Wednesday morning news: July 5, 2023

Shootings » Families are mourning in Pennsylvania today after a 40-year-old man fatally shot five men in a Philadelphia neighborhood, apparently at random.

One eyewitness said he was at home when he heard the gunshots and looked outside.

EYEWITNESS: I couldn’t see the whole corner or anything, so I wasn’t sure what he was shooting at. But within seconds, there were like 50 cops on this corner trying to figure out what was going on.

The gunman fired at police as they chased him for blocks. But when they caught up, he surrendered.

Hong Kong » Chinese officials say they’ll pursue pro-democracy activists who fled Hong Kong for the rest of their lives.

LEE: [Cantonese]

John Lee is the leader of Hong Kong, which is now fully under the thumb of the Chinese Communist government. Lee called on activists who escaped to the West to surrender or spend their “days in fear.”

He announced a bounty equal to well over $100,000 U.S. dollars for information leading to the arrests of eight pro-democracy activists. Those eight people continued their protest in 2020 even after China enacted a so-called “national security” law, stripping the territory of its semi-independent status.

Russia/Shanghai Cooperation Organization » Vladimir Putin urged fellow world leaders to commit to what he calls a multipolar world.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: Putin met with allies during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It is his first summit appearance since a brief uprising by the Russian mercenary Wagner Group.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization serves as a counterpoint to Western-led alliances and features member countries such as China, India, and now Iran.

He claims Russia remained strong despite heavy sanctions for the West.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Stoltenberg » NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will remain on the job for another year.

He was slated to step down this September, but with no clear successor lined up, Stoltenberg has agreed to stay on through October of next year.

The secretary-general has helmed NATO at a critical time with Russian forces invading Ukraine right on NATO’s doorstep.

STOLTENBERG: We all want this war to end, but a just peace cannot mean freezing the conflict and accepting a deal dictated by Russia.

The former prime minister of Norway has led the military alliance since 2014.

Israel » A Hamas militant rammed his car into a crowded Tel Aviv bus stop Tuesday and began stabbing people, wounding eight. A bystander shot and killed the attacker.

Palestinian militants celebrated the attack, calling it revenge for an Israeli military raid in the West Bank.

NETANYAHU: [Speaking Hebrew]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters that such an attack won’t deter his country from continuing its fight against terrorism.

This week’s counterterrorism raid in the West Bank city of Jenin was one of the most intense in the territory in nearly two decades.

Prez campaigns » GOP presidential candidates hit the campaign trail on Independence Day.

SOUND: [Parade]

In New Hampshire, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis drew cheers from supporters as they marched through the rain in a July 4th parade just south of Manchester.

And in a radio interview with WGTK in Greenville, South Carolina, Gov. DeSantis said he would take his fight against woke ideologies in Florida to Washington.

DESANTIS: Kids are off limits. Do not bring your agenda to our kids. When they go to school, they have a right to have a traditional, normal education without having a teacher telling a first-grader they may have been born in the wrong body. It’s totally unacceptable.

He said Donald Trump and some other GOP candidates appear to be avoiding the topic of the LGBT agenda.

For his part, former President Trump spent the Fourth of July with family. But earlier this week, he campaigned in South Carolina.

TRUMP: And we will make America great again!

Several other candidates campaigned in Iowa yesterday, including former Vice President Mike Pence, who marched in a parade there.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: The Hunter Biden saga continues on Washington Wednesday. Plus, Becoming a counselor at a summer camp for kids living with disabilities.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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