USA

SAN DIEGO (AP) — An appeals court on Wednesday upheld a freeze on Pentagon money to build a border wall with Mexico, casting doubt on President Donald Trump’s ability to make good on a signature campaign promise before the 2020 election.

A divided three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed with a lower court ruling that prevented the government from tapping Defense Department counterdrug money to build high-priority sections of wall in Arizona, California and New Mexico.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In his Fourth of July remarks, President Donald Trump will be celebrating the armed forces and showcasing what he’s done for them. But in recent days, he has falsified his record on military matters on several fronts.

He’s claimed, for example, that he came up with the “genius idea” of giving veterans private health care so they don’t have to wait for Veterans Affairs appointments, only to find out that others had thought of it but failed to get it done.

President Barack Obama signed the law getting it done in 2014.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A reality TV host at heart, President Donald Trump is promising the “show of a lifetime” for the hundreds of thousands of revelers who flock to the National Mall every year on the Fourth of July. The tanks are in place for the display of military muscle and protesters are ready to make their voices heard.

Washington/Islamabad, Jul 2 (PTI) The United States on Tuesday designated the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which is fighting Pakistani rule in Balochistan province, as a terrorist organisation.

The group has carried out a number of terror attacks in Balochistan. Pakistan has already classified the outfit as a terrorist organisation and have been urging the US to do the same.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Navy SEAL acquitted of killing a wounded war prisoner in Iraq says he’s “happy and grateful.”

Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher spoke briefly with reporters Tuesday after a military jury in San Diego found him not guilty of murder and all but one other charge.

The jury is scheduled to sentence him Wednesday in San Diego.

Gallagher could face up to four months confinement after being convicted of a single charge of posing for photographs with a dead war casualty.

NEEDLES, Calif. (AP) — The Old West desert town of Needles, California, is where the beleaguered Joad family crossed the Colorado River into California in John Steinbeck’s classic novel “The Grapes of Wrath” and was a boyhood home to “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz.

These days, Needles is gaining notoriety for another reason. Leaders have declared it a “sanctuary city” for people who believe California’s strict gun laws have encroached too much on their constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When President Donald Trump’s administration announced a $12 billion aid package for farmers struggling under the financial strain of his trade dispute with China, the payments were capped. But many large farming operations had no trouble finding legal ways around them, records provided to The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act show.

HONOLULU (AP) — Federal officials raised the alert level Tuesday for the world’s largest active volcano, Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, which last erupted in 1984.

The U.S. Geological Survey changed the level from “normal” to “advisory” following a steady increase in earthquakes and ground swelling that began in March.

An eruption is not imminent, but scientists are closely monitoring Mauna Loa because of its reputation for “evolving very quickly” and sending lava far and wide, USGS research geophysicist Ingrid Johanson told The Associated Press in a phone interview last month.

DALLAS (AP) — Seconds before a small plane crashed at a suburban Dallas airport, killing all 10 people on board, the crew commented on a problem with the left engine, federal officials said Tuesday.

The Beechcraft BE-350 King Air struggled to gain altitude before veering to the left and crashing into a hangar Sunday morning at the Addison Municipal Airport, killing a family of four, two couples and two crew members, witnesses and authorities said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will be holding a campaign rally in North Carolina on July 17 — the day that former special counsel Robert Mueller is expected to testify before Congress.

Trump’s reelection campaign has announced he will host a “Keep America Great” rally at Williams Arena in Greenville that evening.