Clouds pass over the skyline on August 26, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
(CHICAGO) — Chicago police are investigating a disturbing incident in a downtown park where a large cross was set on fire in the middle of the day on Tuesday.
Videos and images of the burning cross in Grant Park, which police say was discovered around 2:30 p.m., went viral, shocking onlookers. The burning cross has historically been a symbol of hate that white supremacists have used to harass and intimidate Black Americans.
Alyna Carlton, 22, who filmed the burning cross while she was in a car with her mother, told WLS Chicago on Tuesday that she could not believe her eyes.
“Seeing that in Chicago, in 2026 … yeah, we were really taken aback,” she said.
The Chicago Fire Department quickly responded and put out the fire, according to investigators. There were no injuries or serious property damage.
The Chicago Police Department said in a statement that it is investigating the incident, but as of Wednesday morning, no arrests have been made.
These undated Federal Bureau of Investigation handout photos of al Qaeda commander Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were marked with the word “Located” after Mohammed’s arrest March 1, 2003, in Pakistan. (FBI/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The alleged self-proclaimed “mastermind” of the 9/11 attacks will stand trial in June 2028, a military judge ruled Wednesday, nearly 25 years after the attacks.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was captured in 2003 and has been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2006.
“Trial on the merits shall begin on Monday, 5 June 2028,” Lt. Col. Michael Schrama decided.
Prosecutors sought a trial in 2027 but the judge said that was too soon.
The trial date comes after a yearslong legal saga that includes a controversial plea agreement that was later revoked.
In July 2024, Mohammed and two other 9/11 defendants held at Guantanamo Bay reached a plea agreement with military prosecutors under which they would plead guilty to all charges, including the murder of 2,976 people, in exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table.
Under the deal, Mohammed would have served a life sentence at Guantanamo.
The agreement drew criticism from some 9/11 families and just a few days later then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked the deal.
“I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the above-referenced case, responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009,” Austin wrote.
After attorneys for the defendants objected, the Biden administration later took the matter to federal court in an attempt to continue to block the plea deal.
Last July, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled 2-1 that Austin had acted within his authority to revoke the deal.
The prosecution of Mohammed and other alleged 9/11 plotters detained at Guantanamo has been delayed by more than a decade over concerns about the admissibility of evidence gathered through torture when they were previously detained at the CIA’s “black sites.”
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, two hijacked passenger jets flew into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, marking the start of a series of coordinated attacks that day against the United States by the Afghanistan-based terrorist group al-Qaeda. Nearly 3,000 people were killed that day and thousands more were injured.
Law enforcement on the scene of a shooting at a Kroger store in Cypress, Texas, July 15, 2026. (Harris County Constable Precinct 4)
(HOUSTON) — A man is facing charges after allegedly critically wounding another person in a shooting at a Kroger grocery store near Houston, authorities said.
Deputies responded to an active shooter report at the Cypress grocery store Wednesday afternoon and quickly apprehended the suspect, 20-year-old Kaden Ausbrooks, as he was leaving the store, according to the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office.
The shooting victim was taken to a hospital and is listed in “stable but critical condition” on Thursday, authorities said.
Ausbrooks is also being treated at a hospital, authorities said. He is being guarded by deputies, authorities said, and when he’s released, he’ll be booked for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury.
One witness called the shooting “terrifying,” telling ABC Houston station KTRK, “I heard some yelling. … Then round fired, then some more rounds fired, at least two or three, everyone bolted out.”
Kroger said in a statement it was “deeply saddened.”
“We are cooperating with local law enforcement, who have secured the store and parking lot,” Kroger said. “The store will remain closed while the police investigation continues, and we have initiated counseling services for our associates.”
(NEW YORK) — As residents of the Great Plains brace for more severe weather stretching into the weekend, summer-like temperatures are heating up the Northeast.
From New York City to Raleigh, North Carolina, temperatures are expected to be in the 90s on Friday and Saturday before a cold front arrives on Sunday.
The temperature in Raleigh is expected to hit 100 this weekend. Washington, D.C., is also forecast to see 90-degree temperatures through Saturday.
Humidity is not expected to be much of a factor in the Northeast as dew points remain low, meaning the “feels-like” temperatures will be nearly identical to the actual temperatures.
Some areas of the West are expected to see triple-digit temperatures. Phoenix, Arizona, could reach 110 degrees on Thursday.
Damaging winds and hail expected in the Great Plains
Severe weather is expected to continue in the Great Plains through the end of the week, with damaging winds and large hail forecast to be the main threats.
An isolated tornado or two and some instances of flash flooding are also possible on Thursday across the Great Plains, including South Dakota, southeast Montana, northeast Wyoming and northern Nebraska.
On Friday, severe weather, including damaging winds and large hail, is expected from Nebraska to Iowa and into southern Minnesota, including the cities of Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska; Rochester, Minnesota; and Des Moines, Iowa.
On Saturday, severe weather is expected to move into the Great Lakes region and bring rain to parts of the Northeast on Sunday.
The foul weather in the Great Plains comes after the region was hit by severe thunderstorms and damaging winds on Wednesday. Thunderstorms and wind gusts of more than 80 mph were reported in Frederick, South Dakota, on Wednesday, leaving buildings damaged, a radio tower and power lines toppled, and trees uprooted.
