REGIONAL BRIEFING No Americans were killed by tornadoes in May or June

Man scouted locations for July 4 attack at Cleveland parade, FBI says

CLEVELAND – An American-born citizen who federal authorities say recently scouted locations in Cleveland to attack people watching Fourth of July fireworks and talked of carrying out additional bombings has been charged with trying to support terrorism.

Federal authorities said Monday that Demetrius Pitts, 48, had repeatedly expressed his support for al-Qaida for more than a year and talked about setting off bombs at a July 4 parade and later in his hometown, Philadelphia.

Pitts, of Maple Heights, was arrested Sunday after meeting an undercover agent and charged with attempted support of a terrorist organization.

Boise promises ‘kindness for those fleeing violence’

Leaders and residents across Boise have been voicing strong solidarity with the city’s refugee population after a knife-wielding attacker slashed nine people, including six children, at a birthday party Saturday in Idaho’s capital.

When suspect Timmy Kinner appeared in court Monday, word came that the object of the party, a 3-year-old girl, had died of her wounds. Kinner now faces a first-degree murder charge and other felonies in connection with the Saturday night attack.

Three of the stabbing victims were adults, the others children: the 3-yearold girl who died, two 4-year-olds, a 6year-old, an 8-year-old and a 12-yearold. All of the victims were from Syria, Iraq or Ethiopia.

Boise Police Chief William Bones said Kinner, 30, of Los Angeles, was taken into custody within minutes, not far from the scene.

Community groups have been raising money for the victims.

Rescuers locate missing boys, coach alive in cave nine days later

MAE SAI, Thailand – Rescuers found all 12 boys and their soccer coach alive deep inside a partially flooded cave in northern Thailand late Monday, more than a week after they disappeared and touched off a desperate search that drew international help and captivated the nation.

Chiang Rai provincial Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn said the 13 were in the process of being rescued, but he cautioned they were not out of danger yet.

Rescue divers had spent much of Monday making preparations for a final push to locate the lost soccer players, ages 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach. They disappeared when flooding trapped them after entering the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai on June 23.

Trump’s ex-lawyer Cohen fires what could be a warning shot

NEW YORK – After once boasting he would “take a bullet” for Donald Trump, the president’s longtime personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen fired a possible warning shot Monday toward the White House, saying he now puts “family and country first.”

In his first interview since federal agents raided his home and hotel room three months ago as part of an investigation into his business dealings, Cohen made clear that protecting Trump is not his priority.

“My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will,” Cohen told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an off-camera interview reported on Monday’s “Good Morning America.” “I put family and country first.”

Cohen, who hasn’t been charged, wouldn’t say whether he would cooperate with prosecutors in the probe. But he also did nothing to dampen such speculation.

For the first time since 2005 – and only the second time on record – no one was killed by tornadoes in the U.S. in either May or June.

Those are typically two of the deadliest months for tornadoes in the U.S., along with March and April. Official U.S. tornado records go back to 1950.

Although we have a long way to go, the U.S. could see its least deadly year for tornadoes on record: So far in 2018, tornadoes have killed only three people. The most recent was April 13 in Louisiana, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

An average of 71 Americans are killed each year by tornadoes, based on data from 1987 to 2016, the Weather Channel reported.