats over the prime minister’s prosecution of the monthslong war against Hamas.

Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the U.S. — who delivered a stinging rebuke of Netanyahu in March — said in a separate statement Thursday night that he has “clear and profound disagreements” with the Israeli leader but joined in the request for him to speak “because America’s relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends one person or prime minister.”

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Trump ally Steve Bannon must surrender to prison by July 1 to start contempt sentence, judge says

WASHINGTON (AP) — Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, must report to prison by July 1 to serve his four-month sentence for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the U.S. Capitol insurrection, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington granted the Justice Department's request to make Bannon begin his prison term after a federal appeals court panel last month upheld his contempt of Congress conviction.

Bannon is expected to seek a stay of the judge's order, which could delay his surrender date.

“I’ve got great lawyers, and we’re going to go all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to," Bannon told reporters outside the courthouse. He added: “There's not a prison built or jail built that will ever shut me up."

In a social media post Thursday, Trump accused prosecutors of being “desperate” to jail Bannon. Trump repeated his claim that Republicans are being persecuted by a politically motivated justice system — rhetoric that has escalated in the wake of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's conviction last week on 34 felony charges in his New York hush money trial.

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Man charged in Gilgo Beach serial killings kept 'blueprint' of crimes on computer, prosecutors say

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — The New York architect accused of murdering multiple women and leaving their corpses scattered along the Long Island coast kept a “blueprint” of his crimes on his computer, prosecutors revealed Thursday as they brought charges against Rex Heuermann in two more killings.

Heuermann, 60, appeared before a judge to be arraigned in the deaths of Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla, two young women who were long suspected of being the victims of men preying on sex workers. He had previously been charged with murdering four other women in a string of deaths known as the Gilgo Beach serial killings.

Taylor disappeared in 2003. Costilla was killed 30 years ago, in 1993, and her inclusion in the case indicates that prosecutors now believe Heuermann was killing women for much longer than previously thought.

The new charges came after recent police searches of Heuermann’s Massapequa Park home and a wooded area on Long Island tied to the investigation.

In a court filing, prosecutors said they were able to use new forensic testing methods to match hairs found on or near the vicinity of both victims to a DNA profile that is a likely match to Heuermann. Additionally, prosecutors say they recovered a file on a hard drive in his basement used to “methodically blueprint” his killings.

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Brown has 22, Porzingis returns with 20 as Celtics open NBA Finals with 107-89 win over Mavericks

BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored 22 points, Kristaps Porzingis added 20 in his first game in more than a month and the Boston Celtics powered past the Dallas Mavericks 107-89 on Thursday night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Derrick White finished with 15 points for Boston, which led by 29 points in the first half and connected on 16 3-pointers in a powerful start to its quest for an 18th NBA title.

Porzingis, who had been sidelined since April 29 with a strained right calf, came off the bench and provided an immediate spark, adding six rebounds and three blocks in 21 minutes. Six Celtics finished in double figures.

Dallas cut the deficit to eight points in the third quarter, but Boston quickly pulled away again.

Luka Doncic led Dallas with 30 points. P.J. Washington added 14 points and eight rebounds. But Dallas couldn’t find offensive consistency beyond that, totaling just nine assists on its 35 field goals for the game.

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Southern Baptists are poised to ban churches with women pastors. Some are urging them to reconsider

From its towering white steeple and red-brick facade to its Sunday services filled with rousing gospel hymns and evangelistic sermons, First Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia, bears many of the classic hallmarks of a Southern Baptist church.

On a recent Sunday, its pastor for women and children, Kim Eskridge, urged members to invite friends and neighbors to an upcoming vacation Bible school — a perennial Baptist activity — to help “reach families in the community with the gospel.”

But because that pastor is a woman, First Baptist’s days in the Southern Baptist Convention may be numbered.

At the SBC’s annual meeting June 11-12 in Indianapolis, representatives will vote on whether to amend the denomination’s constitution to essentially ban churches with any women pastors — and not just in the top job. That measure received overwhelming approval in a preliminary vote last year.

Leaders of First Baptist – which has given millions to Southern Baptist causes and has been involved with the convention since its 19th century founding — are bracing for a possible expulsion.

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Tornado hits Michigan, killing toddler, while Ohio and Maryland storms injure at least 13

BALTIMORE (AP) — A tornado that ripped through suburban Detroit earlier this week downed trees that smashed through the roof of Abby Sata’s family home, sending water gushing below.

Though they now have a giant crane taking trees off the house, they were lucky no one was hurt. The tornado that damaged Sata’s home in Livonia, Michigan, tore through several neighborhoods and felled a tree that killed a toddler on Wednesday. It developed so quickly that there was no advance notice from the National Weather Service or others that would have normally led to the activation of warning sirens.

Sata, 21, said she got a storm warning on her phone but no indication that a tornado was lurking.

“I was in shock,” she said. “It would have been very helpful. Even three seconds before the tornado would have given me a heads-up.”

The twister in Livonia “spun up almost as quickly as it started to dissipate,” said Jaclyn Anderson, a meteorologist with the Detroit office of the National Weather Service. The tornado, which was of a type known for being weak and brief, traveled a path of about 5 miles (8 kilometers). More powerful tornadoes generated from intense storms can stay on the ground for 30, 40 or even 100 miles and are much easier to anticipate and issue warnings for, she said.

The Associated Press