In the news
■ Jim Orr of Universal Pictures offered the review “it’s a tremendous debut” as “Minions: The Rise of Gru” scored big over the holiday weekend, with North American ticket sales approaching $128 million, one of the biggest openings ever for a July Fourth.
■ Addison Bethea, 17, was well enough to tell “Good Morning America” that “I was like, that’s not right; and then I look, and it’s a big old shark,” which bit her twice before her brother could kick it away, and she faces amputation of her right leg just above the knee after the encounter near Keaton Beach, Fla.
■ Gavin Newsom, who’s running for reelection as governor of California, “where we still believe in freedom,” stoked speculation that he’s eyeing national office as his latest TV ad airs on Fox News in Florida, taking shots at Gov. Ron DeSantis and his policies.
■ Kathy McGuiness, Delaware’s auditor, called the prosecution political and vowed to seek reelection after being acquitted of felony charges but convicted on misdemeanor counts including conflict of interest over the hiring of her daughter and skirting state procurement rules.
■ Tricia Derges of Missouri resigned her state House seat upon conviction on 22 counts for falsely stating she was giving patients stem cell treatments for covid-19 and claiming $900,000 in federal funding.
■ Lamonte McIntyre and his mother were awarded $12.5 million by the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., after he spent 23 years in prison for a double murder he didn’t commit, with a prosecutor calling the case an example of “manifest injustice.”
■ Klaas Knot, president of the Dutch central bank, apologized “for these reprehensible facts” regarding the institution’s involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade between 1814 and 1863, and the bank announced measures to reduce the “contemporary negative effects.”
■ Simone Venturini, tourism commissioner of overcrowded Venice, said “we’re talking about incentives and disincentives,” not quotas, as the city moves to oblige day-trippers to make reservations and pay a fee of up to $10.50 in an effort to better manage visitors.