Wednesday morning news: June 4, 2025

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The family of Colorado attacker set for removal » Federal authorities have detained Mohamed Sabry Soliman’s wife and five children. Soliman is the man accused of carrying out an attack in Colorado against a group that had gathered in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday:

NOEM:  Today the Department of Homeland Security and ICE are taking the family of suspected Boulder, Colorado terrorists and illegal alien Mohammed Solomon into ICE custody. Now, Mohammed's despicable actions will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

But she said investigators are also looking into whether his family knew anything about the attack beforehand.

Soliman, an Egyptian national, arrived in the U.S. in 20-22 and then overstayed his visa, which had expired the following year.

He allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at his victims on Sunday while yelling “Free Palestine.”

The suspect faced a judge on Tuesday.

JUDGE:  With respect to bond, the court previously set bond on the written affidavit. It is set at $10 million cash only.

Police wrote in an affidavit that Soliman didn't carry out his full plan—quote—“because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before.” Soliman faces federal hate crime and state attempted murder charges.

U.S.-China trade tensions » Tensions are once again on the rise in the trade war between the U.S. and China. WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher reports.

BENJAMIN EICHER: Beijing issued a pointed response Tuesday to the Trump administration’s claims that China is violating the terms of a truce.

The two countries agreed last month to ratchet down the trade war while negotiations continued.

But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says China is “withholding some of the products that they agreed to release” in that agreement.

Beijing fired back, calling that assertion “groundless” and insisting it is the U.S., not China, that is undermining the truce.

Chinese officials pointed to recent U.S. actions—including new export controls on AI chips, halting sales of chip design software, and revoking Chinese student visas.

The White House is reportedly expecting a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher.

Ukraine latest » In Ukraine…

SOUND: [Sumy strike aftermath]

...authorities say three people are dead and more than a dozen injured after a Russian strike in the city of Sumy yesterday.

Ukraine's foreign minister calling it a deliberate strike on civilians in the city's center.

The White House is still pushing for peace in Ukraine. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt:

LEAVIT:  The president does not want to see this war prolonged. He wants the fighting to stop. He wants people to stop dying, and he wants this to be solved at the negotiating table.

But a negotiated peace is still nowhere in sight.

Monday's direct talks in Istanbul yielded no progress toward a ceasefire, though the two sides did agree to release dead and seriously wounded troops.

PESKOV: [Speaking Russian]

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says negotiations are focused on removing the root causes of disagreement. But he says it pointless to expect any immediate decisions or breakthroughs.

Newark mayor sues after arrest » The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Ras Baraka is suing New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor over his arrest outside a federal immigration detention facility on a trespassing charge.

He asserts that the Trump administration pursued the case out of political spite before dropping the trespassing charge.

BARAKA:  They threatened me with, uh, charging me resisting arrest with doing all these other things. I mean, and, uh, all of that is false.

Baraka was denied entry to a federal immigration facility and federal officials said he was arrested after refusing to leave.

He was trying to join three Democratic members of Congress who went there on what they called an oversight visit.

Baraka is a candidate in a crowded field for the Democratic nomination for governor in the June 10 primary election.

California bakery » After a years-long court battle, the Christian owner of a bakery in California is taking her religious freedom case to the U.S. Supreme Court. WORLD’s Christina Grube reports:

CHRISTINA GRUBE: The state of California sued Christian baker Cathy Miller in 2017 after she declined to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.

Miller explained that her religious beliefs prevented her from making the cake and referred the couple to other bakeries in the area.

The case has worked through both the state and federal court systems for nearly eight years.

The California Supreme Court decided last week that it would not hear Miller’s appeal.

Her legal team now plans to petition the nation’s highest court for a ruling citing two Supreme Court ruling precedents supporting Cathy’s case.

For WORLD, I’m Christina Grube.

Jobs numbers » There's another sign that the labor market remains resilient. Job openings rose unexpectedly in April from 7.2 million a month earlier to 7.4.

Economists had predicted openings would fall by about a hundred thousand.

But the number of Americans quitting their jobs dropped and layoffs did rise slightly.

The Labor Department is expected to report Friday that employers added about 130,000 jobs last month.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr. outlines his vision for the nation’s health. Plus, mourning with those who mourn.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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