News briefs
Trump takes first flight on $400 million Air Force One jet gifted by Qatar
President Donald Trump on Wednesday took his first trip on his new luxe Air Force One, a retrofitted Boeing 747 worth an estimated $400 million transferred for free from the oil-rich Middle East nation of Qatar.
"I'm excited about the first flight," he told reporters ahead of his flight to North Dakota, where he planned to tour the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
"They made it appropriate for a president, that means the security and all of the different bells and whistles they put on," Trump added. "(It's) very complex now, but it's really quite something."
Trump says the new jet, which had to be given security upgrades at a cost to taxpayers of about $400 million, will be used until new versions of the presidential jet are expected to be delivered in 2028.
-New York Daily News
DeSantis announces Muslim group CAIR, others as terrorist organizations
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced the designation of several groups as terrorist organizations, using authority under a new law his office drafted.
The legislation lets the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, whose leader is appointed by the governor, label groups as domestic or foreign terrorists, a power typically reserved for the federal government.
The bill took effect Wednesday. At a news conference that same afternoon, DeSantis announced which organizations would fall under the state's new list based on law enforcement's recommendation: the Muslim civil rights organization Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR; the Muslim Brotherhood; antifa; the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and "a number of groups that are affiliated with drug cartels."
"We've got to draw a very strong line in the sand here," DeSantis said. "You can't believe what is going on in some of these other parts of the country." Under the bill, state-designated terrorist groups would be prohibited from getting any public money. College students who support terrorist organizations would be immediately expelled.
-Tampa Bay Times
Michigan tracking 'sudden and large' spike in illness caused by parasite
LANSING, Mich. - The state of Michigan is working to identify the cause of a "sudden and large" increase in an infection that causes gastrointestinal issues.
State health officials have identified 174 cases of cyclosporiasis across southern Michigan since June 22. Typically, the state averages about 50 such cases a year.
The cases have chiefly been found in Monroe, Washtenaw, Wayne, Livingston, Shiawassee, Lenawee and Jackson counties, according to Lynn Sutfin, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
The source or sources of the infection, caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, are not yet known, Sutfin said.
-The Detroit News
Ukraine's missiles now have almost half of Russia in reach
Ukraine has expanded the range and intensity of its missile strikes inside Russia, triggering alerts across nearly half of the regions in the world's largest country so far this year.
Missile threats were declared in at least five regions of the Volga Federal District southeast of Moscow in the past week alone, as well as in the southern Astrakhan region and at least four regions in the North Caucasus. Similar warnings were also issued in the Moscow, Vladimir, Tambov, Orel and Lipetsk regions of central Russia.
Ukraine struck the Ufa oil refinery more than 1,300 kilometers (807 miles) from the front line for a second time, as well as a military-industrial facility in the Penza region that produces missile components, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday in a statement on the X platform. Bloomberg News can't independently verify the claims.
The scale and geographic reach of the attacks highlight how Ukraine's tactics and long range strike capabilities have evolved as it attempts to bring the war closer to home for Russians. Kyiv is stepping up pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin to enter peace talks after more than four years of fighting.
-Bloomberg News
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This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 5:29 PM.